The knockout stage of the World Cup has not been easy for defending champion Argentina.

They needed extra time in the round of 32 to earn a 3-2 victory against Cape Verde before requiring a late rally from a two-goal deficit against Egypt to claim a 3-2 win in the round of 16.

Goals may be harder to come by for Argentina against defensive-minded Switzerland in the quarterfinals on Saturday night in Kansas City, Mo.

“It wasn’t easy to come back from a 2-0 deficit in a World Cup knockout match – especially given how games are going these days, where no one gives you anything for free,” Argentina star Lionel Messi said. “But thank God, we did it once again.”

Messi, who earlier missed a penalty kick, scored the tying goal in the 83rd minute Tuesday in Atlanta before Enzo Fernandez netted the winner in the second minute of second-half stoppage time. Cristian Romero sparked the comeback with a goal in the 79th minute off a Messi assist.

The 39-year-old Messi has a record 21 World Cup tallies for his career. He owns eight goals in this World Cup, tied with France’s Kylian Mbappe for the most in the tourney. Mbappe, though, has played one more match, with his team already through to the semifinals.

“Especially for those players on the bench, the players who watch Lionel Messi play and can’t believe what they’re watching – he should be a role model for them,” Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said. “He tries again and again, and I get goosebumps.”

Swiss captain Granit Xhaka and defender Ricardo Rodriguez are the only members left from the 2014 squad that lost 1-0 in extra time to Messi and Argentina in the round of 16 at Brazil.

“I don’t know that we can stop him over 90 minutes. It’s going to be difficult,” said Xhaka, referring to Messi. “But we have to be smart, compact, close the gaps and not give him too many spaces. We just try to play our game.”

Argentina is riding an 11-match unbeaten streak in the World Cup. They’ve scored multiple times in each of those games, tied for the longest streak in tournament history.

“It’s obviously a very tough challenge,” said Switzerland defender Manuel Akanji. “But I think we’re ready. I think we can play against any opponent and make it hard for them. We know it’s going to be difficult but we’re going to give our best.”

Switzerland, in the quarterfinals for the first time since they hosted the tournament in 1954, have scored nine goals over their five matches while conceding just three.

They’re coming off a scoreless draw vs. Colombia that they won 4-3 in penalty kicks.

“We know Argentina has many fine qualities. Few talk about the Swiss qualities,” Xhaka said. “(Saturday) we will talk on the pitch, and we will show what we can do, and everything else doesn’t matter.”

Switzerland will be without productive midfielder Johan Manzambi, who racked up three goals and two assists in their first four matches of the event, for the second straight match because of a knee injury.

“We tried everything we could to get him back in peak form,” Swiss coach Murat Yakin said. “Momentum was on his side, and there was so much joy when he plays, and he has his teammates by his side. Everything worked out so well for him until now.”

The winner of Saturday’s match will play either Norway or England on Wednesday in Atlanta with a berth in the World Cup final on July 19 at East Rutherford, N.J., on the line.

–Field Level Media

Lucas Glover must be feeling deja vu.

One week after going bogey-free through two rounds at the John Deere Classic to take the outright lead, Glover has replicated the feat at the ISCO Championship following his second-round 64 Friday at Hurstbourne Country Club in Louisville, Ky.

Glover sits at 13-under 127, two shots clear of Chan Kim (65) and Steven Fisk (66). Aaron Wise and France’s Jeong Weon Ko are tied for fourth at 10 under after identical 65-65 starts to the week.

Glover, 46, is in ideal position to grab the seventh PGA Tour victory of his career and the fourth he’s had since 2021. He did not finish the job last week, tying for third while Chris Gotterup won the John Deere.

“Pretty similar (rounds). I putted very similar,” said Glover, who birdied three holes on each nine. “So I was probably in the fairway a little more today. The holes were in the high spots because of the weather, couple places it was hard to get it close. It was a little bit nasty this morning when we started, had some rain through the first few holes.

“Yeah, played nice, solid, no bogeys through two days. Need to keep that up. Yeah, scores are going to be low so keep the pedal down.”

While Fisk won the Sanderson Farms Championship last fall for his maiden PGA title, Kim has not broken through on the tour yet. He made his living with eight Japan Golf Tour wins between 2017 and 2022, and he’s won twice on the Korn Ferry Tour.

The Hawaii native birdied five times in an eight-hole stretch from Nos. 7-14.

“I do love this golf course, I think it suits my game very well,” Kim said. “I played well the first two rounds last year and I slipped a little bit the last two rounds, but golf’s hard. Hopefully this year I can kind of redeem myself here and play a little better on the weekend.”

The winner last time around was William Mouw, and his competitors will be watching out for him Saturday and Sunday after he turned in a 7-under 63 — tied for low round of the day with Canada’s Taylor Pendrith — to climb into sixth place at 9 under.

Mouw, 25, made three putts from 20 feet or longer in a stretch of four birdies from Nos. 14-18. He had a simple explanation afterward.

“Jokingly, I put my putter in hot water last night and it stayed hot,” Mouw said. “I woke up with it hot out of the water and stayed hot all round.

“I told my caddie I was going to do it and put it in some boiling hot water. Funny enough, it just stayed hot all day and I’m going to do it tonight too.”

–Field Level Media

Hours after he told Spurs fans he was “here to stay,” Victor Wembanyama signed a multiyear contract extension with San Antonio that ESPN reported is for five years and $252 million.

The deal, which is worth $50.4 million per year, is the NBA’s maximum rookie-scale extension and carries a player option for the fifth season.

“Spurs family, I’m here to stay,” Wembanyama tweeted Friday. “Whatever it takes.”

The Spurs, who did not confirm financial details, published photos and videos of Wembanyama inking his contract.

???? https://t.co/3LXvBNRpVT pic.twitter.com/SJgIaJjjuL

— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) July 10, 2026

Wembanyama has been viewed as one of the elite young players in the sport going back before the Spurs selected him No. 1 overall in the 2023 NBA Draft. The 7-foot-4 center with an 8-foot wingspan has averaged 23.4 points, 11.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 3.5 blocks per game through three NBA seasons (181 games).

The Defensive Player of the Year and a first-time All-NBA first-team selection, Wembanyama finished third in MVP balloting this season after putting up career highs of 25.0 points and 11.5 rebounds per game. He is a career 34.2% 3-point shooter who has made 2.2 triples per game, and he’s led the league in blocks in every season since his arrival.

The Spurs fell to the New York Knicks in five games last month in Wembanyama’s first NBA Finals. The current pieces around him include guards De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, Devin Vassell and Dylan Harper, and the Spurs recently signed veteran forward Tobias Harris.

–Field Level Media