With a draw enough to send Austria through as Group J runners-up and Algeria into the last 32 as one of the best third-placed sides, the prospect of a convenient result had dominated conversation in the build-up.
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But Rangnick said the game’s extraordinary finale should silence any conspiracy theories.
“In this match, when you have a 3-3, nobody can assume that it was an agreement, and especially what we saw during the last 90 seconds,” the 67-year-old said.
The match exploded into life deep into added time.
Algeria captain Riyad Mahrez put his side 3-2 ahead in the 93rd minute, only for substitute Sasa Kalajdzic to equalise with virtually the last touch of the game.
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“Three minutes to play, if somebody had said this would happen, you would have told them they were mad,” Rangnick said.
“I’ve been a coach for about 40 years and I don’t even remember a match that had such a dramatic course and such an unexpected trajectory.
“Most anticipated 0-0 or 1-1, and now it’s 3-3. It’s incredible. The locker room is madness. If Alfred Hitchcock had written such a drama, I probably would have said he was completely mad.”
The German rejected suggestions that either side had been content to settle for a draw late in the game, noting that players continued to push for a winner before Mahrez’s strike.
“All who watched the game during the last 15 minutes must know there is no hint that the players absolutely wanted to have a draw,” he said. “I think they wanted to win.
“Nobody can tell me that suddenly in minute 93 somebody would plan: ‘oh yes, let’s score another goal.’ I think maybe it was the thought of one or two players in Algeria, but I think in the rest of the squad I don’t think it was the case, and not for me.”
Austria now face European champions Spain in the round of 32 on July 2 in California.
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Rangnick said he believes anything is possible.
“You saw that during the last couple of seconds (on Saturday). And who would have thought that Turkey would be eliminated after only two matches?
“So we’re very happy that we are in the most difficult of all groups, and we advance in second in this group, and that was definitely not easy.”
Rangnick said he was still struggling to process a result that booked his team’s first World Cup knockout appearance in 44 years.
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“I am relieved and incredulous and happy,” he said. “I still can’t believe it. I need to be pinched to wake up from a dream.”
On Sunday afternoon, 21 British players were into the main draw of the Wimbledon men’s and women’s singles. By sunset on Monday, only nine remained. Despite bright sunshine and balmy temperatures in SW19 what seemed an idyllic start to the tournament rapidly morphed into a nightmare, a truly miserable Monday, as 10 Brits fell on the opening day – the worst return for the home nation this century.
Twelve homegrown players were scheduled for the first day of the Championships. One didn’t make it at all, as Emma Raducanuwithdrew late on Sunday night before she had been slated to open play on Court No 1 on Monday afternoon. Her latest in a litany of frustrating injury setbacks came as a recent “niggle” she had been managing developed into a full-blown stress fracture, and she was advised not to compete.
So 12 was down to 11, and of those survivors, three were knocked out by lunchtime. Things then went from bad to worse: at 2.30pm came the announcement that Jack Draper – scheduled to play on Tuesday – was to follow Raducanu as the highest-profile British player in his draw to pull out, this time with a recurrence of the arm injury that forced him to miss seven months of the tour between August and February.
That news came as Harriet Dart, unexpectedly promoted to Court No 1 after Raducanu’s exit, was locked in an almighty tussle against Jelena Ostapenko. Having dropped the first three games before needing a medical timeout it looked as though Dart might be going the way of her other fallen compatriots, but she rallied in spirited fashion to push the ever-combustile Latvian to three bruising sets.
But as Ostapenko wobbled her way through her service games and produced 13 double faults it was a tie that could easily have gone the other way, and an obviously disappointed Dart was bitterly aware of this as she walked off court with her head covered by a towel.
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She joined wildcards Mika Stojsavljevic (lost in straight sets to 11th seed Belinda Bencic) Felix Gill (lost in three sets to 23rd seed Rafael Jodar), and Alicia Dudeney (lost in straight sets to Alycia Parks), and Max Basing (lost in straight sets to fellow qualifier Shintaro Mochizuki) in making a swift exit out of the All England Club gates.
The dominoes kept falling as teenagers Mimi Xu and Hannah Klugman lost almost at the same time, falling to Daria Kasatkina and 2024 champion Barbora Krejcikova. The draw certainly was not kind to many of the Brits.
While Dart was grappling with Ostapenko the hopes of a nation were slowly descending onto the shoulders of British No 1 Cameron Norrie, so often the last one standing at a major championships. The 30-year-old, seeded 26th, normally produces his best tennis at home, something he acknowledged after the fact.
But he was condemned to his earliest exit at Wimbledon since 2018 by talented college player Michael Zheng, who prevailed in a match tie-break after five closely fought sets. The 22-year-old went through qualifying to reach all three major main draws this year and was a tricky first-round draw despite making his debut at the tournament, having been a junior finalist here.
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Harriet Dart looked dejected as she walked off court (Reuters)
Norrie later described him as “one of the best college players, if not the best college player, at the moment”. But he would have expected to edge the encounter, especially after recovering from the rib injury which hampered him during the clay season.
The exodus continued as qualifier Oliver Tarvet saved three match points in a gritty display against 25th seed Arthur Rinderknech but eventually fell in four sets. Tarvet – who memorably made it to the second round last year, losing to Carlos Alcaraz – put up a fight for more than four hours, and needed a medical timeout after a nasty fall in the third.
Fran Jones then lost in straight sets to Diane Parry to cap a record-breaking day, while the numbers could have been even worse had Jack Pinnington Jones’ match against Brandon Nakashima not been suspended due to bad light, with the Brit two sets to love down.
There was no faulting the effort on display, or the significance of the crowd’s support behind every player. Norrie said afterwards: “I fought really hard. I felt the desire, the hunger, which is important. It’s just tough to fight every point, and you come out on the losing side. But that’s sport.”
Dart shrugged off the idea that there was any greater weight of expectation on the British players’ shoulders. She said: “It’s not just being a British player out there. I think every player has pressure, regardless of the situation. And no matter how many times you do it, someone’s always feeling the pressure. It’s just how people handle it, and some people handle it better than others.”
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Oliver Tarvet fought hard but could not take his first-round match to a deciding set (PA)
But after two high-profile injury withdrawals and a torrent of first-day losses, with British players winning just five of 29 sets played, there was not much to be cheery about. Least of all for the LTA, who stuck to their strategy of showering wildcards on promising British hopefuls and now have little to show for it.
For all the money funnelled into British players, the two most prominent are dealing with injury after injury, while the remainder are struggling to match the likes of Americans, Ukrainians, or Italians in terms of numbers in the top 10 and consistency at the top level. Miserable Monday at Wimbledon threw that into stark relief.
Norrie summed it up: “It always stinks to lose, especially at Wimbledon, my favorite tournament in the world, a tournament I always play so well at. I played well today.
“I think it just takes probably a week or so for this kind of loss to get over. There’s no hiding from it. Yeah, it stinks.”
Suncorp Stadium will play host to Friday’s
Round 17 NRL game between Brisbane Broncos and
Sydney Roosters. The game kicks off at 8:00 pm with Sydney Roosters heading into the game as favourites with the bookmakers. Continue reading for our in-depth preview of the Brisbane Broncos vs.
Sydney Roosters
game and give you our free tips and bets.
Two of the competition’s biggest clubs meet at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night looking to rediscover consistency.
Brisbane’s season remains frustratingly difficult to assess. The Broncos have shown glimpses of their best football but have been unable to string together consecutive performances, leaving them chasing a finals position.
The Roosters have endured similar issues. Trent Robinson’s side has alternated impressive victories with disappointing defeats, making it difficult to gauge where it sits among the competition’s contenders.
The battle through the middle could prove decisive, with Sydney’s forward pack continuing to perform strongly despite mixed results. With a bye looming, the Roosters have extra incentive to head into the break on a positive note, while Brisbane desperately needs a statement win on home soil.
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Brisbane Broncos vs Sydney Roosters Teams
Broncos team: 1. Reece Walsh 2. Josiah Karapani 3. Kotoni Staggs 4. Grant Anderson 5. Jesse Arthars 6. Thomas Duffy 7. Ben Hunt 8. Preston Riki 9. Cory Paix 10. Payne Haas 11. Brendan Piakura 12. Jordan Riki 13. Xavier Willison 14. Blake Mozer 15. Ben Talty 16. Aublix Tawha 17. Jack Gosiewski 18. Hayze Perham 21. Josh Rogers 20. Jaiyden Hunt 22. Kane Bradley 23. Va’a Semu
Roosters team: 1. James Tedesco 2. Billy Smith 3. Hugo Savala 4. Robert Toia 5. Mark Nawaqanitawase 6. Daly Cherry-Evans 7. Sam Walker 8. Naufahu Whyte 9. Reece Robson 10. Lindsay Collins 11. Nat Butcher 12. Siua Wong 13. Victor Radley 14. Connor Watson 15. Spencer Leniu 16. Egan Butcher 17. Salesi Foketi 18. Rex Bassingthwaighte 19. Tommy Talau 20. Benaiah Ioelu 21. Toby Rodwell 22. Taylor Losalu
That’s half-time and Nagelsmann is running as fast he can across the pitch and towards the tunnel. Presumably he is about to light his players up after this horror show.
Alan Smith29 June 2026 22:21
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Germany 0-1 Paraguay
49’ – Bobadilla gives away another corner. Kimmich will leave this one for Brown.
Alan Smith29 June 2026 22:19
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Germany 0-1 Paraguay
47’ – Better-ish. Nmecha has a shot that is deflected out by Canale. Kimmich’s corner, again, is unable to cause much bother.
Alan Smith29 June 2026 22:18
Germany 0-1 Paraguay
46’ – Kimmich sends in a corner. Galarza heads it away.
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Alan Smith29 June 2026 22:17
Germany 0-1 Paraguay
45’ – Germany restart with another passive spell that eventually ends with Kimmich blasting over.
Nagelsmann, already under pressure, must work some magic at the break.
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But first we will have five added minutes.
Alan Smith29 June 2026 22:15
GOAL! Germany 0-1 Paraguay (Enciso 42)
They can – but not directly from the corner.
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Almiron’s delivery is punched away by Neuer but Bobadilla wins possession, works it out to the right.
Galarza puts the cross in and Enciso, completely unmarked, powers home.
The celebrations are wild and that’s a reward for their perseverance off the ball.
(Reuters)
(Getty)
Alan Smith29 June 2026 22:13
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Germany 0-0 Paraguay
41’ – Almiron wins a corner via Brown and… they couldn’t, could they? Almiron will take it.
Alan Smith29 June 2026 22:11
Germany 0-0 Paraguay
41’ – The corner is taken short and it amounts to nothing. A wasted opportunity. “That sums them up,” says an increasingly exasperated Shearer.
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Alan Smith29 June 2026 22:10
Germany 0-0 Paraguay
40’ – Caceres heads a diagonal pass from Sane towards Wirtz out for a corner.
Alan Smith29 June 2026 22:09
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Germany 0-0 Paraguay
39’ – On BBC Alan Shearer has said calling the game “rubbish” would be “polite.”
Manager John Schneider announced Monday that Barger now has a stress fracture in his back. Barger will be shut down from all baseball activities for a few weeks.
Barger has only appeared in nine games this season due to multiple injuries. He initially went down with an ankle injury in April, but after returning for two games in early May, he suffered an elbow injury and hasn’t played since.
Last season Barger broke out in a big way, hitting 21 home runs. But this season, he has just one hit in nine games.
Suncorp Stadium will play host to Saturday’s
Round 17 NRL game between Dolphins and
New Zealand Warriors. The game kicks off at 3:00 pm with Dolphins heading into the game as favourites with the bookmakers. Continue reading for our in-depth preview of the Dolphins vs.
New Zealand Warriors
game and give you our free tips and bets.
One of the round’s most intriguing clashes takes place at Suncorp Stadium when the Dolphins host the Warriors on Saturday afternoon.
New Zealand continues to defy expectations despite missing several key players, producing another impressive display in last week’s victory over North Queensland. Hooker Wayde Egan remains central to the Warriors’ success, controlling matches with his creativity around the ruck.
The Dolphins have been equally impressive, establishing themselves as genuine finals contenders through a combination of attacking flair and strong squad depth. Regardless of personnel changes, they have maintained a consistent style of football throughout the season.
With both sides sitting comfortably inside the top-eight conversation, this shapes as a significant test of credentials. Expect a high-quality contest between two teams that have built their success on discipline, effort and resilience.
May 16, 2026; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Buffalo Sabres left wing Beck Malenstyn (29) looks on during warm-up before the game against the Montreal Canadiens in game six of the second round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images
The Buffalo Sabres re-signed forward Beck Malenstyn to a six-year, $17.5 million deal on Monday, two days before he was set to become a free agent.
Malenstyn, 28, was acquired from the Washington Capitals ahead of the 2024-25 season. He has 24 regular-season points (11 goals, 13 assists) across his first two seasons in Buffalo, including a career-high seven goals in 2025-26.
Malenstyn largely made his presence felt in other areas. He set a franchise record this past season with 282 hits (fifth-most in the league) and finished second on the Sabres with 75 blocked shots.
He also recorded the fastest skating speed recorded in the NHL Edge era (since 2021-22) when he reached a speed of 24.94 mph in a March game against the Capitals.
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“Being somebody that tries to play that heavy, hard, fast, physical game all the time, I think there are moments where you maybe create a little bit more space for yourself and don’t take advantage of them,” Malenstyn said. “… I think I was able to take a step in that direction this year, create a little bit more offense when I was on the ice.”
His new average salary of just over $2.9 million annually more than doubles his previous salary with Buffalo ($1.35 million).
Malenstyn helped the Sabres snap an NHL-record 14-year playoff drought this past season, with the run coming to an end in the second round against the Montreal Canadiens.
Nigeria Premier Football League side Rivers United have completed the signing of versatile right-back Samuel Bassey from Godswill Akpabio United FC, per Oty Silas.
Popularly known as “Saha”, Bassey joins the Pride of Rivers on a two-year contract after an impressive campaign with Godswill Akpabio United in the Nigeria National League (NNL).
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The former Vandrezzer FC player will strengthen the squad being assembled by former Super Eagles coach Finidi George ahead of Rivers United’s CAF Champions League campaign next season.
Samuel Bassey is highly regarded for his versatility, with the ability to operate effectively in both defensive and attacking positions, making him a valuable addition to the Rivers United squad.
Harry Kane will extend his Bayern Munich contract, Manchester City plan major rebuild, while Rayo Vallecano left-back Pep Chavarria is a target for Chelsea.
The appointment of Enzo Maresca at Manchester Citycould lead to a major rebuild with England full-back Rico Lewis, 21, Netherlands defender Nathan Ake, 31, Spanish midfielder Nico Gonzalez, 24, Portugal defender Ruben Dias, 29, and Brazil winger Savinho, 22, all potentially up for sale. (Mail), external
AC Milan are ready to bid £21.5m for England midfielder Mason Mount, 27, but Manchester United do not want to sell him. (Mail), external
Hull City are set to sign Rangers goalkeeper Jack Butland, 33, with Croat Ivor Pandur, 26, heading in the opposite direction as part of a swap deal to bring the Englishman back to the Premier League. (Sun), external
Chelseahave identified Rayo Vallecano’s Spanish left-back Pep Chavarria, 28, as the man to replace 27-year-old Spain full-back Marc Cucurella after his sale to Real Madrid. (Marca – in Spanish), external
Bayern Munich winger Michael Olise is aware that several clubs, including Real Madrid and Paris St-Germain, are keeping an eye on his performances for France at the World Cup, with the 24-year-old set to meet with the German side after the tournament to discuss his future. (AS – in Spanish), external
RB Leipzig say Ivory Coast winger Yan Diomande will remain at the club next season despite the 19-year-old reportedly choosing Paris St-Germain as his next destination. (Florian Plettenberg), external
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