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Kylian Mbappe was convinced he had won a penalty in Frances 2026 World Cup opener against Senegal in New Jersey on Tuesday, only to be left flabbergasted as Australian referee Alireza Faghani gave a corner and then changed his decision to a goal-kick after watching replays.Mbappe dribbled into the box where Senegals Sadio Mane slid in to make a tackle. As Mane reached Mbappe, the France captain touched the ball away from his opponent and then collapsed in a heap under Manes challenge. Mbappe could only laugh as the referee waved away French appeals and awarded a corner. Follow France v Senegal live!Referee Faghani was sent to review the decision on his pitchside monitor by his VAR, and as he stepped back on to the pitch, French players and coaching staff began to celebrate. But instead of awarding a penalty, Faghani announced: The attacker initiated the contact.To rub salt into French wounds, the corner was overturned after replays clearly showed that Mane made no contact with the ball. Sadio Mane slides in on Kylian Mbappe without touching the ball (Reuters)Mane was not penalised for the challenge (Reuters)Pundits were aghast at the decision. That is just rubbish, said Pat Nevin on BBC Sport. Utter nonsense. No chance at all. How can he [Mbappe] have initiated the contact? The most nonsensical line I have ever heard.I dont get it, added Alan Shearer. You can see the lunge from Mane and his left leg catches Mbappe. How can Mbappe initiate contact if he is in front of him? Its bizarre, it really is.I cant support the referees decision to be honest, said Darren Cann, an assistant referee at the 2010 World Cup final. For me it is a clear penalty. My phone has blown up with messages from several of the worlds best referees who also cant understand why a penalty wasnt given. For me it is very, very clear and I am extremely surprised he did not point to the spot after a correct VAR review.France were not complaining for long. Minutes later, Mbappe latched on to a cleverly disguised throughball by Michael Olise and turned home a first-time finish to put France into the lead. And substitute Bradley Barcola added a second to put the French two goals clear.

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Although the cheers are still ringing in the Americans' ears after their impressive World Cup-opening victory, this U.S. team says it's prepared for the physical and mental challenges of the weeks ahead including what's likely to be a physical meeting with Australia on Friday.Midfielder Sebastian Berhalter gives credit for this tenacity to coach Mauricio Pochettino, who has taken over a team that repeatedly flopped on the international stage and infused it with a stronger mentality grounded in a few core beliefs.I think one is that were American. We dont take s-, Berhalter said Tuesday.I think thats something that (Pochettino) really put in, Berhalter continued. Even though hes Argentinian, he has that mindset of, like, Look, this is what we do, and this is who we are, and this is what America is about. So I think he just, you know, even from an outside perspective, he showed us Americans what were about. He really drilled that into us, and I think thats something that has helped us this last cycle.That mentality was partly forged last October when the U.S. faced Australia in what turned into a scrappy 2-1 friendly victory in Colorado. Pochettino lambasted his team at halftime, imploring the players to stand up for themselves after the Socceroos delivered physical tackles and punishing play while U.S. midfielder Christian Pulisic left with an injury.Watching that game last year, you could see they were up for it, said Berhalter, whose father, Gregg, coached the U.S. team before Pochettino. They were putting in challenges, and I think thats one of the reasons Mauricio had that halftime rant, and said, These guys cant kick us around. I think he was right.The players heard their coach's pleas, and they responded with an increased physicality in a game that ended with a combined 19 fouls and two yellow cards.The Americans have largely kept it up since then, playing with a confidence and assertiveness that manifested throughout their 4-1 victory over Paraguay last Friday in Inglewood, California. Although they haven't racked up a string of impressive victories since Pochettino took over, the team's improvements in temperament and tactics have been obvious, and the World Cup could be the place where everything blossoms.That game in Colorado was fun, winger Tim Weah said with a grin. That experience was fun. It was aggressive. I think from that game, weve changed a lot. Weve gotten a bit more aggressive as well.Pulisic's health is again a concern for the Americans after he was forced to work out on his own for the second straight training session Tuesday because of the calf injury that limited him to the first half against Paraguay. The team described its playmaking attacker as day to day for Friday's match in Seattle.Even if Pulisic is limited again, the Americans believe they can go toe-to-toe with Australia again. Berhalter could play an important role after he made his World Cup debut by replacing Pulisic for the second half against Paraguay.Its going to be a physical game, but a fun game, and were excited, Berhalter said. "(The Socceroos) are going to fight. We like teams that have that brotherhood, you know? We like teams that you can see theyre hungry, they want to fight.___AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/fifa-world-cup

Harry Maguire has been told to keep his thoughts to himself about his World Cup snubbing.The Manchester United defender shared he was "shocked and gutted" not to be selected for the England squad, having been chosen for the last two World Cups.Former Scotland manager Gordon Strachan feels Maguire should have taken a moment to consider whether to express his opinions.Speaking with PlayUK, Strachan said: "With social media now, I'm sure Harry Maguire had to think about his followers. But sometimes it's better just to keep your thoughts to yourself.TRENDINGStoriesVideosYour Say"His status with the fans and people like myself is high because he gets on and does his job."We should allow him that moment to let off steam. I can see the disappointment because this might have been his last chance to get to a World Cup."Maguire insisted that he has no plans to retire from international football after being omitted from the 26-man squad.Speaking on Gary Lineker's Rest Is Football World Cup podcast, Maguire disclosed that Thomas Tuchel informed players of his decisions via FaceTime.LATEST SPORTS NEWSWorld Cup 2026 day six: All the latest as England suffer huge injury setback ahead of Croatia matchEngland star set to miss the whole of the World Cup after suffering injury blowRuben Amorim lands new role six months after being sacked by Manchester UnitedMaguire said: "He FaceTimed everyone. It was quite an awkward call."I received a text saying can I speak to you about 4pm."It is quite a unique way of doing it, and it must be quite hard because he can see everyone's reactions."Maguire immediately made his feelings known to the England boss."I said straight away I was really disappointed," he continued."I thought I did enough to be in the squad and thought I could have helped and had a part to play on and off the pitch."According to Maguire, Tuchel explained that he had remained loyal to the defenders who had featured prominently during the early stages of his tenure."He said he can't give me an excuse, but he had gone with the four lads who got him through the autumn," Maguire revealed.The former Leicester City star felt confident of securing a place after impressing during England's March camp before finishing the season strongly with Manchester United."It was tough to take," he admitted."I did think I would be in the squad after being selected for the March camp under him for the first time."I did really well in both games and then went back to Manchester United and finished the season really strongly."Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter

Kylian Mbappe has become France's joint record scorer, aged just 27. BBC Sport takes a closer look at how he got here.

David Alaba steht kurz vor seinem ersten Spiel bei einer WM. Zu einem solchen Turnier gehren auch Fans aus der ganzen Welt, von denen wir die schnsten Bilder zeigen - die News dieser WM.[mehr]