Julián Quiñones and Raúl Jiménez scored goals in a nine-minute span in the first half and Mexico defeated Ecuador 2-0 to break a 40-year drought without a win in the knockout stage and progressed to the World Cup round of 16.

Quiñones opened the scoring in the 22nd minute while Jiménez added a strike in the 31st minute for the Mexicans, who had not won a knockout-stage match since defeating Bulgaria in the round of 16 when they hosted the tournament in 1986.

Mexico subsequently lost seven consecutive times at that same stage from 1994 to 2018.

FIFA World Cup | Mexico vs Ecuador highlights

In Qatar 2022, they were eliminated in the group stage for the first time since Argentina in 1978.

It was Quiñones third goal of the tournament and he is now El Tri’s second-best scorer in World Cup history behind Luis “Matador” Hernández and Javier “Chicharito” Hernández, who scored four each.

Jiménez scored his second goal of the tournament and has 47 with the national team to break a tie with Jared Borgetti. He is five away from tying “Chicharito” Hernández as the all-time leading scorer for Mexico.

Mexico will play another home match on Sunday (July 5, 2026) against the winner of Wednesday’s (July 1) match between England and Congo.

Playing at the iconic Azteca Stadium, the Mexican squad boasts an undefeated record across 10 World Cup matches. Mexico has just two official losses at the venue — the last being a World Cup qualifying defeat to Honduras on Sept. 6, 2013.

With the win, Mexico extended its unbeaten run to 12 games, dating back to a friendly loss against Paraguay in November.

Mexico also became the first CONCACAF side to eliminate a CONMEBOL side in a World Cup knockout match. Teams from South America won the previous five meetings.

Ecuador was trying to advance to the round of 16 for the second time in their history and the first since Germany 2006.

The match started one hour after the original scheduled time due to a thunderstorm.

It was the second match of the tournament affected by weather. A storm during the France-Iraq match at Philadelphia on June 22 caused a 2-hour, 11-minute suspension at the end of the first half.

France uncorked a Champagne performance on Tuesday (June 30, 2026) to sweep Sweden aside 3-0 with a ‌display of attacking verve and precision and book their place in the World ​Cup last 16. The scoreline flattered Sweden.

France’s flamboyant attack might have reached double ⁠figures were it not for the woodwork and a series of near-misses measured in millimetres.

France vs Sweden Round of 32 clash highlights

Paraguay lie in wait, and the exhilarating football France produced here will do little to help the South Americans sleep before their last-16 meeting.

At the ‌heart of it all was French captain and talisman Kylian Mbappe. From the start it had been clear he was a man on a mission.

Mbappe’s two goals lifted his ‌World Cup finals tally to 18, one behind Lionel Messi on the all-time list. Remarkably, ‌those ⁠goals have come in just 18 matches, with his double here taking him to ⁠six for the tournament.

By the final whistle Sweden looked less like beaten men, more like beaten-up men, after 90 minutes hauling themselves round the New York-New Jersey pitch trying to keep up with the precise French passing.

The temperature on the pitch felt ​even hotter than the 32 degrees Celsius (90 degrees ‌Fahrenheit) officially recorded in East Rutherford, but for Sweden it might as well have been the surface of the sun as they visibly wilted under a relentless French onslaught.

Mbappe was at the centre of everything. He had a long range shot saved in the 16th minute and had ‌the ball in the net four minutes later. The effort was ruled out for offside, ​but Sweden had been warned.

Hydration break boos

The match was scoreless by the time the packed stadium roundly booed the hydration break, as has become customary among soccer fans ⁠angered by the effective introduction of four quarters to a game traditionally separated by two halves. For once, though, nobody could doubt the justification as the haggard Swedes looked out on their feet.

The jeering fans ‌were swiftly distracted by a deafening rendition of Jon Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer” before the match resumed but there was to be no divine intervention for the Scandinavians.

Mbappe rattled the post just after the half-hour as he inched ever closer and finally broke the deadlock on 45 minutes when, from a pass by Ousmane Dembele, he jinked and skipped and slammed a right-foot shot past Jacob Widell Zetterstrom.

The pair have now combined for six goals at World Cup finals, more than any duo in tournament ‌history, moving clear of Germany’s Michael Ballack and Miroslav Klose, and Poland’s Grzegorz Lato and Andrzej Szarmach.

The French among the ​more than 86,000 in the stadium erupted and Mbappe, followed by the entire French team, ran to Didier Deschamps on the touchline to embrace the coach just back in ⁠the U.S. after attending his mother’s funeral.

France came out for the second half in the same fashion. Sharp, ⁠precise and dangerous.

After squandering a handful of gilt-edged chances by the finest of margins France finally recalibrated their slide-rule precision in the 53rd minute, when Bradley Barcola lofted the ball ‌past the Swedish goalkeeper to double their lead.

Twenty minutes later Mbappe had his second, clipping the ball past the keeper from a deft through-ball from Michael Olise.

In the 84th minute, Deschamps brought ​Mbappe off and the captain left to rousing cheers from the crowd after a masterclass that hammered out France’s intentions.

Every rowing crew knows that progress comes only when everyone pulls in the same direction. Norway’s fans have turned that truth into theatre at this World Cup, sitting in lines and rowing in unison through their celebrations. They arrived in Arlington with the hope that their songs could provide one final push towards the last 16 of the World Cup.

By the final whistle, the players had joined the act. Norway played in the same spirit as it suffered as one, defended without panic and refused to allow Ivory Coast’s physicality to impact the scoreline. The players sat down before their supporters and rowed together, the celebration perfectly reflecting the collective endeavour that had brought them safely ashore with a 2-1 triumph.

FIFA World Cup | Norway vs Ivory Coast highlights

Norway was guilty of starting with too many square passes and failing to involve Erling Haaland, allowing Ivory Coast to grow into the contest. The Elephants played with a spring in their step, while Norway’s defence was left trying to extinguish one attack after another as an error-ridden midfield offered little protection.

As play resumed after the hydration break, Yan Diomande’s cross from the left picked out Nicolas Pepe arriving unmarked at the far post, and although his effort was unlikely to find the net, Marcus Pedersen was relieved to hack it out.

In the 36th minute, Haaland finally had a sight of goal after Alexander Sorloth floated in a cross from the right, but the Manchester City striker’s bouncing header lacked its usual conviction and Yahia Fofana comfortably gathered.

Against the run of play, however, Norway scored in the 39th minute. Antonio Nusa collected the ball on the edge of the area and struck it like a hammer hitting the nail, with the ball disappearing into the top-right corner.

Norway came close to extending the lead a little after the hour mark as Torbjorn Heggem met Martin Odegaard’s corner six yards out, but Amad Diallo, just introduced, was stationed on the line to hoof it clear.

Diallo soon had a bigger impact. He played a one-two with Pepe outside the box, took the return pass inside, before slipping past Moller Wolfe and Sander Berge to whip in the equaliser into the bottom-left corner with at least a quarter of an hour still to play for.

A simple Haaland tap-in in the 86th minute, however, ultimately broke the Ivorian hearts. The striker, largely uninvolved until then, arrived in front of goal to turn in Patrick Berg’s cross as a flat-footed defence watched in horror.

Diallo, again, almost brought his team back as his stinging freekick in the dying minutes was acrobatically tipped out by a watchful Orjan Nyland.

When it mattered most, Norway had found one final stroke, enough to carry it past Ivory Coast and into a mouthwatering meeting with Brazil in New York.

France striker Ousmane Dembele scored ​a first-half hat-trick to guide his ‌already-qualified team to a 4-1 win ​over second-string Norway on ⁠Friday (June 26, 2026) and finish top of World Cup Group I.

The 2018 World Cup winners ‌hit the crossbar with Kylian Mbappe’s thunderous drive after 25 ‌seconds before the captain ‌delivered ⁠a superb through ball for ⁠Ballon d’Or winner Dembele to fire them into the lead in the seventh minute.

The ​29-year-old added a ‌second goal with a superbly angled shot before Norway, who had qualified in second place and rested ‌10 of their 11 first-choice ​starters, including top scorer Erling Haaland, pulled one back when ⁠the unmarked Thelo Aasgaard scored a minute later.

Dembele bagged his first ‌World Cup treble with a fine finish in the 32nd before Norway’s Jorgen Strand Larsen had a penalty saved five minutes after the restart.

France, who got a ‌fourth goal through Desire Doue in stoppage ​time, will not know their Round of 32 opponents until ⁠Saturday when all group matches are completed ⁠but are likely to face Sweden, while Norway will ‌take on Ivory Coast in the knockout stage in Dallas on ​June 30.

U.S. host officials “caused problems” for Iran forward Mehdi Taremi and ​assistant coach Saeed Alhoei, delaying their ‌delegation as they travelled to Seattle ​for the World Cup ⁠match against Egypt, Iran’s football federation said on Wednesday (June 24, 2026).

Iran’s ISNA news agency, citing the ‌federation, said team members were waiting for Taremi and Alhoei ‌to rejoin the group.

The reported ‌incident ⁠comes days after U.S. authorities ⁠eased travel restrictions on Iran’s World Cup delegation following complaints from Tehran and the team ​that strict entry ‌rules were disrupting preparations.

It was not immediately clear what caused the latest delay. U.S. authorities did not ‌immediately comment.

U.S. officials had previously required ​Iran, who are based in Tijuana, Mexico during the tournament, ⁠to enter the United States only shortly before matches and leave soon ‌afterwards.

Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei had criticised the arrangements as unfair and said repeated cross-border travel left his players fatigued. U.S. authorities this week allowed the team to arrive in ‌Seattle two days before their match against ​Egypt on Friday, granting greater flexibility than for their earlier ⁠games.

Relations between Washington and Tehran have added ⁠political sensitivity to Iran’s participation in the World Cup, with ‌the team facing heightened travel and security restrictions throughout the tournament.

Qatar brought a cheering section to the World Cup by treating a large contingent of supporters to an all-expenses-paid trip to North America.

Some 1,000 Qatari fans have descended on Vancouver, via jets chartered by the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, ahead of Thursday’s (June 18, 2026) match against Canada.

The fans are staying at posh hotels, including the Fairmont and the JW Marriott Parq. They’ve been turning heads downtown, breaking out traditional darbuka drums.

“First of all I would like to thank everyone who went the extra mile and made the journey out here,” captain Abdulaziz Hatem said. “We are very aware of the responsibility. We are going to do what ever it takes for them to leave the stadium happy and for them to be proud of us.”

Qatar’s Social and Sport Contribution Fund partnered with the Persian Gulf nation’s football federation to pay for the “Qatari Fans Delegation Program” for the World Cup. The fund covers flights, hotels and local transportation and other perks.

The federation said the aim was to create “a vibrant stadium atmosphere that will help push the players toward the best possible results on the global stage.” Qatari students in the United States and Canada were also invited to attend the matches.

Qatari fans are sure to be heavily outnumbered by red-clad Canadians at BC Place.

A major exporter of natural gas and oil, Qatar has a population of some 3.2 million. It hosted the World Cup in 2022 and made its first appearance in the tournament, becoming the first host country to lose all of its group matches.

Qatar has fared better this time. Boualem Khoukhi scored on a header in stoppage time to give the Qataris a surprising 1-1 draw against Switzerland in Santa Clara, California.

Canada also earned its first World Cup point with a 1-1 draw against Bosnia-Herzegovina last Friday in Toronto. Cyle Larin scored the tying goal in the 78th minute.