Lionel Messi and Argentina now know who they will face in the 2026 FIFA World Cup round of 32. Argentina clinched the top spot in Group J with two wins in its first two matches. While it has yet to play its final group stage match, its opponent has now been set following Friday's round of group stage matches. Here is everything you need to know about Argentina's Round of 32 opponent: Who Is Argentina's Round Of 32 Opponent? As the runner-up in Group H, Cape Verde, which is making its World Cup debut in 2026, will play reigning champions Argentina in the round of 32. Cape Verde finished Group H with three points after securing three points in three matches, including a 2-2 draw against Uruguay in its second group stage match. Cape Verde had +165 odds to advance to the round of 32 entering the tournament. When Is Argentina vs. Cape Verde? Argentina and Cape Verde will go head-to-head in the round of 32 on July 3 at Miami Stadium. This will mark Lionel Messi's fourth time playing at Miami Stadium, with his most notable appearance coming in the 2024 Copa Amrica final. Messi plays for Inter Miami CF at the club level, but the MLS side plays all of its home matches at Nu Stadium in Miami. Who Is Cape Verde's Best Player? On paper, Cape Verde's statistical leader is Ryan Mendes, the team's all-time leader in goals and appearances, but veteran goalkeeper Vozinha has become an overnight sensation after recording a seven-save clean sheet against Spain in Cape Verde's World Cup opener.

Eight teams that end up in third place will play the round of 32 of the World Cup

It is an uneasy time in Queens these days, with the New York Mets on track for another losing season, their manager fired and the team rebuffing calls to fire its top baseball executive.That doesn't mean there aren't reasons for laughter, like the unfortunate timing of one Mr. Met.The Mets mascot went viral on Friday when he crashed an SNY appearance by team reporter Steve Gelbs and began dancing in the background. What the person in the Mr. Met costume might not have been aware of was that Gelbs was in the process of breaking down the firing of Mets manager Carlos Mendoza, with an on-air graphic saying as much.It was an absurd image ready-made for the internet.Mets: last in their division, six-game losing streak, just fired their managerMr. Met: pic.twitter.com/fvctlGtKw9 Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) June 26, 2026In more serious news, the Mets will finish the season with former San Diego Padres manager as their interim skipper. The team lost its first game of the post-Mendoza era and their seventh straight overall with a 2-1 defeat against the Philadelphia Phillies, pushing their record to an NL East-worst 34-48. Only the Colorado Rockies have a worse record in the NL.There are so many things wrong for the Mets right now, who were supposed to be hitting their stride at this point in the tenure of president of baseball operations David Stearns. Its not that the team lacks for talent, it just doesnt have the amount it should with its projected $365 million price tag and that talent hasnt even gelled into winning baseball.A reversal isnt impossible, but for now its probably safe to bet on Mr. Met being the organizations most reliable source of joy in the coming months.

Spain came to Guadalajara needing a point and left with first place, the comfort of a No. 1 seed, and very little else to brag about. They had 68% of the ball and exactly one shot on target all night. That shot was a tame lex Baena effort that Fernando Muslera somehow shoveled over his own line. A win is a win. This one came with an asterisk and a thank-you note to the goalkeeper. Here are my takeaways from Spain's 1-0 win over Uruguay: 1. Spain Is Through. The Swagger Stayed Home. Top of Group H: Seven points, plus-five goal difference, and a tournament that reads: flat draw with Cape Verde, 4-0 rout of Saudi Arabia, one-shot grind past Uruguay. One of those is not like the others. Lamine Yamal is fit and starting again, but the excitement everyone was gushing about pre-tournament hasn't arrived. Spain is advancing on reputation, 68% possession, and a goalkeeper's mistake. That's not going to make the Spanish fans salivate. It's also not the relentless machine we were promised. Other favorites have already found a second gear. Spain is still hunting for first. The talent is obvious, so maybe this is a slow build, and the switch flips in the knockouts. Or maybe it's the early warning that the best version of this team isn't coming. Either way, they need to get their act together fast, or it'll be a long trip back across the pond for one of the bookies' favorites. 2. Bielsa's Benching of Valverde Is Unforgivable Uruguay is going home. Third in the group, two points, not a single win to point to across three games. For a two-time world champion, that's a second straight group-stage exit, and this one was supposed to be different. Marcelo Bielsa, a favorite amongst matcha latte-drinking Twitter tactico hipsters, was supposed to be the fix. Instead, just before the hour, with his team needing a goal to survive, he inexplicably pulled Federico Valverde. His best midfielder. One of the best on the planet, actually. The same Valverde who reportedly led the questioning of Bielsa's tactics earlier in the week. Don't call it bold. You can call it a manager settling a score on the way out the door; what you can't call it is a survival plan. Taking off your best player when you desperately need a result is absolutely ludicrous. It reeks of self-sabotage. When the move you make to save your World Cup is benching Valverde, the World Cup was already gone. 3. Spain's Turbochargers Are Both Idling Here's the uncomfortable bit for Luis de la Fuente. Lamine Yamal played 76 minutes and flickered. A clever ball to Dani Olmo, a couple of dribbles, but not the teenager who bends matches to his will. And Nico Williams? Tipped to make his first start of the tournament, he didn't, again, and only jogged on for the final 15 minutes with the game already parked. Spain is winning without their two most dangerous wingers anywhere near top gear. Sounds like a luxury. It's the worry. In the knockouts, a deep back four will dare Spain to break it down, and 68% possession won't pick a lock by itself. Especially since the lone striker, Mikel Oyarzabal, is hardly a target man to cross the ball to. They'll need Yamal ruthless and Williams flying. Tonight, both were simply on the field. Spain doesn't need them present. They need them lethal. 4. The Fouls Weren't the Cause of Death. They Were the Autopsy. Easy to pin Uruguay's exit on indiscipline. Twenty-eight fouls in the match, cards piling up, Agustn Canobbio sent off at the death for scything down Pau Cubars as tempers finally boiled over. Bielsa had already hooked goalkeeper Muslera at halftime after his howler, a call that looked brutal towards the Uruguayan veteran. Then the Valverde sub. Then a touchline scuffle. It looked like a team coming apart because it was. But the chaos didn't cost Uruguay this tournament. The chaos was the tournament, a squad that by every report dragged its dressing-room toxicity onto the grass weeks ago. The red card and the flying legs weren't a side clawing to stay alive. They were a side that had quit believing, swinging on the way down. Bielsa owes some answers. Start with the big one: when exactly did he lose them?

Los Angeles never logged a winning season with Minasian leading its baseball operations

Celtics Front Office Member Reveals What Team Looks For In Late Draft Picks originally appeared on NESN. Add NESN as a Preferred Source by clicking here.One downside of consistently being one of the NBA's premier teams is that the Boston Celtics are consistently picking in the bottom fourth of the NBA Draft.Even after a down year and an uncharacteristic first-round exit in the NBA Playoffs, Boston had the 27th overall selection in this week's 2026 NBA Draft.The Celtics used the 27th pick on Houston's Chris Cenac Jr., before selecting St. John's's Dillon Mitchell 15 picks later.Before the draft began, Celtics Assistant General Manager Dave Lewin sat down with team coverage Manager Taylor Snow and revealed what the team looks for in its draft picks."A lot of the players that are the most talented have gone at the top of the draft, so those guys are no longer on board when youre in the late 20s," Lewin told Celtics.com. "Late in the first and early in the second, those guys are still very talented, but mostly in the same ballpark of talent, so finding guys with the right mindset and competitive character is often the differential."Lewin touched on recent draft hits like Baylor Scheierman, Payton Pritchard and Hugo Gonzalez during the lengthy interview. The overall message was consistent: the team prioritizes finding team-first contributors who are comfortable playing off-ball.Those players are then heavily examined by Brad Stevens and the rest of the staff to ensure that they have the makeup of a Celtics draftee."We want to make sure that we have followed a player for a while," Lewin said. "Weve seen him play in a variety of different settings. Weve talked to people that have coached the player, worked with the player across a variety of settings, such that we know from every angle who this player has been as a basketball player, what his experiences have been, and how hes handled and responded to a variety of different goals and circumstances throughout his career."We want to get a sense of who they are, what theyre about, what motivates them, what makes them tick."More NBA:Trail Blazers In 'Active And Aggressive' Pursuit Of Celtics' Jaylen Brown

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Norway striker Erling Haaland and nine of the team's other regular starters needed rest more than a first-place finish in their World Cup group. "Its a no-brainer," coach Stle Solbakken said Friday after a 4-1 loss to France left the Norwegians in second place in the group. "The fans around Norway and also in the arena would have liked to see Erling. But that is not really the issue. We want to proceed as long as we can in the tournament." Already in the knockout round but with a chance to win the group with a victory over France on Friday, Solbakken decided to rest 10 of the players who started the previous game. France, which won the World Cup in 2018 and lost in the final four years ago, took a 3-1 lead on Ousmane Dembl's first-half hat trick, and earned a round of 32 matchup with a third-place team. "I would lie if I said that I wasnt a little bit surprised, for sure," France defender Jules Kound said. "No matter which player we have in front of us, we are always trying to do our best and win. We wanted to finish first on the table and thats what we did, so pretty happy about it." Norway would have needed to beat France to win the group because they trailed on goal difference heading into the match. Instead, Norway will next face the Ivory Coast, also second-place finisher, on Tuesday in Arlington, Texas. Solbakken said the team's short break after Monday's victory over Senegal convinced him it was more important to rest his regulars than go for the victory. Among the changes, Egil Selvik was in goal in place of Orjan Nyland against France's regular lineup. "I think its smart," midfielder Patrick Berg said. "Its hopefully for us a long tournament. So being able to rest somebody and at the same time give somebody who has been here for some weeks now, training really hard give them the opportunity to perform against one of the best teams, I think it was a win-win situation for us." Haaland, a Manchester City forward who has been the Premier League's leading scorer three of the last four seasons, entered the day with four World Cup goals, tied for second with Brazils Vincius Jnior and Frances Kylian Mbapp, and trailing only Argentina's Lionel Messi. But Norwegian fans who spent thousands to travel to the United States and even more for their match tickets were deprived of seeing one of the World Cup's star attractions. "I feel this consideration," Solbakken said. "But we have given them a couple of victories, and we are giving them an opportunity to watch more games ... We are here to proceed as long as we can. And I need to make decisions to proceed as long as possible." Reporting by The Associated Press.

Both teams have serious work to do if they want to advance

Jun 26, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Twins center fielder Byron Buxton (25) and Minnesota Twins second baseman Kody Clemens (2) shake hands after scoring runs against the Colorado Rockies in the fifth inning at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images | Jesse Johnson-Imagn ImagesTwins 9, Rockies 8Leverage index & box scoreGraphics via FanGraphs.Getting the job done:Byron Buxton, +0.42 WPASenza, no . . . . : Antonio Senzatela, -0.30 WPAGame discussion comment of the dayJoin the conversation!Sign up for a user accountand get:Fewer adsCreatecommunity postsComment on articles, community postsRec comments, community postsNew, improved notifications system!Please keep in mind ourPurple Row Community Guidelineswhen youre commenting. Thanks!