Cathie from Canada: Today’s News: World Cup stories

The world is laughing at Trump

And at FIFA

World Cup Stories – #ETTD Everything Trump Touches Dies

Incredible to watch Monday’s US v Belgium game and realize Trump has done it again

In The Globe and Mail, the inimitable Cathal Kelly [gift link]

I can think of only one thing more satiric than the only country on Earth that still routinely makes fun of soccer fixing the world’s biggest soccer tournament in their own favour. That would be fixing it and losing anyway.
Say this much for Donald Trump – he did what he could. He made the call to FIFA and got forward Folarin Balogun’s red card rescinded. Not that anyone can prove it. It’s one of those bend the nose and say no more type things.
Everybody got angry about it, especially Belgium, who had to play the U.S. on Monday night. One can only imagine the rage at (don’t call them French) Fries HQ as they realized they would have to face Balogun. This would be after they’d called up some YouTube clips to jog their memory about who Balogun is.
Until three weeks ago, most people had no idea that Balogun is a) American by birthright citizenship and b) alive. He plays in France for Monaco who, even by France’s middling standards, are pretty average.
Then Balogun showed up at the World Cup, scored a couple of goals, and all of a sudden he’s Johan Cruyff. America can’t make it without him, this guy none of them had ever heard of before. Cue Watergate version infinity.
Poor Balogun. He didn’t ask for any of this. On Monday, he played like a man who can see two possible futures for himself. In one, he’s tied to Trump like a tin can for the rest of his career, the President’s pet soccer player. In the other, he goes back to the Riviera and forgets any of this happened. Balogun chose door number two.
As it turned out, scoring goals was not the U.S. team’s biggest problem. Preventing them was. …

Wow
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— The Tennessee Holler (@thetnholler.bsky.social) July 6, 2026 at 9:54 PM

Accurate prediction

stupidest possible outcome is that belgium just beats the shit out of the usa and wins like 5-1 despite all the shenanigans so that’s probably what we’re getting.
— mtsw (@mtsw.bsky.social) July 6, 2026 at 5:12 PM

BREAKING: US to withdraw from the International Court of Poetic Justice.
— Tabatha Southey🇨🇦 (@tabathasouthey.bsky.social) July 6, 2026 at 8:48 PM

And in Monday’s other game:

🇵🇹 A FINAL BOW: Cristiano Ronaldo’s Last World Cup Ends in Arlington 🐐

By Annie Koshy

Cristiano Ronaldo’s sixth and final World Cup came to a close on Monday in Arlington, Texas, as Portugal fell 1-0 to Spain in the round of 16. Mikel Merino’s 90th minute strike proved the difference, closing out a World Cup journey that began in 2006 and stretched across two decades of football’s biggest stage.

Ronaldo had confirmed before the match that this tournament would be his last World Cup, telling reporters he hoped it would not be his last game of the run. True to form, he gave everything he had left. He came closest to extending Portugal’s life in the second half, forcing a save with a shot on target before being flagged offside moments earlier, still chasing the ball at 41 the way he did as a teenager in 2006.

His run through this tournament will not be forgotten. A goal against Uzbekistan made him the first player in history to score in six separate World Cups. A cool penalty against Croatia in the round of 32 kept Portugal’s campaign alive and set up Goncalo Ramos’ extra time winner. Even in defeat, he left everything on the pitch, the mark of a player who never once treated a match as routine.

Few athletes in any sport have carried the weight of a nation the way Ronaldo has carried Portugal. Fans across the world, including so many here who grew up watching him chase every ball as though the result still hung in the balance, will remember this run as the closing chapter of one of the greatest careers the game has ever produced. No player has scored more international goals. No player has appeared in more World Cups. Whatever comes next for Ronaldo, he leaves this stage exactly as he arrived on it: relentless, proud, and impossible to look away from.

Thank you, Cristiano. ⚽🐐👑 ❤️🙏🏽

– Annie Koshy

Read on Substack

Sunday’s games were pretty good too — amazing that England won
In his newsletter, Rodger Sherman analyzes their win:

…All things considered, it might have been the most remarkable away win in the history of the World Cup. It’s coming home on the road!
If the World Cup had a home stadium, it would be Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. No other stadium has been featured in as many World Cups (1970, 1986, and 2026) or hosted as many games (24). … Why is the Azteca such a fortress? It’s located at 7,000-plus feet, or 1.36 Denvers, above sea level. One time I tried lightly jogging in Leadville, Colorado (elevation 10,150) and I swear I got winded within two blocks. I have no idea how anybody can play a full 90 minutes at 7,000 feet.
And the Mexican fans are hostile. Jozy Altidore claimed to have urine thrown at him once while entering the stadium, although it seems much more common to throw beers. (One hit a FOX commentator during a game earlier this World Cup.)
I think Mexico blew it. The altitude caught up with England as the game went on. After going up 3-1, they were gassed and holding on for dear life. But instead of trying to patiently break down the defense and let the man advantage reveal itself, Mexico settled for cross after cross after cross.
Mexico attempted 49 crosses. There hasn’t been more than 33 crosses in any other Round of 16 match so far — and that’s combined between the two teams. Mexico had 49 by themselves! And of those 49 crosses, only two directly led to shots on goal — one saved, one off-target.
Constant crosses were perhaps the worst way to take advantage of the extra man: England subbed on their biggest lads and packed the box. It was like trying to crack a safe by throwing rocks.

Starmer gets some credit too

“Starmer intervened to stop Fifa changing England kick-off
PM reveals he acted to block earlier start, giving players time to adjust to altitude” [The Independent]
— Lee Hurley (@hleehurley.com) July 7, 2026 at 1:46 AM

Norway – wow, that Haaland!

Actually I used to feel this way about soccer but I don’t anymore, I think I am understanding the game a little better now. And no, baseball isn’t boring either…

In other news… Carney get Subs!

Canada’s North Atlantic allies won out in the federal government’s high-cost hunt for modern submarines, with Prime Minister Mark Carney announcing that Ottawa will buy its new fleet through a German-Norwegian partnership in what could be the largest military purchase in Canadian history.
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— Toronto Star (@thestar.com) July 6, 2026 at 2:51 PM

Sounds like the right decision. As I keep saying, we are a northern nation. We need to think, research, develop, trade, build as a northern nation. We have to avoid the mistake of 1988 – a terrible mistake which turnd our economy into a colonial economy and we lost much of our cutting age capabilities.

These submarines can be one part of rebuilding our economy as a real force which reflects our political experience, our long standing democracy, our high level of broadly shared public education – much higher than the USA – our capacity to develop with like-minded northern neighbours.

All of this to get out of our current subsidiary rconomic culture which produced not a healthy economic relationship with the USA, but a dependency situation which has caused so many of our young highly educated to leave for the US.

– John Ralston Saul

Read on Substack

Checking in on Canada’s far-right
“Ambassador Hogster” strikes again. Luke LeBrun has the story:

Tamara Lich wasn’t the only one at Pete Hoekstra’s Fourth of July bash
I did a head count: Over a dozen Canadian far-right activists and right-wing alternative media personalities, (including from the Juno and Rebel media outlets) got invites to the US ambassador’s official residence
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— Luke LeBrun (@lukelebrun.ca) July 6, 2026 at 7:42 PM

It’s not the first time Hoekstra has partied with far-right activists as an ambassador either
In 2020, as US Ambassador to the Netherlands, Hoekstra hosted a pre-campaign event for an ultranationalist anti-immigrant Dutch political party called Forum voor Democratie
www.politico.eu/article/pete…
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— Luke LeBrun (@lukelebrun.ca) July 6, 2026 at 7:47 PM

It seems Hoekstra is trying to leverage Canada’s right-wing alternative media ecosystem to bypass critical media coverage and build bridges with the Canadian far-right
When he pulled these kinds of stunts in the Netherlands, he was accused of foreign interference and violating the Vienna Convention
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— Luke LeBrun (@lukelebrun.ca) July 6, 2026 at 7:52 PM

Meanwhile, in Alberta, the separatist BS about how easy it would be to leave Canada is rising:

Anyone who actually believes this is not only kidding themselves, they’re full-on delusional. In no way can Alberta both lower taxes and pay for all of the things an independent country needs to on oil money alone, especially once we’re back in a supply glut.
Honestly…
thelogic.co/news/the-big…
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— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) July 2, 2026 at 10:18 PM

Alberta didn’t create the Treaties. The Treaties made Alberta possible. You want to separate? Cool. Pack your bags, because you aren’t taking the land with you. 🪶🙌🏽🇨🇦🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️
#nationtonation #abpoli #RuleOfLaw
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— Blackfoot Niitsítapi🪶🇨🇦🇺🇸🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️💙🌎🐾🐾🐝🦋🦅🦬🦫🐋🦆🦉🐧🐦‍⬛🐻🦊 (@thoughtsnations.bsky.social) July 6, 2026 at 4:11 PM

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