World Cup LIVE: Belgium equal record, Japan stun Germany as Socceroos regroup for Tunisia

Thanks for your company this morning. We’ll be back on deck in the early hours tomorrow as five-time champions Brazil get their campaign under way against Serbia. We’ll also bring you all the latest news from overnight from Vince Rugari and Greg Baum in Qatar.

Until then, enjoy your day. We’ll leave you with one more crack at our World Cup predictor — there’s still two more groups to kick off, so it’s not cheating yet.

Adios.

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If you’ve sensed something has been amiss with the clock at this World Cup, you’re not hallucinating. FIFA has finally made sure there is more on-field play.

There were 14 minutes of added time in the first half of the England-Iran game.Credit: Getty

Vince Rugari has the skinny here.

Portugal get their campaign under way at 3am tomorrow against Ghana.

Cristiano Ronaldo at Portugal’s training session ahead of their World Cup opener.Credit: AP

Which seems like a good time to recap the rest of tonight’s coming fixtures.

9pm: Switzerland v Cameroon
12am: Uruguay v South Korea
6am: Brazil v Serbia

Young Socceroos full-back Nathaniel Atkinson accepted responsibility for the goal that gave France the lead and sped them towards a 4-1 victory in the World Cup on Wednesday morning (AEDT), giving himself the alibi that in opposing the brilliant Kylian Mbappe, he was up against a player many grades above his pay scale.

Read the full story here.

How good is this...

Manchester United’s US owners have begun looking at options for the 20-time champions, including a new investment or a potential sale.

British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe will bid for the club, London’s Daily Telegraph reported on Wednesday, adding that his renewed interest in buying the club is said to be serious.

David Beckham and FIFA president Gianni Infantino in Qatar this week.Credit: Getty

In August, Ratcliffe, a long-time fan of the side, had expressed interest in buying United, Reuters reported. At the time, Elon Musk had also joked about planning to buy the club. Chemical firm INEOS, where Ratcliffe is chairman, declined to comment on Wednesday.

Former England captain David Beckham, who spent over a decade at the club, is open to holding talks with potential bidders for Manchester United, Financial Times reported, citing people with knowledge of the matter. Prospective buyers could seek to enlist Beckham to boost their chances of taking over the club.

United could be sold for close to £7 billion pounds ($12.5b), FT said, citing a banker close to the process who added a bidding war could send it higher.

Manchester United shares were up nearly 19 per cent in New York trading, building on the more than 14 per cent rise following reports of the sales process on Tuesday afternoon.

Reuters

Time for another look at how the Socceroos fared in yesterday’s loss to France.

Who needs to lift before Saturday’s do-or-die clash with Tunisia?

Mat Ryan, Garang Kuol, Craig Goodwin, Mathew Leckie, Harry Souttar.Credit: Getty

Read Vince Rugari’s full piece here. And yes, he did watch the game and — before he flew out at least — he did have eyes.

Lawyers for England’s Football Association are examining whether England can challenge Fifa’s threat of “sporting sanctions” for wearing the OneLove armband.

There remains deep unhappiness within the FA at the heavy-handed way the world governing body threatened to at least book Harry Kane if the forward wore the anti-discrimination captain’s armband with the rainbow symbol during Monday’s opening World Cup group game against Iran.

England captain Harry Kane wore a ‘no discrimination’ armband in the Three Lions’ first-up win.Credit: AP

It led to England, along with six other European nations including Wales, reluctantly backing down and wearing the official FIFA armband instead, much to Kane’s annoyance.

The FA faced a backlash over the decision, but reasoned that putting Kane in danger of being suspended was unfair on the player.

The FA is mindful of the need to ensure that the England players are allowed to concentrate on the football, with manager Gareth Southgate admitting after the game that he was reluctant to get involved in off-field matters while in the middle of a tournament.

The German football federation has confirmed it is exploring legal options over the FIFA ban, and although there have been suggestions that these might include going to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, this has not been conveyed to the FA. The FA has instructed its legal team to look at how FIFA was planning to implement its regulations and whether the rules are being properly applied in this instance.

Telegraph, London

Denmark defensive midfielder Thomas Delaney has been ruled out of the World Cup in Qatar due to a knee injury sustained in the goalless draw with Tunisia in their opening Group D match, the team said on Wednesday.

Delaney will be out of action for about four weeks.

Rasmus Kristensen consoles Thomas Delaney during the match against Tunisia.Credit: Getty

“We will miss him, both on and off the pitch. Other players are ready and we have a strong squad for the next matches” said coach Kasper Hjulmand.

Denmark play defending champions France on Saturday. They are the Socceroos’ final group stage opponent with that match taking place at 2am next Thursday.

Reuters

This is the Socceroos’ fifth straight World Cup appearance, but they have one of the worst winning records in the world, with just two victories from 17 matches to date. Just getting here is not enough to keep those in the game happy. They want more.

That’s where federal sports minister Anika Wells comes in, pledging to help the “sleeping giant” of Australian sport by revisiting the way government funds are distributed and keeping an open mind on where and how they can be spent.

Read the full story here.