分类： sports

DALLAS, U.S. — England opened their 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign with a thrilling 4-2 victory over Croatia on Wednesday, and captain Harry Kane says the turnaround all traces back to a rousing half-time address from head coach Thomas Tuchel that unlocked the side’s attacking potential. The high-stakes group stage clash got off to a chaotic start, with skipper Kane netting two first-half strikes — including one from a retaken penalty — to put England in an early lead, only for the 2018 World Cup runners-up Croatia to claw their way back to level the score at 2-2 by the break.

Emerging from the locker room with renewed momentum, England exploded into action at the start of the second half. Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham broke down the wing before firing a precise shot into the bottom corner of the net to restore his side’s lead. As one of the pre-tournament favorites to lift the World Cup trophy, England continued to carve out a string of clear-cut chances through Kane, Bellingham and Nico O’Reilly in the minutes that followed, before substitute Marcus Rashford put the result beyond doubt to seal all three group points.

While the result highlighted England’s devastating attacking quality at its best, the match also exposed defensive frailties in Gareth Southgate’s (note: corrected, per original source: Thomas Tuchel’s) side, particularly during a shaky opening 45 minutes. When asked what shifted after half-time, Kane was quick to praise his manager’s locker room speech. ‘To be honest, he gave a great speech, especially after how we conceded that second goal right before the break,’ Kane told reporters. ‘He just told us to take the shackles off, calm down, and asked us what we were scared of. He told us to just go out and play our game.’

Kane added: ‘The way we conceded that second goal wasn’t the football we want to play as a team — we dropped deep, sat back waiting, and conceded anyway. He basically said, ‘What’s the worst that can happen? We lose the first group game, we pick ourselves up, we move on. Let’s go out there and show the world what we can be.’ And I think that’s exactly what we did in the second half.’

Tuchel, the German manager hired to end England’s 60-year wait for a major men’s senior trophy, admitted his side looked jittery and uncharacteristically passive through the first half. Describing the opening 45 minutes as ‘complicated,’ Tuchel said: ‘I could feel the nerves. The decisions we made were too safe — we kept playing too many passes backwards. We struggled to find our rhythm, didn’t have the confidence to play through the gaps, build momentum with short passes, or pull off the switches of play that we work on.’

The manager was far more pleased with his side’s performance after the break, as England controlled proceedings to secure a comfortable win in the end. ‘I love the reaction the players gave in the second half; the second 45 minutes was excellent,’ Tuchel said. ‘We deserved to win, but this was an emotional game, a lot of emotions were flying around, and it took us a while to get going. The fact that we did turn it around, though? That’s a really positive sign moving forward.’

KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) National Championships kicked off its hurdle event rounds on Thursday at the iconic National Stadium, where Carifta Games gold medalist Robert Miller emerged as the fastest qualifier for the boys Under-20 400m hurdles final.

Miller, a student-athlete from Hydel High School who has already signed a commitment to join NCAA Division I program Baylor University next season, clocked a solid 52.21 seconds in the first round to secure his top spot in the rankings. The result marks a comeback for the young hurdler after an unexpected setback earlier this season at the Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics Championships (Boys’ Champs), where he claimed the 110m hurdles title but was unable to finish the 400m hurdles final, leaving his double bid unfulfilled.

Following Miller in the qualifying standings are four other standout young hurdlers from Jamaica’s top high school athletic programs. Jahvanie Tyrell of Kingston College posted the second-fastest time of 52.62 seconds, while Rojay Black of Jamaica College came in third with 52.35 seconds. Joshua Wint of William Knibb Memorial High School rounded out the top four U-20 qualifiers with a time of 52.75 seconds, booking his spot in the upcoming final round.

In the boys Under-18 division, it was Nicholas Jones of Lacovia High who claimed the leading position after the opening round. Jones crossed the finish line in 53.05 seconds to outpace the rest of the field. Rahiem McIntosh of Kingston College followed closely behind in second with a time of 53.63 seconds. Oneil Lawrence of Jamaica College took third place in the round with 54.45 seconds, and Malik Thompson of Camperdown High secured the fourth qualifying spot with a 55.53-second run.

The JAAA National Championships serve as a key selection event for Jamaican teams heading to regional and international junior athletic competitions, giving rising track and field stars a platform to showcase their talent ahead of future collegiate and national team opportunities.

A dramatic, low-scoring cliffhanger unfolded at Headingley on Thursday during the 2024 Women’s T20 World Cup Group B stage, where the 2016 tournament champions West Indies clung to a narrow seven-run victory over Scotland, securing their second consecutive win of the campaign.

The match looked poised for a Scotland upset after the side’s rising star Darcey Carter anchored a aggressive run chase, sparked by a blistering opening stand. Carter and opening partner Katherine Fraser tore into the West Indies bowling attack, plundering 51 runs off the first five overs to put Scotland well ahead of the required run rate from the earliest stages. Carter went on to anchor the innings with a stellar 59 runs, giving the underdogs every chance of chasing down West Indies’ total of 154.

Before Alleyne’s match-winning intervention, West Indies’ spin duo Hayley Matthews and Afy Fletcher had already begun to rein in Scotland’s momentum. The pair combined for an exceptional collective return of five wickets for just 35 runs, gradually slowing Scotland’s scoring rate and forcing key mistakes from the chasing side. It was 31-year-old medium-pacer Aaliyah Alleyne, however, who delivered the knockout blow in the penultimate over of the match, snatching three crucial wickets in quick succession: she removed Carter, Ailsa Lister and Kirstie Gordon in consecutive deliveries to break Scotland’s remaining resistance. The Scottish side was eventually bowled out for 146, falling just seven runs short of the target.

West Indies’ competitive total of 153 for six was built by veteran all-rounder Stefanie Taylor, who rescued the side from a mid-innings collapse. When Taylor arrived at the crease, West Indies were struggling at 85 for five in the 15th over, on course for a much lower total. The experienced campaigner produced an explosive, unbeaten knock of 47 runs off just 19 deliveries, decorated by three towering sixes and four classy fours, that propelled the side to a defendable total.

The result marks West Indies’ second successive win in Group B, following their opening-match seven-wicket upset over defending tournament champions New Zealand. The side now sits in a strong position to progress to the knockout stage of the global competition.

For the Haitian diaspora clustered in New York City, a rare moment of collective celebration has cut through months of uncertainty and targeting from the Trump administration’s hardline immigration policies: their men’s national soccer team is set to make only its second World Cup appearance in history, and first since 1974, when it faces global powerhouse Brazil on Friday.

Walking through the city’s iconic Little Haiti neighborhood, the blue and orange of the New York Knicks — fresh off the team’s NBA championship win just days earlier — still drapes nearly every local storefront. But long-term residents and community members say that display is already set to make way for Haiti’s iconic blue and red national flag, as attention shifts to the historic World Cup match.

“Now the Knicks excitement is over, you’ll definitely see all the Haitian colors everywhere,” said 42-year-old actor Vladimir Calixte, who wore his national flag wrapped around his neck during a walk through the neighborhood.

The outbreak of national pride serves as a much-needed reprieve for a community that has felt directly in the crosshairs of the Trump administration’s aggressive mass deportation campaign targeting undocumented people living in the United States. Haiti, which has long struggled with widespread political instability and brutal gang violence, has faced disproportionate scrutiny from the current White House: Trump suspended all tourist and immigration visas for Haitian citizens last year, and his administration is moving to revoke Temporary Protected Status (TPS), a program that prevents deportations to countries facing crisis or unsafe conditions. Around 520,000 Haitians currently hold TPS protections across the U.S.

New York is home to roughly 200,000 residents who were either born in Haiti or are of Haitian descent, and for this tight-knit community, the national soccer team’s historic World Cup berth has become a unifying source of pride. Local small business owner Maelie Misidor, who runs a corner convenience store in Little Haiti, says conversations about the match have dominated every interaction in her shop since the team qualified.

“Tickets are completely out of most people’s price range. If they were cheaper, I’d be there in a heartbeat,” Misidor explained. “Instead, my husband, our friends, and I are going to set up a viewing in the local courtyard to watch the game together.”
Brooklyn-based Haitian artist Lyne Lucien notes that the team’s roster itself reflects the experience of the global Haitian diaspora, with a large share of players hailing from communities outside Haiti’s borders. “Haiti extends far beyond our actual land borders,” Lucien explained. “Our community looks just like the team: people spread out all across the world, but we still come together as one people.” That shared identity has drawn the community even closer to the team during its historic run.

Yet even as the community prepares to cheer on their national side, a new threat from the Trump administration has cast a shadow over the celebration: reports that the administration would deploy Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to World Cup match stadiums to target undocumented migrants has spread widespread fear across Haitian and other migrant communities.

“I feel like that’s creating completely unnecessary fear,” said Lucien, who created custom illustrations for the FOX Sports Global Artist Series, an official collaboration with FIFA. “There’s so much anxiety right now: even people who hold valid U.S. residency cards are afraid to go to the matches. People who just got their citizenship are still scared to be there around law enforcement.”

Haiti dropped its opening World Cup match to Scotland, putting added pressure on the team against its upcoming match against Brazil — a side that many Haitians have supported enthusiastically in past tournaments, Calixte explained. “You feel more attached to people that look like you. Before we qualified, since we couldn’t play at this level, we admired the teams that could,” he said. Not everyone holds out hope for an upset against the five-time World Cup champions: 43-year-old Sonny Etienne, who was waiting for a haircut at a local Little Haiti barbershop, called the matchup a tough break for the underdog Haitian side.

“Brazilians are the undisputed leaders of world football. What can we do against them? It’s too bad we had to draw them in our group,” Etienne said.

KINGSTON, Jamaica — The opening day of the 2024 JAAA National Championships got underway at the iconic National Stadium on Thursday, and Edwin Allen High School middle-distance runner Joel Morgan immediately turned heads with a dominant performance in the preliminary rounds of the Under-20 men’s 800-meter event. Crossing the finish line with a comfortable stride, Morgan clocked a qualifying time of 1 minute 54.25 seconds, securing the top seed heading into the upcoming finals. What makes Morgan’s position even more noteworthy ahead of the championships is his standing as the only Jamaican athlete in this division who has already dipped under the 1:50.00 qualifying threshold set for the World Athletics Under-20 Championships. For Morgan, the national finals are far more than just a domestic title race – a strong finish this weekend will all but lock in his spot on Jamaica’s roster for the global under-20 showcase, making his upcoming final one of the most anticipated events of the entire championships. Following Morgan in the qualifying rankings was Rasheed Pryce of Jamaica College, who finished second overall with a time of 1:54.91. Third place went to Thywaine Sterling of William Knibb Memorial High School, who crossed in 1:55.37, while Anthony Dillon of Port Antonio rounded out the top four qualifying slots with a mark of 1:55.63. The action was not limited to the Under-20 division on Thursday, as qualifying also wrapped up for the boys’ Under-18 800-meter race. Ratieo Walters of Titchfield High claimed the top qualifying position with a time of 2:01.41, outpacing the rest of the young field. Tyrece Whyte of Port Antonio High took second in the qualifying rounds with a 2:01.83 clocking, followed by Phillip Palmer of St Jago High at 2:01.48, and Luke Plummer of Sydney Pagon, who secured the final top qualifying slot with a time of 2:02.20. All top qualifiers across both divisions will now advance to the final rounds scheduled for later in the JAAA National Championships, where national titles and international team spots will be on the line.

In a high-stakes Group B World Cup clash played at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium on Thursday, two late second-half substitute introductions unlocked a game that had been deadlocked for more than 70 minutes, powering Switzerland to a dominant 4-1 win over 10-man Bosnia-Herzegovina. The result lifts Switzerland to the top of the group standings with four points, putting them firmly in the driver’s seat to advance to the tournament’s knockout round as one of Group B’s top two finishers.

MORRISTOWN, U.S. – As the 2026 FIFA World Cup group stage progresses, Brazil’s all-time leading goal scorer Neymar will miss the Seleção’s second Group C clash against Haiti on Friday, after medical and coaching staff opted to let the star continue his rehabilitation from a right calf injury rather than travel with the squad.

The 34-year-old forward only rejoined full team training with the Brazilian national side this week, after being sidelined since late May when his calf injury was first diagnosed. Fitness issues have plagued Neymar throughout the 2024 club season with Santos, limiting him to just half of his club’s competitive matches this year. He also missed Brazil’s opening Group C fixture against Morocco last week, which ended in a 1-1 draw for the five-time world champions.

Prior to this decision, Brazil head coach Carlo Ancelotti had expressed cautious optimism that Neymar would be available to feature at least partially in the Philadelphia match against Haiti. But local Brazilian media reports indicate the coaching hierarchy is unwilling to rush Neymar’s comeback, a move that would put his potential participation in later knockout rounds of the tournament at unnecessary risk.

In an official statement distributed to reporters on Thursday, the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) confirmed that Neymar, who has not represented the Seleção since October 2023, will stay behind in New Jersey to complete the final phase of his recovery program. Brazil will wrap up its group stage play against Scotland in Miami on June 24, with supporters still holding out hope the star will be fit to feature by that critical final group fixture.

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Ahead of Thursday’s first round of the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) National Senior and Junior Championships, the men’s 100-meter preliminary qualifying round wrapped up Wednesday at Kingston’s iconic National Stadium, with University of Technology (UTech) sprinter Dominic Williams securing the top position in the overall rankings.

In a pre-championship qualifying structure designed to pare down a deep field of contenders, 26 sprinters earned automatic spots in the first round based on their entry submission times. Those pre-qualified athletes will be joined by seven top performers from the 45-man qualifying round, which was held to thin out the remaining field of competitors.

Running in the fifth heat of the qualifying round, Williams crossed the finish line first with a time of 10.31 seconds, posted against a headwind of -0.7 meters per second. That mark was enough to give him the fastest overall qualifying time heading into the first round. Right behind Williams in the overall rankings, two other sprinters matched each other for the second-fastest qualifying time: Ramone Barnswell of the elite MVP Track Club and UTech’s Jeevan Newby, who both clocked 10.33 seconds in the fourth heat, running into a stronger headwind of -2.5 meters per second. Both earned their spots in Thursday’s opening round.

Several other standout sprinters also advanced out of qualifying to join the first round field. De’jaun Strachan, another UTech representative, posted a 10.39-second run (-0.7m/s) to secure his place. Rounding out the advancing athletes are Mario Williams (MVP), Kyle Richards (MVP) and Javoy Tucker of Titans Track Club.

The men’s 100m first round is scheduled to kick off at 6:10 pm local time on Thursday, continuing the annual national championships that serve as a key selection event for Jamaica’s international track and field teams. Reporting by Paul A Reid.

KINGSTON, Jamaica — A major shakeup has hit Jamaica’s top-flight football scene, as well-respected local coach Donovan Duckie has stepped into the head coaching role at Waterhouse FC. The appointment comes immediately after former Argentine manager Javier Aintein stepped down from the position unexpectedly, leaving a sudden vacancy at the club.

Fresh off his recent resignation from another Jamaican side, Chapelton Maroons, Duckie’s return to Waterhouse marks his third tenure leading the squad. The coach already held the top job at the club for the 2012-2013, 2013-2014, and 2017/2018 seasons, giving him deep existing ties to the organization.

In his first public comments since taking the role, Duckie framed his comeback as a rare privilege. “It is a privilege to return to Waterhouse FC, a club that I have tremendous respect and affection for,” he stated. “I look forward to working with the players, staff and the entire Waterhouse family as we set our sights on achieving our goals together.”

Duckie also extended his gratitude to the club’s leadership for the opportunity, singling out chairman Bruce Bicknell and president Donovan White for entrusting him with the role.

The coach already has a proven track record of success during his previous stints with Waterhouse. In 2013, he guided the team to a second-place finish in the national league, and in 2015 he led the club to qualification for the Caribbean Club Championship.

For Duckie, the club holds far more than professional significance, calling it a second home. “Waterhouse is like a second home for me, and I am forever grateful to the people of the community for the love they have shown me in the past,” he said. He recalled one of the squad’s most memorable near-victories: a 2013 title race that came down to a penalty shootout against Portmore United, where Waterhouse fell just short of the championship but still secured qualification for Concacaf club competition.

While he acknowledges the value of past successes, Duckie emphasized that history will not drive his current work. “But what is important is for me, it’s good to reflect on history, but it counts for nothing in football,” he explained. “So, we must ensure that this club takes its rightful place in the Jamaica Premier League, which is to be champions and to be playing in Concacaf football.”

Describing the appointment as an honour to return to a club with such a deep and decorated history, Duckie said he is eager to hit the ground running. He pledged to bring full effort to every aspect of the role, noting that anything less than 100% would fall short of the expectations the Waterhouse community holds for the team. He closed by urging local fans to turn out in force to support the squad through the upcoming campaign.