Spain winger Lamine Yamal said he is thrilled to see Lionel Messi continue defying the passage of time and delivering standout performances at this year’s World Cup, praising the 39-year-old Argentine captain just days before Spain’s own quarterfinal clash against Belgium.

Messi currently leads the tournament’s Golden Boot race with eight goals and delivered another standout showing in Argentina’s dramatic 3-2 comeback win over Egypt on Tuesday, a result that carried the defending champions into the quarterfinals. Asked about Messi’s continued excellence at this stage of his career, Yamal, 18, did not hold back his admiration in comments to Spanish outlet El Mundo Deportivo. “Incredible,” Yamal said. “Everyone knows who Messi is, but no one expected him to be playing at such a high level. I’m really happy for him.”

Messi was named the tournament’s most valuable player when Argentina ended a 36-year wait for a third World Cup title in Qatar in 2022, and the Inter Miami forward has now scored in nine consecutive World Cup matches dating back to that triumph. Yamal, who inherited Messi’s iconic No. 10 shirt at Barcelona last season, has often been compared to the Argentine great as one of the sport’s brightest young talents, making his comments about Messi’s continued dominance carry particular weight.

Beyond Messi, Yamal also expressed appreciation for two other players who shaped his childhood love of the sport, Neymar and Cristiano Ronaldo, both of whose international careers effectively concluded during this tournament. “I’m happy for Neymar, even though he’s no longer here, and for Cristiano [Ronaldo],” Yamal said. “They shaped the childhoods of all of us who are playing now.”

Neymar, Brazil’s all-time leading scorer with 80 goals, brought his international career to a close following Brazil’s Round of 16 exit against Norway on Sunday. The 34-year-old forward had not featured for Brazil since October 2023 due to injuries but returned to the national team for this tournament before Brazil’s elimination.

Ronaldo’s World Cup career, meanwhile, ended at the hands of Yamal’s own Spain squad. Portugal’s 1-0 defeat to Spain on Monday marked Ronaldo’s final World Cup appearance, closing the book on his pursuit of the one major trophy that had eluded him throughout his career. The Portuguese star exits the tournament as the only player in history to score in six different World Cups, and he remains the all-time leader in both international goals, with 146, and international appearances, with 233.

Reflecting on watching both Neymar and Ronaldo depart the tournament, Yamal offered a gracious sentiment about his childhood idols’ broader legacies. “Anything good that happens to them will be good for me,” Yamal said. “That said, if I make it to the final, I want to win it.”

Yamal’s own tournament has been shaped by a recent return from injury. He played all 90 minutes in Spain’s win over Portugal, marking his longest stretch of playing time in a single World Cup match so far this tournament, after working his way back to full match fitness following an absence of nearly two months. “I’d been out for almost two months, and it’s not the same as when you’ve played seven games in a row,” Yamal said. “I need to keep touching the ball, keep playing, keep racking up minutes, and, obviously, that game will come.”

Despite his standing as one of the tournament’s most closely watched young stars, Yamal was candid about holding himself to a high standard, acknowledging that he has yet to feel fully satisfied with his own performances so far. “I think I can do better. I’m very hard on myself. I’m not satisfied with what I do,” Yamal said. “I’ve never been the best player in the group stage. I’m not worried about that. I know I have opportunities to prove it.” He added that he tends to elevate his game as matches grow more consequential, saying, “The closer the important matches get, the semifinals or the final, the better I play.”

A European champion with Spain in 2024, Yamal is now preparing for Friday’s quarterfinal against Belgium in Inglewood, California, a match he says he is approaching with confidence and anticipation. “I’m feeling great,” Yamal said. “I’m really looking forward to showing what we’re capable of as a team and what I’m capable of. I hope the match against Belgium will be a great one for the whole team.”

Friday’s quarterfinal represents the second match of the tournament’s knockout round, following France’s clash with Morocco earlier in the week. Spain advanced to this stage after its narrow win over Portugal, while Belgium reached the quarterfinals with a commanding 4-1 victory over co-host United States in the Round of 16, a result that ended the Americans’ tournament run and marked the elimination of the last remaining World Cup co-host nation.

With Messi, Ronaldo and Neymar all representing distinct eras and storylines within this year’s tournament, Yamal’s comments underscore the sense of generational continuity running through the 2026 World Cup, as a new wave of young stars, led by players like Yamal himself, continues to emerge alongside some of the sport’s most decorated veterans during what may be a final World Cup appearance for several of the game’s biggest names. As Spain prepares to face Belgium, Yamal’s own growing influence on the tournament will be closely watched, with his combination of technical ability and competitive maturity positioning him as one of the players most likely to define the remainder of this year’s knockout stage.

San Francisco pet owners are set to lose access to one of the pet care industry’s biggest brands with the upcoming closure of the city’s lone PetSmart location.

PetSmart’s store located in the City Center shopping center on Geary Blvd. is set to close on July 19, according to a report by SFGate.

The pet store chain confirmed the planned closure in an email to SFGate, explaining that the company remains “committed to serving pet parents throughout San Francisco, who will continue to have access to nearby PetSmart locations, including our Daly City store, as well as online shopping with convenient delivery options.”

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PetSmart is planning to close its lone location in San Francisco. (Kevin Carter/Getty Images)

The company also told the outlet that it’s expanding fulfillment capabilities at the Daly City store to better serve the community.

San Francisco PetSmart employees who will be affected by the closure are being offered resources to help in their transition and “information about opportunities at nearby PetSmart locations,” SFGate reported.

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San Francisco’s lone PetSmart location is reportedly closing this month. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

PetSmart’s San Francisco location has provided boarding services for customers’ dogs and cats, along with grooming services, though those services aren’t currently available at the location, according to the company’s website – though pet training and adoption services remain available.

The company cited “a number of factors” as contributing to the decision to close in its comment to SFGate, noting that with increasing numbers of customers using online shopping, autoship and same-day delivery services, PetSmart is adapting how to best serve pet owners.

FOX Business reached out to PetSmart for comment.

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PetSmart previously acquired Chewy, though it was spun off by BC Partners. (Gabby Jones/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

San Francisco’s retail sector has faced headwinds in recent years, with a number of Walgreen’s stores closing as well as the San Francisco Centre shopping mall losing brands like Adidas, American Eagle, Bloomingdale’s, Nordstrom and Michael Kors.

PetSmart was acquired by private equity firm BC Partners in 2015 for $8.7 billion and the firm remains its majority shareholder, though Apollo made a strategic investment in the chain in 2023.

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The company acquired Chewy – a rival pet product retailer that focuses on e-commerce – through a deal in 2017, though BC Partners moved to separate the two companies in 2023.

Citadel founder and CEO Ken Griffin took direct aim at rising socialist sentiment in America, telling progressive politicians to “read a damn history book” while warning that high taxes and poor public services are driving Wall Street out of blue states.

Speaking at a Goldman Sachs symposium, the billionaire hedge fund manager detailed how he believes fiscal mismanagement in cities like New York is accelerating a financial migration toward business-friendly hubs in Florida and Texas, according to audio obtained exclusively by Fortune.

“I believe Citadel will be a principal player in financial services for far longer than [New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani] will be mayor,” Griffin said according to Fortune. “We intend to be here for decades. And he will be here for a few years.”

“How have we ended up with so many 20- and 30-year-olds who actually think socialism is the path to prosperity?” Griffin asked, while noting World Bank data showing that when China shifted toward free-market policies, it lifted roughly 800 million people out of poverty over a 40-year period.

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“It’s the greatest success story in the history of humanity,” he continued, saying that “whether it’s Bernie Sanders, whether it’s Mamdani,” to “read a damn history book for once and then tell us how to run our country.”

Citadel CEO and founder Ken Griffin at the Semafor World Economy Summit meetings in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 2026. (Getty Images)

Griffin’s comments come after similar remarks he made at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, earlier this year. The CEO has also publicly criticized Mamdani over taxes, wealth distribution and the city’s business climate, as well as a viral advertisement that called out Griffin’s New York City penthouse.

Shortly after the pandemic, Citadel relocated its headquarters to Miami, where the firm is constructing a 1.7 million-square-foot office tower in the city’s downtown financial district.

During the Goldman Sachs symposium, Griffin also questioned the corporate hype surrounding artificial intelligence, arguing that companies often confuse genuine technological advances with marketing buzzwords.

At a dinner with top CEOs “about two years ago,” Griffin said many executives were enthusiastic about artificial intelligence, but he was skeptical.

“I couldn’t help myself. I’m like, ‘Let’s go around the table and share stories about how AI is transforming your business,’… not one involved AI.”

“There is a technological revolution happening, of which AI is a component of the story,” he told Goldman Sachs executive Ashok Varadhan Mahajan, “but it’s just a piece.”

Griffin also warned that a Chinese blockade of Taiwan would trigger an immediate economic shock in the United States by cutting off access to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, and shrinking the U.S. economy by an estimated 8% within six months.

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“As an American I get frustrated by this,” he said. “Simply put, we go into a Great Depression in the blink of an eye. Unlike any we’ve seen before… everything freezes.”

Citadel did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

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Shares of Space Exploration Technologies Corp. traded at $152.35 on Thursday, up $4.09, or 2.76 percent, recovering some ground after the stock briefly slid toward its initial public offering price earlier in the week following news that a lawsuit had forced the shutdown of a data center tied to a major artificial intelligence contract.

Note: This article is intended to provide factual context and does not constitute financial advice. Readers should consult a licensed financial advisor before making investment decisions.

SPCX shares fell as low as $150.55 during early trading Tuesday, coming close to slipping below the company’s original $135 listing price for a second time since the company’s public debut on June 12. According to TradingKey, the decline was tied to reports that a legal challenge had led to the shutdown of gas turbines powering SpaceX’s Colossus 2 data center, a facility central to a reported $45 billion contract with AI company Anthropic. The lawsuit raised questions about whether the disruption could jeopardize the underlying agreement, contributing to renewed selling pressure on the stock even as broader market sentiment toward technology shares remained mixed heading into the week.

The pullback came just as SpaceX was completing its formal addition to the Nasdaq-100 index on July 7, a milestone that marked the fastest such inclusion in the index’s history, occurring just 15 trading days after the company’s record-setting IPO. According to TradingKey’s analysis published around the time of the inclusion, SPCX was trading near $158 with a technical floor identified around $149, and the firm cautioned that historical precedent from other high-profile Nasdaq-100 additions, including Palantir and Strategy, showed both stocks peaking around their respective inclusion dates before experiencing significant pullbacks in the weeks that followed.

Despite the recent volatility, Wall Street sentiment toward SpaceX has remained largely constructive. According to TipRanks, SpaceX has received several buy ratings from major brokerages since officially joining the Nasdaq-100, and analysts currently characterize the stock as undervalued relative to its price. Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas has continued to advocate a bullish case for the company, according to CNBC, while separate coverage from JPMorgan described the possibility of a future merger between SpaceX and Tesla, both led by Elon Musk, as “strategically coherent,” fueling continued speculation about the long-term structure of Musk’s broader corporate holdings.

Investor Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest has continued to make notable moves involving SpaceX shares in recent sessions. According to TipRanks, ARK Invest exchange-traded funds purchased 182,000 additional shares of SpaceX on Wednesday, extending a pattern of active portfolio adjustments the firm has made involving the stock since its public listing. Separately, options market activity has shown a moderately bearish tilt among traders in recent sessions, with notable put buying activity observed as shares traded in the mid-$140s earlier in the week.

Beyond the data center dispute, SpaceX has continued to generate a steady stream of corporate news since going public. The company’s newly integrated AI division, operating under the SpaceXAI banner following its merger with Elon Musk’s xAI earlier this year, announced this week that it was releasing its latest large language model, Grok 4.5, in partnership with AI coding company Cursor. SpaceX also moved bitcoin on-chain for the first time in six months on Tuesday, according to TipRanks, an $88 test transaction that ended a lengthy period of blockchain inactivity for the company and drew attention from cryptocurrency-focused analysts tracking corporate bitcoin holdings.

SpaceX’s broader business continues to span three primary segments. Its Space division designs, manufactures and launches reusable rockets, including the Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy and Starship vehicles, for both commercial and government customers, and conducts more orbital launches annually than any other launch provider in the world, including national space programs. Its Connectivity segment operates the Starlink satellite broadband network, which now includes approximately 9,600 satellites in low-Earth orbit delivering service to customers across more than 164 countries and territories. Its AI segment, formed through the xAI acquisition earlier this year, operates the Grok large language model, the X social media platform, and a growing footprint of AI computing infrastructure, including the Colossus data center system at the center of this week’s legal dispute.

The company’s customer base includes some of the largest institutional space and technology purchasers in the country, with NASA, the U.S. Space Force and the National Reconnaissance Office among its largest government clients. Elon Musk owns approximately 42 percent of SpaceX’s outstanding shares and controls roughly 85 percent of the company’s voting power through a structure of super-voting stock, giving him continued significant control over the company’s strategic direction even as it now trades as a public company.

Valuation remains a central point of debate among analysts covering the stock. According to Morningstar, SpaceX’s aggressively lofty valuation implies that investors will likely need to wait years, if not decades, for the company’s earnings to grow into its current market multiples, even as the firm acknowledged SpaceX’s dominant, decade-long lead over competitors in launch experience and payload volume. The company’s market capitalization stood at approximately $2.13 trillion as of the most recent trading data from TipRanks, reflecting the scale of investor interest in the stock despite its short public trading history.

SpaceX’s 52-week trading range, reflecting price movement since its IPO just weeks ago, spans from a low of $147.11 to a high of $225.64, according to TipRanks, illustrating the significant volatility that has characterized the stock’s brief time on public markets. The company has not yet announced a date for its first quarterly earnings report as a public company, an event analysts have identified as a key upcoming catalyst likely to provide further clarity on the durability of both its core launch and Starlink businesses and its rapidly expanding AI infrastructure segment.

With the data center dispute still developing and the broader Anthropic contract’s status not yet fully clarified in public disclosures, investors are likely to continue monitoring further updates on the legal proceedings, along with SpaceX’s ongoing execution across its space, connectivity and artificial intelligence businesses, as key factors shaping the stock’s trajectory in the weeks ahead following its historic entry into the Nasdaq-100 index.