Photograph: Matt McNulty/FIFA/Getty Images
Good afternoon.
It wasn’t pretty and had moments of peril, but the Socceroos have secured a 0-0 draw with Paraguay, booking them a place in the World Cup knockout round for the third time in their history.
About 12,000 Australians watched the match in the San Francisco Bay Area stadium, while thousands went to live sites in Australian cities to bite their nails through 90 nerve-shredding minutes.
Australia’s opponent in the next round is yet to be determined, with four teams – Egypt, Iran, Belgium and the Kiwis – all possible match ups.
Tony Popovic, the Socerroos’ coach, said after the match he was proud of the entire travelling party. “The staff, the players – just a wonderful young group of men – and now we go to Dallas and we’ll try and do something special,” he said.
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World Cup 2026
The Socceroos v Paraguay stalemate was one of six matches on Friday as the group stages came to a climax. In the other match in Group D, hosts the United States had some wind taken out of their sails as Turkey scored a late 3-2 victory.
Elsewhere, in what turned out to be the match of the day, Ecuador came from a contentious goal down after less than two minutes to beat Germany 2-1 and reach the last 32. In the same group, Côte d’Ivoire qualified to the knockout stage for the first time and eliminated Curaçao with a 2-0 win.
Japan and Sweden both advanced from Group F with a 1-1 draw, while the Netherlands beat Tunisia 3-1.
In pictures
Russia and Ukraine are continuing to use drones as their war stretches to 1,584 days. In this image, a Ukrainian firefighter works at the site of a Russian drone strike in Zaporizhzhia.
What they said …
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“Freedom of speech here and around the world is what this show is about. You don’t have to listen to my show. You have the power. You are smart enough to make up your own mind.” – Karl Stefanovic
Karl Stefanovic is leaving Nine immediately after the Today presenter used his independent podcast to interview British far-right activist Tommy Robinson.
“Nine Entertainment and Karl Stefanovic have agreed that it is no longer possible for him to continue hosting Today at the same time as his independent podcast,” a Nine Entertainment spokesperson said.
“While Karl and Nine had previously agreed he would leave Today at the end of this year, they have subsequently decided he will leave the network immediately.”
Stefanovic was unrepentant and posted a farewell message on social media, saying “I’m free, truly independent.”
Podcast
Politics Weekly America: Trump forced to drain the reflecting pool swamp
The Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool in Washington DC will have to be drained again. Donald Trump has blamed vandalism for the failure to keep the water “American-flag blue”. But what if this small body of water is proof that the president can’t outrun the truth?
Jonathan Freedland speaks to Arwa Mahdawi about why this project, which has cost the taxpayer millions, is proving to be such an embarrassing failure for a man obsessed with image.
Before bed read
A woman strangled by an American fighter pilot at his home in an English city has come forward to criticise the handling of his prosecution via a US court martial, a process she described as “military first, justice second”.
Sarah Steele, a British academic, has come forward to speak about the “distressing and degrading” experience she had with the US military justice system after she was assaulted by the airman in Cambridge. Although Jacob Wulfson assaulted Steele on UK soil in late 2023 after the pair met on a dating app, American military police quickly took over the case and the pilot was tried by US air force prosecutors.
Daily word game
Today’s starter word is: WED. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
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