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‘Here to write our own chapters’: England not daunted by unique occasion of Mexico game, says Tuchel
‘Impossible’ to adapt to altitude but players coping, says coach
Aguirre trying to keep El Tri ‘grounded’ before Azteca match
Thomas Tuchel has admitted England are enduring a challenging adaptation in Mexico City but is convinced his team will be ready to “write our own chapters” when they face the World Cup co-hosts at Estadio Azteca.
The last-16 match against Mexico in their fabled home ground is the most eagerly anticipated of this summer and its logistics have presented unusual problems. England must adapt to playing 2,240 metres above sea level at a venue where Mexico have not lost since 2013. They landed on Friday evening and found it difficult to hit their stride on Saturday afternoon in their final training session before the tie.
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1:03
By going after Jayden Daniels, Brandon Aiyuk may be burning his bridge to the Commanders
Brandon Aiyuk’s path to Washington hinges on quarterback Jay Daniels. If Daniels backs Aiyuk, the Commanders will likely chase the 49ers receiver; if not, the deal stalls.
Social media blew up after Aiyup unfollowed Daniels and posted a couple of Instagram stories aimed at him. In one clip he warned Daniels to follow his rules, and in another he held up shoes with a challenge to “run it five.” Daniels responded by dropping a thumbs‑down image of Kevin Durant from his story.
The friction appears to trace back to a fan video where a 49ers supporter shouted at Daniels, and Daniels laughed it off. Aiyuk didn’t take the joke well.
Right now the bridge looks broken. The next step is for the 49ers to release Aiyuk, for him to win reinstatement from the reserve/left‑squad list, and then show up at training camp—if Daniels still wants him.
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French football chief condemns Chilavert’s remarks that Les Bleus are ‘a squad from Africa’
Philippe Diallo: former goalkeeper has ‘fallen into disgrace’
Remarks came in run-up to France v Paruguay match
The French football federation president, Philippe Diallo, has condemned José Luis Chilavert after the former Paraguay goalkeeper said Les Bleus are “a squad from Africa”.
“I condemn in the strongest possible terms the racist remarks made by José Luis Chilavert against the French national team, which undermine the values of respect, fraternity, and diversity in our football,” Diallo wrote in a social media post on Saturday. “If he was once a great goalkeeper, this man has now fallen into disgrace.”
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2:46
England braced for a Mexican whirlwind as Tuchel strives for calm amid the chaos
After their frantic display against DR Congo, England head coach needs his side to remain composed in the Azteca cauldron
It was somehow in keeping with the bedlam that has gripped Mexico since Tuesday night when the their team beat Ecuador to set up a World Cup last-16 showdown with England on Sunday. There was talk of an incoming storm, which is forecast to bring the risk of flooding and affect a game talked up as arguably the biggest in Mexico’s history. There was a figurative one, too.
The kick-off would have to be brought forward from 6pm local time (1am Monday BST) to midday, Fifa was told on Friday, and there followed an intense amount of back and forth, so many different people and companies to consider. In the end, it was decided that it would have to remain at 6pm. There was a lot of energy expended for no actual change and on everybody hurtled.
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3:46
Prefontaine Classic results: 18-year-old Tate Taylor beats Letsile Tebogo in shocking upset
The 2026 Prefontaine Classic may not have produced any world records like in years past, but this year’s big track and field meet in Eugene, Oregon was a major milestone for a couple of American athletes, including a teenager who produced one of the shock races of the season.
At just 18 years old, San Antonio’s Tate Taylor took down a 200-meter field headlined by reigning Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo and 2025 World Championship bronze medalist Bryan Levell. Taylor’s winning time of 19.75 was run into a fairly considerable headwind, which makes his accomplishment even more impressive.
Taylor not only significantly lowered his own US high school national record (19.94 seconds, which he set last month in Texas), he moved up to third on the all-time U20 list above some fella named Usain Bolt, whose best time in this event as a youth was 19.93 seconds as a 17-year-old. Only Australian sensation Gout Gout and the currently suspended Erriyon Knighton have ever run that fast that young.
It was a result so stunning that it even surprised Taylor himself.
“I didn’t even know I passed Bolt’s [mark], so that’s pretty cool,” Taylor said to SB Nation after the race. “To beat the Olympic champ—I was literally telling my coach right before this, ‘They cannot possibly come out here and expect me to win.’ I said it just like that. I was like, ‘I’m not winning this race.’ But if somebody is going to win, they have to go crazy just to beat me, and sure enough God made a way, so I guess my doubted myself on that.
“It means a lot, because I look up to Tebogo and I’m excited to see how the rest of his career plans out. Just knowing that I took that [Bolt time] down was a surreal feeling, I’m still kind of taking it all in.”
Taylor, who committed to running for Texas Tech next year, will skip the USA Outdoor Championships in New York later this month, but intends to participate in August’s World U20 Championships in Eugene. Add him to the list of American sprinters to watch ahead of the LA Olympics in 2028, especially as his compatriot Noah Lyles seeks to finally win Olympic 200m gold.
Kenyan middle-distance legend Faith Kipyegon has been virtually unbeatable in the 1500 meters and mile, where she holds the world record in both disciplines. The winning doesn’t last forever, and Nikki Hiltz took advantage of an unusually bunched up, tactical race in the mile. Kipyegon, who had only competed twice this year (in the 5000 meters and a 10000-meter road race), did not have her signature breakaway from the pack in the closing stages.
In a furious dash to the finish line, Hiltz edged ahead of Kipyegon and Kenya’s Dorcus Ewoi to send over 12,000 fans at Hayward Field into wild celebrations. It’s the first time Kipyegon has lost in a 1500 or a mile in five years.
“The last 100 meters, you’re so aware that it’s Faith,” Hiltz told SB Nation, “but you kind of just have to be like, ‘This is just a body next to me, I’m just trying to get to the finish line. I think she’s human, you know. But it doesn’t take away anything she’s done for our sport or our event—we all look to her.
“I think I said it before, but yesterday in the press conference she was kind of giving vibes of like, ‘I’m not going to lead.‘ It was cool to see her do something different; she’s won it a bunch of different ways. I always wanted to see if I could outkick her and today was just an opportunity and I felt really good, so I went for it.”
The 31-year-old Hiltz has medaled twice in the less heralded World Indoor Championships, including this year in Poland, but they will be pushing for a global outdoor medal in the 2027 World Championships in Beijing and 2028 Olympics.
On the 4th of July, it would’ve felt poetic for an American man to win the event-closing Bowerman Mile to end a 20-year drought, but it was not meant to be. Australia’s Cam Myers, who first made headlines in 2023 by becoming (at the time) the youngest sub-4-minute miler at just 16 years old, seized the lead in the penultimate lap and never ceded control. The now 20-year-old Myers set a new Australian record in the mile, surpassing Ollie Hoare, whom he told SB Nation on Friday was one of the athletes he looked up to.
Myers, who’s now top-10 all-time in the mile, is a week removed from running 3:28.00 in the 1500 meters at the Diamond League in Paris, putting him 12th on the all-time list in that event.
American Yared Nuguse finished second for the second year in a row, while Ethan Strand came in third to make it a 2-3 for the USA, but that elusive Bill Bowerman Mile win will have to wait until at least 2027.
You know a race is competitive when the top three finishes are separated by 0.02 seconds. In the women’s 100-meter final, reigning 100- and 200-meter world champion and Olympic 100-meter silver medalist Melissa Jefferson-Wooden eked past 2023 world 100-meter champion Sha’Carri Richardson.
