Iran war day 121: Iran attacks Bahrain, Kuwait as US strikes near Hormuz
US strikes Iran for a second day near Strait of Hormuz as Bahrain sounds sirens and Kuwait activates air defences. Published On 28 Jun 202628 Jun 2026 The United States has bombed Iran for a second straight day, striking Sirik, Bandar-e Lengeh and Qeshm Island after a drone attack on a commercial vessel near the Strait of Hormuz. Air raid sirens sounded in Bahrain, while Kuwait said its air defences were responding to “hostile missile and drone threats”, raising heightened tensions across the region. Meanwhile, Israel carried out new attacks on southern Lebanon, killing at least one person, just a day after reaching a framework agreement with the Lebanese government aimed at ending the fighting. Here is what has happened as the conflict enters its 121st day: In Iran Iran sees Strait of Hormuz as key leverage: Tehran-based political analyst Abas Aslani said Iran views the waterway as a deterrent against future US attacks. “Iran sees [the strait] as leverage to stop the repetition of any new round of aggression against the country,” he told Al Jazeera, adding that any attempt to change the situation there “by force” is “unacceptable for Tehran”. IRGC says it hit US forces in the Gulf: Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it launched ballistic missiles and drones at the US Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait and the US Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain in response to US strikes on five coastal locations in Iran. The Gulf Bahrain sounds sirens, Kuwait activates air defences: Bahrain urged people to head to the nearest safe place after sirens sounded, while Kuwait said it was responding to “hostile missile and drone threats”. A US official told the Reuters news agency there have been no reported US casualties or major damage so far. Oman joins Gulf states in condemning attack on Bahrain: Oman has condemned the Iranian drone attack on Bahrain, expressing full solidarity with the kingdom and rejecting any actions that threaten regional security. Qatar, Kuwait and the UAE also condemned the attack. Advertisement In the US White House signals tougher stance: Reporting from Washington, DC, Manuel Rapalo says President Donald Trump’s warning that the US could be forced to “complete the job” if Iran continues its attacks raises new concerns about further escalation. Expert warns US-Iran conflict could escalate: Retired US naval officer Harlan Ullman says the latest “tit-for-tat” attacks between Washington and Tehran risk “getting out of hand”. He added that a surge in oil prices could pressure President Donald Trump to return to negotiations. US congressman says Iran strikes violate war powers measure: Democratic Representative Ro Khanna condemned the renewed US attacks on Iran as a “blatant violation” of the War Powers Resolution passed by Congress, warning: “Trump must stop this war now, or we will take him to court.” In Israel Netanyahu hails Lebanon deal as blow to Iran: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the US-mediated framework agreement with Lebanon a “historic accomplishment” and “a massive blow to Iran and Hezbollah”. The deal, the biggest breakthrough between the neighbours in decades, aims to end hostilities while allowing Israel to maintain a security zone in southern Lebanon until Hezbollah is disarmed. Ben-Gvir calls Lebanon deal a ‘historic mistake’: Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said the agreement gives Hezbollah the “lifeline it has begged for” and argued Israel should “crush”, not “anaesthetise”, the group. He said he opposed the deal in the Israeli cabinet and would continue to do so. In Lebanon Trump congratulates Lebanon after signing ceremony: Lebanon’s presidency says President Donald Trump congratulated President Joseph Aoun after the signing ceremony for the US-brokered framework agreement with Israel and pledged US support for Lebanon’s economy and armed forces. Aoun urged Washington to ensure Israel complies with the deal and withdraws its troops from southern Lebanon. The Hezbollah group has rejected the Lebanon-Israel deal, calling it “null and void”. Adblock test (Why?)
Anger grows in Venezuela as citizens blocked from aiding earthquake rescue
NewsFeed Anger is mounting in Venezuela after the military barred citizens from entering zones devastated by Wednesday’s twin earthquakes. As Teresa Bo explains, thousands of people have travelled to help rescue victims, not trusting the government to save survivors in time. Published On 28 Jun 202628 Jun 2026 Click here to share on social media share-nodes Share googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Adblock test (Why?)
Colombia top World Cup 2026 group after breathless 0-0 draw with Portugal
By AFP and Reuters Published On 28 Jun 202628 Jun 2026 Colombia and Portugal played out a breathless 0-0 draw to a wall of sound at Miami Stadium, with both teams advancing to the last 32 of the 2026 FIFA World Cup as the top two in Group K. The Colombians will rue their profligacy in front of goal on Saturday, but take encouragement from dominating quality European opposition for large periods as they head off to Kansas City as group winners to take on Ghana on Friday. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list Portugal, who needed to win to top the group, go north to Toronto to play Croatia on Thursday, knowing they have not quite yet found a way to blend all the talent in their squad into an effective team. The match started to a cacophony of noise from the massed ranks of yellow-shirted South Americans, and the decibel levels went up a notch when striker Jhon Cordoba headed the ball over the bar in the first minute. Jhon Arias caused Portugal problems every time he ran at them, and he set Cordoba free in the 17th minute, the big target man unleashing a rocket of a shot that keeper Diogo Costa did well to stop. After a lovely flowing move five minutes later, winger Arias took the shot himself and screwed the ball towards the far corner of the net, only for Ruben Neves to arrive just in time to flick it off the line. Colombia struggled to clear their lines cleanly sometimes, however, and it was this frailty that allowed Portugal their best chances towards the end of the first half. Bruno Fernandes found himself free in front of goal in the 39th minute, with his shot bringing a fine point-blank save out of Camilo Vargas in the Colombia goal. Advertisement Three minutes before half-time, Joao Felix cleverly chested the ball over a defender and flashed an acrobatic volley over the bar. Colombia pressed forward, looking for the goal their dominance deserved, and both Gustavo Puerta and playmaker James Rodriguez troubled the goalkeeper with shots before the break. Portugal attacked more after the break, but it was Colombia who continued to carve out the best chances, with Arias setting up substitute Richard Rios for a shot that went wide. Arias curled a shot at goal, which was well saved by Costa, and Puerta drilled another chance wide just before the hydration break. A Rodriguez volley was deflected away from its target in the 73rd minute, just before he and Arias were substituted, but Colombia continued to tear forward at every opportunity. Davinson Sanchez thought he had scored the winner with a far-post header a minute from time, but it was called back for a very tight offside after a VAR check. Rafael Leao went close to winning it for Portugal in stoppage time with a shot that flashed across goal, before the referee finally called time on the entertaining match, played out in front of a crowd of 64,478 sweltering in the Miami evening heat. Portugal’s totem Cristiano Ronaldo, booed every time he touched the ball and starved of service, had barely a sniff of a chance, his one shot on target a long-range free kick that went straight to the goalkeeper. Wissa sends DR Congo into last-32 clash with England In the group’s other game, Yoane Wissa scored twice as the Democratic Republic of the Congo beat Uzbekistan 3-1 and qualified for the last 32 of the World Cup for the first time in their history on Saturday. They will meet England after registering their first-ever World Cup win. Eldor Shomurodov’s lob over Lionel Mpasi gave Uzbekistan a perfect start in Atlanta. But Newcastle striker Wissa levelled from the penalty spot, before Fiston Mayele’s goal sent the mainly Congolese crowd into a frenzy. Wissa rounded off a historic night for the Africans with a fine strike in stoppage time for his third goal of the tournament. Earlier on Saturday, Jude Bellingham dragged England through a stubborn Panama test, scoring and setting up Harry Kane in a 2-0 win that sent them into the World Cup round of 32 as Group L winners. England were made to work for more than an hour in rainy New Jersey, before Bellingham broke the deadlock, crossing for Kane to head in his 11th World Cup goal, lifting him above Gary Lineker as England’s all-time leading scorer at the tournament. Advertisement Meanwhile, Nikola Vlasic headed in Luka Modric’s 83rd-minute corner to lift Croatia to a 2-1 victory over Ghana on Saturday and a second-place finish in World Cup Group L. Vlasic’s perfect finish off the inside of the left post came 10 minutes after Derrick Luckassen had pulled Ghana level on his international debut, with half the time in between spent on a VAR review determining whether he was onside. Petar Sucic scored early for Croatia, who needed only a draw to reach the last 32. Claiming the second-place spot guaranteed the 2022 third-place finishers a meeting with Portugal, the second-placed team in Group K, on Thursday in Toronto. Adblock test (Why?)
Gulf countries attacked after US launches second round of strikes on Iran
NewsFeed Iran has attacked US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain following US strikes on its coastal sites and threats from US President Trump to ‘complete the job’, raising fears of further escalation and the collapse of peace negotiations. Al Jazeera’s Manuel Rapalo reports from Washington DC. Published On 28 Jun 202628 Jun 2026 Click here to share on social media share-nodes Share googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Adblock test (Why?)
With water cuts looming in Arizona in US, locals fight data centres
Every morning Marisol Winfrey Herrera’s three-and-a-half-year-old daughter Jo reminds her to turn off the tap while washing her hands and brushing her teeth. When they leave home, she reminds her mother to keep a bottle of ice with them to offer it to homeless people, who they sometimes find wilting in the Tucson heat. At first, they press the ice-filled bottles on the homeless folks to help them revive, then they offer the water to drink and hydrate. At her daycare, Jo is taught water-saving habits to combat Tucson’s soaring heat. It is what prompted Herrera to join No Desert Data Center, a residents’ group that opposes two large data centres coming up on either side of Tucson – the $3.6bn project on the city’s southeast edge and a $5bn project on its northwest side in the town of Marana, together known as Project Blue. The group believes these would consume more water and power than the city set in the Sonoran Desert can afford. “We are in the middle of a 30-year drought, which is now an extreme drought,” says Lisa Shipek, co-executive director of the Watershed Management Group, a Tucson-based nonprofit. “Water was a unifying theme in our campaign. The Colorado River cuts are looming, and this project would take water away,” Herrera told Al Jazeera. Water flows in the Colorado River, which provides much of Tucson’s water through the Central Arizona Project canal system, have dropped by 20 percent since the year 2000 compared with water flows in the 20th century due to climate change, melting snow caps and warmer weather, making water cuts to Tucson imminent as the state could face as much as 77 percent water cuts. Advertisement “We say Not One Drop for data centres,” says Herrera, speaking of the campaign’s particularly emotive appeal for residents as water cuts get deeper and temperatures rise, with Tucson recording the warmest weather in 125 years last July and August. Beale Infrastructure, a San Francisco-based company that is owned by investment management company Blue Owl in New York, had asked the city of Tucson to acquire 290 acres that were outside city limits for Project Blue. That would make it the city’s largest water consumer and among its largest power consumers. Beale did not respond to an emailed request for comment. But at city council meetings, City Councillor Kevin Dahl began seeing hundreds of residents turn up to express their opposition to the project. “Not for many issues do we get so much response,” he said. Herrera was among those who went. Pitting environment against unions At council meetings, Beale executives proposed that Project Blue could be the economic engine the city needed. It would create a few thousand jobs for construction workers, ironmongers, plumbers and other such workers during the construction of the project and a few hundred after that. “Sometimes people travel as far as Phoenix for work,” Dahl said about Arizona’s largest city, which is nearly a two-hour drive from Tucson. The project could bring jobs closer. Beale also expected the project to generate nearly $250m in taxes for the city, county and state in the first 10 years. This left councillors with a difficult decision to make, weighing the project’s economic benefits against allocating it a share of the city’s increasingly scarce water and power. Tucson residents raised questions in a town hall about whether proposed rate hikes by TEP, their power utility, is due to capacity expansion for data centres [Photo Courtesy Kathleen Dreier] Activists also raised concerns about whether Tucson Electric Power (TEP), the power utility, would raise rates for consumers so it could expand capacity to provide power for Project Blue. After raising rates by 10 percent in 2023, TEP proposed a 14 percent rate hike in June 2025 for grid upgrades made in the previous year. Lee Ziesche, an activist from the Democratic Socialists of America who is campaigning to make TEP a public utility, said Project Blue could “lead to higher temperatures and higher rates” because of the heat island effect of the air conditioners and higher rates for power. She often hears from residents that a rate hike would make it hard to pay bills or put on air conditioning, even as the number of 100-degree Fahrenheit (37.8 degree-Celsius) days has increased in Tucson, which is among the hottest cities in the United States. Advertisement The same concerns of needing ramped-up air conditioning would plague data centres too, experts say. “The viability of data centres in Arizona will always be subject to climate change and heat risks,” says Kate Gordon, chief executive of California Forward, a think tank that works on a sustainable economy. “The heat in Arizona makes energy less efficient, and servers heat up, so projects will need higher amounts of water and cooling, which developers have to balance against a possibly lower real estate and labour cost,” she said. “I am always amazed at how climate does not figure in business plans.” Dahl and Andres Cano, a supervisor in Pima County, in which Tucson is located, had discussions with Beale representatives. “We thought they would go elsewhere if the city did not acquire the land” for the project, Dahl said. Cano also came away with the same impression. In August 2025, Tucson councillors voted unanimously not to acquire the land for the project or provide it with water and power. In December, Cano became one of only two supervisors in Pima County to oppose the project, and it was approved for construction in an unincorporated part of the county. “It will create short-term construction jobs for what will ultimately be a project with few wins,” Cano said. “This pitted the environment and unions, but industry is not for unions. This will have just about 100 jobs when it is done.” With no access to Tucson’s water supply, Beale decided to cool its servers with air conditioners rather than water and use a closed-loop water system, so it would recycle and reuse water. But
Bosnia: The lilies and dragons of the World Cup
When Bosnia and Herzegovina qualified for the World Cup, contagious excitement spread through the country. It was more than just football fever. Three decades after the end of the war, after surviving genocide and the now-infamous Dayton Accords, we’re back on US territory to show we can finally start dreaming beyond that bad deal, which imposed on us harmful political structures and left our country in a straitjacket. Truly, football has brought out the core of what it means to be Bosnian: we are the softest and the hardest of souls, we do our best in adversity, but are tough on ourselves in peace. We are dragons, but we are also lilies. On June 24, when our team beat Qatar and qualified for the knockout stage for the first time in its history, the country was ecstatic. It was not just extreme happiness but a sense of freedom and unity. We Bosnians may excel in quarrels, disagreement and self-deprecation, but boy, do we love this headstrong country. And we love those blue boys. Huge blue-clad crowds took over not just the streets of Seattle and Sarajevo, but every single city and town in the world where Bosnians live. Even Bosnians on vacation in exotic places had watching parties in hotels and took other guests to the streets to sing in celebration. In Republika Srpska, those in power have supported the Bosnian team’s opponents in the past. But this time, many people did not fall for the hate and celebrated at home in front of the TV. Some even dared to display their joy publicly. Advertisement In neighbouring Serbia and Croatia, people also defied ethnic politics and openly celebrated with the Bosnians, posting on social media messages of support for our team. Images of Bosnian fans marching through the streets of Canadian and American cities made the news internationally. Ahead of the match with Switzerland, a crowd of Bosnian fans stunned locals as they moved through a notorious neighbourhood in Inglewood, chanting “Palestina! Palestina!”. In between the chants, fans sang. But these were not proud nationalistic songs like we often see in such contexts. Those were not songs prepared by big stars especially for the World Cup. No, those were old songs that organically attached themselves to the game, and that very much reflect the national psyche. The first one is a satirical song by the popular band Dubioza Kolektiv, “I am from Bosnia, take me to America,” a song that cuts deep into the illusion of the American dream and asks Bosnians who easily assimilate to dream another dream, a bigger dream, a dream of the motherland. Funny and nostalgic. Hilarious and sentimental. The second song, which is even bigger, is the love song by the late folk star Halid Bešlić, “Poljem se siri miris ljiljana.” This is a soft and beautifully intimate song, which in translation goes like this: “The smell of lilies is spreading across the field, and the flowers smell like my darling. And the small swallows are coming back from the south, as if carrying her love back to me. In this city, I have no one. Darling, I will die if you’re someone else’s.” Yes, our country was at war just 30 years ago but we are not singing the “we’re-the-best”, “crush-em-all” warrior songs. This is unheard of. This is so out of left field. Our choice of songs testifies to how we see ourselves: we are tough and we bear scars of war, but we make fun of everything (mostly, of ourselves) and we sing of love. We call ourselves the Dragons, a reference to the famous Bosnian military commander and rebel Husein Gradaščević (1802-1835). But we also call ourselves lilies, like in Bešlić’s song. We were meant to be wiped out, but we survived and turned into seeds. This is why, in addition to the official blue-yellow star-spangled flag, you are seeing white flags with a coat of arms with golden lilies. The white flag is that of independent Bosnia, the flag under which we survived, and under which we were accepted into the United Nations. The other flag was a compromise, another bad deal – just like Dayton, just like the national anthem, which was agreed to be without lyrics after our leaders who deal in ethnic politics could not come up with a unifying text. Advertisement But we are not a people without lyrics. And you see it in the World Cup. You hear us sing of lilies and you see them bloom on the football field. Aside from the seasoned stars like Edin Džeko, ours is a young team. Some of these boys were born to refugee parents far from the heart-shaped motherland. These are the kids who were not meant to exist, whose parents were hunted down and driven away. They now move on the green field of Seattle as if they are playing in the Bosnian meadows. They fight, but they do not fight dirty. That goal in the game against Qatar by Kerim Alajbegović, who just made the list of the youngest goalscorers at the World Cup, was a work of art. It reminded me of the graceful but fierce penalty Esmir Bajraktarević scored to knock off four-time World Cup winner, Italy, in the qualifications. It is hard to rewatch that goal without thinking of how incredibly symbolic it was: the child of genocide survivors from Srebrenica, born and raised in the US, a member of the new generation of golden lilies. A Bosnian American boy who will now have to play against his second homeland, the US, on July 2. In one fell swoop, with a couple of goals, these boys crushed all the nasty political rhetoric that seeks to divide and secure the power of the corrupt elites. They are Edin, Esmir, Jovo, Ermin, Kerim, Martin, Osman, Sead, Dennis, Tarik, Nihad, Stjepan, Nidal, Amir, Benjamin, Armin, Dženis, Ermedin, Samed, Haris, two Nikolas, two Ivans, and two Amars. And the coach is Sergej. Most of
Hezbollah rejects Israel-Lebanon agreement as Israeli attacks hit south
Hezbollah supporters and many others in Lebanon view latest agreement with Israel as a ‘surrender of sovereignty’. Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem has rejected the framework agreement signed by Lebanon and Israel in Washington DC, calling it “humiliating, shameful and a surrender of sovereignty” for Beirut. In a statement released on Saturday, Qassem rejected linking Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon to Hezbollah’s disarmament, which is a key part of the US-mediated agreement signed on Friday. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list “We will continue as a resistance in the field to defeat the occupation [Israel] … We did not leave the field under difficult circumstances and we will not abandon it,” Qassem said. The Hezbollah leader also accused Lebanon’s government of legitimising Israel’s occupation “for many years to come” by signing the agreement with Israel, saying that it “could lead to the annexation of these lands to the Zionist entity”. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and other officials have suggested that Israel might remain in Lebanon regardless of Hezbollah’s disarmament. “We are there until Hezbollah disarms and I think also beyond that, because we need defendable borders,” Smotrich said earlier this week. The agreement does not force Israel to withdraw from southern Lebanon. As Al Jazeera’s Lebanon correspondent Zeina Khodr noted: “The word withdrawal is not in [the] text”. Instead, Khodr said the text is a “path towards normalisation [between Israel and Lebanon] – the two states both recognise each other’s right to exist in ‘peace’, declare intention to formally end state of war, pursue direct negotiations under US mediation, establish permanent channels of direct communication and begin drafting a comprehensive peace and security agreement”. Advertisement After the signing, Hezbollah supporters in Lebanon made their anger known, taking to the streets of Beirut on Friday evening, burning tyres and blocking a road leading to the airport. They were protesting the agreement, as well as Israeli forces remaining in Lebanese territory and continuing Israeli air raids in southern Lebanon. Despite the agreement, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) said Israeli forces bombed near the southern towns of Markaba and Nabatieh al-Fawqa on Saturday morning. NNA said Israeli forces bombed overnight near the town of Markaba, 1.5km (1 mile) from the Israel-Lebanon border. Lebanon finally ‘acting like a state’ Lebanese officials seem optimistic about the deal and its potential for ending hostilities with neighbouring Israel, despite Hezbollah not being involved in the agreement nor the talks that preceded it. Lebanese member of parliament and former justice minister, Ashraf Rifi, praised the agreement, saying Lebanon was finally “acting like a state”. “It is no longer acceptable for Lebanese decision-making to remain hostage to the Iranian project, or for Hezbollah to continue its dominance over the state and its institutions,” he added. Lebanese MP and leader of the Free Patriotic Movement, Gebran Bassil, said the framework agreement between Israel and Lebanon “requires responsible engagement”. In response to the Hezbollah-led protests, Public Prosecutor Judge Ahmad Rami al-Hajj issued a judicial order, tasking the Lebanese security forces with preventing riots, NNA reported. The judge also requested that security agencies work to identify rioters so legal action can be taken. Alon Pinkas, an Israeli former ambassador and consul general in New York, told Al Jazeera that he’s “very doubtful and sceptical that this [agreement] will work out because the deal is between Israel and Lebanon with the US, and Israel and Lebanon do not really have territorial issues or any kind of issues; the issue here is Hezbollah”. Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah told Al Jazeera that any attempt by the Lebanese army to enforce a Washington-brokered agreement would lead to “civil war”. Adblock test (Why?)
Cape Verde qualify for World Cup Round of 32, set up date with Argentina
Cape Verde’s third draw gives them second-place finish in Group H and pits them against world champions in knockouts. Published On 27 Jun 202627 Jun 2026 World Cup debutants Cape Verde will face reigning champions Argentina in the knockout rounds after drawing 0-0 with Saudi Arabia to extend their fairytale journey. The stalemate in Houston and Spain’s 1-0 win over Uruguay, both on Friday, meant the team ranked 67th coming into the tournament finished runners-up behind Spain in Group H. Unbeaten in their three group matches, the archipelago nation of just over 500,000 will play Lionel Messi’s Argentina in Miami on July 3 in another chapter of their remarkable story. Spain, held 0-0 by Cape Verde in the first round of games, finished with seven points, with the debutants on three and Uruguay and Saudi Arabia both on their way home with two. Spain face the team that comes second in Group J, which will be either Algeria or Austria. With history beckoning, Cape Verde coach Bubista changed half his starting side, some of it enforced, but retained his heroic goalkeeper Vozinha. The 40-year-old stopper single-handedly kept Cape Verde in it as they held out for a famous point against European champions Spain in their first-ever World Cup match. Cape Verde, which is off the west coast of Africa, then claimed a brave 2-2 draw with two-time former champions Uruguay. That gave them a scarcely believable shot at the knockout rounds coming into the encounter against Saudi Arabia, who themselves were still alive. At the same time, in Guadalajara, Spain and Uruguay met as an unexpectedly tight group that went down to the wire. Cape Verde had slightly the better of the first half in Houston against a Saudi side who drew 1-1 with Uruguay before being thrashed 4-0 by Spain. Advertisement The Saudis suffered a blow in the 33rd minute when experienced defender Hassan al-Tambakti was stretchered off injured. Cape Verde players celebrate their knockout stage qualification [Troy Taormina/Reuters] Spain took the lead towards the end of the first half in Mexico, the news greeted by cheers from Cape Verde fans in Houston. Willy Semedo fired not too far wide of the Saudi post, but neither side seriously threatened in a tense first half. At that point, Cape Verde were going through at Uruguay’s expense. Three minutes after the break, Jamiro Monteiro had a major chance from close range, but his finish was weak. Then Kevin Pina had an effort from distance that whistled just off target. The tension went up a notch as they entered the final quarter, but Saudi Arabia were strangely lacking in invention even though they were chasing the game. In the 75th minute, goalkeeper Mohammed al-Owais kept them in it with a vital stop from Laros Duarte. A point was enough for Cape Verde, but if anything, they were the more likely to score as the match ticked into the dying minutes. Adblock test (Why?)
Spain beat Uruguay 1-0 to clinch World Cup Group H top spot
Spain wins World Cup group, beating Uruguay 1-0 as Muslera’s error sends two-time champions home. Published On 27 Jun 202627 Jun 2026 Uruguay bowed out of the World Cup as goalkeeper Fernando Muslera’s howler gifted Spain a 1-0 win in Guadalajara to secure top spot in Group H. Alex Baena’s weak shot slipped through Muslera’s grasp for the only goal as Spain avoided a last 32 showdown against Argentina. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list The European champions will instead face Austria or Algeria next in Los Angeles on Thursday. Uruguay’s defeat allowed debutants Cape Verde to secure second place and a meeting with Lionel Messi and the defending champions, thanks to a 0-0 draw against Saudi Arabia. Two-time winners Uruguay become the highest-ranked side to crash out in the group stages as the defeat rounded off a miserable tournament for Marcelo Bielsa and his squad. After draws against Cape Verde and Saudi Arabia, reports of a revolt in the Uruguay camp emerged, with leading players, including Real Madrid’s Federico Valverde, clashing with Bielsa over his tactics. Spain’s King Felipe was among those in attendance, but the only clash between two former winners of the World Cup in the group stages was a huge disappointment. Lamine Yamal in the starting lineup had sparked the Spanish attack into life in a 4-0 thrashing of Saudi Arabia after La Roja began in underwhelming fashion with a goalless draw against Cape Verde. But another laboured attacking performance leaves Luis de la Fuente with plenty to ponder before the knockout stages begin on Sunday. A hero of Uruguay’s run to the semifinals in 2010, Muslera was at fault for both Cape Verde’s goals in a 2-2 draw. Advertisement And in Guadalajara, Spain had barely threatened the Uruguay goal before the 40-year-old allowed Baena’s shot to dribble over the line from Marcos Llorente’s cross on 42 minutes. To rub salt into Uruguayan wounds, Manchester United midfielder Manuel Ugarte was injured in the buildup to the goal and stretchered off with what appeared to be a serious knee injury. Bielsa replaced Muslera at half-time with Sergio Rochet, and the Uruguay boss made an even bolder call when Valverde was taken off on the hour mark. De la Fuente also turned to his bench, and the introduction of Dani Olmo and Fabian Ruiz finally injected some life into the Spanish performance. Olmo should have done better when he spooned a shot over from a rare flash of Yamal’s brilliance to tee up his Barcelona teammate. Yamal was replaced 15 minutes from time as his minutes continue to be managed after a hamstring injury ended his club season prematurely. His replacement, Ferran Torres, should have doubled the lead five minutes from time but hit the bar with just the goalkeeper to beat. Uruguay’s miserable tournament was summed up when Agustin Canobbio was shown a straight red card in stoppage time for a wild lunge on Pau Cubarsi. Hyped as one of the pre-tournament favourites, Spain are now 34 competitive games unbeaten and are yet to concede a goal at the World Cup. But in stark contrast to some of the scintillating attacking play on show from the likes of France, Argentina and the Netherlands, La Roja are yet to convince in their quest for a second World Cup triumph. Adblock test (Why?)
Rescue efforts turn to recovery as aftershocks shake Venezuela
NewsFeed Rescue workers in one Caracas neighbourhood say no help has arrived, two days after twin quakes tore through the city. Al Jazeera’s Noris Soto says aftershocks are making the search for survivors harder and rescue efforts are turning to the recovery of bodies. Published On 27 Jun 202627 Jun 2026 Click here to share on social media share-nodes Share googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Adblock test (Why?)