Lionel Messi will start on the bench for Argentina football against Jordan to complete their World Cup 2026 group stage.

The Albiceleste are defending their title and have started in magnificent form behind Messi’s prolific run of five goals from two games in victories over Algeria and Austria.

Messi is the leading contender to win this year’s golden boot, one clear of France forwards Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele.

Messi (18) is also two clear of Mbappe (16) as the tournament’s all-time record goalscorer, but that record could be threatened with Lionel Scaloni opting to hold the 39-year-old back for the Group J finale.

“Leo Messi will be on the bench against Jordan. He will have minutes in the second half,” said Scaloni.

Scottie Scheffler has spent much of the 2026 season looking just a bit off, admitting as much ahead of last week’s U.S. Open when he described his game as being a little “dull” and lacking the same sharpness we’ve grown to expect from the World No. 1. 

While that sharpness didn’t arrive in time to capture the career grand slam, Scheffler seems to have found something at TPC River Highlands, where he’s off to a red-hot start to grab the 36-hole lead at 16 under thanks to a 10-under 60 on Friday. Overnight rain delayed the start of the second round by 30 minutes, which softened the course and gave players the green light to attack. No one took that opportunity better than Scheffler, who has positioned himself at the top of the leaderboard entering the weekend in pursuit of his second win of the season. 

Scheffler began his day birdie-bogey-birdie, but ripped off four straight birdies late in his front nine to go out in 30. He’d add another stretch with four consecutive birdies in the middle of his back nine to get to 10 under on his round and arrived at the 17th hole needing one birdie in the last two holes to break 60 for the second time in his career. 

After hitting 15-of-16 greens in regulation coming into the 17th, Scheffler had a rare miss from the fairway from 162 yards, tugging his approach — with Scheffler saying he got gusted — off the left side of the green. After a poor chip from the fairway cut, he made a tough 8-footer for par to keep the 59 dream alive going to the 18th. There, he missed his first fairway of the day, finding the left bunker, but drew a good lie and was able to put an approach 20 feet below the hole to give himself a run. 

Scheffler said after his round it was a tricky read, with the ball moving right on him early and ending up too far outside before taking the sharp break late, leaving a tap-in par to post a 10-under 60. Had Scheffler managed to make that putt, he could’ve joined Jim Furyk as the only players to break 60 twice on the PGA Tour. That record remains with Furyk, who Scheffler joked in his press conference somewhat ruined shooting a 59 at TPC River Highlands. 

“It was kind of funny. It was like, yeah, it would be cool to shoot 59, but somebody has already shot 58 here, so it’s not even the course record,” Scheffler remarked. “So it’s not like…you know, Jim kind of takes away a little bit of the special 59 when you are losing still.”

TPC River Highlands is always a course where players can go out and attack, and that’s especially the case on a day like Friday when the wind is negligible and the course is softened by rain. However, the difference between Scheffler’s first round 64 and his 60 in the second round came down, largely, to more putts falling. 

“Yeah, I’d say in golf the line is always pretty fine. I’m sure if you looked at today’s round versus yesterday’s round, it’s probably pretty similar from a ball-striking perspective,” Scheffler explained. “It’s a matter of holing a few putts. Some days they’re kind of hanging on the edge and not quite going in, and then other days they’re finding the bottom of the cup. Today was a day definitely which most of them were finding the bottom of the cup.” 

The stats back that statement up, as Scheffler holed just over 145 feet of putts on Friday after holing 95 feet in his still excellent opening round 64. While he would’ve loved to see one more putt of length drop on the 18th hole, he’s most concerned with snapping out of his winless drought that’s currently sitting at 17 weeks. 

Scheffler opened his season with a bang, winning the American Express in his first start of 2026. Since then, he’s been unable to put together four complete rounds, with slow starts becoming a frustrating trend in the middle of his season. Numerous furious comebacks on the weekend to finish just off the lead prove he still has that top gear, but finding those levels for 72 holes has been a challenge. 

Through 36 holes at the Travelers, he’s got that sorted out and looks like the player who has dominated the PGA Tour for the last four years. He’ll have to keep that up on the weekend, as TPC River Highlands always leaves the door open for players to go low and try to chase down the leader. If he can convert his 36-hole lead into his 21st PGA Tour victory, he’ll change the question from why can’t he win right now to why can’t go on a winning streak through the summer. 

Weekend contenders 

2. Viktor Hovland (-14)
T3. Akshay Bhatia, Eric Cole (-13)
T5. Matt Fitzpatrick, Bud Cauley, Ben Griffin (-10)
T8. Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose, J.J. Spaun, Patrick Cantlay, Maverick McNealy, Brian Campbell (-9)
T14. Wyndham Clark, Sam Burns, Keegan Bradley and five others (-8)

It’s not often you shoot 65-61 in the first two rounds of a tournament and don’t have the lead going into the weekend, but Viktor Hovland has done just that. His best start to a week this season has been overshadowed by Scheffler’s return to dominant form. Hovland showed some strong form two weeks ago in Canada before a missed cut at the U.S. Open, but back on a golf course where you must attack, he’s once again looking like a threat and keeping Scheffler from running away from the field. 

Bhatia hasn’t notched a top 10 since his win at the Arnold Palmer, but he got the putter warmed up again on Friday to shoot a 62 that jumped him into a tie for third. He proved earlier this year what he’s capable of when he gets hot on the greens and TPC River Highlands is a course known for having friendly greens. He’s tied with Eric Cole, who continues his blistering pace of late as he’s primed for another weekend in contention in pursuit of his first PGA Tour title. 

Matt Fitzpatrick had it rolling again in the middle of his back nine but cooled off a touch late and dropped a shot on the 18th to slide back into a tie for fifth. Even so, he finds himself on the first page of the leaderboard once again heading into a weekend and is arguably the biggest threat to Scheffler, even six off the pace. Cauley, who picked up his first win two weeks ago in Canada, is still riding that high and playing extremely well once again this week. The same can be said for Ben Griffin who has returned to quality form after a slow start in 2026. 

Given who is in the lead, it’s hard to imagine Scheffler helping out the rest of the field this weekend, which means those not yet at double-figures under par have serious work to do on the weekend. That’s certainly possible at a course like TPC River Highlands, but Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose, Sam Burns, defending champ Keegan Bradley and U.S. Open winner Wyndham Clark will all be feeling like they need to post scores of 64 or better on Saturday and Sunday to have a chance at winning. 

Cameron Young’s dip in form continues 

After winning The Players, contending at the Masters and winning again at the Cadillac Championship, Young was the hottest player on the PGA Tour and was seemingly making up ground on the Scheffler-Rory McIlroy tandem in the Tour’s top tier. However, Young hasn’t been nearly as sharp over the past month-plus dating back to the PGA Championship and that slip in form has been extremely evident to start this week as he’s one of just five players who have yet to break par in the first two rounds. 

Young’s hot streak was buoyed by some phenomenal putting on top of his excellent ball striking, but he has cooled off on the greens of late. Young is 70th out of 72 players in the field this week in strokes gained putting, losing more than five shots on the greens so far. Maintaining an elite level of play is the hardest thing in golf and Young’s proving just how challenging it is. His talent is undeniable, but his recent dip underscores just how remarkable a run like Scheffler’s is when we’re concerned about his form when he’s only posting top 10s most weeks and not winning. 

Former undisputed light-heavyweight world champion Artur Beterbiev is keen to return to action as soon as possible, but he believes that one of the current world champions is ‘ducking him’.

Beterbiev knocked out Enrico Koelling to capture the IBF light-heavyweight title back in 2017 and, after defending the belt against Callum Johnson and Radivoje ‘Hot Rod’ Kalajdzic, the Canadian-Russian unified the titles by halting WBC champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk.

Once again, two defences followed, as Beterbiev continued his 100% knockout streak with wins against Adam Deines and Marcus Browne inside of the distance, before adding the WBO strap to his collection by knocking out Joe Smith.

Then, for a third time, Beterbiev made two further title defences before colliding with Dmitry Bivol in a legendary undisputed showdown in October 2024, where his knockout streak came to an end in the crowning moment of his career – going the distance for the first time but claiming a majority-decision win.

Just four months later, Bivol reversed the result in their rematch with a majority decision triumph of his own, but there has been no rubber match since that meeting 16 months ago, much to the disappointment of 41-year-old Beterbiev,

Speaking with The Ring, Beterbiev declared that Bivol is ‘ducking’ a third fight, despite the ‘loose agreement’ which is understood to be in place. 

“There is a very short time after the first fight and third fight, even with that I accepted this fight, expecting to have the third fight within five/six months. You can see that he doesn’t want to fight, he is ducking me, I thinks so.”

To add to Beterbiev’s concerns, Bivol will be made to face mandatory challenger Callum Smith in the near future, unless he is willing to relinquish the WBO world title.

France’s final group match against Norway had been billed as a showdown between Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland, but Ousmane ⁠Dembélé tore up the script as he scored a ​hat-trick to seal top spot for Les Bleus in Group I.

The winger scored three times in the space of 25 minutes in the first half to send the 2018 world champions and 2022 runners-up into the knockout phase of this year’s tournament with ​a spring ‌in their step.

Read moreFrance top group as Dembélé’s first-half treble downs second-string Norway

The France players had promised to go for a win as ⁠a tribute to coach Didier Deschamps who has flown home from the United States to attend the funeral of his mother.

By finishing top of Group I, France are likely to meet Sweden in the first knockout round of the tournament. As runners-up, Norway will play Ivory Coast.

Deschamps is due to return to the squad on Saturday ‌to begin preparing for the next phase.

Les Bleus – like Norway – had ‌made sure of a place in the Round of 32 before Friday’s clash but wanted ⁠to top the group to take advantage of a lighter travel schedule offered by the tournament’s North American criss-crossing route map.

Their task was made easier by Norway coach Stale Solbakken’s decision ​to rest all but one of the players who started against Senegal earlier ‌this week, including goal-scoring machine Haaland and captain Martin Odegaard.

France went on the attack from the kickoff.

Kylian Mbappé, who is likely to be challenging Haaland for the World Cup’s Golden Boot top scorer award, slammed an angled ‌shot off the bar with barely 20 seconds on the clock.

Six minutes later Mbappé swept a glorious cross-field pass to Dembélé who cut inside ​and then outside a defender before blasting an angled shot past goalkeeper Egil Selvik.

Mbappé fed Dembélé again in the 20th minute and the Paris Saint-Germain forward gained a yard of space against his marker once ​again to score with a dipping shot.

Norway pulled a goal back almost immediately through Thelo Aasgaard before ​Dembélé became only the third France player to score a World Cup ​hat-trick – after Just Fontaine and Mbappé – by curling a low shot into the bottom corner in the 32nd.

It was the second-earliest hat-trick ever scored at a ​World Cup, behind Erich Probst who got three goals for Austria in 1954 against Czechoslovakia after 24 minutes.

Read moreWorld Cup 2026: Group standings

Jorgen Strand Larsen blew a chance to get Norway back into the game early in the second half when his soft penalty was saved by Mike Maignan.

Winger Oscar Bobb forced Maignan into another save as the Scandinavians exposed ⁠some vulnerability in their opponents’ back line before Désiré Doué got France’s fourth with a header from a cross by substitute ⁠Bradley Barcola in the ​dying moments.

Norway coach Solbakken said it had been a “no-brainer” to rest so many of his usual starters against France, including ⁠Haaland and Odegaard.

“The only argument for ​not doing what we did is that the fans in Norway and here could have seen Erling and Martin. But then it wouldn’t be a long World Cup, and that’s what we’re here for,” he said. “We’re here to go as far as possible.”

(FRANCE 24 with Reuters)

This weekend’s Diamond League track and field meeting in Paris will go ahead as planned despite the historic heat wave gripping the country and stretching emergency services, organizers said on Friday. Hours after Paris police authorities said they wanted the event canceled, the French athletics federation (FFA) confirmed that it would take place on Sunday at Charlety Stadium, in agreement with the police prefecture. Citing the exceptional heat that has affected Paris since June 21, the police prefecture had asked organizers of the meet, and other events scheduled this weekend including a music festival and a Pride march, to cancel.

The prefecture said it would be forced to comply with the order if they didn’t agree voluntarily as emergency services needed to concentrate their efforts on protecting the most vulnerable people.

Noah Lyle, Femke Bol and Mondo Duplantis are among the athletes expected to compete in Paris.

The FFA, which organizes the meet, said it would be staged in “an adapted format designed to ensure the safety of all participants.”

Only competitions involving professional athletes will be held, with all other activities cancelled.

“Since the beginning of this extreme weather event, the French Athletics Federation has been closely monitoring the situation in constant coordination with government authorities. The safety of athletes, coaches, volunteers, officials, spectators and all staff involved remains our highest priority,” the FFA said.

Among the measures put in place to mitigate the effects of the heat, the FFA cited delaying the opening of the stadium gates to the public, reinforcing medical and emergency services and providing additional drinking water stations and shaded areas.

The average temperature recorded at 30 weather stations by the Meteo France weather agency on Thursday reached 30 degrees C (86F) again, matching the record for the hottest day nationwide set the previous day.

More than three-quarters of France has been placed under a red weather alert for the first time.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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Senegal ⁠crushed 10-man ​Iraq 5-0 on Friday to ​remain in the running for a place in the round of 32 and ​end ‌their opponents’ hopes ⁠of reaching the World Cup knockout stages.

The ‌West Africans enjoyed a dream start ⁠when Abdoulaye Seck’s header directed off teammate Habib Diarra and ​into the Iraqi net ‌in the fourth minute.

Read moreWorld Cup 2026: Group standings

Iraq went down a man in the 12th minute ‌when the referee decided after a VAR ​review to send off defender Rebin Sulaka for pulling down Sadio Mane ​as the Senegalese striker was ​through on goal.

Senegal, who ​ran riot after the break with goals by ​Ismaila Sarr, Iliman Ndiaye and a double from Pape Gueye, must wait to see if they will ⁠advance as one of the eight best ⁠third-placed ​teams.

Read moreWorld Cup 2026: Mbappé becomes France’s record scorer as Les Bleus down valiant Senegal

For all the fun of the new 48-team World Cup format so far, there is a sense that the tournament is a little too forgiving, with 32 teams surviving the initial group phase.

But there’s good news for those of you who need bit more cruelty with your sporting spectacle: That all ends after Saturday, when the new, and obviously larger and better (this is America after all) knockout phase begins Sunday with Canada facing South Africa.

Here’s everything you need to know about the business end of the World Cup, which begins to look a lot more like the playoff formats we know and love in American sports.

Who gets in?

Every team that finishes first or second in group play gets into the knockout phase. Of course, that would only be 24 teams, so in this expanded World Cup, the top eight third-place group finishers also receive a berth.

Those third-place teams are ranked by points they earn in their respective groups. For those finishing on the same number of points, the tiebreakers go in this order: Total goal difference, total goals scored, best discipline record (yellow and red cards), and then FIFA World Rankings.

The first- and second-place finishers have dedicated, pre-determined slots in the bracket. Those third-place teams that qualify are sorted into the remaining spots by that Ghanaian witch doctor who put a curse on Harry Kane.

OK, so they’re actually sorted by a complicated formula that merely feels like a creation of sorcery. But for American fans, the important thing to know is the U.S. men’s national team will face Bosnia and Herzegovina on July 1 in Santa Clara, Calif.

How does it work?

Unlike the group stage that may feel foreign to fans of American sports, this is good, old-fashioned, single-elimination knockout play. The winner moves on. The loser goes home, though the wealthier players might stop off for a confusingly unappealing vacation in July in South Florida.

Also, the bracket is completely fixed, similar to the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball tournament, rather than the NFL, NBA or NHL Playoffs. There is no re-seeding after each round.

What if the match finishes tied?

In single-elimination matches in the World Cup and most other major competitions, teams play 30 minutes of extra time to decide a tie after 90. Teams switch ends after 15 minutes plus stoppage time, but it’s only a momentary pause.

Extra time is not a sudden-death format In other words, play continues after a goal, allowing a losing team to tie the match again or the winning team to add insurance.

For example, in the 1966 final, England defeated West Germany 4-2 in a final that was tied 2-2 after 90 minutes, and England’s fourth goal lives on as one of the most iconic moments in their national team history.

In the 2022 final, Argentina and France each scored in extra time before Argentina eventually won on penalties following an enthralling 3-3 draw.

The match goes to penalties if still tied after 120 minutes.

What happens in penalties?

Usually, Emi Martinez. Or Croatia.

Oh, the format. Each team takes five kicks from the spot, and the team that makes more moves on. If tied after five kicks, they go to a sixth, seventh, and so on in a manner similar to extra-inning baseball, where each team gets an additional attempt until there is a winner.

How long does this all take?

With the knockout phase doubled in size, there is an additional round and the process takes a little bit longer. The bracket and schedule is designed so that, at a minimum, every team has three off days between its last match and its next one (with the exception of the third-place match played a day before the World Cup final).

Unlike the NCAA Tournaments or the NFL Playoffs, the bracket so the games feel continuous. The first truly unscheduled day of the tournament won’t come until July 8. And there will only be five idle days in total until the final on July 19.

Cape Verde and Saudi Arabia will fight for their 2026 World Cup survival when they meet in Houston on Friday night. Cape Verde shocked the world by battling to a 0-0 draw with Spain in their opener, before battling to a 2-2 draw with Uruguay on Matchday 2. Saudi Arabia drew 1-1 with Uruguay, but a 4-0 defeat to Spain left them in trouble. The Saudis need to beat Cape Verde to avoid an early elimination. A draw could be enough for Cape Verde to qualify for the Round of 32. 

Kickoff for Cape Verde vs. Saudi Arabia is 8 p.m. ET from Houston. The latest Cape Verde vs. Saudi Arabia odds from FanDuel Sportsbook list Cape Verde at +160 (risk $100 to win $160) on the 90-minute money line, with Saudi Arabia at +175 and a draw at +230. The over/under is 2.5 total goals. Before locking in any Cape Verde vs. Saudi Arabia picks or World Cup 2026 predictions, check out the Saudi Arabia vs. Cape Verde predictions from SportsLine’s Martin Green.

After working in the sports betting industry for several years, Green became a professional sports writer and handicapper and has covered the game worldwide. Last year, Green was profitable in multiple areas on his soccer betting picks, including the Champions League (+211.25) and Bundesliga (+100). He’s also been red-hot in 2026, posting an 18-8 record over his last 26 UCL picks, returning nearly $1,000 in profit. Additionally, he enters Friday on a 9-5 run (+382) on World Cup picks. Anyone wanting to follow his World Cup betting advice at sportsbooks and on betting apps could see big returns.

Now, Green has studied Cape Verde vs. Saudi Arabia and just revealed his 2026 World Cup picks and betting predictions. You can head to SportsLine now to see his picks. Here are several World Cup odds and soccer betting lines for Saudi Arabia vs. Cape Verde:

Top Cape Verde vs. Saudi Arabia predictions

After examining Cape Verde vs. Saudi Arabia from every angle, Green is leaning Under 2.5 total goals (-150). The four games these two sides have already played at this World Cup split evenly on that number, Cape Verde’s scoreless draw with Spain and Saudi Arabia’s 1-1 draw with Uruguay both stayed under, while Cape Verde’s 2-2 with Uruguay and Saudi Arabia’s 4-0 loss to Spain both went well past it.

“Vozinha made eight saves to help Cape Verde shut out Spain, and Mohammed Al-Owais made nine in Saudi Arabia’s draw with Uruguay, so a quiet final score wouldn’t be a shock if either keeper has a similar night. Cape Verde sit level with Uruguay on two points, and a draw here could be enough to send them through if Spain beat Uruguay elsewhere in the group.” See Green’s best bets for Cape Verde vs. Saudi Arabia at SportsLine, and you can bet the Under in Cape Verde vs. Saudi Arabia at FanDuel here:

How to make Cape Verde vs. Saudi Arabia picks

After studying Cape Verde vs. Saudi Arabia from every angle, Green has found a critical x-factor and locked in a pair of best bets, including one that returns around +250. You can head to SportsLine to see what they are. 

So what are the best bets for Cape Verde vs. Saudi Arabia? Visit SportsLine now to see the best bets for Cape Verde vs. Saudi Arabia, all from expert on an 18-8 roll on UCL picks, and find out.

Before coach Amir Ghalenoei or goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand answered any questions Thursday ahead of Iran’s World Cup match with Egypt, a FIFA official spoke up.

Daniel Marin, FIFA’s executive director of public relations, read a statement in light of the teams meeting in a “Pride Match” in Seattle on Friday. Egypt and Iran are two of the most repressive places in the world for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, but they coincidentally will play each other while the host city honours the LGBTQ+ community.

“This Islamic Republic of the Iran Football Federation has asked us to inform the media that they are only willing to answer questions in relation to the game,” Marin said. “We fully respect the right of all journalists to ask questions. In this case, we ask you respect the rights of the federation here today to only answer questions in relation to the team, the tactics, the match, and so on.” 
Nonetheless, Ghalenoei was peppered with questions about what will transpire inside Lumen Field and around the stadium on Friday.

In December, both countries asked for the Pride-themed celebrations to be cancelled. FIFA treats the rainbow flag as a statement of human rights and will allow fans to wave it inside the stadium, according to Hana Tadesse, a spokesperson for Seattle’s World Cup organising committee.

Ghalenoei said the team would focus on soccer. With a win, Iran could advance to the tournament’s knockout stage for the first time.

“I said to you earlier we are here to play football. For nothing else,” Ghalenoei said in response to a reporter’s question in Persian. “Our entire focus is going to be on tomorrow’s game, on succeeding in tomorrow’s game. And, anything else that is banned … we don’t want to speak about it. 

“We are only going to speak about football, what a beautiful game it is, and how enjoyable it’s going to be.” 
Iran has faced numerous complications off the field. The team has endured travel restrictions imposed by the US Department of Homeland Security in light of the war in Iran.

In March, Iran sought to move its group-stage matches to Mexico, with which it has diplomatic ties. Its request to move its base camp from Tucson, Arizona, to Tijuana was granted two weeks before the team’s arrival. Several team officials and members of the support staff have been barred from travelling into the US with the team.

For the first two matches, near Los Angeles, the team was not permitted to travel until the day before. The US then eased its restrictions, allowing the squad to travel to Seattle two days before Friday’s match.

Ghalenoei said the team is in a better position with its fitness as a result.

“This was a right that we should have had in the two previous games,” Ghalenoei said.

“They deprived us of the right to arrive in time. … What they did for us this time, they didn’t do for the two previous games.” 
Ghalenoei commended FIFA president Gianni Infantino for doing the “utmost” to “minimise the challenges” Iran has faced.

But on Friday, Iran is sure to be tested in multiple ways. Egypt is in first place in Group G, and Iran will try to focus strictly on its opponent.

“We are not going to think about what is going on outside of the pitch, because the game is going to be so arduous,” Ghalenoei said. “It is going to be so exciting that we are going to have our total focus on that. We are representatives of our great Iranian nation and great Iranian country, and football only. We are only focused on football, and nothing else.