Rich Gonzalez

🚨TRANSFERS 🚨 Although our sports (thankfully) don't have the volume of high-end transfers like football/baseball, we always have notable ones. We'd already heard of a few pending ones. Last month, it was confirmed to us Connor Bilodeau is transferring from Jesuit to Truckee. No surprise

Holly 💩. I’m in awe at the size difference between Mbappe and Victor Wembanyama. 🤯 #France

Seventeen days ago, the "get in" price for the cheapest ticket to today's World Cup quarterfinal (now pitting Spain vs. Belgium) was a whopping $4,399. Since then, Team USA, Mexico, Portugal, etc. have been eliminated. The updated "get in" price now? An all-time low of $943.

*Zlatan on Messi missing the PK* “Everyone misses PK’s. I’ve missed PK’s, Thierry has missed PK’s… Alexi was never asked to take PK’s so he couldn’t miss…” 😬😬

Have the Soccer Gods Spoken? Coincidence... or Karma? Ever since FIFA made the globally controversial decision Sunday afternoon to suspend Folarin Balogun's red card for the Americans, this has happened: 👉🏽 North American TV cash cows Mexico and Team USA... gone. High-visibility cash cow Ronaldo... gone... Marketing cash cow Messi missing more PKs... Will he be gone? Is Erling Haaland's fate next?

WILD WORLD CUP PRICES: At 12:01 am today, the lowest "get-in" price for Friday's quarterfinal game @ SoFi (possible US vs. Spain or U.S. vs. Portugal/Ronaldo) was $3,093. After team USA lost, it plummeted to $1,071. Now the "buyers" are back. Cheapest ticket now up to $1,404.

@latsondheimer No disguise. Well-known cash withdrawals.

Hydration breaks are TV timeouts in disguise.

@TheRealPQR Fall asleep? At that hour, the Brits are just getting warmed up for their “Pub Run”!

@PrepCalTrack Mexico was hoping the Brits would fall asleep with late late start 🫩😄

FIFA: “We are going to take more sponsor money. Delay the start of the Mexico-England game by an hour and tell them it’s because of weather. They will believe it. Then show more commercials to make money. Show more Zlatan. Show more Thierry. Just don’t show Lalas.”

FULL timeline of the campaign to bring Balogun back, according to a half dozen U.S. government & soccer officials: - Wednesday after U.S.-Bosnia match: Andrew Giuliani alerted Trump to the red card (Trump & Giuliani had been talking multiple times/week since start of World Cup and regularly before that.) - Wed night: Giuliani, Lutnick and U.S. Soccer officials began activating on plans to challenge red card - That kicked off 4 days of coordinated lobbying, legal maneuvering & diplomacy that stretched from Oval Office to Zurich - On *Thursday* Trump dialed Gianni Infantino and asked abt FIFA’s rules around the red card decision and grounds for suspension. (They’ve known each other for 8 yrs.) - FIFA declined to confirm any specific discussions but reiterated to POLITICO that the decision to suspend the one-match ban was made by an independent disciplinary committee. - As U.S. Soccer’s legal team formally prepared & submitted its appeal to FIFA, Giuliani + Lutnick offered to make White House attorneys available to assist - At the same time, Giuliani and Scott Goodwin — a hedge-fund manager who had helped pay the salary of Mauricio Pochettino — zeroed in on the officiating history of referee Raphael Claus -Articles examining previous controversies involving Claus circulated among senior gov officials as they evaluated every argument that could bolster the appeal - On FIFA side, Emilio García, who oversees the legal affairs of FIFA, advised Infantino on the available procedural options - García + other FIFA officials worked to determine whether the circumstances of Balogun’s tackle met the narrow standards that would allow the disciplinary decision to be revisited - By Sunday, FIFA announced that Balogun’s one-match suspension would be suspended - FIFA insists that the decision was an independent one made by its 18-person disciplinary committee, but it would not say whether the decision was decided through a vote, and it has not published a report on the decision. politico.com/live-updates/2…

In case you’re wondering what the FIFA referees are REALLY looking at when they peer into the video review box on the sidelines… #NXN #FinishOnEmpty

With England now one player down (red card) but currently leading against Mexico, 3-1, just know that shorthanded teams have still managed to win matches 35% of the time in World Cup history.

The 2026 World Cup will be Germany's last in Adidas after 72 years, as die Mannschaft are switching to Nike in 2027. Fans have mixed views about it. Full story: sportico.com/business/spons…

HE’S COMING FOR EVERYONE

May his soul rest in peace, Vincent Stephen Francis, July 3, 1963 to July 4, 2026.

World Athletics is deeply saddened to hear that world-renowned Jamaican sprint coach Stephen Francis died on Saturday (4) at the age of 64. Francis dedicated his life to the development of athletics in Jamaica, helping to guide stars such as Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Asafa Powell and Shericka Jackson to multiple Olympic and world medals. Full obituary 🔗 bit.ly/4ePGhhO

And he’s not lying, Zlatan would have retaliated a thousand times if he was any of the French players yesterday.