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Good morning football fans. It’s Thursday, June. 18 - Football trading cards surge in value, Lionel Messi breaks several international records, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.
KEY FIXTURES
2026 World Cup (June 18): Czech Republic vs South Africa, Group A, 12:00 ET / 17:00 BST. Czechia’s defeat to South Korea in their opener ended their six-match unbeaten sequence but extended their run without a clean sheet to five outings. Meanwhile, South Africa have not recorded a win in their last five matches. Canada vs Qatar, Group B, 18:00 ET / 23:00 BST. Both sides drew their opening fixtures against Bosnia-Herzegovina and Switzerland, respectively. However, Canada have won their last four matches played in Vancouver, scoring 17 goals and conceding only two. The other fixture in Group B, Switzerland vs Bosnia, will be played at 15:00 ET / 20:00 BST. Mexico vs South Korea, Group A, 20:00 ET / 02:00 BST (June 19). Mexico and South Korea will expect to qualify from Group A following their wins in the opening round. Mexico have won all five of their tournament matches against Asian opposition, while South Korea have failed to win any of their past three matches against Concacaf opposition (D1 L2). See every upcoming World Cup fixture here and group standings here.
Results…
World Cup: England 4-2 Croatia | Portugal 1-1 Congo DR
Ghana vs Panama & Uzbekistan vs Colombia will conclude shortly after publication (Live Results)
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TOP TALKING POINTS
Government Targets Italian FA
Italy’s failure to qualify for its third consecutive World Cup has led allies of the country’s Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, to suggest curtailing the power of the country’s football association. According to Politico, Meloni’s allies are seeking to place Italy’s FA under special administration, an emergency measure to overcome corruption scandals.
Italy’s government figures are reportedly pushing to call off or postpone the vote on June 22 to determine Italy’s FA’s next president, following the departure of Gabriele Gravina. Critics suggest that government intervention is a tactical ploy to block the heavy favourite Giovanni Malago, who is disliked by Meloni’s party, from taking control. However, the government is rejecting the notion that it wants to extend its reach to the FA, with Sports Minister Andrea Abodi telling Politico that it’s a “pathetic and baseless claim,” and that there “is no element that could be seen as an attempt by politics to take over this domain.”
The report suggests that, with less than a week until the election, the government is unlikely to place the Italian FA under administration. The authority to do so rests with the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI), of which Malago was formerly president, and the conditions warranting such a move have not been met. Nevertheless, Meloni’s administration has asked Italy’s National Anti-Corruption Authority to determine whether revolving-door restrictions could affect Malago’s eligibility before the election.
Collectables Fandom Surges
A recent auction underscored the surging value of football memorabilia, with records set for cards featuring Lionel Messi, Erling Haaland, Christian Pulisic and David Beckham. The largest sale at Goldin’s 2026 Global Football Auction was a Pele rookie card at $976,000, though the all-time record for a Pele card is $1.33m for a different copy of the same Pele card in a private sale back in 2022.
At Goldin’s auction, Lionel Messi’s match-worn boots in his debut for Barcelona on October 16, 2004, sold for $201,300, amid questions around their authenticity. It is the highest price ever paid for a pair of football boots at public auction. Elsewhere, a collector paid $610,000 for a signed one-of-one Erling Haaland trading card, the most ever paid for a Haaland card, while a similar card for Christian Pulisic sold for $113,460, breaking the previous record for a Pulisic card of $25,620. David Beckham’s one-of-one 2025 Panini Club World Cup card sold for $109,800, breaking the previous record of $23,790 in October of last year for a Beckham card.
These broken records come as market research companies forecast further growth in the sports trading card market. According to Zion Market Research, the global sports trading market was valued at $11.52bn in 2024, with the figure projected to more than double to $23.64bn in 2034. Meanwhile, football sports trading cards accounted for the largest share, around 35.6%, of global revenue in the sports trading cards market in 2025.
Messi’s Record-Breaking Night
Lionel Messi has equalled the all-time World Cup scoring record, drawing level with Miroslav Klose with 16 goals in total after scoring a hat-trick in Argentina’s 3-0 win over Algeria. The 38-year-old also became the oldest player to score a World Cup hat-trick, overtaking Cristiano Ronaldo, and became Argentina’s oldest World Cup scorer, having also been the country’s youngest scorer in 2006 — watch his first goal for Argentina at a World Cup here.
Aside from breaking age-related records, Messi also became the first man in history to compete in six World Cups, doing so on his 200th cap for Argentina. The record is now shared with Portugal’s Ronaldo following their 1-1 draw with DR Congo on Wednesday, and Guillermo Ochoa could also jointly hold the record if the Mexican goalkeeper is used during the tournament. Messi also became the first Argentine player to score in five consecutive World Cup games, passing Hernan Crespo and Guillermo Stabile, who each scored in four consecutive games.
“Trust me, Messi doesn’t even know most of the records he’s beating,” Messi’s Argentina and Inter Miami teammate Rodrigo de Paul said after Tuesday’s game. “I swear to you that he isn't chasing individual records, but he ends up achieving them all.”
Watch ref cam footage of Messi’s first goal against Algeria here.
POLL
Is Lionel Messi still one of the best players in the world?
ON THE BALL
Europe
> Bernardo Silva has officially joined Real Madrid on a free transfer from Manchester City until 2028 (More) | Real Madrid have confirmed that they have written to Uefa to demand “firm” action against Barcelona for historic payments to the former vice president of the Spanish refereeing association (More)
> Hull City could face a points deduction for breaching financial rules following their promotion back to the Premier League unless they sell players before the end of the month to make up £6m (More) | Leeds United are considering legal action against Leicester City after precedent was set when Everton were ordered to pay Burnley £35m for breaching financial rules (More)
> The draw for the 2026–27 Uefa Champions League second qualifying round was held on Wednesday, with 28 teams competing for a place in next season’s tournament (More)
> Rangers have confirmed the departure of head coach Danny Rohl to Red Bull Salzburg by mutual agreement (More) | Giovanni van Bronckhorst has become Dutch side Feyenoord’s new manager following Robin van Persie’s departure (More)
Americas
> The four World Cup matches on Tuesday set a new record for the most attended day in the history of the tournament with 281,223 spectators (More) | Protestors against World Cup sponsor Hyundai are expected to gather before Mexico vs South Korea on Thursday, due to the company’s dealings with the South American mining company Ternium (More)
> Mexico City police arrested a man for allegedly attempting to rent out his official World Cup accreditation on social media to provide unauthorised stadium access (More)
> Thomas Partey will miss Ghana's World Cup opener against Panama after wrongly telling officials in Canada he had never been arrested or charged with a crime (More)
> USL Championship fixtures Indy Eleven vs Brooklyn FC and FC Tulsa vs Monterey Bay FC will conclude shortly after publication (Live Results); see Conference Standings (More)
Rest of the World
> Sudan's under-17 women's national football team has made its first international appearance since civil war erupted in the country (More)
> Ivory Coast starting striker Elye Wahi was arrested on suspicion of alleged match fixing offences just two weeks before the World Cup (More)
ROUTERS’ VOICE
Yesterday’s Poll: Should rival World Cup fans be mixed in the stands?
🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 👍 Yes (52%)
🟨 🟨 🟨 🟨 🟨 ⬜️ 🙅♂️ Nope (45%)
🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other (3%)
Your punditry takes:
👍 W.T: “Absolutely!! Just look at all the videos on social media with the fans coming together and celebrating each other’s cultures. It’s beautiful, wholesome, and perfectly exemplifies why the beautiful game is beautiful. It brings people from different walks of life together in a way that other sports can’t.”
👍 S: “Leave the separation of fans for nasty club rivalries. The World Cup is about cultural fan exchange and sharing our love for the beautiful game!”
🙅♂️ M.Z: “One of the great things about European football is being around like-minded fans and being able to celebrate however you want. If you’re around other fans from other teams, as often happens at American sports, I often feel the need to be more restrained when celebrating.”
EXTRA TIME
All the facts about World Cup hat-tricks.
The rebel World Cup and teams Fifa forgot.
Boston bars run out of beer as Scotland fans drink city dry.
Meet Merlin, Mexico’s famous World Cup duck.
The 2026 World Cup but with a 1950s camera.
The greatest underdog stories in World Cup history.
Why a country of 1.4 billion is not in the World Cup.
GAME FACE ON
Who Am I?
I’ve won the Europa League twice.
I won the Silver Ball (awarded to the second-best player) at the 2018 World Cup.
I played for Chelsea over 300 times.
Scroll below for the answer.
Daily Wordle: Guess the football-related word, from player names to classic phrases, in six tries or fewer. Play it here.
It’s time for the world to stop hiding and accept the fact that Messi is the greatest of all time.
Answer
Eden Hazard.
