Hayters Live Blog
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The latest updates from the World Cup.
Messi’s double secures Argentina a second victory of the tournament, beating Austria 2-0.
The 38-year-old now leads Miroslav Klose by two goals in the tally of all-time World Cup top scorers. Simply incredible.
We’re signing off now, but will have more reaction tonight and tomorrow.
Messi scores again to take his goal tally to FIVE for the World Cup! Wow.
Having missed a penalty earlier on, Lionel Messi has just scored to put Argentina ahead against Austria and has become the all-time leading goalscorer at World Cups.
A good sign for England fans, with Bukayo Saka in full team training ahead of the game against Ghana tomorrow.
READ MORE: Saka returns to England team training ahead of Ghana game
Mo Salah, speaking after scoring in Egypt’s 3-1 win over New Zealand which has put his side on the cusp of reaching the knockout stages.
“I said before, we just do our best in the tournament to make the people happy in Egypt, and I think right now they are happy and proud. So, the only I can promise them is that we [will] sweat and we’ll run and we’ll give it our best.”
Some great insight here from Bukayo Saka’s former youth coach Colin Nixon on his early memories of the Arsenal and England star as a kid.
“We were in the middle of the field and all of a sudden there was this young boy standing beside us with his mum and basically said to us, you know, can he join in?
“So I said, we weren’t looking for anyone, but because he’s here, he can join in and we’ll have a look. At the time we had a player who used to play at centre-back for us that we used to call the roundabout because no one could get round him.
“And Saka just skipped past him and side-footed the ball into the bottom corner, which for someone that age was quite rare because normally they just thrash at it at that age.
“I looked at my number two, my number two looked at me. We both said we have to sign him. And yeah, we signed him and the rest is history, as they say.”
FULL STORY: Saka’s former youth coach reveals the moment he knew Arsenal and England star was special
In case you missed it, William Saliba spoke to the media a couple of days ago, and was honest about his current fitness situation.
“The World Cup comes round only once every four years, so you’ve got to grit your teeth,” he said.
“I’m not at 100 percent, but there are plenty of players who aren’t at 100 percent either, you can’t make excuses.”
Will France risk him for the game against Iraq tonight?
READ MORE: Arsenal and France defender Saliba admits he is playing through pain at World Cup
Cape Verde continue to win the hearts of football fans everywhere, and Lamine restores the dream for Spain!
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France are understandably heavy favourites going into tonight’s game against Iraq. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the clash: How to watch France v Iraq, team news, predicted line-ups and more
Argentina full-back Gonzalo Montiel is not expected to feature against Austria tonight after going off injured against Algeria in their first game.
Germany’s Nico Schlotterbeck has been ruled out for the remainder of the World Cup because of an ankle injury.
The defender was forced off against the Ivory Coast and is now expected to miss the next couple of months, in a big blow for boss Julian Nagelsmann.
Lionel Messi got his World Cup off to the perfect start against Algeria with a hat-trick, but his Argentina team face an Austria side tonight that also won their opening game.
Here’s everything you need to know ahead of that clash: How to watch Argentina v Austria, team news, predicted line-ups and more
Hayters LIVE STREAM! 🚨
We will be going live at 6pm to answer your World Cup questions and look ahead to England v Ghana.
Join us then! 👇
France captain Kylian Mbappe was asked about Argentina legend and his former PSG team-mate Lionel Messi’s outstanding start to the World Cup, ahead of France’s game against Iraq.
“He is the best in the world, with Cristiano (Ronaldo). It’s clear,” Mbappe replied.
READ MORE: ‘Messi is the best’ – Mbappe hails Argentinian legend’s longevity
Cape Verde boss Bubista says he was left unhappy with Uruguay scoring their first goal while his player Telmo Arcanjo was down injured, saying it did not represent a Marcelo Bielsa team.
“I was upset by that because Bielsa taught us to have fair play. That’s in his press conferences, that’s in the matches that his teams play. We learned what fair play was from his attitude,” he said.
“It felt frustrating, but that’s part of the game and part of the experience of growing with the team.
“We could have done something to prevent that situation, we could have kicked the ball off the pitch, but we’re trying to do things our own way.
“It’s also natural that players will sometimes feel pressured and we can say that about the Uruguay team as well. We can only grow from what happened.”
Like Belgium, Uruguay’s hopes of reaching the knockout stages of the World Cup are uncertain, having drawn their two games.
Boss Marcelo Bielsa was unhappy with his team’s lack of organisation in their draw with Cape Verde last night.
“The team was highly disorganised,” Bielsa said.
“We would attack while running the risk of them scoring against us at the end of the match. We could have won the match and we also could have lost the match. Undoubtedly, Uruguay is a better squad than Cape Verde. But this has to be shown.”
After Spain’s dominant win over Saudi Arabia last night, following their shock opening game draw against Cape Verde, boss Luis de la Fuente again fired back at his side’s critics.
“When someone questions your work, it is only human that anyone with courage and pride reacts to prove people wrong,” he said.
“We shouldn’t view that criticism as a source of annoyance, but it pushes people to bring out their best.
“My only point is that it needs to be kept in perspective. It strikes me as absurd to doubt this team that has not lost in 33 consecutive games. To doubt this generation? I find that unfair.”
Belgium’s knockout hopes rest on the outcome of their final game against New Zealand.
Rudi Garcia’s side were held to a 0-0 draw by Iran last night, meaning they only have two points from their two games.
“We dominated, so tactically and in terms of the game plan we played as we wanted to play. But we were wasteful and lacked efficiency,” Garcia said afterwards.
It has not been an easy season for Mo Salah, but the Egypt forward made history for his country by scoring to help them to a first ever World Cup win at the ninth attempt against New Zealand last night.
They now sit on four points from two games and look destined for the knockout stages.
The Egyptian King 👑
Mo Salah steps up for Egypt when they need him most! pic.twitter.com/LCsi9rrduK
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) June 22, 2026
Few would have fancied Cape Verde to get anything against Spain or Uruguay, but the World Cup minnows sit on two points after two games following last night’s draw with Uruguay.
They face Saudi Arabia in their final group game, with a chance of reaching the knockout stages.
Uruguay land themselves in trouble as Cape Verde equalise! 😳🇨🇻
Helio Varela levels the scores after Mathias Olivera and Fernando Muslera get their wires crossed 🔀#FifaWorldCup pic.twitter.com/yypCaA0FKI
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) June 21, 2026
Good morning and welcome to today’s live blog.
We’ll have some reaction this morning to last night’s action, and all the build up to tonight’s games too.
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