World Cup while you were sleeping: super subs, 3 red cards, joy of 6 for Canada

The super sub is not a new role in football, David Fairclough was changing the game off the bench before all of the players at this year’s World Cup were even twinkles in their parents’ eyes. Of course now, the 1970s Liverpool cult hero would be known as a “finisher”, and Switzerland were grateful to have two of those for their Group B win over Bosnia and Herzegovina, a five-goal affair that packed 90 minutes’ worth of action into a chaotic final quarter of an hour. Canada, meanwhile, put six past a hapless nine-man Qatar with the first coming courtesy of Cyle Larin, who came off the bench to score against Bosnia and Herzegovina in their first game but started this time around. There might be a lesson in there somewhere. Elsewhere, South Africa kept their hopes of reaching the knockout stages alive with a draw against the Czech Republic, Brazil announced Neymar was still injured and German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer said he was retiring, again. Here’s what happened, while you were sleeping. History for Canada Canada have never been beyond the group stages of the World Cup, in fact, they had never won a match at the tournament before. Both those things changed in Vancouver on Thursday, when Larin briefly became his side’s leading scorer in World Cup history, only for Jonathan David to fire in a hat-trick. There were goals too for Nathan Saliba, and the unfortunate Mohamed Manai, who sliced an attempted clearance into his own net. Victory has all but secured the co-host’s place in the round of 32, and the next challenge is to win Group B so they can grab home advantage. Qatar made history of their own, although not the sort they wanted. Red cards for Homam El Amin, sent off for a professional foul, and Assim Omer Madibo, whose challenge left Canada’s Ismael Kone needing to be stretchered off with a nasty injury, made the Gulf nation the first AFC team to get two red cards in a single World Cup game. Coupled with the earlier dismissal of Bosnia’s Tarik Muharemovic, the sendings off took the number of reds for the tournament to six, two more than were shown in the whole of the 2022 competition in Qatar. Swiss on a roll You would assume a game with five goals, a red card and a penalty would have been a thriller, a spectacle worthy of its SoFi Stadium surrounds. Normally, you would be right, but there are exceptions to every rule and Switzerland’s 4-1 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina was one. For 74 minutes, the dire nature of this encounter meant the most entertaining thing was the Swiss fan dressed as a cow, ringing a cowbell. It was death by a thousand passes, only more painful. Thankfully, Switzerland boss Murat Yakin brought on Johan Manzambi, Djibril Sow and Ruben Vargas with 20 minutes of normal time to go and changed the game. Manzambi scored twice, putting his side 1-0 up just four minutes after coming on and then adding a third with 90 minutes on the clock to make it 3-0. In between, Vargas sidefooted the ball home from inside the area and the favourites to win Group B were finally looking like it. Bosnia were already down to 10 men at that stage, with Muharemovic seeing red for scything down Breel Embolo when still only a goal behind. The dismissal was the fourth of the tournament. The side from the Balkans did at least have substitute Ermin Mahmic’s late strike to cheer, but the final word fell to Swiss captain Granit Xhaka, who slotted home a penalty six minutes into stoppage time after Amar Memic’s tired challenge on Sow. Not over yet The nature of this year’s World Cup means that a defeat and a draw in your first two games are not necessarily terminal, which is good news for South Africa and the Czech Republic. With the eight best third-placed teams from the 12 groups also advancing to the play-offs, there is a possibility that even three points will be enough. A 1-1 draw in Atlanta means both have a point, although with games against South Korea and Mexico to follow, the win both would need is far from certain. Still, that is for another day. For now, Teboho Mokoena’s penalty which cancelled out Michal Sadilek’s early opener, both can still dream of sticking around a little bit longer. But Mokoena’s late spot-kick kept both teams in the hunt for the last 32, although they will almost certainly have to win their final Group A fixture to advance. “I think we deserved more today because we played a very good game,” Hugo Broos, the South Africa coach, said. “But if we go on like that, and if we can make another performance like today, I think we have a chance to go in the second round.” Neymar not travelling Brazil will not have Neymar with them for their second game in Group C against Haiti, which kicks off at 8.30am Hong Kong time on Saturday. The 34-year-old is still recovering from a calf injury, but given the threat posed by their Caribbean opponents, it’s hardly a disaster. Even so, questions should probably be asked as to why coach Carlo Ancelotti included a player who has not been a Brazilian side since October 2023 in the World Cup squad in the first place. Brazil’s final group game is against Scotland in Miami on June 24. No goodbye shirts A controversial inclusion in the German squad, veteran goalkeeper Manuel Neuer has said he will retire from international football for a second time once his country’s interest in this summer’s tournament is over. The 2014 World Cup winner, who became the oldest player to represent his country at 40 years and 79 days in the 7-1 thrashing of Curacao, first quit after his side’s quarter-finals loss at home in Euro 2024. “For me it is clear that this is my last tournament,” Neuer told reporters. “I do not plan to be there in two years’ time for the next Euro. In the last days I have dealt with the fact that these are the last games for Germany. But I want to look forward to all the games and not to any goodbye shirts.”

World Cup while you were sleeping: super subs, 3 red cards, joy of 6 for Canada

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History for Canada

Canada make history with thrashing of Qatar, triple substitution fires Swiss to victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina, South Africa stay alive