In non-World Cup news, Hearts have announced that Australia midfielder Cameron Devlin will not be extending his five-year stay at the club after the two parties failed to agree a new contract.

New Hearts boss Wouter Vrancken had planned to speak with the Australian earlier this week after his involvement in the World Cup came to an end. However, Hearts revealed today that the player has not given them a definitive answer before their stated deadline. That is via PA.

Pablo Iglesias Maurer is in Kansas City

No team in the World Cup have provided fans with a broader spectrum of emotions than the defending champions. Things started brightly – Argentina barrelled through the group stage without breaking a sweat and Messi, at 39, is in the midst of his greatest World Cup. In the opening match, a hat-trick handed the captain the tournament joint-goalscoring record, one he continues to add to.

Every one of Messi’s appearances has been dotted with brilliance but Argentina have faltered in recent matches. The scare against Egypt was nothing compared with their last-32 encounter with Cape Verde in Miami, where only stoppage-time heroics averted what would have been arguably the greatest upset in the history of professional sport. These recent performances have raised fresh questions about this Argentina side.

Read more from Pablo Iglesias Maurer here: Argentina continue to show ‘heart’ but flaws are apparent before Swizerland clash

Barney Ronay offers his views on Thomas Tuchel ahead of England’s clash with Norway on Saturday, suggesting along the way that his touchline outfit makes him look like “Nosferatu on a golf weekend”.

Good afternoon/evening/morning. Spain v Belgium tonight, eh? Not sure either of those sides returning home after the quarter-finals will get quite the rapturous welcome back that Egypt have enjoyed following their round of 16 exit. Some great pictures of their homecoming are on the wires …

With that I’ll hand over to Martin Belam for the next couple of hours.

I’ll be back around 4.

Over to you, Martin!

Some developing news around the death of Nobby Stiles:

England World Cup winner Nobby Stiles died with a traumatic brain injury, a court heard as a coroner ruled an inquest into his death must be held.

Stiles, 78, a former Manchester United footballer and 1966 World Cup winner, died with the injury, chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which has been associated with head traumas, claimed to be from repeatedly heading a football.

Chris Morris, area coroner for Greater Manchester South, told Stockport Coroner’s Court that a brain expert had examined samples and medical records and due to the injury a full inquest would be required.

Norbert “Nobby” Stiles, born in Manchester in 1942, was a tough-tackling defensive midfielder, capped 28 times by England and played nearly 400 times for Man Utd.

He died in October 2020 after a long illness but his family has since campaigned for football authorities to do more to help ex-players cope with injuries they claim were caused during their playing days.

Mr Morris said “for reasons not entirely clear to me” Stiles’s death was not at the time reported to the coroner’s office for investigation, which had only begun after information provided by the ex-footballer’s family.

I LOVE this from the Icelandic public broadcaster.

With thanks to Kári Tulinius who shared it with me, here are the 48 World Cup team badges ranked.

As Kári says, “Annoyingly, they’re mostly fairly sensible, with the beautiful Dutch badge taking top spot, and I’ve found myself quibbling only around the edges, e.g. Mexico should be in the top five, and I don’t think DR Congo should be at the very bottom. I have faith, however, that Guardian readers will find something to complain about as they scroll down the list".”

Personally, I think they’ve done Congo dirty here.

Matthew Lysaght has written in:

Sir, You can definitely bag a Brace, and a Hat-trick. You can also “help yourself to”, “nab”, and “notch” both but can only “plunder” a hat-trick or higher.

Oooh, can you ‘nab’ or ‘help yourself’ to a brace though? I’m with you on the ‘notch’ though and agree that a ‘plunder’ is only for three and up.

Folks, I’ve had a shocker.

The aformentioned Maradonna v Belgium pic was in fact from four years earlier, and not the World Cup where Belgium beat Spain on penalties.

I’ve changed that, with thanks to Rory on email.

Sorry for the goober.

Have we spoken about the Norwegian man who is refusing to row?

It’s all anyone on my various WhatsApp group chats can talk about.

I’m obsessed! Who is this buzzkill? Why was he interviewed?

Do you have strong views on this? Have you ever dug your heels in and refused to join in on a bit of fun because of ‘historical accuracy’?

As you can imagine, Belgium and Spain have played each other quite a bit.

22 times in fact. Is that a lot? Anyway…

Spain have bossed it since 1921, winning 12 and drawing five and losing five.

Their most recent meeting came in 2016 when David Silva bagged a brace (is there another way to score two goals, can you bag anything else in football other than a brace?).

Belgium’s last victory in this fixture was back in 1986, incidentally in the World Cup quarterfinals. After things were locked at 1-1, thanks to a Spanish equaliser in the 84th minute at the Estadio Cuauhtémoc, it was the Belgium who progressed after a penalty shootout.

Thanks David.

Hi everyone. Glad to be here. Sing out with any bits.

Oh, could do with some advice/tips if you’ve got any.

We’re hosting tonight and tomorrow (madness, right?). What’s been your strategy for WC watch parties? Kick-off times have been a spanner in the works, especially with little kids.

Any brilliant insight? Would love to hear it.

Time now to hand the blog to Daniel Gallan. Nine hours to go until Spain v Belgium.

I remember watching Crystal Palace beat Liverpool at Anfield a couple of seasons ago with Olise and Eze in the team. They combined for the winner and there was a real feeling that here were two players whose careers would surely take off further. So imagine how you felt as a Dortmund fan when Erling Haaland and Jude Bellingham were on the books. Here’s Andy Brassell as the two former teammates and friends prepare to lock horns again in England’s clash with Norway.

Air miles. I wanted to know this and, thankfully, Andrew Beasley has crunched the numbers. Another reason why the France v Argentina final is considered the most likely of the possible permutations perhaps? In addition, I have a mate who does analysis in the Championship and he’s noted the effects on teams after they’ve played in the heat of Miami. So great news for England then: they’ve flown the furthest of the eight quarter-finalists and would likely play Argentina (or Switzerland) on the back of a gruelling last-eight clash in Miami. We shall see.

What do Tunisia, Portugal, South Korea, Czechia, Scotland, Uruguay, Croatia, Ghana, Germany, the Netherlands and Ecuador all have in common? The answer is here:

Patrick O’Brien emails in. “Sorry to be that person but you can’t say that if said player had scored their penalties then their overall tally would be higher. For example, if - a big if admittedly - Messi scored that penalty against Egypt the rest of the game would’ve played out in a different way such that he wouldn’t have scored the goal that he did. In fact, you can imagine a game where a player misses a penalty and then scores two in open play, but if they score the penalty they may not score again meaning their overall tally would be lower. Just sayin’.”

Can I shock you. I like whine. Patridgeisms aside, I actually fully agree, Patrick. Another angle is that players might have an extra 5% edge as they try and atone for their misses. It’s interesting to note that Messi (twice) and Mbappe both went on to score later in the games in which they fluffed their spot-kicks. Okay, they might have done anyway but I guess we’re saying it isn’t clear-cut.

Some transfer news. Pierce Charles has joined Manchester City on a five-year deal from Sheffield Wednesday, the 20-year-old goalkeeper being loaned immediately to Queens Park Rangers for all of next season. Charles, who has 12 Northern Ireland caps, is returning to City having been an academy product before leaving to join Wednesday in October 2022.

Charles, who is Manchester-born, said: “To be back at Manchester City is a very special and proud moment both for me and my family. I know first-hand what a special club City is and I am so excited about looking to the future. City take the development of young players very seriously so I know that my loan to QPR will only help me grow and improve as a player too. I’ll now give everything I can for a successful season in the Championship before hopefully returning to Manchester a better goalkeeper.”

Hugo Viana, City’s director of football, said: “Pierce is someone whose progress we have been following closely, and we are delighted to welcome him back to Manchester City. Pierce has already learned a lot during his time at Sheffield Wednesday but is still very young and hungry to now further progress and develop.

“He also knows the club and is very much aligned with the values we all share. We are very happy to have secured Pierce’s signing and are excited to now help in his future career development.”

Kick back with a refreshing drink, settle yourself into a deckchair and have a listen to the latest Football Weekly podcast. Works just as well for those stuck in traffic. Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, John Brewin and Philippe Auclair to discuss France’s win over Morocco and much more.

The World Cup goes way beyond the action on the pitch. Which is just as well if you stayed up to watch Colombia v Switzerland. Here’s Donald McRae chatting to London hair stylist Jayèma on working with England stars, a new look for Raphinha and forging a friendship with Lamine Yamal’s family.

Jayèma smiles when I say the England team, with their mix of ethnicities and hairstyles, are an uplifting antidote to racism and the politics of division. “Exactly. Football is meant to bring us together and give unity.”

Match-fixing has increased at an “extraordinary” rate across the world, a select committee of the House of Lords has been told.

Moses Swaibu, a former Crystal Palace academy player who was jailed for his part in a match-fixing scandal while at Bromley in 2013 and has since devoted himself to combatting the issue, claimed authorities have failed to keep pace with the rise of prediction markets and new technologies. Full report here:

Talking of photos, here’s one of Jürgen Klopp and Kylian Mbappe sharing a laugh over…
a) The Harry Kane high-pitched ‘incredible support’ interview
b) That Norwegian creator (Julie Amini) who impersonates Erling Haaland
c) The USA’s performance against Belgium
d) Messi being shit at penalties

We all love a good photo so sign up to this!

The Golden Boot. According to some quick research, I think this is the first time in World Cup history that two players in the same tournament have hit the eight-goal mark.

And if Messi and Mbappe could take penalties, they’d have 19 between them rather than eight each! Standings here:

More from the unrest in London where a police officer was hurt and several people arrested after France’s win over Morocco. (Per PA Media)

Footage on social media appears to show flares being set off and missiles being thrown at officers in the middle of a London street. The Metropolitan police said four people were arrested for violent disorder and one officer had been taken to hospital with a head injury after being hit by a glass bottle.

In a statement the force said: “Officers were initially called after a group of people congregated in the road and blocked traffic. The incident then escalated with the group throwing bottles and setting off fireworks. As a result, further officers were deployed to the area. One officer was taken to hospital for head injuries; it is believed he had been hit by a glass bottle.

“No other injuries were reported. Officers remained in the area and made four arrests for violent disorder, with the group dispersing and the road reopened from around 1am. We will not tolerate such disorder on our streets, or attacks on our officers. A police presence will remain in the area overnight and we will be reviewing CCTV and video footage circulating on social media to ensure all those responsible are brought to justice.”

Councillor Paul Swaddle, leader of Westminster city council, said: “I am deeply disturbed by scenes of crowd disorder on the Edgware Road circulating on social media after last night’s World Cup results. It is completely unacceptable that Metropolitan police officers appear to have been turned on by some groups and one officer injured as they were reportedly pelted with bottles. I condemn this behaviour and appeal to all fans to be respectful throughout the tournament.”

Meanwhile, the UK Football Policing Unit (UKFPU) said 223 incidents related to the England-Mexico match in the early hours of Monday morning had been recorded in England and Wales. The UKFPU said there had been six hate crime incidents, 32 incidents of domestic abuse and made 42 arrests linked to England’s dramatic victory at the Azteca stadium, for which pubs were allowed to keep serving until 5am.

Rudi Garcia has claimed that Belgium have got “millions and millions” of new supporters after Donald Trump lobbied Fifa to overturn Folarin Balogun’s red card ahead of their victory against the US. Hmm. Perhaps for that particular match but I’m not sure it extends beyond it. Regardless, here’s Sid Lowe again, this time with quotes from the Belgian boss and the mood inside their camp.

Who can stop France? There’s a fairly obvious answer to that – Spain. Ahead of the quarter-final against Belgium later today, here’s Sid Lowe on that superb Spanish defence which hasn’t conceded a goal yet in this World Cup. Whether it could repel the French in a potential semi-final remains to be seen. And, of course, Belgium will be doing their best to stop what has looked an inevitable semi-final for quite a while.

Here’s Raphaël Jucobin on the stylistic difference between France’s 2022 and 2026 teams.

“In the space of just a single tournament cycle, Didier Deschamps has embraced a vastly different style, one based on a freeform attacking line. As a one-two punch from Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé sent the team into this year’s semi-final, the 57-year-old’s tactical reinvention was once again vindicated.”

Quotes here from both managers – Didier Deschamps and Mohamed Ouahbi – after France’s victory. Plenty of praise from the Morocco boss.

First up, here’s Jonathan Wilson’s match report from Boston.

“What is a defence supposed to do? Perhaps France have gone too early. Perhaps they will not be able to sustain this form. But if they do, it is going to take something remarkable to prevent them winning their third World Cup in 28 years.”