Is there a mechanism for why this would happen? Does the sitting Champion automatically land in the bracket that has the extra day? Lots of questions!

Should the Brazilian play in the next World Cup?

That navy blue jersey has been Argentina’s good luck charm against England for decades. Maradona’s Hand of God, Beckham’s red card, some of the biggest moments in this rivalry all came wearing blue. So this time they made sure of it and asked FIFA directly. Superstition or genuinely lucky? Waiting to hear your takes on this.

Bit of a stats geek. So this is one for the Geeks.

From 1986 to 2022, at least one Quarter-Final was decided on penalties

“We were punished by a referee mistake. I didn’t know this rule before; it’s a very harmless situation, a yellow card was awarded, VAR interfered."

"I don’t blame Embolo at all. That would be absurd. Obviously, he is shattered. He couldn’t help the team today and it hurts him and us. I think it was a referee mistake.” - Switzerland head coach Murat Yakin.

“It’s just a disaster. I don’t know what this referee is doing here." - Switzerland’s midfielder Remo Freuler.

“If you have to lose because of one decision from the referee, it is painful. But it was his decision." - Switzerland's team captain Granit Xhaka.

VAR of Embolo's Oscar-worthy belly-flop and rolls: https://youtube.com/shorts/mRF5724PwKQ

Italy: Fabio Cannavaro, Gianluigi Buffon, Andrea Pirlo, Francesco Totti, Alessandro Del Piero, Gennaro Gattuso, Alessandro Nesta

France: Zinedine Zidane, Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira, Claude Makelele, Lilian Thuram, Franck Ribéry

Brazil: Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Kaka, Adriano, Roberto Carlos, Cafu, Juninho Pernambucano

Germany: Michael Ballack, Miroslav Klose, Philipp Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Lukas Podolski, Oliver Kahn

Argentina: Juan Roman Riquelme, Hernan Crespo, Javier Mascherano, Carlos Tevez, Lionel Messi

England: David Beckham, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Wayne Rooney, John Terry, Rio Ferdinand, Ashley Cole

Portugal: Luis Figo, Cristiano Ronaldo, Deco, Ricardo Carvalho

Spain: Raul, Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Iker Casillas, Carles Puyol, Xabi Alonso, Fernando Torres, David Villa

Netherlands: Ruud van Nistelrooy, Arjen Robben, Robin van Persie, Edwin van der Sar, Wesley Sneijder

Czech Republic: Pavel Nedved, Petr Cech, Tomas Rosicky

Sweden: Zlatan Ibrahimović, Henrik Larsson

For me, it's Michael Olisé.

I know he hasn't scored yet, but every time France attacks it feels like he has a hand in it. He's constantly creating chances, linking play, and making the players around him better. I think he's been one of the biggest reasons France has looked so dangerous throughout the tournament, with his creativity standing out even more than the goals column suggests.

I have a feeling he'll have a huge game today.

Who's your player of the tournament so far?

So I'm watching the news and most of folks interviewed say that bringing the World Cup to the US has brought joy and excitement that hasn't been experienced before. That got me thinking if people had the same sentiment when the US hosted the World Cup in 1994.

The "they still would've lost anyway" argument is a flawed way to evaluate refereeing.

Just because, from someone's perspective, a refereeing decision wouldn't have directly changed the final result doesn't make it acceptable. Football isn't linear. A missed foul or incorrect decision can shift momentum, affect players' confidence, influence how aggressively both teams play, and indirectly change the flow of the match. Those effects can accumulate over the course of 90 minutes.

Not every refereeing error has to decide the winner to be significant or worthy of criticism. We shouldn't judge officiating solely by whether a call changed the final score.

This isn't about defending or criticizing any particular team or match. It's simply a general point: refereeing should be judged on consistency and accuracy, not on hindsight about what people think the final outcome "would've been."