Quansah banned, Scheffler's 78-cut streak ends
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- Jarell Quansah received a two-match FIFA ban for his 54th-minute red card vs Mexico, ruling him out of the Norway quarterfinal and a potential semifinal.link ›
- Thomas Tuchel has already used Djed Spence, Declan Rice, and Ezri Konsa as makeshift right-backs across three matches this tournament; Reece James is still sidelined with a hamstring injury.link ›
- Norway have scored 12 goals in five games at this World Cup, with Erling Haaland feasting on back-post headers, through balls, and cut-backs from in-swinging left-back deliveries.link ›
- Scottie Scheffler missed his first cut since August 2022 at The Renaissance Club, ending a 78-cut streak that was 51 starts longer than Matt Fitzpatrick's next-closest run.link ›
- Shakur Stevenson (25-0, 11 KOs) signed a multifight deal with Zuffa Boxing, but the promotion has no 140-pound division — meaning he'll likely vacate his WBO title.link ›
- Christian Pulisic went goalless for AC Milan since December and was neither Pochettino's nor Berhalter's World Cup captain; a leg bone bruise and microfracture cloud his availability.link ›
- The ICC contacted the ECB alleging that footage of Ben Stokes' dressing-room retirement address during the third Test violated anti-corruption-era rules against recording equipment in dressing rooms.link ›
- Mark Kulbis, former Bucknell coach, was charged with felony aggravated hazing and involuntary manslaughter in the 2024 sickle-cell-related death of freshman Calvin "CJ" Dickey Jr.link ›
Jarell Quansah's two-match FIFA ban for his 54th-minute red card against Mexico rules him out of England's World Cup quarterfinal against Norway on Saturday — joining Reece James (hamstring) on the sidelines and forcing Thomas Tuchel to deploy a fourth different makeshift right-back in five matches against Erling Haaland. The FA weighed an appeal after FIFA controversially suspended Folarin Balogun's one-game ban for 12 months following an intervention from Donald Trump; Tuchel vented: 'Where does this start and where does this end now?' Separately, Scottie Scheffler's 78-cut made streak — 51 starts longer than the next closest golfer's — ended at The Renaissance Club, an extraordinary run of consistency snapped just days before he defends The Open at a Royal Birkdale course he's never played.
The stories behind this week
Quansah gets 2-game ban for Mexico red cardWith James still injured, Quansah suspended for both the Norway quarterfinal and a possible semifinal, and Tuchel already cycling through three different makeshift right-backs (Spence, Rice, Konsa), England head into a knockout fixture against Norway with their weakest position patched together for the fourth time in five matches.
England's Tactical Blueprint vs Norway's HaalandEngland's quarterfinal path to the final four hinges on solving a tactical puzzle Pep Guardiola conceded required three center-backs plus a holding midfielder just to slow Haaland — a benchmark that clashes with Tuchel's stated front-footed approach and a thinning England squad.
Shakur Stevenson signs multifight deal with Zuffa BoxingStevenson is the clearest signal yet that Zuffa Boxing can lure elite, in-prime talent away from established promoters — but the promotion still can't stage him at 140 pounds, likely forcing a title vacancy before his debut.
Auriemma: Clark fouls aren't 'referendum on America'Auriemma's intervention—coming from the winningest coach in women's college basketball history—adds institutional weight to the argument that the Clark conversation has been hijacked by a vocal fanbase, even as he concedes some WNBA players do hold "personal animosities" toward her. His comparison of Clark's impact to Larry Bird and Magic Johnson reframes the debate from race to pure stardom economics.
Pulisic: USMNT's Biggest Mystery After Disappointing World CupThe USMNT's marketing, ticket sales, and global brand rise have been built around Pulisic as the face of the program; if he can't deliver at the next World Cup at age 31 with a worsening injury profile, the federation faces a leadership vacuum precisely as soccer's U.S. traction is peaking.
Scheffler headed for first missed cut in 4 yearsA Scheffler missed cut is rare enough that his streak — 51 starts longer than the next closest golfer's — frames how dominant his consistency has been since August 2022. The early exit hands him bonus practice rounds at a Royal Birkdale course he has never seen, just before defending an Open Championship no one has successfully retained in 16 years.
Ex-Bucknell Coach Charged in Freshman's Hazing DeathPennsylvania AG Dave Sunday's framing — that Kulbis knew about Dickey's sickle cell trait and was trained on NCAA anti-hazing standards before the workout — turns this from negligence into an alleged intentional act. For Bucknell, a criminal conviction would strengthen the family's pending wrongful-death suit and signal that individual coaches can be held criminally liable when institutional knowledge is disregarded.
ICC contacts ECB over Stokes retirement videoThe ICC is invoking anti-corruption-era dressing room rules to challenge a high-profile retirement announcement, putting the ECB on the defensive over a governance lapse. With England already needing a Test captain before the Pakistan series and management under scrutiny after the Ashes, any ICC sanction would land on a cricket board already weighing leadership changes.
Why it matters: The right-back crisis leaves Tuchel auditioning a fourth makeshift option in five matches against Erling Haaland, with no clean tactical answer to Norway's build-up structure and no precedent to lean on for an appeal after the Balogun ruling.
