Volume 26:33

FIFA World Cup

The World Cup continues, and half of the quarterfinal games are done. Let’s check out what happened in the round of 16 and in the quarterfinals.

France and Kylian Mbappe took down an underrated Paraguay side 1-0.

Morocco easily handled Canada with their 3-0 victory.

Spain sent Portugal packing with a 1-0 win. The game against Spain was the last international game of Christiano Ronaldo’s career. Ronaldo played in six World Cups. He had 11 goals and two assists over 27 World Cup games. However, he was never able to win the World Cup— the closest he came was a fouth place finish in 2006.mBelgium took down the USA 4-1 in a game that was never a battle.

Erling Haaland scored twice for Norway to send Brazil to an early exit with a 2-1 victory. Like Portugal’s Ronaldo, Neymar retired from international football. Neymar played in 15 games across four World Cups. He had nine goals, and four assists over those four tournaments.

Jude Bellingham and England gave Mexico their third loss at Estadio Azteca in 90 matches. Bellingham had a pair of goals, and Harry Kane also scored to lift England to a 3-2 win.

Argentina barely survived Egypt. After going down 2-0 late against the African nation, it looked all over for the defending world champions. But Christian Romero and Lionel Messi scored two goals in four minutes, and Enzo Fernandez sent Argentina through in stoppage time. Though there was some controversy, Argentina made it through.

Switzerland and Columbia fought for 120 minutes without any goals on the score sheet. Penalties started with each team scoring. Then the Swiss took a 2-1 lead, and a pair of Columbian and Swiss misses, Columbia tied it 2-2 after the third round. Switzerland went back up after a Columbian miss in round four, and that was all she wrote. Switzerland moves on with a 4-3 win on penalties.

The quarterfinals began with an intriguing France vs. Morocco matchup. After missing a first half penalty, Kylian Mbappe got the party started with a 60th minute goal. Ousmane Dembele added a goal six minutes later and France beat Morocco 2-0.

The next matchup was Spain vs. Belgium. Two first half goals took us deep into the game at 1-1. Then in the 86th minute, Senne Lammens, Belgium’s backup goalkeeper who came in due to injury, made a costly error that allowed Mikel Merino to score and Spain to advance. Belgium’s star keeper Thibaut Courtois led all three keepers with four saves despite his injury.

Today, Norway plays England, and Argentina takes on Switzerland to round out the quarter finals.

MLB Update

Surprising to absolutely noone, the Los Angeles Dodgers are the first team to 60 wins. They are 61-34 currently. Not far behind are the Milwaukee Brewers at 59-34. The Atlanta Braves have cooled down a bit after their fiery start. They sit at 54-39. However, the Philadelphia Phillies and Miami Marlins are both 52-43 and on the heels of Atlanta in the NL East.

Meanwhile, over in the AL, the New York Yankees have lost ground on the Tampa Bay Rays without star slugger Aaron Judge. The Yanks are 52-42 and four games behind the 55-37 Rays. The Texas Rangers are 48-46 and the only team in the AL West above .500. However, the Seattle Mariners are only 1.5 games behind at 47-48. In the Central, the Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Guardians are tied atop the AL Central. Last night, history was made in Chicago as the White Sox’s Tristan Peters hit for the cycle. Peters, the #9 batter last night, started with a double in the third. He followed that with a fifth inning single. Then during an eight-run seventh, Peters hit a home run and a triple to complete his first career cycle. Peters became just the third player to complete a cycle with two hits in the same inning since 1961. He also became the fifth player ever to hit for the cycle when batting 9th. Peters finished the day with the cycle and a 14-1 White Sox win. Meanwhile, lower down in the AL Central, the Detroit Tigers have caught fire, winning six straight games and nine of their last ten. The Tigers slow start was one of the many surprises this season. But in a weak AL, they still have a shot to possibly take the division crown, or sneak into the postseason as a wild card.

Homerun Derby

Staying in the MLB, all eight 2026 homerun derby participants have been announced. The first two competitors will be trying to win the derby in their home stadium. Both Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber of the Philadelphia Phillies will be participating. Harper, in his third homerun derby, won in 2018 in his then home stadium, Nationals park. He beat none other then Kyle Schwarber in the final round that year. Harper also finished runner up in 2013. Schwarber is also making his third appearance. His best finish was as runner up in 2018. Junior Caminero is making his second appearance. He finished as the runner up last year in his rookie season. Rookie sensation Munateka Murakami is making his debut in this year’s homerun derby. Red Sox catcher Willson Contreras is a foul-time all star and will be participating. Ben Rice and Jordan Walker are both first time all stars and taking part in the derby as well. However, Jac Caglianone is not an all star this year, but is the eighth and final homerun derby competitor.

College Football Top 25

The College Football season is coming up. So that means it is time to look at the CT Top 25:

1. Ohio State Buckeyes

2. Oregon Ducks

3. Indiana Hoosiers

I know starting off with three Big Ten teams is questionable. But, the Buckeyes are always one of the top teams. Oregon under Dan Lanning is always good and Dante Moore is returning. Indiana is coming off of a title run for the ages, and if anyone can restock a lineup in one year, it’s Curt Cignetti.

4. Texas Longhorns

5. Georgia Bulldogs

Alright, back-to-back SEC squads. The Longhorns, led by Arch Manning, look to finally break through. After starting off 3-2, they went 7-1 the rest of the way last year. After beating Michigan 41-27, the sky’s the limit. As for Georgia, I don’t see a need to explain, but I will. As we’ve seen before, the Bulldogs are not to be messed with. One mistake and before you know it, a ten-point Georgia deficit is a ten-point Georgia lead.

6. Notre Dame Fighting Irish

7. Miami Hurricanes

8. Oklahoma Sooners

9. Texas A&M Aggies

10. Texas Tech Red Raiders

11. Alabama Crimson Tide

Whoa, Alabama at 11– bold move. But, is it really? They haven’t returned to Nick Saban level at all. The 12-team college football playoff was supposed to give Alabama a free pass to the finals. Instead, in two years the superpowers have had one playoff appearance that wasn’t even deserved. I just don’t trust Kalen DeBoer until he puts together a season where Bama should be in the playoffs and aren’t waved in by a biased committee.

12. Southern California Trojans

13. Mississippi Rebels

14. Brigham Young Cougars

15. Louisiana State Tigers

16. Michigan Wolverines

17. Penn State Nittany Lions

Where’s Clemson? They were in the same boat as Penn State. Clemson isn’t in the rankings. The difference is Penn State hired a new coach in Matt Campbell. Clemson kept Dabo Swinney. Instead of addressing the problem, they let it be.

18. Tennessee Volunteers

19. Washington Huskies

20. Missouri Tigers

21. Utah Utes

22. Iowa Hawkeyes

23. Florida Gators

24. Southern Methodist Mustangs

25. Houston Cougars