Far below Philadelphia’s City Hall, boarding the subways on their return from the Lincoln Financial Field, were fans with names on their shirts. Those of Leroy Sane, Jamal Musiala and Joshua Kimmich, the players they hoped to see on 4 July. They had bought their tickets in the hope of a different match. France did not get the game they wanted, either, and not merely because a World Cup win over Germany would have been something to savour.
One with Paraguay was more one to endure than enjoy. There were parties elsewhere in Philadelphia, marking the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. This was something different: Nigglefest 2026. It was an exhibition of off-the-ball fouls, collapsing to the turf and scuffing up the penalty spot. It was designed to delay, to provoke.
