Italian teenager Kimi Antonelli ended a three-race winless streak on Sunday to extend his lead in the Formula One drivers’ championship with a solid fighting victory for Mercedes in the Belgian Grand Prix. The 19-year-old Mercedes driver came home 1.952 seconds ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc with four-time champion Max Verstappen finishing third for Red Bull. Antonelli’s teammate George Russell, who began the race in second place in the championship, just 25 points behind the Italian, crashed out of the race on the opening lap after tangling with Hamilton.
Hamilton was fourth for Ferrari after an incident-filled race in which he hit a mechanic during a pit-stop. The incident was referred to the stewards. While the seven-time champion escaped additional punishment, his Ferrari team were handed a fine.
Isack Hadjar, who began at the back of the grid, did superbly to work his Red Bull up to sixth, just holding off reigning world champion Lando Norris, who started 13th, in the second McLaren.
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It was Antonelli’s sixth win of the season and came from his sixth pole of the year, the first driver to win from pole in Belgium since 2021.
It lifts him to 204 points in the championship, 45 clear of Hamilton with Russell third on 154.
“It feels very nice to be back on the top step,” said Antonelli.
“We just have to keep performing, keep bringing the results and then we will see what will happen at the end of the year.”
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The race started in cool conditions under a grey sky with rain in the air as Antonelli made a good start to lead up to La Source, but he had no answer when Verstappen deployed his power pack to pass him through Eau Rouge.
The Dutchman was then immediately vulnerable to a counter-attack and both the Italian and Leclerc drafted past him into Les Combes where behind them Hamilton clashed with Russell.
– ‘Racing incident’ –
The four-time champion continued in fifth, but Russell bounced off into retirement as a Safety Car (SC) was deployed.
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Hamilton reported that he “had no front end” control as a result of a car ahead moving across him and the incident was investigated by the stewards who gave Hamilton a five-second penalty.
A downcast Russell, whose title bid had taken a heavy blow, said: “It was a racing incident, but it shouldn’t have happened if I’d had the speed down the straight.”
Racing resumed on lap five with Piastri fighting and resisting Hamilton before Verstappen swept past Leclerc for second. Piastri then chased Leclerc and they touched at Les Combes, where the Monegasque defended and the Australian lost a piece of front wing end plate.
The stewards investigated again, but took “no further action” while Hamilton advanced and passed Piastri for fourth on lap nine as the race settled after a frantic start with Antonelli two seconds clear of Verstappen at the front ahead of both Ferraris.
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Further virtual safety cars (VSC) intervened and on lap 20, Ferrari went for a ‘double-stack’. Leclerc went through cleanly but Hamilton, who had to serve his five-second penalty, made a messy exit touching a mechanic.
The mechanic was reported to be fine and, after deliberation, race stewards decided that as Hamilton had stopped immediately following the incident and lost more time, a further penalty for him was not justified.
Ferrari, however, were handed a 30,000 euro ($34,300) fine, of which 10,000 euro is suspended for 12 months, and they must also provide the FIA with a report with “protocols introduced to mitigate the risk of such an incident” from reoccurring.
The incident left Norris, who had started 13th after a 10-place grid penalty for taking a new battery, leading ahead of Leclerc, Antonelli and Verstappen until the Ferrari cruised by to take command on lap 23.
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Antonelli swept past Norris three laps later and surged after Leclerc while Hamilton fell back to sixth.
Norris finally pitted, rejoining eighth after a slow stop due to a sticky left rear, Hadjar rising to sixth behind Hamilton.
Leclerc led until lap 34 when, as he feared, Antonelli’s superior power carried him through at Les Combes.
But he hung on tight, within a second of the silver arrow, while Hamilton passed Piastri for fourth with five laps to go
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France vs Morocco Highlights | Mbappé Inspires France to FIFA World Cup Semifinal Victory
Pep Guardiola has reportedly emerged as Italy’s top choice for the national team job after holding talks with football legends Paolo Maldini and Leonardo in Barcelona.
According to Sky Sports Italia, Maldini and Leonardo travelled to Spain to meet the former Manchester City manager and discuss the vacant Italy head coach position. The meeting reportedly lasted longer than expected and may have continued throughout the weekend.
Photos of Maldini and Leonardo in Barcelona circulated on social media, fuelling reports that they were trying to convince Guardiola to take charge of the Azzurri.
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However, Guardiola has repeatedly said he is enjoying his break from football and is not ready to return to management.
Speaking recently, the 55-year-old explained that he wanted to step away from the game to focus on his personal life.
“From a mental standpoint, I don’t miss anything at all,” Guardiola said.
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He added that he wanted to spend more time with his children and his 95-year-old father while adjusting to life away from football.
Although Italy see Guardiola as their preferred candidate, his decision to remain on sabbatical has made any potential move difficult.
The Italian Football Federation is also considering other options. Former Italy coach Roberto Mancini and Juventus legend Andrea Pirlo have both been linked with the role, while recent reports claim Antonio Conte has already reached an agreement to become the new Italy manager.
Guardiola has also been mentioned as a possible future England coach following the Three Lions’ disappointing World Cup campaign, with several football pundits suggesting he could replace Thomas Tuchel if the role becomes available.
From Madrid to Barcelona, Spanish fans were out in full force to celebrate their team’s win. It took 11 shots to get them the 1-0 victory over Argentina. Meanwhile, in Buenos Aires, fans still celebrated late into the night, despite coming in second place for Lionel Messi’s last World Cup outing.
Terence Crawford cemented his place amongst the pound-for-pound greats when he dethroned Canelo Alvarez last year, and now fellow modern boxing legend Oleksandr Usyk has revealed how he believes ‘Bud’ would have fared against the iconic Sugar Ray Leonard.
There, he also became the only post-war fighter to have captured the undisputed crown in three different weight-classes – having already achieved the feat at both super-lightweight and welterweight.
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Shortly after that history-making triumph, Crawford made the decision to walk away from the sport with his undefeated record intact, content with a career that finished with a record of 42-0.
After Hearns became boxing’s first five-division champion on November 4, 1988, Leonard joined him as the sport’s second quintuple champion just three days later when Leonard got his hands on both the WBC super-middleweight and WBC light-heavyweight gold in a knockout win over Donny Lalonde.
Yet, despite the skill, will and legacy of Leonard, Usyk told Daily Mail Sport that he thinks Crawford would have got the better of the Wilmington-born sensation if they were to meet in their primes.
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Usyk also predicted that Crawford would have overcome Pernell Whitaker, Floyd Mayweather and Sugar Ray Robinson – a testament to the regard in which the Ukrainian holds Crawford, who had been considered as his pound-for-pound rival before his retirement.
Rodri, like anyone who has ever played football, had dreamed of this moment. The Spain captain held the World Cup in his hands, surrounded by jubilant teammates. But, before he could lift the trophy, he had to find a way to politely usher the world’s most powerful man off the stage.
Though Sunday’s final, in which Spain beat Argentina 1-0, was the first match of the tournament that Trump attended, he declared it “the most successful sporting event maybe in the history of the world” and was a constant presence even in his absence.
“Trump cast a shadow over the entire tournament, weaponizing it for domestic political purposes, regardless of whether he showed up at matches in person,” Jules Boykoff, a professor in the Politics and Government Department at Pacific University in the US state of Oregon, told DW.
Trump’s ‘notorious’ intervention
Trump administration policies denied entry to the United States for a Somali FIFA referee, forced Iran to train in Mexico and travel to games in Los Angeles and Seattle, and barred fans from around the world from attending matches. On top of all that, Boykoff said, Trump’s knockout-stage phone call to FIFA “will most assuredly go down as one of the most notorious political interventions in World Cup history.”
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Though Trump’ successfully lobbied to overturn the red card suspension of star striker Folarin Balogun, the strategy backfired on the field, with the US losing its last-16 match against a fired-up Belgium 4-1. “I knew it was going to cause a lot of controversy,” Balogun said. “I could almost see within my teammates a bit of nerves because it was something that’s so unique.”
Boykoff said the sporting implications would not have been at the forefront of Trump’s mind. “Intervening in the red card situation allowed him to deliver the message to his political base that he could get international bodies like FIFA to bend to his will,” said Boykoff, who represented the US at the youth level as a player. “Most of Trump’s actions during the World Cup should be read as efforts to influence a domestic political audience ahead of a key midterm election, not as an attempt to convince an international audience that he’s some great guy.”
2026 World Cup, the tournament that changed football forever
Trump insisted that the tournament has boosted the US’s international reputation. “All over the world, people have come and they love our country,” he told reporters.
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Was Balogun call a mistake for Trump?
The US midterm elections are set for November 3 and, with the war in Iran ongoing, Trump’s approval rating is below 40%. Though a “shakedown” of a global organization such as FIFA may have an appeal with a base he’s already won over, Karim Zidan told DW that the Balogun intervention was a political misstep for Trump.
“I think that, in boasting about this when the United States men’s national team gave an opportunity for him to rally behind a team that seemed to be unifying Americans, he managed to find a way to taint it, and those who dislike him hated him just that little bit more,” Zidan, an investigative journalist who has long covered Trump’s use of sports in his politics, said.
Such unprecedented and direct political intervention in a footballing decision drew scorn and fury from most of the rest of the world — with politicians, football federations, fans and coaches all piling on to criticize. But that won’t bother Trump, Boykoff said.
“Based on his actions, Trump does not appear to care much about what the rest of the world thinks of him. His anti-immigration policies stained the World Cup and undercut FIFA’s slogan that ‘Football Unites the World.’ Trump used the tournament to further fracture the world while stoking his base’s worst instincts ahead of the midterm elections,” he said.
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Sports-shaping as US strategy
The Balogun incident was Trump’s first real foray into the tournament and came over three weeks after it had begun. Given how present he was in the buildup, that came as a surprise to some. But Zidan said the geopolitical situation had been keeping him busy, while the 250th US independence day also occupied Trump’s time during the tournament.
Trump and Gianni Infantino have become firm friends in recent yearsImage: Dylan Martinez/REUTERS
“All he’s really interested in is making this about himself or reaping any sort of personal prestige from an event,” Zidan said. “So I’m not really surprised at all that he wasn’t very present at standard World Cup games.”
Despite his apparent lack of interest, Trump made a play for future World Cups immediately after the 2026 tournament ended. “I had a great idea for Gianni: You have to do two countries. Announce us again next time and then announce another country after that. It’ll take out some of the anger and the shock,” he told Fox Sports. “Based on the numbers, we will be requesting it again immediately.”
The earliest the US could host the men’s World Cup again is 2038, but Los Angeles will host the Summer Olympics in 2028, with Trump still in power ahead of the presidential election that November. The US is hosting the 2034 Winter Olympics in in Salt Lake City and is likely to win the Women’s World Cup for 2031.
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UFC a safe sporting haven for Trump
Zidan thinks that Trump will first retreat to the safety of the mixed-martial-arts Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), which he managed to include in the celebrations of the 250th anniversary of the United States.
Trump’s relationship with UFC is a long and fruitful oneImage: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP Photo/picture alliance
“Whenever he has shown up at a sports event that is not a UFC event, he’s received resounding boos. It’s not the massive warm welcome he is used to receiving at the UFC,” said Zidan, whose latest book, “The Ultimate Strongmen,” focuses on Trump’s relationship with the UFC.
“That’s why he shows up so often there, why he’s hosted a UFC event at the White House. He understands that is his perfect audience and his safe space, and, no matter how poorly he’s performing and no matter what he’s doing in the world, no matter if there’s a war going on, he will be welcomed.”
Though FIFA and its president rolled out the red carpet for Trump and the 2026 World Cup made more profit than any tournament before, it is the US voters, not the executive bodies of football organizations, whom Trump must impress now. Whichever way the midterms go, it’s unlikely he’ll be ushered off the political stage anytime soon.
As an incredible World Cup comes to an end, everyone here at the BBC wanted to say thank you.
Thank you to the 42.8 million people who tuned in to our live match coverage on television or streamed games on iPlayer, the BBC Sport app and website 237 million times. That’s a lot of football.
Whether you were one of the 24 million who watched England v Argentina in the semi-final, the late-night 9.1 million who stayed up until 4am for England v Mexico, the 2.4 million who saw Scotland beat Haiti in the middle of the night, or part of the hardcore crew of half a million who gave Iran v New Zealand a chance at 2am and were rewarded with a four-goal thriller.
Thank you to those of you who trusted us to not spoil your mornings, coming to iPlayer or the BBC Football YouTube channel every day for our eight-minute highlight packages. There were so many of you that we saw the biggest ever day and week in iPlayer’s history.
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Thank you to the 57.2 million unique browsers who used our app and website 1.7 billion times, watching clips of our games, interviews and journalism, following our amazing live pages and reading stories from our journalists covering everything from the Trump-Fifa-Balogun scandal to tactical trends and the US entry denial of Somalian referee Omar Artan.
🏆🇪🇸 After Spain’s World Cup 2026 victory over #Argentina, Donald Trump appeared determined to stay in the spotlight during the trophy presentation, with #FIFA President Gianni #Infantino stepping in so the champions could take centre stage. 🎤
With the World Cup now all over, a clear message has been sent to FIFA by one Manchester City and England star
Marc Guehi became the first England player to publicly slate FIFA’s pricing for tickets at the World Cup. Guehi was at the heart of England’s run in the competition, which saw the Three Lions finish third.
The Manchester City defender started all but one match in the competition for the Three Lions. Aside from the opening 4-2 victory over Croatia, where he only played for three minutes, Guehi played every minute in the competition.
Yet, only 64,478 fans made it to the Miami Stadium, which was built to hold 71,000 supporters. As of 10am on Friday, the day before the England versus France clash, 7,000 tickets remained unsold, including 1,246 available on general sale, reports the Express.
This left tickets priced at £657 and £855 on general sale for the third-place play-off fixture. Having played his part in England’s victory over France, Guehi seized the moment to acknowledge the travelling supporters while also taking aim at FIFA over the cost of tickets for the match.
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“It’s always hard, especially when you feel like you should have been in the final, so it was down to us to try to do the best that we could,” Guehi told reporters after the victory over Les Bleus.
“We owe it to fans back home for the support. We definitely owe it to everyone who came and watched, especially here in Miami. Because ticket pricing was rubbish. I don’t know what they were thinking, FIFA, to be honest. So at least they could enjoy a fairly entertaining game.”
England’s triumph over France secured them third place at the World Cup, leaving Spain and Argentina to contest the final on Sunday. Spain ultimately came out on top, clinching a 1-0 win against Argentina at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, courtesy of a goal from ex-City star Ferran Torres during extra time.
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Before the final, many ticket prices for the showpiece at New York City’s MetLife Stadium surged to around $2,000 (£1,490). Last minute tickets were even ranging from $10,000 – $60,000 (£7,451 – £44,706), while on FIFA’s official ticket resale site, the cheapest tickets were just over $6,000 (£4,471), according to ESPN.
FIFA boss Gianni Infantino defended the prices before the competition started, insisting they were not unusual compared to other events in the US. He said: “We have to look at the market – we are in the market in which entertainment is the most developed in the world.
“So we have to apply market rates. In the US it is permitted to resell tickets as well. So if you were to sell tickets at the price which is too low, these tickets will be resold at a much higher price.
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“And as a matter of fact, even though some people are saying that the ticket prices we have are high, they still end up on the resale market at an even higher price, more than double of our price.”
Upgrade your World Cup TV setup with the Sky Glass ‘designed for football’
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Defending World Cup champions Argentina faced Spain in Sunday’s 2026 FIFA World Cup final. However, in a match the Argentina faithful were hoping would be Lionel Messi’s international swan song, the Argentine squad was completely outclassed. Although the regular time ended in a scoreless draw, Spain outshot Argentina 20-2 en route to its 1-0 win in extra time, dominating with 65% possession. After the match, ESPN’s ESPN FC studio crew was astonished by how poorly Argentina performed with history on the line.
“In one of the worst World Cup finals we have ever seen, Spain in the end deservedly get the victory and defeat Argentina. It was Ferran Torres’ well-taken goal that proved to be the difference between the two sides,” Dan Thomas said to start the segment.
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“Two shots from Argentina, none in regular time. Both of those came in extra time. Enzo Fernández sent off. Spain with the victory as they lift the title and get a second star on their shirt.
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“We’re supposed to be objective on this show, but I don’t think anyone, unless you’re an Argentina supporter, will be more pleased than what we saw Spain lift in the World Cup, because goodness me, that was embarrassing from the defending champions, wasn’t it?”
Craig Burley was even more scathing in his criticism of La Albiceleste, which finished with 0.22 expected goals (xG).
“I’d go as far as to say Argentina were a complete and utter disgrace today, both with their performance and their antics. We expected the antics, we expected the thuggery, we expected the off-the-ball stuff, but we also expected a lot more on the ball, a lot more purpose, a lot more about their play,” he said.
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“They were in utter shambles; they were disgusting, disgraceful. And yeah, I mean, I’m so pleased Spain won, and I could just see a scenario at the end there, but before Spain scored, that it was going to go to penalties, or they were going to get a scruffy goal, Argentina, and win this… to put that kind of performance in a World Cup final, that negative— it was a disgusting performance.”
Frank Lebouef, who won the 1998 World Cup as a centerback for the French National team, felt that Argentina wasn’t playing the right way, calling their performance “completely negative,” “unbearable,” before adding that it was a “bad image of football.”
Steve McManaman joined the other panelists in panning the performance, and let Messi’s teammates hear it for letting the legend down and engaging in antics on the pitch in what was almost certainly his last chance to win a World Cup, saying that “they just want to do anything else apart from win a football match.”
“They’ll kick, they’ll punch, they’ll drag, they’ll dive,” he added of the things they were more interested in, before calling them out for pushing and shoving Spanish players off camera after losing.
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Throughout the tournament, some of Argentina’s critics and opponents called out what they deemed to be outside interference or behind-the-scenes decision-making in favor of Argentina affecting the outcome of its matches. But on Sunday, there was no amount of intervention, VAR or otherwise, capable of salvaging a victory from the performance Argentina turned in.
Golf has been booming over the last decade, and among the executives in the middle of that investment and activity has been 8AM Golf president and CEO Hoyt McGarity.
8AM Golf was founded in 2018 by Howard Milstein, and the holding company now boasts a portfolio that includes 15 businesses, including GOLF.com, GOLF Magazine, True Spec Golf, Miura Golf and the newly-opened Bounty Club in Nashville, which was built in partnership with 8AM partner Justin Timberlake.
In the latest episode of “The Deal” podcast with Jason Kelly and Alex Rodriguez, McGarity shared his insights on 8AM Golf’s business investments and strategy, and what he believes will drive the game’s future. Below, you can read 6 takeaways (lightly edited for clarity) from McGarity’s conversation with Kelly and Rodriguez.
“Today, we have about 15 different golf companies,” McGarity said. “But in 2018, 2019, we probably were around six. And we didn’t really have a holding company. We owned them individually, and we thought, ‘Okay, we need to house them somewhere.’ And we formed the holding company called 8AM Golf. And since then, we’ve been collecting brands in the sport that are best in class.
“I think we’re in every facet of the game, right? We’ve invested everything from hospitality to equipment to media to events to travel. I mean, you name it. We’re pretty much in everything except for apparel. We sell a lot of apparel through our e-comms, but we don’t own an apparel company. I think our closest thing to that might be PAYNTR [shoes] now that we just bought a position. So that was kind of our way of getting into [apparel]. But, we thought, once you had one or two three investments, it’s best to surround them with other great investments. And even if they’re in different areas, they all can feed off one another. And I think we’ve done a really good job of creating this, maybe one of the first golf holding companies.”
On what kind of companies appeal to 8AM Golf…
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“We try to find these unique, best-in-class products that may be a bit above the rest, right? And we’re very pretty particular on that,” McGarity said. “I don’t think anyone’s looked at more golf companies than us in the last 10 years. I spend my days, from a venture startup with nothing to a massive, multi-billion dollar company. … We are very particular on the CEOs, the operating side. Do we gel with them? Do they fit in? We try to surround our current businesses with stronger businesses, right? And I think once you get consistency and synergies between them all, you start to see the effects of that, and I feel like we’re seeing that on a daily basis now.”
On 8AM Golf developing the Bounty Club in Nashville…
“I never thought we were going to own a golf course or build one from scratch, right? I mean, that was a dream, if you think about it, from growing up in the golf business,” McGarity said. “We just had our first member-member, and we’ve only been open for just over a month, and I was sitting there, I’m like, ‘Wow, I can’t believe this actually happened.’ So this goes back to ’21. We’ve been in the design business. We knew a lot about golf course, architecture. We do a lot around golf. And Nashville was a little starved for golf in general, and then Justin’s [Timberlake] connections to Tennessee, we kind of found this incredible property off market in [2021], around Memorial Day. And now we opened up.
“It’s a private club. We have about 140ish members at this moment, mostly national-based, I would say 100 of our members are from not Tennessee or Nashville. And we’re growing. We’re only a month in and it’s pretty successful to get to that number. I don’t know where we’ll cap it out, but we kind of like our number, 150, 160. … We’re only 12 minutes from downtown. It’s unbelievable. We can’t be closer. And Nashville is growing like crazy, and people love going there. We’re just fortunate to have this incredible property that’s so close to downtown.”
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On the Bounty Club vibe…
“It was interesting. Where do we lie, right? And we had to decide as a club, and it wasn’t too hard to decide with Justin, Nashville,” McGarity said. “We thought, okay, well, we wanted a world-class championship golf course. But we want it to be fun, and the one thing Justin always preached to us was, ‘Listen, you can have a great golf course, but a terrible hang … and an okay golf course, but an incredible hang — and your people, they will come there, be there, have fun with it. If you hit both, you’ve gone really well, right?”
T-Squared Social in St. Andrews.
courtesy T-Squared Social
On the new-age golf boom…
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“I think with the younger generation, what you’re seeing now is like — take today, I was at T-Squared Social,” McGarity said. “And I’m just looking around to lunchtime in St. Andrews, Scotland. There’s not much going on, and we’ve got kids in there from the university hitting golf balls in the simulators. They’re playing darts, they’re just around the sport, having fun with it in a different way, which is something that maybe I wouldn’t have done when I was a kid. We didn’t even have simulated golf, right? Not much. And this boom in simulator golf is massive, and it’s bringing in a whole new wave, and it’s a lot less threatening to hit a golf ball, 10 feet into a screen, than chase it around a golf course, especially as a beginner. I travel a lot around the world, and [see much] simulated golf. Golfzon in Korea is one of the largest golf companies in the world, and it’s literally just in Korea. They have more locations than Starbucks in Korea. It’s always been in Asia, and now you’ve seen it come here, and I think it’s generating this interest level of this younger generation.”
On what’s next for 8AM Golf…
“We just acquired three businesses in the last four months, so we really haven’t slowed down. Or we’re partnered up with different businesses and made investments. I don’t see us slowing down,” McGarity said. “As long as we’re cash flowing and doing the right things, we will keep growing. I think that we will bring in partners. I have no doubt in my mind that’s probably the next step, but … you’ve got to prove it first, and now we have something that we proved, and I think it’s a great front-running brand. We get approached all the time, from private-equity firms to celebrities, all sorts of people coming to us [asking], ‘How do we get involved in this world?’ So I think that I want to see growth. I don’t have any intentions to slow down.”
Listen to McGarity’s full interview here. To learn more about 8AM Golf, click here.
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