The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) / X

The Athletic | Football

100.4K posts

The Athletic | Football

@TheAthleticFC

Every football story that matters. Breaking news. In-depth analysis. 🏆 Follow the 2026 Men's World Cup here: bit.ly/taworldcup2026

Joined March 2018

The Athletic | Football
@TheAthleticFC
5h
Belgium defender Zeno Debast is at the centre of a disagreement between his national team and club side Sporting CP and appears set to miss their World Cup quarter-final against Spain on Friday. The Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) said in a statement on Thursday that
The Athletic | Football
@TheAthleticFC
5h
Whoever ends up winning the Golden Boot will have a highlight reel for the ages. Tonight it was Kylian Mbappe’s turn, adding another sumptuous effort to open the scoring in Boston and bring him level with Lionel Messi on eight goals. He is now just five goals shy of the record
The Athletic | Football
@TheAthleticFC
5h
What's the answer to stopping Kylian Mbappe at a World Cup... Is there one? 🔢 @will_jeanes
The Athletic | Football reposted
Michael Cox
@Zonal_Marking
6h
France have barely conceded a proper chance in this knockout stage so far. Sweden only created a couple of half-chances in the first half, but that's more than Paraguay and Morocco have managed between them since. xGA: 0.7, 0.2, 0.1.
The Athletic | Football
@TheAthleticFC
6h
France, as they have been throughout the World Cup, were completely dominant against Morocco, who exit the World Cup having barely laid a glove on Didier Deschamps' side. Kylian Mbappe's delightful curling effort was soon followed up by Ousmane Dembele's fifth major
The Athletic | Football
@TheAthleticFC
6h
France captain Kylian Mbappe was substituted off during his side’s World Cup quarter-final against Morocco with an apparent injury. More on the story: bit.ly/3SThouu
The Athletic | Football
@TheAthleticFC
6h
"The more you watch that Mbappe goal, the better it gets. It's placed with beautiful precision. It's astonishing how easy he makes that look. "And I think that's what really sets the best players in the world apart: the ability to produce those moments with such frequency and
The Athletic | Football
@TheAthleticFC
6h
Ousmane Dembele doubles France's lead against Morocco and may just have sealed his country's place in the World Cup semi-final. Michael Olise feeds it to Kylian Mbappe, who flicks it on to Dembele before taking the attention of Morocco's defence with his speed and movement.
The Athletic | Football
@TheAthleticFC
6h
Another game-changing goal from Kylian Mbappe, who is always so decisive for France. It's a delightful finish from the Real Madrid forward, who curled it expertly past Yassine Bounou. The Morocco goalkeeper had done so well but had little chance of stopping that. Twenty World
The Athletic | Football
@TheAthleticFC
6h
Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi are now responsible for half of the penalties missed in normal time at this World Cup. 🔗 nyti.ms/4vmDnHS
The Athletic | Football
@TheAthleticFC
6h
It's been one-way traffic so far in Boston. Kylian Mbappe's missed penalty and Yassine Bounou's heroics in the Morocco goal mean it remains goalless at the break. France's xG of 1.87 is the most by a side who have failed to score in the first half of a match at this World Cup.
The Athletic | Football reposted
Oliver Kay
@OliverKay
10h
Quansah red card was correct, as is two-game ban. All entirely uncontroversial ... if it wasn't for the fact that FIFA applied their rules differently in the Balogun and Ronaldo cases. They didn't rescind the Balogun red card after Trump's call to Infantino. They didn't say it
FIFA gives Jarell Quansah two-game ban for red card, would miss England’s World Cup semi-final...
From nytimes.com
The Athletic | Football
@TheAthleticFC
7h
After denying Kylian Mbappe, Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou has now saved four penalties at World Cups, including penalty shootouts. No other goalkeeper has saved more. France vs Morocco live blog: nyti.ms/4vmDnHS
The Athletic | Football
@TheAthleticFC
7h
Another poor penalty at the World Cup — this time from Kylian Mbappe. The curse of the stuttered run-up strikes again. After being tripped by Morocco's Noussair Mazraou, who was bamboozled by Mbappe's skill, the France captain had to wait over three minutes to take his penalty.