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FIFA World Cup 2026: “We made history again,” Enzo Fernandez celebrates Argentina’s WC final berth
Atlanta [US], July 16 (ANI): Argentina Enzo Fernandez dedicated the team’s comeback FIFA World Cup semifinal victory over England to the fans, saying the squad had made history once again after reaching the final.
Argentina secured a thrilling 2-1 comeback win over England in Atlanta, overturning a first-half deficit with Fernandez scoring the equaliser before Lautaro Martinez netted the stoppage-time winner to send the defending champions into Sunday’s (IST) title clash against Spain. ipltable.lol
Following the victory, Fernandez took to Instagram to celebrate the achievement and thanked Argentine supporters for their backing.
“ALL THE GLORY TO GOD. Argentinos this is for you, we all wanted to win this match and we made history again. Enjoy the classics being won. This group is in a new end, we are going for everything together again. See you in New York," Fernandez wrote.
View this post on Instagram
Fernandez played a crucial role in Argentina’s comeback, scoring the equaliser in the 85th minute after receiving a pass from Lionel Messi before Lautaro Martinez completed the turnaround in stoppage time.
England struggled to maintain their advantage after taking the lead, allowing Argentina to build pressure. Lionel Messi played a key role in the comeback, assisting Fernandez’s equaliser and setting up Martinez’s stoppage-time winner.
Argentina will face Spain in the final on July 19 at the New York-New Jersey Stadium, while England will meet France in the third-place playoff after their hopes of reaching their first final since 1966 ended. (ANI)
(This content is sourced from a syndicated feed and is published as received. The Tribune assumes no responsibility or liability for its accuracy, completeness, or content.)
FIFA World Cup 2026: Messi celebrates Argentina’s SF win, says ‘we dug deep to put in another great performance’
Atlanta [US], July 16 (ANI): Argentina captain Lionel Messi shared his joy on social media after his team completed a dramatic comeback to defeat England 2-1 in the FIFA World Cup 2026 semifinal in Atlanta on Wednesday (local time).
In a post on Instagram, Messi celebrated Argentina’s qualification for the World Cup final, praising the team’s resilience and performance while thanking supporters for their continued belief in the squad.
He said, “WE’RE IN THE FINAL!!!!! We dug deep once again to put in another great performance. A huge thank you to everyone who believed in this group!!! Let’s go Argentina!!!!"
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The result sent Argentina into the World Cup 2026 final, where they will face Spain on Sunday, July 19 (local time), while England’s hopes of reaching their first World Cup final since 1966 came to a heartbreaking end.
In the match, the defending champions produced a stunning late comeback. The first half was a tightly contested battle, with both teams fighting for midfield control and creating limited clear chances. England eventually broke the deadlock in the 55th minute when Anthony Gordon finished Morgan Rogers’ cross to put the Three Lions ahead.
After taking the lead, England dropped deeper defensively, allowing Argentina to build pressure. The defending champions responded strongly, with Jordan Pickford making key saves and Alexis Mac Allister hitting the post before Argentina found the equaliser. In the 85th minute, Enzo Fernandez struck after receiving a pass from Lionel Messi to level the match.
Argentina completed their comeback in stoppage time when Messi delivered a cross for Lautaro Martinez, who headed home the winner. Despite England’s late efforts, Argentina held on to reach the final. England will now face France in the third-place match, while Argentina will meet Spain for the title. (ANI)
(This content is sourced from a syndicated feed and is published as received. The Tribune assumes no responsibility or liability for its accuracy, completeness, or content.)
ICC format changes “make sense from competitiveness stahndpoint”: Ashwin
New Delhi [India], July 16 (ANI): Former India cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin backed the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) changes to the fixture format for the 2027 ODI World Cup and 2028 T20 World Cup but stressed the need for greater opportunities for emerging cricket nations to help expand the sport globally.
Ashwin, in a post on X, said the revised formats could improve competitiveness but added that more focus was needed on creating a stronger pathway for developing teams.
“The ICC’s changes to the fixture format for the 2027 ODI World Cup and 2028 T20 World Cup make sense from a competitiveness standpoint," Ashwin wrote.
“But if the final goal is to grow the game, there needs to be a stronger pathway for emerging nations. Teams like the Netherlands, Scotland, Nepal, USA and Ireland need more meaningful matches ( FOR EXAMPLE: getting added as the third team into every bilateral series ), not just qualification tournaments," Ashwin added.
The former spinner further highlighted that the collective growth of cricket would play an important role in making the sport more attractive at the Olympics.
“Let’s not forget, that collective growth will make this sport a spectacle at the Olympics," he concluded.
The ICC’s changes to the fixture format for the 2027 ODI World Cup and 2028 T20 World Cup make sense from a competitiveness standpoint.
But if the final goal is to grow the game, there needs to be a stronger pathway for emerging nations.
Teams like the Netherlands, Scotland,…
— Ashwin
(@ashwinravi99) July 16, 2026
Earlier, the International Cricket Council (ICC) Board concluded its annual meetings on Wednesday in Edinburgh with decisions to evolve and enhance the marquee stature of its global events.
The Board, comprising three representatives from associate nations approved the recommendations it received from the Chief Executives’ Committee (comprising Chief Executives & representatives from full & associate members) related to the formats of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup and the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, to create more meaningful contests, elevating competitive standards, strengthening the competitive structure of both events, and enhancing the tournament experience for athletes and fans, according to a media release from ICC.
The Board also approved the qualification structure for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2028, providing a clear pathway to qualification through regional events and the potential institution of a marquee global competition for associate member nations.
The Board approved an evolved competition format for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup that continues to feature 14 participating teams while delivering a more compelling tournament for athletes and fans.
The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup will see the participation of 14 eligible teams, but the revised format will entail a three-stage competition leading to the Finals, which creates greater context, competitiveness and consequence during the event, ensuring meaningful competition from the opening match through to the Finals.
The structure has been designed to strengthen the competitive narrative across every stage of the event, with matches from Round 1 and Round 2 carrying higher consequence, with a highly competitive Super 7 stage witnessing 7 qualifying teams going through a round-robin stage to qualify for the semi-finals. The increased consequence and enhanced competitive intensity promise to enhance the overall experience for fans while continuing to provide emerging teams with the opportunity to compete on cricket’s biggest stage.
The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup continues to be the platform for growing the broader universe of cricket’s participating nations to compete in the ICC’s pinnacle events.
Encouraged by the performance of emerging teams in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, the ICC has decided to increase the number of teams competing in the second stage of the tournament from 8 to 10, while maintaining the opportunity for emerging teams to qualify for that stage (2 teams continue to qualify from each group).
This promises to expand the representation of cricket’s emerging nations in the Super 10 stage while also delivering higher competitive standards. The addition of ‘eliminators’, where the 2nd- and 3rd-ranked teams from groups in the Super 10 stage compete against each other for spots in the semi-finals, also adds significant consequence to the closing matches of the Super 10 stage.
For the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2028 qualification pathway, Scotland will enter directly into the Europe Regional Final, recognising the exceptional circumstances surrounding its participation in the 2026 tournament.
The remaining teams that competed at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 but did not secure automatic qualification will advance directly to the Global Qualifier. The other eight places in the Global Qualifier will be filled through regional qualification, with two teams each qualifying from Africa, Asia and Europe, and one team each from the Americas and East Asia-Pacific regions.
The highest-placed team from each region at the Global Qualifier, together with the next three highest-placed teams overall, will qualify for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2028, subject to minimum performance criteria.
The new marquee tournament has been endorsed by the Board after being recommended by the ICC Development and Chief Executives’ Committees. However, it will be finally approved by the Board after review by ICC’s Finance & Commercial Affairs committee in the November meetings. (ANI)
(This content is sourced from a syndicated feed and is published as received. The Tribune assumes no responsibility or liability for its accuracy, completeness, or content.)
7 મિનિટમાં બદલાઈ ગઈ મેચ! ઇંગ્લેન્ડને હરાવી FIFA World Cupની ફાઇનલમાં પહોંચ્યું અર્જેન્ટીના
ફૂટબોલના ઇતિહાસની સૌથી મોટી પ્રતિદ્વંદ્વિત્તાઓમાંથી એકે આજે એક નવો સુવર્ણ અધ્યાય લખી દીધો છે. ફીફા વર્લ્ડ કપ 2026ના બીજા સેમિફાઇનલ મુકાબલામાં લિયોનેલ મેસીની આગેવાની હેઠળની અર્જેન્ટીનાએ ઇંગ્લેન્ડના વર્લ્ડ કપ જીતવાના સપનાને ચકનાચૂર કરતા સતત બીજી વાર ફાઇનલમાં પોતાની જગ્યા પાક્કી કરી લીધી છે.
છેલ્લી 7 મિનિટે પલટાઈ મેચ
એક સમયે એવું લાગી રહ્યું હતું કે ઇંગ્લેન્ડ ફાઇનલની ટિકિટ પાક્કી કરી ચૂક્યું છે, પરંતુ મેચની છેલ્લી 7 મિનિટમાં ડિફેન્ડિંગ ચેમ્પિયન અર્જેન્ટીનાએ સાબિત કરી દીધું કે તે કેમ ચેમ્પિયન છે. લિયોનેલ મેસીના બે જાદુઈ પાસની મદદથી અર્જેન્ટીનાએ ઇંગ્લેન્ડને 2-1 થી શિકસ્ત આપીને સતત બીજી વાર ફીફા વર્લ્ડ કપની ફાઇનલમાં પ્રવેશ કરી લીધો છે. હવે રવિવારે ન્યૂ જર્સીમાં અર્જેન્ટીનાની ખિતાબી ટક્કર સ્પેન સામે થશે.
મર્સિડીઝ-બેન્ઝ સ્ટેડિયમમાં હાઈ-વોલ્ટેજ ડ્રામા
મર્સિડીઝ-બેન્ઝ સ્ટેડિયમમાં મેચની શરૂઆતથી જ બંને દેશોના ફેન્સ વચ્ચે જબરદસ્ત અવાજ અને મેદાન પર તીવ્ર તણાવ જોવા મળ્યો. પહેલા હાફમાં રમત મોટેભાગે ફાઉલના કારણે ખોરવાયેલી રહી. ત્રીજી મિનિટમાં જ એન્ઝો ફર્નાન્ડેઝના એક ફાઉલ પછી ખેલાડીઓ વચ્ચે તીખી બોલાચાલી થઈ. ઇંગ્લેન્ડે લિયોનેલ મેસીને ઘેરીને રાખ્યો અને મુક્તપણે રમવાની કોઈ તક ન આપી. અર્જેન્ટીનાના માર્ટિનેઝ અને ઇંગ્લેન્ડના ઇલિયટ એન્ડરસનને યેલો કાર્ડ પણ જોવું પડ્યું. મર્યાદિત તકો વચ્ચે પહેલો હાફ 0-0 ની બરાબરી પર છૂટ્યો.
બીજા હાફમાં ઇંગ્લેન્ડનો દબદબો
બીજા હાફમાં વાર્તા પૂરી રીતે બદલાઈ ગઈ. 55 મી મિનિટમાં ઇંગ્લેન્ડના મોર્ગન રોજર્સે એક જાદુઈ પાસ આપ્યો, જેના પર એન્થોની ગોર્ડને શાનદાર ફિનિશિંગ કરતા બોલને ગોલપોસ્ટમાં નાખી દીધો. આ ગોલની મદદથી ઇંગ્લેન્ડ 1-0 થી આગળ થઈ ગયું. આ પછી અર્જેન્ટીના પર દબાણ સ્પષ્ટ દેખાઈ રહ્યું હતું અને ઘડિયાળના કાંટા પસાર થવાની સાથે ઇંગ્લેન્ડની જીત નક્કી લાગતી હતી.
85 મી મિનિટથી શરૂ થયું મેસી અને અર્જેન્ટીનાનું 'રૌદ્ર સ્વરૂપ'
જ્યારે અર્જેન્ટીનાના ફેન્સ આશા ગુમાવી રહ્યા હતા, ત્યારે 'ગોડ ઓફ ફૂટબોલ' લિયોનેલ મેસીએ કમાન સંભાળી. 85 મી મિનિટમાં મેસીએ ડિફેન્ડર્સને થાપ આપીને એન્ઝો ફર્નાન્ડેઝને પાસ આપ્યો. ફર્નાન્ડેઝે બોક્સની બરાબર બહારથી એક બુલેટ શોટ ફટકારીને સ્કોર 1-1 કરી દીધો. મેચ જ્યારે એક્સ્ટ્રા ટાઈમ તરફ વધી રહી હતી, ત્યારે જ ઇન્જરી ટાઈમમાં મેસીએ એક વધુ સચોટ પાસ આપ્યો, જેને લાઉતારો માર્ટિનેઝે કોઈ પણ ભૂલ કર્યા વિના ગોલમાં ફેરવી દીધો. માત્ર 7 મિનિટની અંદર સ્કોર 1-0 થી 2-1 થઈ ગયો.
જીત બાદ ભાવુક બન્યા મેસી
ફાઇનલ વ્હીસલ વાગતા જ લિયોનેલ મેસી અટલાન્ટાના મેદાન પર ઘૂંટણિયે બેસી ગયા અને તેમની આંખોમાંથી આંસુ સરી પડ્યા. આ પછી તેઓ પોતાના સાથીઓને ગળે લગાવતા નજરે આવ્યા. એક વધુ યાદગાર વાપસીથી ટીમને જીત અપાવનારા 39 વર્ષીય મેસી હવે સતત બીજી વાર ફીફા વિશ્વ કપ જીતવાથી માત્ર એક ડગલું દૂર છે.