Socceroos Face Injury Blow Ahead of Paraguay Clash
World Cup 2026 has finally slipped into full stride, and with it comes the first real sense of jeopardy, frayed tempers and old legends reminding everyone why their names still matter.
Socceroos rocked by injury blow before Paraguay test
Australia’s carefully built World Cup rhythm has taken a hit. After starting both group games, right wing-back Italiano is set to miss the crucial clash with Paraguay through injury, joining Mat Leckie on the sidelines.
It’s a big loss. Stepping in for the injured Lewis Miller, Italiano had quietly become a key part of Tony Popovic’s system. He worked relentlessly to keep Turkiye scoreless on Matchday 1, then got through the full 90 minutes against the USA in game two. Now Popovic has to reshuffle at the very moment the margins tighten.
The Socceroos’ second outing, a 2-0 defeat to the USA in Seattle, told a familiar story. They sat deep, absorbed pressure, and paid for it with two first-half goals. Only when Connor Metcalfe, Nestory Irankunda and Cristian Volpato came on after the break did Australia flip the tempo and threaten to turn the contest.
Popovic is a naturally cautious coach. That’s no secret. But former Socceroo Craig Foster wants to see the handbrake eased off in this final group match.
“I hope so (that they attack), but they're a little bit more cautious under Tony Popovic, that’s the way that he coaches, that’s the reality,” Foster told 1170 SEN Breakfast. He was quick to give Popovic his due – automatic qualification, something Australia hadn’t managed for some time – but the USA game still lingers as a warning.
“If you're a bit too cautious and you go behind, it's very difficult to get back into the game. So hopefully he's learned from that, and I'm sure he has.”
For Foster, the solution is obvious: trust the kids, trust the pace.
“I’d like a little bit more of an aggressive approach. I don't think he's going to go with full attack in the first half, but I certainly hope that he does put the young really quick guys on anyway.
“That'll give us the best opportunity when we do have those chances that we'll have someone there, speedy enough to get on the end of them and also capable of taking them.”
Volpato and Irankunda, in his eyes, shouldn’t just be impact subs.
“I think that's right (to start Volpato and Irankunda). Volpato has obviously only played that one bit, but he showed enough in that short cameo… he was phenomenal.
“I mean, that has to make a statement to the coach. It has to. So, I'd be surprised if we didn't see him and Irankunda in the first half definitely.
“Get yourselves ahead of Paraguay, and then of course we've already shown that our defensive organisation means we're very, very difficult to break down, like Ghana were this morning.
“But he's got to work out how we're going to actually create more chances and take those chances, and you need the best attacking players to do that.”
The message is blunt: Australia can defend, but if they want to stay in this tournament, they need to dare.
Colombia climb, Congo cling on
Elsewhere, Group K tilted decisively. Right-back Daniel Muñoz stepped forward as Colombia’s unlikely match-winner, striking in the 76th minute to secure a 1-0 victory and send his side to the top of the group with six points.
Congo’s situation is far more precarious. They are “hanging on by the skin of their teeth” with just one point, but the door isn’t shut. Beat Uzbekistan on Sunday, and they can still squeeze through as one of the best third-placed teams. Anything less, and the plane home beckons.
Bellingham and Queiroz in the heat of Boston
Not all the drama has come with goals. In Boston, a flat, bruising 0-0 stalemate produced more talking points off the ball than on it.
England’s playmaker escaped a booking for a heavy challenge on Jerome Opoku right in front of the dugouts. As the teams walked off, he and Carlos Queiroz became embroiled in a heated exchange, the veteran coach clearly furious with something said in the moment.
“He had a bad reaction with some bad names,” Queiroz explained afterwards. He said his first instinct had been to calm the situation after the tackle, worried about his player’s condition, but admitted the language used had lit the fuse.
“In the middle of the emotional moment these things are normal. He swears and that created more tension. It's football, it's nothing special. One word created a bit of fire but we cooled down. Football is not dancing in a saloon with tuxedos. It's not a show.”
The England star offered his own version.
“It was just when I made a silly tackle, to be honest. I was trying to win the ball, and I followed for a little bit and caught the lad. I spoke to him after, and then their bench jumped up trying to get me a yellow card.
“So, I think their manager, I just recognised him. He's obviously the one who used to be at Manchester United, so great respect, and nothing but a competitive edge for both of us.”
The match itself did little for the neutral, but it did reshape Group L. With that draw, they “opened their winning account” for this World Cup and climbed to third with three points, behind England and Ghana on four.
Croatia now face Ghana on June 28. Win, and they’re through to the Round of 32. Draw, and they’re left hoping the third-place route will be enough. Panama, already eliminated, will be playing only for pride when they meet England the same day.
England hit a Ghanaian wall
At Foxborough, Ghana showed exactly what Foster had referenced: defensive organisation of the highest order. For 95 minutes they parked the bus and refused to budge.
It was ugly at times. The refereeing infuriated both benches, the tackles flew, and the game turned into a slog. From England’s perspective, it was a comedown. The 4-2 win over Croatia had crackled; this was a grind. Ghana walked away delighted, England trudged off below par, yet still top of the group on goal difference.
Micah Richards didn’t sugar-coat it.
“The frustrating thing was that England weren't brave enough. Yes, we knew they were coming up against a team that would set up in a low block, but I just felt that there were too many safe passes.
“You need to be more brave when you come up against a team in a low block.”
Harry Kane, so influential against Croatia with a brace, found himself shackled.
“I was kind of man-marked there with (Thomas) Partey for a lot of the games,” he told the BBC. “I didn't have the space to drop deep and then arrive later in the box, but they also defended the box well.
“We had plenty of crosses with, but just couldn't quite get the first contact.
“The balls were the middle were kind of tough to play because it was so compact in there, so it was a game we kind of felt got better as we went along, and we started getting the winners one v one and they was dangerous.
“You go through games like that, we're playing in the World Cup, you play against a decent side who are compact and make it difficult, and that's what we come against today.”
Wayne Rooney, who knows Queiroz’s methods from their Manchester United days, recognised the blueprint.
“You're always hoping for that energy and that performance that we had against Croatia in the second half. These games are so difficult when the teams sit back,” he said.
“You have to break them down, and you have to find the space. For me, the key was getting crosses into the box. That is where all the chances came from.
“We keep going, we still have a great chance of finishing top of the group. There's no need to be negative; we need to stay positive.”
For those watching in the small hours, the frustration was palpable. Ghana “parked a double decker bus” and defended for 90 minutes. England had no clear chances, rising irritation, and a first yellow for Declan Rice for a challenge that screamed pure exasperation.
New twist to World Cup shootouts
Change is coming to one of football’s most nerve-shredding rituals.
Currently, penalty shootouts are preceded by two coin tosses: one to decide which end the kicks are taken into, the other to decide which team goes first. When Arsenal’s Champions League final went to penalties, they lost both tosses, shot second into a PSG-dominated end, and lost the shootout. It’s the kind of detail that sticks in the minds of lawmakers.
FIFA now plan to strip that back to a single toss. The winner will choose either to kick first or to select the end. The other captain will take whichever choice remains. The aim: a fairer, cleaner process.
Penalty shootouts will come into play from the last 32 onwards. If teams can’t be separated after 90 minutes and 30 minutes of extra time, the coin will flip, the walk to the spot will begin, and the World Cup will hold its breath.
Ronaldo roars back as Portugal arrive
Cristiano Ronaldo has heard every doubt, every whisper that at 41 he is a sentimental pick, a burden, a legend picked on reputation. After a 1-1 draw with DR Congo in Portugal’s opener, the criticism sharpened. Was Roberto Martinez too scared to leave him out?
Ronaldo’s response arrived with ruthless clarity.
He scored twice in a 5-0 demolition of Uzbekistan, a result that will all but secure Portugal’s passage to the knockouts and, just as importantly, restore their swagger. On a World Cup stage dominated across two days by doubles from Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland, the old master refused to be left out of the story.
“I knew it. God helps those who work hard. It was a difficult, dark week, it felt like I was already retired from football, but I held on as I always do because I believe more in hard work than in football. It was difficult, I have to confess, but we're back.”
Roy Keane, never shy with an opinion on his former teammate, was having none of the revisionism.
“Cristiano Ronaldo was never gone. He is the man. What is up with everybody? Doubted genius.
“We met Tom Brady the other day. He is up there with all these sports people. He's the man. Great to see him back. His two goals were excellent.
“Again, he has joined the party. The hardest point of the game is putting the ball in the back of the net. And he does.”
The party, it seems, still has room for the old guard.
Deschamps steps away after family tragedy
Amid the chaos of fixtures and narratives, France have been hit by a sombre note. Didier Deschamps has left the national team camp after the death of his mother.
“Didier Deschamps will not be able to oversee training sessions ahead of the Norway v France match. He will also be absent from the bench for Friday’s final Group I game,” the FFF confirmed.
“The national team coach learned this morning of the death of his mother and will return to France to attend her funeral.
“In agreement with Philippe Diallo, president of the French Football Federation, who is currently at the France team’s base camp, Deschamps has entrusted assistant coach Guy Stephan with responsibility for leading the squad until his return.”
On the field, nothing pauses. Off it, France will try to rally around a coach who has carried them through so many tournaments, now facing a very different kind of test.
American ambition meets a brutal verdict
Across the Atlantic, the USA’s growing confidence has been hard to miss. Bold talk, big claims, a sense that this generation can finally crack the World Cup code. Their win over Australia only fuelled that belief.
But one of their own has just driven a sharp pin into the balloon.
Former goalkeeper Tim Howard, speaking on the Unfiltered Soccer Podcast with Landon Donovan, delivered his verdict with trademark bluntness.
“The US cannot, unequivocally, win the World Cup,” he said. “The US will have to play the greatest game they’ve ever played four times in a row.
“They’re going to have to beat (four) world soccer powerhouses in a row… The round of 16, quarterfinals, semi-finals, finals. It is literally impossible for the US to win the World Cup… That’s just the reality.”
It’s a harsh assessment, but it captures the scale of the task. To lift this trophy, you don’t just need talent. You need history-defying perfection, four matches in a row, against the sport’s heaviest hitters.
As the group stage edges towards its climax, that’s the thread running through every camp: who will dare, who will bend, and who will still be standing when the real pressure starts?
