Japan’s Wataru Endo addresses fans before a training session Monday, June 8, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn., ahead of the World Cup soccer tournament. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Japan captain Wataru Endo has withdrawn from the 2026 FIFA World Cup and announced his retirement from international football after failing to recover from a persistent foot injury, bringing an emotional end to an 11-year international career.The Liverpool midfielder had been engaged in a race against time to prove his fitness for the tournament after suffering a serious foot injury during a Premier League match against Sunderland in February. The setback effectively ended his domestic season, forcing him to spend the final months of the campaign on the sidelines undergoing rehabilitation while hoping to make one final appearance for his country on football’s biggest stage.There was optimism when Endo was included in Japan’s preliminary World Cup plans. He even returned to Liverpool’s matchday squad as an unused substitute during the club’s 1-1 draw with Brentford on the final day of the Premier League season. However, after linking up with the national team in Nashville, Tennessee, it became clear that the 33-year-old had not recovered sufficiently to compete at the level required for a World Cup campaign.The decision means Endo’s international career ends before the tournament begins, despite initially being named in Japan’s 26-man squad.

Endo announces international retirement

Alongside confirming his withdrawal from the World Cup squad, Endo revealed that he is stepping away from international football entirely.The midfielder, who became one of the defining figures of Japan’s modern era and served as captain in recent years, issued an emotional statement reflecting on both his disappointment and his pride in what the team has achieved.“As announced, I will be stepping away from the World Cup squad. Since my injury, I’ve done everything I possibly could up to this point, so I have no regrets whatsoever.“Of course, there’s frustration at not being able to participate in this World Cup, but more than that, I’m proud of how we’ve grown together since the Qatar World Cup – me as captain, leading this team and turning our goal of ‘winning the World Cup’ into something we can say as a matter of course.”Rather than focusing on the personal heartbreak of missing the tournament, Endo used his farewell message to back the next generation of Japanese players and urge supporters to continue believing that Japan can one day become world champions.“The current team is truly a wonderful team. I believe they will overcome any adversity and show us sights we’ve never seen before.“With this campaign, I will be retiring from the national team. So from here on, I’ll be cheering for the Japan national team as one of the fans. The moment when the Japan national team wins the World Cup will surely come someday.“Let’s believe in that and cheer them on together. And let’s unite Japan’s strength as one so that moment comes in this tournament – everyone, let’s take on the North and Central America World Cup together!!”He concluded with a final rallying cry for his teammates:“Everyone, give it everything you’ve got.”

An international career spanning two World Cups

Endo’s retirement brings the curtain down on a national-team career that began in 2015 and ultimately produced 73 appearances and four goals for Japan.He was first selected for a World Cup squad in Russia in 2018, although he did not feature on the pitch during that tournament. His first World Cup appearances came four years later in Qatar, where he established himself as one of the key figures in Hajime Moriyasu’s side during Japan’s memorable run to the Round of 16.By the time the 2026 tournament arrived, Endo had become captain, one of the team’s senior leaders and an important symbol of the squad’s growing ambition on the global stage.

Injury ends final World Cup dream

The timing of the injury makes the outcome particularly painful for Endo. The Liverpool midfielder underwent surgery after sustaining the foot injury against Sunderland in February, and much of the remainder of his season was devoted to recovery work in an effort to return before the World Cup.

Japan poses for a team photo ahead of the friendly soccer international between Japan and Iceland in Tokyo, Sunday, May 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

His final appearance for Japan came in their last pre-tournament friendly, a 1-0 victory over Iceland in Tokyo on May 31. Koki Ogawa scored the only goal of the game with an 87th-minute header, securing a winning send-off before the squad departed for North America.That match has now become the final chapter of Endo’s international career.

Japan appoint new captain and replacement

Japan have already moved to fill the void left by their captain’s departure. Ajax defender Ko Itakura will inherit the captain’s armband for the World Cup campaign, while Borussia Mönchengladbach forward Shuto Machino has been drafted into the squad as Endo’s replacement.Moriyasu’s side now head into the tournament without one of their most experienced leaders as they prepare for a challenging Group F campaign.Japan head into their World Cup campaign with encouraging momentum, beginning their Group stage against the Netherlands in Dallas on June 14, followed by fixtures against Tunisia on June 21 and Sweden on June 26. The build-up has been equally positive, with Japan’s men’s national team closing their preparations with a 1-0 win over Iceland on May 31, 2026. That result capped a strong set of friendlies, including impressive 1-0 victories over England at Wembley on April 1 and Scotland on March 29.While Endo will no longer be on the pitch, he made clear in his farewell message that he intends to follow every step of the journey from afar, this time not as captain, but as a supporter hoping to see Japan achieve the dream he spent years pursuing.

South Africa’s return to the FIFA World Cup ended in disappointment as Bafana Bafana suffered a 2-0 defeat to hosts Mexico at the Estadio Azteca.

Goals from Julián Quiñones and Raúl Jiménez gave Mexico a historic victory in the opening match of the expanded 48-team tournament. While South Africa showed moments of determination, several factors contributed to their downfall.

Here are three reasons why Hugo Broos’ side lost their opening game.

1. Playing the Host Nation Was Always Going to Be Difficult

Facing the host country in a World Cup opener is one of the toughest challenges in football. Mexico had the advantage of playing in front of a passionate home crowd at the famous Estadio Azteca, with thousands of supporters cheering every attack and creating a hostile atmosphere for the visitors.

South Africa struggled to settle into the game as the crowd constantly backed Mexico and piled pressure on Bafana Bafana. The hosts fed off the energy from the stands and quickly took control of the contest.

2. South Africa Started the Match With Too Much Fear

The approach taken by coach Hugo Broos raised questions from the start. South Africa lined up in a defensive 5-3-2 formation, showing respect for Mexico but perhaps too much respect.

Rather than trying to impose themselves on the game, Bafana Bafana sat deep and allowed Mexico to dominate possession. The plan backfired when a defensive mistake gifted Quiñones the opening goal after only nine minutes.

Conceding so early destroyed South Africa’s game plan and forced them to chase a match they never looked capable of controlling.

3. The Red Card Made a Bad Situation Worse

South Africa were already struggling before Yaya Sithole was sent off in the 49th minute after bringing down a Mexican player as the last defender.

Playing with ten men against the hosts was always going to be a huge task. Mexico took advantage of the extra space and eventually doubled their lead through Raúl Jiménez.

Things became even worse when Themba Zwane received a second red card late in the game, leaving South Africa with only nine players. A team that entered the match cautiously was always likely to suffer after losing players.

In truth, the 2-0 scoreline was probably kind to Bafana Bafana. Mexico hit the woodwork and created several other chances that could have made the defeat much heavier.

Final Thoughts

Mexico deserved their victory and made history by winning a World Cup opening match for the first time. Quiñones’ early goal set the tone for the evening, while South Africa’s defensive mistakes, cautious approach and disciplinary problems combined to hand the hosts a comfortable win.

If Bafana Bafana are to progress in the tournament, they must play with greater confidence and avoid the costly errors that ruined their World Cup opener.

The first of 104 World Cup matches was won by the country that hosted the start of the tournament.

Mexico took down South Africa, 2-0, in Mexico City after Estadio Azteca played host to the World Cup opening ceremonies.

Mexico was the better team from the jump, scoring in the ninth minute after already having two corner kicks.

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Raul Jimenez celebrates with teammates after scoring Mexico’s second goal during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group A match against South Africa at Mexico City Stadium on June 11, 2026. (Hector Vivas/FIFA via Getty Images)

A pass from South Africa’s goalie got away from a teammate and was picked off by Erik Lira. The ball was then taken by Julián Quiñones, who took just one dribble toward the middle of the field and ripped a right-footed shot into the net, putting the crowd into a frenzy.

Hopes of a South African comeback took a hit when Yaya Sithole was given a red card in the 50th minute for bringing Mexico’s Brian Gutiérrez on what would have been a breakaway.

From then on, South Africa was playing with 10 men, making it an even larger mountain to climb.

Mexico players applaud fans during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group A match between Mexico and South Africa at Mexico City Stadium in Mexico City on June 11, 2026. (Angel Delgado/Getty Images)

MEXICO SCORES FIRST GOAL OF 2026 WORLD CUP ON HOME TURF AFTER EMOTIONAL NATIONAL ANTHEM IN OPENING CEREMONY

The dagger came in the 67th minute, when Raúl Jiménez scored a header on a perfect cross from Roberto Alvarado, making it a 2-0 game. Playing in his fourth World Cup, it was Jiménez’s first goal in tournament history, and he could not help but let out his emotions.

South Africa was hit with one more red card in the 84th minute, and Mexico was given one in the 92nd minute. South Africa’s Sithole and Themba Zwane, as well as Mexico’s César Montes, will each miss their next games against Czechia in Atlanta and Korea in Guadalajara, respectively.

In World Cup history, Mexico has now won 15 of the 23 matches in which it has scored first, drawing five and losing three.

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Estadio Azteca, renamed Mexico City Stadium for the tournament, held the tournament’s opening ceremonies, during which all 48 competing countries were represented. FIFA President Gianni Infantino was in the building with the FIFA World Cup Trophy.

Mexico’s forward Julian Quinones celebrates scoring his team’s first goal during the 2026 World Cup Group A match against South Africa at Mexico City Stadium in Mexico City on June 11, 2026. (Rodrigo Oropeza/AFP via Getty Images)

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Mexico is coming off a disappointing trip to Qatar, as it was the first time since 1978 that it competed in a World Cup and did not make it to the knockout stage. Aside from its ban in 1990 and not qualifying in 1982, it had made it past the group stage in nine straight World Cups it played in.

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Ask Vikings coach Matt Daniels and there’s not much of an issue with Brett Thorson holding. Or, at least, with catching the snap from the long snapper.

The talented rookie punter is the underdog in his competition against veteran Johnny Hekker, who received a single-season deal worth $1.262 million on the cap (OTC). Every penny will stick around as dead money if he gets cut.

Still, Thorson was brought to town for a reason. He boasts a booming punt, capable of offering his team healthy field position. Thorson is operating under a UDFA contract that sees just $90,000 guaranteed. In other words, cutting him won’t be any hindrance to the cap if things don’t work out.

What’s working in his favor, though, is his youth, upside, and capacity to settle in as a holder.

Vikings Coach Matt Daniels Believes Rookie Punter Can Hold

Gone are the days of Tony Romo – and, more accurately, the currently playing QBs – holding the ball for PAT and FG. Rather, the job responsibility has shifted to the punter, the specialist who spends his days working with the other specialists. Giving him the added workload makes all the sense in the world.

Per Daniels, the Kirby Smart approach of not leaning on his punter is derivative of the Bill Parcells approach. Once upon a time, Mike Zimmer was the head coach of the Vikings. Notably, he’s a Parcells disciple. Every so often, Zimmer would make headlines for his comments on kickers. Did he ever oversimplify the kicking/holding operation?

More pertinent for right now: can Thorson overcome his inexperience as a holder to secure the P1 spot in 2026?

Check out what Matt Daniels had to say: “Obviously, coming out of Georgia, Kirby is really from a Parcells tree […] where the quarterbacks are the holders.” Not long afterwards, Coach Daniels noted Thorson’s “great hands” before describing that the focus is on placing the ball down cleanly and at the correct angle for Will Reichard.

Therein lies the key, folks: working in a way that makes Reichard comfortable.

Earlier in the same presser, Coach Daniels described how Reichard keeps “chasing” perfection. Doing so means adjusting his mechanics in an effort to drill the football perfectly straight rather than last year’s approach, one involving a “little baby draw.”

Any punter who can’t allow Reichard to thrive isn’t going to be employed by the Minnesota Vikings.

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“I watched over 300 snaps of this guy at practice and there’s no issue with the holding,” Daniels went on to say of Thorson.

Last year, Oscar Chapman competed with Ryan Wright to be the team’s starting punter. In all likelihood, Mr. Wright — somebody who offered an exclusive for VT — would have won the job no matter what, but Chapman appeared to bobble the ball at one point. That didn’t help, folks.

At this stage, Johnny Hekker appears to be a 99.9% certainty to handle the snap from long snapper Andrew DePaola cleanly. He is, like all of us, human, meaning he’ll make mistakes. What he nevertheless offers is a high degree of consistency. At no point will he be nervous about catching a heater from DePaola.

Brett Thorson has a longer runway in the NFL since he’s still a young fella. Quite possibly, he’ll be able to punt the ball for greater distance while offering better hang time, too. But then there’s the other aspect of the job: holding. That small does detail matters.

Put bluntly, the Vikings cannot chase upside at punter at the risk of undermining elite play from Reichard.

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Matt Daniels has a few months before needing to make a final call. The punter battle will get rolling in late July when the Vikings return for training camp.

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Senior Editor for Vikings Territory & PurplePTSD . Twitter & Bluesky: @VikingsGazette. Email: k.joudry[at]vikingsterritory[dot]com. Canadian. Jude 1:24-25.

Mexico ignited their FIFA World Cup 2026 party with a dominant 2-0 victory over nine-man South Africa on Thursday as the biggest ever edition of the global footballing showpiece kicked off at the iconic Estadio Azteca. Julian Quinones scored the opening goal of the tournament and veteran striker Raul Jimenez added a second as the co-hosts’ bid for qualification from Group A got off to smooth start. The match saw a total of three cards too; South Africa received two, finishing with only nine men after Sphephelo Sithole and Themba Zwane were sent off, while Mexico’s Cesar Montes also saw red in stoppage time. For the first time in FIFA World Cup history, three red cards were shown in the opening match of a World Cup.

The Mexican-colored red, green and white smoke from pre-game fireworks had barely dissipated before Quinones fired the hosts into the lead on nine minutes, drilling a low shot through the legs of South Africa’s goalkeeper and captain Ronwen Williams.

A deafening roar cascaded down from the stands of the Azteca, the footballing cathedral that became the only stadium to host games at three different World Cups.

South Africa coach Hugo Broos had warned his players to be ready for the intimidating atmosphere created by a capacity 80,824 crowd at the imposing concrete arena.

But South Africa’s players looked to have a bad case of stage fright as Mexico’s fans  greeted each completed pass with a raucous chorus of “Ole!” in the opening minutes.

Sithole seemed particularly affected, being caught in possession trying to play out of the back for Quinones’ opening goal.

Sithole’s miserable afternoon ended with a 49th minute dismissal after bundling over Mexico’s Brian Gutierrez when clean through on goal.

Mexico rammed home their advantage in the 67th minute, with a fine counter attack culminating in Roberto Alvarado crossing for Wolverhampton Wanderers forward Jimenez to nod home at the far post.

It got worse for South Africa in the 84th minute when Zwane was dismissed after a VAR review for flinging an arm into the face of Alvarado.

There was still time for late drama when Mexican defender Cesar Montes was shown a red card for a clumsy challenge on Khulisa Mudau on the edge of the penalty area.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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Phil Mickelson has been accused of “inappropriate contact” with a female golf-club employee, according to a report from Golf Digest.

The publication reported Thursday that Mickelson’s membership from The Farms Golf Club in San Diego was revoked after a female staffer accused him of “nonconsensual and inappropriate physical contact” with her earlier this year. According to the report, which cites multiple sources with knowledge of the matter, Mickelson approached and made contact with the employee before he set out for a round of golf. The report says the employee rejected Mickelson’s advances and reported the incident to management.

According to Golf Digest‘s sources, the club immediately reviewed the incident and confronted Mickelson mid-round with the allegations. Mickelson was then asked to leave the property, which he did before the end of his round.

Mickelson, who is currently on leave from pro golf for a personal matter, declined to comment directly to Golf Digest, but a Mickelson spokesperson offered a brief statement about the alleged incident:

“Any misunderstanding has been cleared up. Phil continues to attend to a family health matter and is uncertain when he will be able to return to professional golf.”

Mickelson’s manager did not immediately respond to a text from GOLF.com seeking further comment.

In a statement to Golf Digest, The Farms confirmed that a member had been removed following an incident involving an employee but did not say whether the member was Mickelson. The statement read:

“The Farms Golf Club is committed to maintaining a golf club environment that is safe, respectful and reflects the highest standards of conduct. All members are required to adhere to our Code of Conduct, and any allegations of misconduct are taken seriously. Following a staff member report of member misconduct, the Club provided immediate and ongoing support to the staff member, conducted a thorough independent investigation of the incident and took decisive action. This individual is no longer a member of The Farms Golf Club.”

Mickelson missed the start of the LIV Golf season to tend to his personal issue. He returned for LIV’s South Africa event in March before announcing that he would be out for an extended period of time as he navigates a “family health matter.”

Mickelson, who is 55, sat out both the Masters and the PGA Championship this year. It was only the second time that Mickelson did not tee it up at Augusta National since 1995. Mickelson also missed the 2022 Masters after he made controversial comments about LIV Golf’s Saudi financiers.

Canelo Alvarez will make his ring return in September as he attempts to regain the WBC super-middleweight world title against Christian Mbilli, and boxing icon Roy Jones Jr has explained what he believes will prove to be pivotal in the outcome of the fight.

Alvarez suffered an injury when he lost his undisputed throne to Terence Crawford back in September and was left sidelined when all four titles were reassigned, due to Crawford’s retirement and subsequent relinquishment.

However, following a successful elbow surgery, Alvarez will jump back into an immediate title shot against Mbilli, who was elevated to full WBC world champion after defending the interim belt against Lester Martinez on the Canelo-Crawford undercard.

Whilst Canelo is undeniably a legend of the super-middleweight scene, the 35-year-old has shown signs of fading in recent outings, leaving fans questioning whether he still has what it takes to re-establish himself as the best 168lber on the planet.

Speaking with Boxing News, Jones Jr said that the bout against Mbilli will come down to how much hunger the Mexican has left, declaring that Canelo, at his optimum, will be too much for the best version of the new champion.

“That is a good fight to look at. I like Mbilli, but Canelo is still better than what people give him credit for, so I ain’t going to say that Mbilli is going to beat him.

“I know that Mbilli is a good fighter, but I haven’t seen Mbilli really prove himself [at the elite level] yet. I have seen what Canelo can do, so a hungry Canelo will beat Mbilli, but if he ain’t hungry, then Mbilli is gonna beat him.

“If he is hungry enough, he will win the fight, it all depends on what Canelo’s hunger level is.

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Alvarez vs. Mbill takes place on Saturday, September 12, topping a ‘Mexico vs. The World’ bill which takes place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.