Sports
Best Fan Bases At The 2026 World Cup
Nigerians are one of the most passionate football fanbases in the world.
Drums, trumpets, dancing, and of course, the famous “Walele” anthem are synonymous with the Super Eagles supporters. They are a spectacle to see and experience, which makes their absence at the 2026 World Cup (and the 2022 before it) all the more painful.
Simply put, the world stage was robbed of one of the best supporter sections in the world. Or maybe the other way around. Nigeria missed out on a golden opportunity to showcase itself to the world.
That’s why we wanted to rank (in no specific order) which fans have made a name for themselves the most during the 2026 World Cup across the three hosting countries. Let’s get into some of the fun fans brought to the biggest stage in sports in 2026.
Mexico
Mexico fans were already among the most die-hard in the world despite the team not being the most successful (top-reviewed BetOnline says Mexico are distant World Cup favorites). Giving them tournament hosting duties in 2026 only amplified them. Big time.
This was not just Mexicans showing up for El Tri games (that’s a given). What made Mexicans fans stand out is how they turned the whole tournament into a month-long national party (that’s still going).
Not just when the national team won — which they did three times in the group stage and once in the knockouts — but for the tourney and other teams in general. For instance, social media was flooded with South Koreans partying among the Mexicans. So too were the Japanese. Colombians. All fans were embraced by the Mexicans.
Heck, we saw the same for the playing teams. Almost all of them received a mariachi and sombreros upon entering the country. Maybe we missed it, but greetings of this kind were non-existent in Canada and the USA, but hey, we digress!
Japan’s football team received a warm welcome from Mexico fans and organizers, including free sombreros and mariachi entrance music.
But going back to the actual Mexico national team, upon their four wins, the local fans occupied the local streets. In Mexico City, we saw over 100,000 flood the downtown area around El Angel statue. Words don’t do it justice, but the drone video that was posted online shows the magnitude of the celebration.
Mexico already had a firm reputation among football fans, but it’s somehow been strengthened even more after 2026.
Netherlands
The Netherlands may not have the loudest fan base in the world, but they might have the easiest one to spot from a distance. Of course, we’re talking about that orange wall.
You best see this during the famed Oranje Fanwalk. Thousands and thousands of Dutch fans marching together in orange, singing, dancing, bouncing — for miles toward the stadium. Mind you, they did this for one game in Houston despite humid, suffocating weather that Texas is famous for in the summer. Talk about commitment!
That’s what separates the Dutch from a lot of other fan bases. Some countries bring noise. Some bring numbers. Some bring color. The Netherlands brings all three, and then some!
Scotland
Scotland may not have had the longest tournament (they were eliminated in the group stage), but the Tartan Army took over the two cities it played in.
The first was the city of Boston. To the shock (at first), Bostonians were overtaken by thousands of Scottish fans in kilts and playing the bagpipe. They too, like the Netherlands, march to the stadium. But while in Boston, they also went to the famed Fenway Park and turned a baseball game into a frenzy.
That’s only the tip of the iceberg — or traffic cone, should we say. The Tartan Army is famous for jokingly putting street traffic cones on public monuments, and that they did in Boston.
The Scots also reportedly drank the city dry of beer. Yes, really. Sam Adams said it’s Boston Lager went empty when the Tartan Army was in town. The company also said its beer was drunk four times as much as it usually is in bars where it’s stocked at.
That was not its only contribution to the local people though. In their usual tradition, the Tartan Army also donated nearly $30,000 to local kids’ charities in the area.
Now the Tartan Army did similar things in Miami, but it just had a special connection with the city of Boston. So much so that the Tartan Army ran a full-page ad in the local newspaper thanking the city for hosting them. Talk about a romance.
Argentina
Are Argentina fans the best traveling supporters in the world?
Just based on the eye test, it sure feels like it. Every single game they play, the Argentines take over the stadium. You can tell by not just the sea of blue and white jerseys, but their singing chants all game long.
That was obvious during the group stage. Argentina opened in Kansas City, then played in Dallas, and fans still followed them city to city like they’re The Beatles (maybe bigger nowadays). Some supporters reportedly shelled out tens of thousands of dollars — a small fortune to the average Argentine worker — to follow the defending champions around the United States.
To save money, one group of fans allegedly drove 20 hours to Kansas City for the opener against Algeria, living off sandwiches along the way just to save money. And that is before we even get to the cyclists. Three Argentina fans reportedly biked nearly 11,000 miles from Argentina to Kansas City just to watch their national team at the World Cup. Eleven thousand miles!
This is fandom on another level. Of course, it helps when your team is reigning champions and led by Leo Messi, in what might be his final World Cup. That has made every Argentina match feel like part soccer game, part farewell tour, part religious event.
After writing all this, we just hope we get to see the Super Eagles in 2030. The world deserves to see our fanbase in the same light as these four mentioned.
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Thunder Rosa is one of the best women’s professional wrestlers in the world, but the journey to get to the top of the mountain is one that is never-ending.
Rosa, whose real name is Melissa Cervantes, performs for All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), two of the major promotions in North America. But while most professional wrestlers started their path to the ring at a school, Rosa was a social worker before wrestling caught her eye.
“I became a pro wrestler 13 years ago after making a decision to stop being an activist. I was a social worker, so, one day, I decided that I wanted to be a wrestler after going to a wrestling show and just attending a couple of the shows there and feeling that was the next step to take,” she told Fox News Digital in a recent interview.
“I feel like the call was like — it was going to be a bigger platform. I just decided to go and do a tryout, and after I did the tryout, I fell in love with professional wrestling.”
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Thunder Rosa battles Deonna Purrazzo during AEW Collision June 15, 2024, at the Covelli Centre in Youngstown, Ohio. (Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Rosa said the aura of pro wrestling is what got her hooked in the first place, everything from the theatrics to the sport.
She said she was up for the challenge even though she never played many sports in her life.
“It’s everything. It’s all the details, all the different things that the sport entails, which is, you know, the theatricals, the level of athleticism,” she said. “It’s just like the fact that you could travel with it and also because it’s very challenging. It was going to be very challenging for me physically because I never done, like, sports, and I just felt like I could do it at the time.”
Rosa said she had to start from scratch, “learning how to roll, learning how to exercise, learning how to build my body, learning, like, body control, a lot of like gymnastics, basics on many different sports, and I think I just had to like really pull it together and then really be realistic with myself.”
She said she needed to work harder than anyone in her training classes because most of the time she was the only woman in the class if not the room.
She said there was never one moment she could point to where she knew taking a chance on pro wrestling was the right move. It wasn’t until she noticed she didn’t have time to go to her day job that she thought she could make a career out of wrestling.
“There’s not really a moment because I feel like when you’re getting and you’re earning things, sometimes you feel like you have an imposter syndrome. And no matter what you have done, like, it’s just like not enough, right?” Rosa told Fox News Digital
“I feel like that even when big opportunities came, it was like, ‘Oh, I’m so lucky that this happened to me.’ No, I wasn’t lucky. It’s just people saw that I had the skills and I had the talent and I had the ‘it’ factor, and they gave me an opportunity.
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Thunder Rosa battles Deonna Purrazzo during AEW Collision June 15, 2024, at the Covelli Centre in Youngstown, Ohio. (Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
“I feel like once things started rolling with bigger opportunities in professional wrestling, that’s when I was like, ‘OK, I think I can leave my full-time job and become a professional wrestler.’ I think it was my first contract with Lucha Underground when I just noticed that I didn’t have enough time to go to work.
“That was the time where it was it was time for me to move my next chapter of my life and my career. So, that’s when I think I was like, ‘OK, I think I can do this. I think it’s feasible. It’s going to be hard, but it’s feasible.’”
Rosa joined AEW in 2020 and started to defend the National Wrestling Alliance Women’s Championship on “Dynamite.” She lost the title to Serena Deeb. She would gain AEW World Women’s Championship gold for the first time when she defeated Britt Baker in a cage match.
She was the fifth woman to hold the title. However, she had to relinquish it due to a back injury.
Rosa told Fox News Digital she took pride in helping women’s wrestling grow.
“It’s been really beautiful to see the journey that a lot of us have taken in the last six years here in AEW or even seven because we’ve seen something small grow so big to the point where we have had shows that have had 80,000 people,” she said.
“The way that we or I was able to help the women’s division and grow and given a bigger platform with opportunities that have a lot at stake. I take that with a lot of pride. There was a lot of things that happened in 2021-2022 that really broke a lot of barriers for a lot of the women that are now in the women’s division, and they all have done a tremendous job on continuing to open more doors for everyone that is coming in the future.
“It’s been also incredibly interesting to see how different companies have worked together, and now they are symbiotic of each other. They exist and subsist with each other’s collaboration, and that, I think, has changed the landscape of professional wrestling forever because we’re not living on an island.
“I feel like this subculture or this culture of professional wrestling has subsisted within this niche, but I feel it’s becoming bigger and bigger and bigger. So, that has been very interesting to see how AEW has been pivotal for that stuff.”
Melissa Cervantes, known as “Thunder Rosa,” dressed as Catrina in honor of the San Diego Padres City Connect debut, smiles during a game at Petco ParkApril 10, 2026, in San Diego. (Meg McLaughlin/The San Diego Union-Tribune via Getty Images)
Rosa vowed to continue to use her voice to advocate for women and children, which she stressed was important to her. She also said she is focused on the latter part of the year with Grand Slam Mexico.
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“I have a lot of things planned. I continue to work extremely hard every single day to be better at my craft. I continue to work really, really, really hard outside of professional wrestling to advocate for women and for young children because I think that’s something very, very important, and to advocate for my community. I continue to focus on the opportunities that are in front of me,” she said.
“Right now, we’re going to focus, like, laser focus, on Grand Slam in Mexico City. Then, there’s some big things happening in September, October during Dia de Los Muertos and, like, all that stuff. There’s a lot of opportunities to come during that time. So, I’m taking everything day by day and, of course, I want gold, but that is not on me. I’ll just have to continue to work harder and continue to knock on doors.
“Even when I lose, I always win. And the last Forbidden Door, we had a tremendous match with Divine Dominion and with Olympia. We always leave something for the fans to remember. Again, I will continue to work extremely hard to hopefully have gold in the future, but if not, I will enjoy the journey just as much.”
Super Eagles winger Moses Simon has revealed that missing out on a move to Liverpool remains one of the biggest disappointments of his football career.
The 30-year-old, who recently joined French club Paris FC after leaving Nantes, said he came close to signing for the Premier League giants during his time at Belgian side Gent.
Simon has built an impressive career in Europe and has become one of Nigeria’s most dependable players. The experienced winger has made 98 appearances for the Super Eagles and is one of the senior members of the national team.
Speaking in an interview with Urban Dwell Sport, Simon admitted that his desire to leave Gent affected his performances between 2016 and 2018.
He explained that several clubs, including Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, Brighton, Fulham, Hull City and Lyon, showed interest in signing him.
According to Simon, Liverpool came closest to completing the transfer, but the deal eventually fell through.
“From 2016 to 2018, I dropped in form because I wanted to make a transfer,” Simon said.
He added that after the Liverpool move failed, he became frustrated and struggled to stay focused on his football.
“The second year, I was supposed to go to Liverpool. It didn’t work. In my head, I was asking if it was the agent or the club. I didn’t want to play,” he said.
Simon admitted he wrongly believed that performing below his usual level would force Gent to sell him more quickly.
The Nigerian winger said the Belgian club had signed him for around €1 million but later valued him at €25 million, making a transfer more difficult.
Looking back, Simon believes he made the wrong decision and hopes younger players can learn from his experience.
He advised footballers not to let transfer rumours affect their commitment on the pitch, stressing that they should always give their best whether a move happens or not.
“If there is a rumour or no rumour, just give everything. A transfer can come, and you go. If it doesn’t come, continue because your club is paying you. That is the contract you signed,” he said.
Despite failing to join Liverpool, Simon has enjoyed a successful career, winning trophies and becoming one of Nigeria’s most-capped players.
Now just two appearances away from reaching 100 caps for the Super Eagles, Simon is on course to join the exclusive list of Nigerian players who have reached the century mark for the national team.
Sports
Bob Arum says one heavyweight fight trumps ‘The Rumble in the Jungle’ as his proudest night in boxing
A veteran of the fight game, legendary promoter Bob Arum has overseen many of the sport’s most iconic moments, including the comeback of Muhammad Ali, but there is another occasion that sticks out as the proudest of his career.
Arum’s first promotional gig came when he staged Ali’s 1972 dust-up with George Chuvalo, the year after Ali lost out to Joe Frazier in the ‘Fight of the Century’ when attempting to regain the heavyweight throne.
Under Arum’s guidance, Ali went on to avenge that defeat to Frazier and then dethrone George Foreman in the fabled ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ – arguably the most famous event in the history of the sport – to become a two-time world champion.
Yet, whilst those years no doubt fill Arum with pride, he told DAZN Boxing that a moment which springs to mind amongst his proudest is when Foreman recaptured the heavyweight titles in a historic win over Michael Moorer at the age of 45 years old.
“[There are] a number of things [which I am proud of] because I have bee around so often, but one of them that comes to mind is taking a fat, old George Foreman and getting him where he fought for the heavyweight championship against Michael Moorer.
“He lost every round but he was moving more to his power hand and he finally knocked him out. That, to me, was one of the high points of my career.”
Foreman remains as the oldest fighter to win the heavyweight world title, a record that is unlikely to be broken any time soon.
Sports
Manly Sea Eagles vs North Queensland Cowboys Tips, Odds, Teams & Predictions – NRL Round 19 2026
4 Pines Park will play host to Sunday’s
Round 19 NRL game between Manly Sea Eagles and
North Queensland Cowboys. The game kicks off at 4:05 pm with Manly Sea Eagles heading into the game as favourites with the bookmakers. Continue reading for our in-depth preview of the Manly Sea Eagles vs.
North Queensland Cowboys
game and give you our free tips and bets.
When: Sunday July 12, 2026 at 4:05 pm
Where: 4 Pines Park
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Manly Sea Eagles vs North Queensland Cowboys Odds
Manly Sea Eagles vs North Queensland Cowboys Preview
Manly returns to 4 Pines Park aiming to rediscover consistency after alternating wins and losses over the past six rounds. The Sea Eagles have been particularly difficult to beat at home, while North Queensland arrives full of confidence following its upset victory over ladder leaders Penrith. Jason Taumalolo’s milestone match inspired the Cowboys last week, but recent away performances have been less convincing. Tom Trbojevic and Haumole Olakau’atu give Manly plenty of strike power, and the Sea Eagles have won four straight against North Queensland, including a comprehensive victory earlier this season. Home-ground advantage may again prove the difference.
Manly Sea Eagles vs North Queensland Cowboys Teams
Sea Eagles team: 1. Tom Trbojevic 2. Jason Saab 3. Tolutau Koula 4. Reuben Garrick 5. Lehi Hopoate 6. Joey Walsh 7. Jamal Fogarty 8. Taniela Paseka 9. Jake Simpkin 10. Kobe Hetherington 11. Haumole Olakau’atu 12. Ben Trbojevic 13. Jake Trbojevic 14. Corey Waddell 15. Nathan Brown 16. Ethan Bullemor 17. Simione Laiafi 18. Josh Feledy 19. Aaron Schoupp 20. Blake Wilson 21. Fletcher Baker 22. Nicholas Lenaz
Cowboys team: 1. Scott Drinkwater 2. Braidon Burns 3. Zac Laybutt 4. Tomas Chester 5. Murray Taulagi 6. Jaxon Purdue 7. Jake Clifford 8. Thomas Mikaele 9. Reed Mahoney 10. Jason Taumalolo 11. Heilum Luki 12. Jeremiah Nanai 13. Reuben Cotter 14. Soni Luke 15. Griffin Neame 16. Matthew Lodge 17. Coen Hess 18. Sam McIntyre 19. John Bateman 20. Liam Sutton 21. Ethan King 22. Ronald Philitoga 23. Tom Dearden
Sports
France book World Cup semi-final place with win over Morocco thanks to Mbappé, Dembélé – Sports
Les Bleus advanced to the World Cup semi-finals for the third consecutive time on Thursday. Didier Deschamps’ side struggled for the first 45 minutes against Morocco’s defence before making the breakthrough in the second half thanks to Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé (2-0). They will face Spain or Belgium for a spot in the final.
Tadej Pogacar is still the king of the Tour. The 27-year-old won stage six of the Tour de France by crushing his rivals on the Col du Tourmalet. He reclaimed the yellow jersey with a 2-minute, 42-second lead over Jonas Vingegaard.
In tennis, the Wimbledon women’s final will be an all-Czech affair between Linda Noskova and Karolína Muchova, a source of great pride for a country of just 10 million inhabitants.
Has India ever lost back-to-back T20I series? Check out the full history and records originally appeared on Cricket News. Add Cricket News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
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England beat India 3-0 in a bilateral series, a first-ever such win.
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India suffer back-to-back bilateral T20I series losses for first time since 2019.
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Brook-Salt’s 146-run stand ranks among biggest chases against India ever.
When did India last lose consecutive T20I series? History repeats after the Bristol rout
England etched their name into the record books by claiming their maiden bilateral T20I series win over India in a contest spanning multiple matches, sealing an unassailable 3-0 lead courtesy of a dominant nine-wicket victory in the fourth match at Bristol’s County Ground.
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This defeat means India have now lost consecutive bilateral T20I series for the first time since February 2019, having earlier this year also suffered a 2-0 series loss in Ireland.
The last occasion India found themselves in a similar rut came when they were beaten 2-1 in New Zealand before facing a 2-0 whitewash at home against Australia, both in 2019.
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Brook and Salt power a record-breaking chase
England’s victory was built on an unbroken 146-run partnership between captain Harry Brook and opener Phil Salt, a stand that now ranks as the fourth-highest partnership recorded against India in T20I history and one of the largest ever seen in a successful run chase.
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Only a handful of partnerships sit above it, Quinton de Kock and David Miller’s unbeaten 174 for South Africa in Guwahati in 2022, Alex Hales and Jos Buttler’s 170 for England during the 2022 T20 World Cup semi-final in Adelaide, and Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan’s 152 for Pakistan during the same year’s World Cup in Dubai.
Brook finished unbeaten on 79, while Salt remained not out on 59, as England completed the chase of 159 in just 13.5 overs, coasting home with 37 balls to spare.
MORE: ‘Not ready for international cricket’: Indian fans left frustrated with Sooryavanshi
|
Rank |
Partnership |
Team |
Venue |
Year |
|
1 |
174* – Quinton de Kock & David Miller |
South Africa |
Guwahati |
2022 |
|
2 |
170* – Alex Hales & Jos Buttler |
England |
Adelaide (T20 World Cup SF) |
2022 |
|
3 |
152* – Babar Azam & Mohammad Rizwan |
Pakistan |
Dubai (T20 World Cup) |
2021 |
|
4 |
146 – Harry Brook & Phil Salt* |
England |
Bristol |
2026 |
|
5 |
133 – David Warner & Shane Watson |
Australia |
Colombo (T20 World Cup) |
2012 |
A chase that rewrites England’s own history
Beyond troubling India’s record books, the win also holds special significance for England themselves.
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It stands as their joint second-best victory by wickets remaining in a successful chase above 150, matching an identical nine-wicket win over South Africa in Cape Town back in 2020.
The only chase that ranks higher remains England’s extraordinary ten-wicket win over India in the 2022 T20 World Cup semi-final, when they chased down 169 without losing a single wicket.
Among cricket’s Full Member nations, this chase also stands as the joint fourth-fastest completion of a 150-plus target by balls remaining, sitting alongside similarly rapid chases such as India’s own win over New Zealand in Guwahati earlier this year.
|
Rank |
Balls Remaining |
Match |
|
1 |
60 |
India vs New Zealand, Guwahati (2026) |
|
2 |
43 |
New Zealand vs South Africa, T20 World Cup (2026) |
|
=3 |
37 |
West Indies vs South Africa, Kingston (2024) |
|
=3 |
37 |
England vs India, Bristol (2026) |
|
5 |
33 |
England vs Pakistan, Lahore (2022) |
For all the latest cricket news, opinion, and commentary, and to share your voice, head to our Facebook, Instagram, and X (Twitter) pages.
How should England line-up against Norway? Our writers pick their XIs for World Cup quarter-final
It’ll be another tricky selection for Thomas Tuchel and his staff as the England manager considers how best to combat Erling Haaland. Our writers have gathered to try and give him a helping hand with their suggested XIs – though Marc Guehi’s potential absence could change things.
Harry Latham-Coyle10 July 2026 07:50
Jarell Quansah banned for two games
One defender definitely out of the World Cup quarter-final is Jarell Quansah, banned for two matches after his red card against Mexico. Will Castle has the full story:
Harry Latham-Coyle10 July 2026 07:40
England facing defensive headaches?
Reece James is also facing a race against time to prove his fitness for the last-eight clash as the right-back works back from his own hamstring injury. Would England risk both he and Marc Guehi if not fully fit? Plenty to mull for Thomas Tuchel.
Harry Latham-Coyle10 July 2026 07:30
Marc Guehi and Declan Rice emerge as doubts
Widespread reports last night suggest that England are concerned particularly over the fitness of Marc Guehi, who has a slight hamstring strain that is nonetheless concerning before a meeting with club colleague Erling Haaland.
Declan Rice, too, has been kept away from the rest of the squad as he deals with an illness amid fears of it spreading.
Harry Latham-Coyle10 July 2026 07:25
World Cup LIVE
Another day at the World Cup dawns with England fretting over the fitness of two more key figures. Reports suggest that both Marc Guehi and Declan Rice are doubts for the quarter-final against Norway – giving Thomas Tuchel yet more to worry about amid some significant selection headaches.
We’ll have all of the latest as the quarter-finals continue throughout the day.
Harry Latham-Coyle10 July 2026 06:58
Sports
France vs Morocco HIGHLIGHTS World Cup QF: Mbappe, Dembele help FRA beat MAR 2-0 to book semis berth
The clash was a rematch of the 2022 World Cup semifinal, where France defeated Morocco 2-0 before eventually losing an epic final to Argentina.
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Public unrest began in parts of London late Thursday night, and it appears Morocco’s exit from the 2026 FIFA World Cup at the hands of France is the reason.
France took down Morocco 2-0, eliminating the African country for the second consecutive tournament, this time in a quarterfinal match.
As a result, many feared Paris would erupt into riots, especially after the chaos that followed Paris Saint-Germain’s UEFA Champions League victory over Arsenal in May.
Instead, images and videos from Edgware Road in northwest London showed police clashing with large crowds as smoke billowed through the streets and debris littered the roadway.
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A police vehicle is parked in a road as people from pro-Palestinian activist groups gather near the Edgware United Synagogue during a demonstration against the “Great Israeli Real Estate Event” organized by real-estate agency My Home in Israel, which markets property in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, in London, Britain, June 14, 2026. (Toby Shepheard)
Riot police, equipped with shields and body armor, tried to contain the crowds as they clashed with people launching fireworks and throwing debris. One video also appeared to show an officer down.
KYLIAN MBAPPÉ, OUSMANE DEMBÉLÉ FIRE FRANCE INTO WORLD CUP SEMIFINALS WITH WIN OVER MOROCCO
It’s unknown what happened to the officer who was down on the asphalt or how he was injured.
Fans waved Moroccan flags in the middle of the streets, which held up traffic. Some even jumped on top of vehicles trying to get through the area.
Moroccan fans in the stands before a FIFA World Cup 2026 quarterfinal match between France and Morocco at Boston Stadium July 9, 2026, in Foxborough, Mass. (Richard Sellers/SportsphotoAllstar)
Similar scenes unfolded after Egypt’s World Cup exit, when Argentina rallied for a controversial 3-2 victory that featured several disputed officiating decisions.
Paris, on the other hand, looked more like a city celebrating than one on the brink of a riot. Supporters of both France and Morocco flooded the streets, slowing traffic in several parts of the city.
One video showed horns blasting from cars with French and Moroccan flags out the windows on the L’avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris. Supporters on the side of the road, waving their own flags, joined in on the celebration.
France’s Kylian Mbappé scored his eighth goal of this World Cup, which ties him for the most with Argentina’s Lionel Messi. Ousmane Dembélé also scored in the second half for France in the 2-0 win over Morocco.
It’s the third straight semifinal appearance for France, while Morocco still made World Cup history despite the loss. After becoming the first African country to reach the quarterfinals and semifinals in World Cup history in 2022, Morocco added to that by becoming the first-ever African nation to reach more than one quarterfinal.
Moroccan fans react while attending a watch party for the World Cup round of 8 match between France and Morocco in Boston, Massachusetts, on July 9, 2026. (Joseph Prezioso/AFP)
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Morocco’s exit means there are no more African nations alive in the World Cup. France will be taking on the winner of Spain and Belgium, while England and Norway and Argentina and Switzerland face off in the quarterfinals.
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Justin Rankin scored three big-play touchdowns as the Edmonton Elks returned to their winning ways with a 40-17 victory over the struggling Ottawa Redblacks on Thursday.
Rankin had 107 yards on just 14 carries with two touchdowns on the ground, adding three receptions for 43 yards and a touchdown. Quarterback Cody Fajardo went 19-of-24 passing with 340 yards and two touchdowns.
The Elks, who haven’t made the playoffs since 2019, moved ahead of Saskatchewan into first in the West Division at 4-1.
The Redblacks are still seeking their first foray into the win column, sitting at 0-5.
QB Jake Maier went 26-of-39 passing for 293 yards, one touchdown and four interceptions.
The Elks opened the scoring on a competent opening drive, capped off by Rankin, who bounced off a defender and swung wide for a 19-yard touchdown. The league’s leading rusher, Rankin only had 19 yards total rushing in last week’s loss to the Lions, but managed 40 yards on the opening drive.
The score remained stagnant until midway through the second quarter when Elks kicker Vincent Blanchard nailed a 36-yard field goal.
Ottawa got on the board with four minutes left in the second with plenty of help from the Elks. Edmonton took three penalties on the drive including a roughing the kicker call after initially pinning the Redblacks, eventually allowing for a one-yard plunge by backup QB Bryson Barnes to make it 10-7.
Edmonton closed out the first-half scoring after a Tyrell Ford interception and an impressive 90-yard catch and run down the sidelines by Brendan O’Leary-Orange to the six-yard line that set up a 15-yard Blanchard field goal. The Elks quickly got the ball back for another Blanchard field goal from 50 yards out for a 16-7 lead at halftime.
With less than two minutes to play in the third, Ottawa closed the deficit significantly as Maier completed a 21-yard pass into the endzone to Ayden Eberhardt.
Fajardo brought his team right back to start the fourth quarter, completing a four-yard TD pass to Kaion Julien-Grant.
Ottawa responded with a 27-yard field goal from Brett Lauther to cut the lead to 23-17.
Rankin made an impact again with 6:28 to play in the fourth as he caught a Fajardo pass and weaved 33 yards for the major.
Maier was intercepted for the third time in Edmonton territory on the night, this time by Chelen Garnes, setting up yet another Rankin TD as he took a pitch and cut in and around the defence for a 31-yard run into the endzone.
The Ottawa pivot was picked off for the fourth time, the second by Kordell Jackson, on their next drive, leading to an 11-yard Blanchard field goal.
Elks: Host the B.C. Lions next Friday.
Redblacks: Welcome the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to town next Sunday.
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