Scotland’s No 1: Young Fan Meets Angus Gunn in Boston

The Scotland squad are only a short stroll away in downtown Boston, but for one young fan the national team suddenly felt right on his doorstep.

Thirteen-year-old Daniel Nevin, a Scotland supporter who turns out for St Cadoc’s Youth Club in Glasgow, walked into the team hotel this morning and walked out with a memory he is unlikely to shake. There, in the lobby, stood Angus Gunn — Steve Clarke’s first-choice goalkeeper and the man Daniel hopes will be unbreachable tonight against Morocco.

They posed for a photo. A brief chat, a handshake, and that was that. His father, Tommy, 55, watched on as his son met Scotland’s No 1 and later said Daniel was “delighted” with the encounter. For a boy who spends his weekends between the posts in youth football, it was a glimpse of what the next level really looks like.

Now he wants a clean sheet under the Boston lights to go with the snapshot on his phone.

Co-hosts flex muscles on day eight

While Scotland’s supporters drifted around the city, the other co-hosts were busy making statements of their own.

Canada finally burst into life, shredding Qatar 6-0 to claim their first win of this World Cup. It was ruthless, the kind of result that can flip a mood inside a camp overnight. Mexico then kept their perfect record intact, grinding out a 1-0 victory over South Korea to underline their status as early pacesetters.

Elsewhere, Switzerland brushed aside Bosnia-Herzegovina 4-1, while Czech Republic and South Africa shared a 1-1 draw. The group stage is only just edging towards its halfway point, but the tone is being set: heavy wins, fraying nerves, and little margin for error.

Spain v Morocco: the battle beyond this World Cup

Amid the noise of 2026, the fight for 2030 has already started.

Spain and Morocco, who will co-host the tournament alongside Portugal, are locked in an increasingly pointed dispute over who gets the showpiece occasion — the World Cup final. Both federations want it. Both believe they can sell the spectacle, fill the stadium, own the night.

According to The Times’ chief sports reporter Martyn Ziegler, the race is finely poised, a genuine 50-50 split between the two nations. The decision will shape not just a match, but the political and symbolic centre of that entire tournament.

Pochettino, old scars and a new USA

Mauricio Pochettino knows what a suffocating World Cup feels like. He lived it.

In 2002, under Marcelo Bielsa, Argentina arrived in Japan and South Korea with a squad brimming with talent and expectation. They left after the group stage, stunned and scarred. The players were effectively locked down, closed off from the outside world, and the experience left its mark on Pochettino.

Now in charge of the United States, he is steering in the opposite direction. The Argentine has opened the windows and doors around his squad this summer, easing the pressure, encouraging connection rather than isolation. The scars of 2002 are shaping a very different World Cup vision in 2026, one built on trust and a lighter touch rather than an iron grip.

Australia hit the ground running

Australia, too, have wasted no time.

Tony Popovic’s side began their campaign with a sharp 2-0 win over Turkey in Vancouver, a result that did more than just put three points on the board. This is Australia’s sixth consecutive World Cup, but it is the first time since 2006 that they have won their opening match.

That matters. It shifts belief. With a victory already banked, the Socceroos can now realistically eye a place in the knockout stages for only the third time in their history. The path is far from simple, but the start could hardly have been cleaner.

USA ignite Group D

If Australia started well, the USA detonated.

Pochettino’s side tore into Paraguay in their opening game, racing into a 3-0 lead before half-time and eventually running out 4-1 winners to seize control of Group D. Folarin Balogun struck twice, a centre-forward imposing himself early in the tournament, while the co-hosts attacked with a speed and conviction that lit up the night.

Paraguay did claw one back in the second half, but Giovanni Reyna’s superb stoppage-time strike slammed the door shut and restored the swagger. It was the sort of performance that makes a home crowd believe this might be more than just a summer of hosting.

Pulisic on the clock

One cloud hangs over the United States as they prepare for Australia: Christian Pulisic.

The 27-year-old forward is battling a calf injury picked up in the days before that Paraguay match. He still started, impressed during a bright first half, then made way at the interval as discomfort flared up again.

Now he faces a race against time to prove his fitness. Without him, the USA lose their talisman, their primary spark in the final third. With him, even at less than full tilt, they carry a different kind of threat. The medical updates in the hours before kick-off in Seattle will be watched as closely as the team sheet itself.

All roads lead to Seattle

Day nine at the 2026 World Cup rolls into focus with a heavyweight clash at the top of Group D: USA v Australia.

Both sides won their openers. Both know that victory tonight in Seattle, where kick-off is at 8pm local time (12pm PDT), would put one foot firmly in the knockout rounds and send a message to the rest of the field.

Pochettino’s men are riding the wave of a statement win and the energy of a home World Cup. Popovic’s Australia are efficient, organised, and quietly confident after breaking their opening-game hoodoo. Something has to give.

While that unfolds, the stories keep stacking up elsewhere — from Scotland’s preparations and England’s latest twists to the simmering debate over 2030. But for now, the spotlight narrows on the Pacific Northwest, where two unbeaten sides will decide who really owns Group D.