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(NEW YORK) — After years of controversy around its location, the 2022 World Cup is underway in Qatar.

There have been allegations of payoffs to FIFA members to earn the bid, criticism of Qatar’s laws against women and LGBTQ individuals, the deaths of migrants used to build the sparkling new stadiums and even last-second controversy over beer sales. The tournament was also moved from its usual summer timeframe to the holiday season to avoid Qatar’s intensely hot weather.

But on the field, the best players in the world — such as Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar — are ready to go. And the U.S. is back with a hungry, young team after failing to qualify for the last World Cup.

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:

Nov 27, 1:06 PM EST
Croatia beats Canada 4-1

Croatia handily beat Canada four goals to one. Croatia’s goals were scored by Marko Livaja, Lovro Majer and Andrej Kramaric, who scored twice.

Canada’s Alphonso Davies scored their sole point, the country’s first in a men’s FIFA World Cup, within the first three minutes of the match.

Croatia is now the top team in Group F, while Canada will not advance.

Nov 27, 11:23 AM EST
Morocco beats Belgium 2-0

Morocco beat Belgium Sunday with two goals over zero.

The first goal was scored by Abdelhamid Sabiri 73 minutes in on a free kick near the corner. The second goal came in extra minutes, scored by Zakaria Aboukhlal chipping off a smart assist by Hakim Ziyech.

This win puts Morocco at the top of Group F.

Nov 27, 8:12 AM EST
Costa Rica beats Japan 1-0 with late goal

Costa Rica beat the favored Japan 1-0 with a late goal on Sunday.

Keysher Fuller scored the match’s sole goal at the 81-minute mark, shooting from inside the 18-yard box and slipping the ball past the fingertips of Japan’s goaltender, Shuichi Gonda.

The goal was Costa Rica’s first of the tournament after losing 7-0 against Spain in its opening game.

Nov 26, 4:15 PM EST
Argentina tops Mexico 2-0 in vital win

After a stunning loss to Saudi Arabia, Argentina defeated Mexico 2-0.

Argentina and Saudi Arabia now have three points each. The team that wins their third match in this round will likely head to the knockouts.

Nov 26, 1:30 PM EST
France defeats Denmark 2-1 in heated match

France defeated Denmark 2-1 with a last minute goal from Paris Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappé, in what was a tight game between the two Group D teams.

Mbappé also scored France’s first goal of the match. The win solidifies France’s spot in the knockout round.

To qualify for the next round, Denmark will have to defeat Australia on Wednesday.

Nov 26, 12:17 PM EST
Poland defeats Saudi Arabia 2-0

Poland defeated Saudi Arabia 2-0, putting the Polish team in Group C’s top spot.

Saudi Arabia has the second highest number of points in the group thanks to its surprise 2-1 win over Argentina. Mexico and Argentina will face off later today, where Mexico could knock Argentina out of the tournament with a win.

Nov 26, 8:04 AM EST
Saudi Arabia can qualify for elimination round with win over Poland

Poland and Saudi Arabia have kicked off at Education City Stadium in Doha, Qatar.

Saudi Arabia shocked the football world this week with a 2-1 over Argentina, one of the favorites to win the World Cup. Poland played Mexico and earned a scoreless draw against the squad to take one point away from the match.

The second Group C match of the day will take place later on where Mexico can eliminate Argentina from the competition with a win.

Nov 26, 7:07 AM EST
Australia defeats Tunisia for their first World Cup win since 2010

Australia and Tunisia played a tight game throughout with each squad having their chances to score but it was Australia who ultimately prevailed 1-0 over the North African side.

Tunisia is now on the backfoot when it comes to qualifying for the knockout rounds but they have not formally been eliminated in the loss to Australia. Australia have garnered three points in their two matches thus far. Tunisia has earned one point in their matches. Denmark takes on France later today in the other Group D match.

Nov 25, 4:09 PM EST
US and England tie 0-0

The U.S. and England tied in their match on Friday, ending the game without scoring any goals.

To advance to the next round, the U.S. will need to win its match against Iran on Tuesday.

England won its match against Iran on Monday 6-2.

Nov 25, 12:47 PM EST
Neymar injures right ankle during Brazil’s 1st match

Soccer star Neymar injured his right ankle during Brazil’s match against Serbia Thursday.

The team’s doctor Rodrigo Lasmar said Neymar sprained his ankle and said he is confident Neymar will continue playing at the World Cup, according to the Associated Press.

Nov 25, 12:47 PM EST
China gifts Qatar two pandas tasked with predicting game winners

Thuraya and Suhail are two pandas gifted to Qatar from China to celebrate their hosting the World Cup. Every day, they are tasked with predicting which countries will win that day’s matchups.

Fans of the U.S. men’s soccer team may hope this less-than-stellar rate holds as the pandas predicted this morning that England wins in the team’s group stage match.

Nov 25, 12:37 PM EST
Senegal beats Qatar 3-1

Senegal beat World Cup host Qatar 3-1, in what was the host’s first appearance in the tournament ever.

The two other Group A members, the Netherlands and Ecuador, are set to face off on Friday.

Nov 25, 7:30 AM EST
Wales suffers defeat at the hands of Iran

With two goals allowed in added time, Wales lost a tight match to Iran 2-0.

In the defeat, Wales has one point in Group B and Iran now has three. The United States will play England later today to wrap up the second games for each team in the group at the 2022 Qatar World Cup.

Nov 25, 6:00 AM EST
Wales and Iran battle to 0-0 at halftime in each squad’s second match

In a closely fought match between the two teams, Wales and Iran have played a tight match so far at halftime at Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium in Ar-Rayyan.

Wales has had possession 54% of the time to Iran’s 30% with the ball contested 16% of the time.

England is leading Group B with three points and they will play the United States who garnered point against Wales in their first match. Wales is tied with the U.S. with one point and Iran yet to put points on the table.

Nov 24, 10:39 PM EST
Brazil wins against Serbia as Neymar suffers ankle injury

Brazil defeated Serbia 2-0 in the opening for Group G at Lusail Stadium courtesy of Brazilian forward Richarlison’s double goals.

Brazil’s Neymar, one of the sport’s most popular players, sprained his ankle, according to Brazil team doctor Rodrigo Lasmar.

Now at the top of the Group G standings, Brazil will play Switzerland on Monday, while Serbia will face Cameroon.

Nov 24, 8:43 PM EST
Portugal beats Ghana 3-2 as Ronaldo breaks record

Soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo made history today, becoming the first male player to score in five different World Cups after scoring a penalty kick in Portugal’s opening match.

Portugal now leads Group H after defeating Ghana 3-2.

Ronaldo left Manchester United earlier this week after an explosive TV interview in which he criticized the club and manager Erik ten Hag.

Nov 24, 2:04 PM EST
Portugal beats Ghana 3-2 as Ronaldo breaks record

Soccer star Christiano Ronaldo made history today, becoming the first male player to score in five different World Cups after scoring a penalty kick in Portugal’s opening match.

Portugal now leads Group H after defeating Ghana 3-2.

Ronaldo left Manchester United earlier this week after an explosive TV interview in which he criticized the club and manager Erik ten Hag.

Nov 24, 11:39 AM EST
Uruguay and South Korea draw 0-0

Uruguay and South Korea did not score any goals in their first appearance in the 2022 World Cup, ending the game with a 0-0 draw.

The two other teams in the group, Portugal and Ghana, are also facing off today.

Nov 24, 8:10 AM EST
Uruguay takes on South Korea

The match between Uruguay and South Korea has kicked off in Al Rayyan, Qatar.

This match is the first one featuring teams from Group H, the last group not to have played yet in Qatar 2022. The other two teams, Ghana and Portugal, will play later today.

Nov 24, 7:07 AM EST
Switzerland defeats Cameroon 1-0

Cameroon-born Swiss star Breel Embolo scored the only goal of the match in the 48th minute shortly after the half as Switzerland defeated Cameroon in the first game of the World Cup for each squad in Group G.

Embolo, who plays for Ligue 1 club Monaco in France, refused to celebrate in what would be the only goal of the match and held up his hands after scoring before he was mobbed by his teammates in celebration.

Switzerland will next play Brazil on Monday while Cameroon will take on Serbia the same day.

Nov 23, 1:02 PM EST
Spain looks like Cup contender with rout of Costa Rica

Spain, one of the oddsmakers’ favorites to hoist the World Cup trophy next month, did nothing to dissuade those picking the 2010 champs to win another title.

Spain defeated Costa Rica 7-0 in the most lopsided game of the tournament so far. Costa Rica had zero shots on goal in the match.

Ferran Torres had two goals, while Dani Olmo, Marco Asensio, Gavi, Carlos Soler and Alvaro Morata each had one.

It was the most goals scored by Spain in a World Cup game, topping the six they scored against Bulgaria in 1998. Spain next plays Germany on Sunday, with the German side facing elimination with a loss.

Nov 23, 10:16 AM EST
Japan shocks Germany with 2 goals in final 15 minutes

Germany controlled possession throughout the first half and appeared ready to cruise to a opening game victory. Then Japan turned it on in a shocking final 15 minutes to steal the win.

German Ilkay Gundogan scored on a penalty kick in the 33rd minute, and thought they had added a second late in the first half before a review took it off the board.

In the second, Ritsu Doan tied the game at 1-1 in the 75th minute after coming on the pitch just four minutes earlier. Eight minutes later, Takuma Asano gave Japan the 2-1 lead and held on for the win.

Nov 23, 10:14 AM EST
German players cover mouths in protest

The starting 11 for Germany posed for photos covering their mouths before the match with Japan in a sign of protest.

Several European team captains had planned to wear “OneLove” armbands during the tournament as a protest against Qatar’s anti-LGBTQ laws. However, FIFA cracked down on the teams’ decision and promised to immediately hand out yellow cards to any player violating the rules on uniform.

Also, German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser was pictured wearing the armband while watching in the stands, alongside embattled FIFA President Gianni Infantino. She had previously said she might not even attend the World Cup due to concerns over human rights.

Nov 23, 7:04 AM EST
Croatia and Morocco draw 0-0

Croatia and Morocco failed to score in their match, which ended up being the third 0-0 draw in the 2022 World Cup so far.

The other two teams in the group, Canada and Belgium, will face off later today at Ahmad bin Ali Stadium — popularly known as the Al-Rayyan Stadium — in Al Rayyan, Qatar. It will be Canada’s first World Cup match in 36 years and only their second ever appearance at the tournament.

Nov 23, 6:57 AM EST
Morocco and Croatia battle to 0-0 draw at halftime

Croatia controlled possession of the ball 51% of the time to Morocco’s 36% in the first half of the Group F match at Al-Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, Qatar.

Croatia had two corner kick opportunities but were unable to capitalize on those opportunities to score while Morocco had one less foul in the first half than the European side.

Nov 23, 5:08 AM EST
Match between 2018 World Cup runners-up and Morocco kicks off

Croatia, runners-up to France in the 2018 World Cup, has taken the field against the second-best team in Africa, Morocco, in Group F’s first match of the tournament.

Morocco has not won a World Cup match since 1998 and has only ever emerged from the qualifying rounds in the tournament once, 36 years ago in 1986.

Nov 22, 4:23 PM EST
Soccer powers take the stage on Wednesday

Germany, Spain and Belgium take to the field on Wednesday as they each look to open the tournament with a win — and deliver a message that they are in World Cup-winning form. Germany and Spain won the World Cup in 2014 and 2010, respectively, while Belgium is No. 2 in the FIFA world rankings.

Our neighbors to the north, Canada, also get their World Cup underway. This is just the second time Canada has appeared in the World Cup and certainly want to do better than that appearance in 1986 when they went 0-3 in the group stage.

Here’s the schedule for Wednesday:

• Morocco vs. Croatia, 5 a.m., FS1
• Germany vs. Japan, 8 a.m., FS1
• Spain vs. Costa Rica, 11 a.m., Fox
• Belgium vs. Canada, 2 p.m., Fox

Nov 22, 4:07 PM EST
Defending champion France routs Australia

Just nine minutes into France’s opening round match with Australia they trailed 1-0 behind a goal from Craig Goodwin.

But any thoughts of the defending World Cup champions stumbling to a loss in their opener — like Argentina earlier in the day — were erased by Adrien Rabiot in the 28th minute. Five minutes later, Olivier Giroud banged one home to take the lead.

The rout was on in the second half when 23-year-old French star Kylian Mbappe headed one home in the 68th minute. Giroud scored a brace with his second goal in the 71st minute. The goal tied him with legend Thierry Henry for the most international goals in French history.

France finished with 23 shots to Australia’s four. The Aussies had just one shot on goal.

Nov 22, 1:11 PM EST
Mexico, Poland go scoreless after Lewandowski misses penalty

Mexico and Poland, both teams hoping to advance to the knockout stage, finished 0-0 in their opening match after Polish star Robert Lewandowski missed a penalty kick in the second half.

Mexican keeper Guillermo Ochoa came up with a big stop in the 58th minute Tuesday. Mexico, meanwhile, dominated possession — 61% to 39% — and had 11 shots but couldn’t break through.

Lewandowski, one of his generation’s great forwards, has not scored a World Cup goal in four matches.

Nov 22, 11:12 AM EST
Fans show off team pride with crazy costumes

Win or lose, you can always count on fans to show up — often in the most outlandish outfits.

-ABC News’ Moe Zoyari

Nov 22, 10:04 AM EST
Denmark, Tunisia settle for scoreless draw

Denmark, one of the sleeper picks to win the tournament, settled for a 0-0 draw with Tunisia in their first game in Group D. It was the first scoreless draw of the tournament and only the second draw — after the U.S.-Wales on Monday.

The Danes are ranked 10th in the world, while Tunisia is ranked 30th.

Denmark held its collective breath in the 93rd minute when the referee was called over to look at VAR for a hand ball, but the ruling came back with no penalty.

Nov 22, 9:35 AM EST
World Cup’s New High-Tech Ball Will Change Soccer Forever: FiveThirtyEight

When the 2022 World Cup made its debut on Sunday, it kicked off one of the most significant in-game uses of technology in sports history.

All tournament long, match balls will contain a sensor that collects spatial positioning data in real time — the first World Cup to employ such a ball-tracking mechanism. This, combined with existing optical tracking tools, will make VAR (video assistant referees) and programs like offside reviews more accurate and streamlined than they’ve ever been.

Combining these two forms of tracking has long been a holy grail of sorts in technology circles, and FIFA’s use of the ball sensor in particular will serve as a highly public test case over the next four weeks.

For more on the technology and how it will affect the World Cup, read FiveThirtyEight’s in-depth investigation.

Nov 22, 9:16 AM EST
Budweiser plans celebration with unused beer

With millions of dollars in unused beer sitting in Qatar, the company AB InBev says it will be bringing the beer to the winning country for an “ultimate” celebration.

“Where there is a celebration, there is always a Budweiser. In that spirit, Budweiser wants to bring this celebration from the FIFA World Cup stadiums to the winning country’s fans,” the company said in a statement. “We will host the ultimate championship celebration for the winning country. Because, for the winning fans, they’ve taken the world. More details will be shared when we get closer to the finals.”

Nov 22, 9:03 AM EST
Saudi Arabia stuns Argentina

Lionel Messi and Argentina were stunned by Saudi Arabia on Tuesday as the Saudis rallied to beat one of the tournament’s favorites, 2-1.

Messi, one of the sport’s all-time greats, scored in the 10th minute on a penalty kick. But Saudi Arabia came out strong in the second half with goals in the 48th minute by Saleh Al-Shehri and in the 53rd minute by Salem Al-Dawsari.

 

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(LONDON) — No FIFA World Cup would be complete without “psychic” animals predicting the winners, and Qatar 2022 has been no exception.

From “clairvoyant” camels to “mystic” elephants and “cryptic” rats, a range of animals — big and small — have tried their paws, hooves and tentacles at predicting the score line.

It all started with Paul, the “psychic” octopus. The eight-tentacled icon put TV pundits to shame with an incredible string of correct World Cup winner predictions from his glass tank at the Aquarium Sea Life Centre in Oberhausen, Germany. The tentacled tipster had an incredible success rate: he correctly predicted eight world cup matches at South Africa’s tournament in 2010, including Spain beating the Netherlands in the World Cup final.

All did not end well for Paul’s successor, Rubio the octopus, who became an icon in Japan for his 100% success rate in predicting group stage matches, including Japan’s win against Columbia in the 2018 World Cup held in Russia. Rubio did not get the chance to make his prediction for the Round-of-16 after he was chopped up and turned into seafood, according to one local news outlet.

Taiyo the otter had good news for Japanese fans at this year’s 2022 World Cup in Qatar, correctly predicting Japan’s group stage win over Germany on Wednesday. From his home at the Maxell Aqua Park Shinagawa in Japan, the Taiyo was given three buckets to choose from — Japan (blue), draw (yellow) and Germany (Red) — and did not hesitate in picking up his tiny football and placing his bets on Japan. He was widely praised online for his exploits.

And let’s not forget another iconic star — Marcus, the “mystic” pig. In the 2018 World Cup, “Mystic Marcus” predicted a World Cup victory for England in the after selecting apples with the England flag on British morning television. However, Mystic Marcus’ fortune-telling record was shattered when England were knocked out in the semi-finals.

Nelly the elephant from Serengeti Park in Hodengagen, Germany, also meant business when she had a streak of 30 out of 33 matches correct for her predictions in the 2006 World Cup, the 2010 World Cup and the 2012 Euros, according to The Atlantic.

Camilla the “mystic” camel from Melton Mowbray in England did have good news for England, however. She correctly predicted the Three Lion’s group-stage win over Iran at the Qatar World Cup. Her owners told the Sun newspaper in the U.K. that their clairvoyant camel is “never wrong.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — After years of controversy around its location, the 2022 World Cup is underway in Qatar.

There have been allegations of payoffs to FIFA members to earn the bid, criticism of Qatar’s laws against women and LGBTQ individuals, the deaths of migrants used to build the sparkling new stadiums and even last-second controversy over beer sales. The tournament was also moved from its usual summer timeframe to the holiday season to avoid Qatar’s intensely hot weather.

But on the field, the best players in the world — such as Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar — are ready to go. And the U.S. is back with a hungry, young team after failing to qualify for the last World Cup.

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:

Nov 26, 4:15 PM EST
Argentina tops Mexico 2-0 in vital win

After a stunning loss to Saudi Arabia, Argentina defeated Mexico 2-0.

Argentina and Saudi Arabia now have three points each. The team that wins their third match in this round will likely head to the knockouts.

Nov 26, 1:30 PM EST
France defeats Denmark 2-1 in heated match

France defeated Denmark 2-1 with a last minute goal from Paris Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappé, in what was a tight game between the two Group D teams.

Mbappé also scored France’s first goal of the match. The win solidifies France’s spot in the knockout round.

To qualify for the next round, Denmark will have to defeat Australia on Wednesday.

Nov 26, 12:17 PM EST
Poland defeats Saudi Arabia 2-0

Poland defeated Saudi Arabia 2-0, putting the Polish team in Group C’s top spot.

Saudi Arabia has the second highest number of points in the group thanks to its surprise 2-1 win over Argentina. Mexico and Argentina will face off later today, where Mexico could knock Argentina out of the tournament with a win.

Nov 26, 8:04 AM EST
Saudi Arabia can qualify for elimination round with win over Poland

Poland and Saudi Arabia have kicked off at Education City Stadium in Doha, Qatar.

Saudi Arabia shocked the football world this week with a 2-1 over Argentina, one of the favorites to win the World Cup. Poland played Mexico and earned a scoreless draw against the squad to take one point away from the match.

The second Group C match of the day will take place later on where Mexico can eliminate Argentina from the competition with a win.

Nov 26, 7:07 AM EST
Australia defeats Tunisia for their first World Cup win since 2010

Australia and Tunisia played a tight game throughout with each squad having their chances to score but it was Australia who ultimately prevailed 1-0 over the North African side.

Tunisia is now on the backfoot when it comes to qualifying for the knockout rounds but they have not formally been eliminated in the loss to Australia. Australia have garnered three points in their two matches thus far. Tunisia has earned one point in their matches. Denmark takes on France later today in the other Group D match.

Nov 25, 4:09 PM EST
US and England tie 0-0

The U.S. and England tied in their match on Friday, ending the game without scoring any goals.

To advance to the next round, the U.S. will need to win its match against Iran on Tuesday.

England won its match against Iran on Monday 6-2.

Nov 25, 12:47 PM EST
Neymar injures right ankle during Brazil’s 1st match

Soccer star Neymar injured his right ankle during Brazil’s match against Serbia Thursday.

The team’s doctor Rodrigo Lasmar said Neymar sprained his ankle and said he is confident Neymar will continue playing at the World Cup, according to the Associated Press.

Nov 25, 12:47 PM EST
China gifts Qatar two pandas tasked with predicting game winners

Thuraya and Suhail are two pandas gifted to Qatar from China to celebrate their hosting the World Cup. Every day, they are tasked with predicting which countries will win that day’s matchups.

Fans of the U.S. men’s soccer team may hope this less-than-stellar rate holds as the pandas predicted this morning that England wins in the team’s group stage match.

Nov 25, 12:37 PM EST
Senegal beats Qatar 3-1

Senegal beat World Cup host Qatar 3-1, in what was the host’s first appearance in the tournament ever.

The two other Group A members, the Netherlands and Ecuador, are set to face off on Friday.

Nov 25, 7:30 AM EST
Wales suffers defeat at the hands of Iran

With two goals allowed in added time, Wales lost a tight match to Iran 2-0.

In the defeat, Wales has one point in Group B and Iran now has three. The United States will play England later today to wrap up the second games for each team in the group at the 2022 Qatar World Cup.

Nov 25, 6:00 AM EST
Wales and Iran battle to 0-0 at halftime in each squad’s second match

In a closely fought match between the two teams, Wales and Iran have played a tight match so far at halftime at Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium in Ar-Rayyan.

Wales has had possession 54% of the time to Iran’s 30% with the ball contested 16% of the time.

England is leading Group B with three points and they will play the United States who garnered point against Wales in their first match. Wales is tied with the U.S. with one point and Iran yet to put points on the table.

Nov 24, 10:39 PM EST
Brazil wins against Serbia as Neymar suffers ankle injury

Brazil defeated Serbia 2-0 in the opening for Group G at Lusail Stadium courtesy of Brazilian forward Richarlison’s double goals.

Brazil’s Neymar, one of the sport’s most popular players, sprained his ankle, according to Brazil team doctor Rodrigo Lasmar.

Now at the top of the Group G standings, Brazil will play Switzerland on Monday, while Serbia will face Cameroon.

Nov 24, 8:43 PM EST
Portugal beats Ghana 3-2 as Ronaldo breaks record

Soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo made history today, becoming the first male player to score in five different World Cups after scoring a penalty kick in Portugal’s opening match.

Portugal now leads Group H after defeating Ghana 3-2.

Ronaldo left Manchester United earlier this week after an explosive TV interview in which he criticized the club and manager Erik ten Hag.

Nov 24, 2:04 PM EST
Portugal beats Ghana 3-2 as Ronaldo breaks record

Soccer star Christiano Ronaldo made history today, becoming the first male player to score in five different World Cups after scoring a penalty kick in Portugal’s opening match.

Portugal now leads Group H after defeating Ghana 3-2.

Ronaldo left Manchester United earlier this week after an explosive TV interview in which he criticized the club and manager Erik ten Hag.

Nov 24, 11:39 AM EST
Uruguay and South Korea draw 0-0

Uruguay and South Korea did not score any goals in their first appearance in the 2022 World Cup, ending the game with a 0-0 draw.

The two other teams in the group, Portugal and Ghana, are also facing off today.

Nov 24, 8:10 AM EST
Uruguay takes on South Korea

The match between Uruguay and South Korea has kicked off in Al Rayyan, Qatar.

This match is the first one featuring teams from Group H, the last group not to have played yet in Qatar 2022. The other two teams, Ghana and Portugal, will play later today.

Nov 24, 7:07 AM EST
Switzerland defeats Cameroon 1-0

Cameroon-born Swiss star Breel Embolo scored the only goal of the match in the 48th minute shortly after the half as Switzerland defeated Cameroon in the first game of the World Cup for each squad in Group G.

Embolo, who plays for Ligue 1 club Monaco in France, refused to celebrate in what would be the only goal of the match and held up his hands after scoring before he was mobbed by his teammates in celebration.

Switzerland will next play Brazil on Monday while Cameroon will take on Serbia the same day.

Nov 23, 1:02 PM EST
Spain looks like Cup contender with rout of Costa Rica

Spain, one of the oddsmakers’ favorites to hoist the World Cup trophy next month, did nothing to dissuade those picking the 2010 champs to win another title.

Spain defeated Costa Rica 7-0 in the most lopsided game of the tournament so far. Costa Rica had zero shots on goal in the match.

Ferran Torres had two goals, while Dani Olmo, Marco Asensio, Gavi, Carlos Soler and Alvaro Morata each had one.

It was the most goals scored by Spain in a World Cup game, topping the six they scored against Bulgaria in 1998. Spain next plays Germany on Sunday, with the German side facing elimination with a loss.

Nov 23, 10:16 AM EST
Japan shocks Germany with 2 goals in final 15 minutes

Germany controlled possession throughout the first half and appeared ready to cruise to a opening game victory. Then Japan turned it on in a shocking final 15 minutes to steal the win.

German Ilkay Gundogan scored on a penalty kick in the 33rd minute, and thought they had added a second late in the first half before a review took it off the board.

In the second, Ritsu Doan tied the game at 1-1 in the 75th minute after coming on the pitch just four minutes earlier. Eight minutes later, Takuma Asano gave Japan the 2-1 lead and held on for the win.

Nov 23, 10:14 AM EST
German players cover mouths in protest

The starting 11 for Germany posed for photos covering their mouths before the match with Japan in a sign of protest.

Several European team captains had planned to wear “OneLove” armbands during the tournament as a protest against Qatar’s anti-LGBTQ laws. However, FIFA cracked down on the teams’ decision and promised to immediately hand out yellow cards to any player violating the rules on uniform.

Also, German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser was pictured wearing the armband while watching in the stands, alongside embattled FIFA President Gianni Infantino. She had previously said she might not even attend the World Cup due to concerns over human rights.

Nov 23, 7:04 AM EST
Croatia and Morocco draw 0-0

Croatia and Morocco failed to score in their match, which ended up being the third 0-0 draw in the 2022 World Cup so far.

The other two teams in the group, Canada and Belgium, will face off later today at Ahmad bin Ali Stadium — popularly known as the Al-Rayyan Stadium — in Al Rayyan, Qatar. It will be Canada’s first World Cup match in 36 years and only their second ever appearance at the tournament.

Nov 23, 6:57 AM EST
Morocco and Croatia battle to 0-0 draw at halftime

Croatia controlled possession of the ball 51% of the time to Morocco’s 36% in the first half of the Group F match at Al-Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, Qatar.

Croatia had two corner kick opportunities but were unable to capitalize on those opportunities to score while Morocco had one less foul in the first half than the European side.

Nov 23, 5:08 AM EST
Match between 2018 World Cup runners-up and Morocco kicks off

Croatia, runners-up to France in the 2018 World Cup, has taken the field against the second-best team in Africa, Morocco, in Group F’s first match of the tournament.

Morocco has not won a World Cup match since 1998 and has only ever emerged from the qualifying rounds in the tournament once, 36 years ago in 1986.

Nov 22, 4:23 PM EST
Soccer powers take the stage on Wednesday

Germany, Spain and Belgium take to the field on Wednesday as they each look to open the tournament with a win — and deliver a message that they are in World Cup-winning form. Germany and Spain won the World Cup in 2014 and 2010, respectively, while Belgium is No. 2 in the FIFA world rankings.

Our neighbors to the north, Canada, also get their World Cup underway. This is just the second time Canada has appeared in the World Cup and certainly want to do better than that appearance in 1986 when they went 0-3 in the group stage.

Here’s the schedule for Wednesday:

• Morocco vs. Croatia, 5 a.m., FS1
• Germany vs. Japan, 8 a.m., FS1
• Spain vs. Costa Rica, 11 a.m., Fox
• Belgium vs. Canada, 2 p.m., Fox

Nov 22, 4:07 PM EST
Defending champion France routs Australia

Just nine minutes into France’s opening round match with Australia they trailed 1-0 behind a goal from Craig Goodwin.

But any thoughts of the defending World Cup champions stumbling to a loss in their opener — like Argentina earlier in the day — were erased by Adrien Rabiot in the 28th minute. Five minutes later, Olivier Giroud banged one home to take the lead.

The rout was on in the second half when 23-year-old French star Kylian Mbappe headed one home in the 68th minute. Giroud scored a brace with his second goal in the 71st minute. The goal tied him with legend Thierry Henry for the most international goals in French history.

France finished with 23 shots to Australia’s four. The Aussies had just one shot on goal.

Nov 22, 1:11 PM EST
Mexico, Poland go scoreless after Lewandowski misses penalty

Mexico and Poland, both teams hoping to advance to the knockout stage, finished 0-0 in their opening match after Polish star Robert Lewandowski missed a penalty kick in the second half.

Mexican keeper Guillermo Ochoa came up with a big stop in the 58th minute Tuesday. Mexico, meanwhile, dominated possession — 61% to 39% — and had 11 shots but couldn’t break through.

Lewandowski, one of his generation’s great forwards, has not scored a World Cup goal in four matches.

Nov 22, 11:12 AM EST
Fans show off team pride with crazy costumes

Win or lose, you can always count on fans to show up — often in the most outlandish outfits.

-ABC News’ Moe Zoyari

Nov 22, 10:04 AM EST
Denmark, Tunisia settle for scoreless draw

Denmark, one of the sleeper picks to win the tournament, settled for a 0-0 draw with Tunisia in their first game in Group D. It was the first scoreless draw of the tournament and only the second draw — after the U.S.-Wales on Monday.

The Danes are ranked 10th in the world, while Tunisia is ranked 30th.

Denmark held its collective breath in the 93rd minute when the referee was called over to look at VAR for a hand ball, but the ruling came back with no penalty.

Nov 22, 9:35 AM EST
World Cup’s New High-Tech Ball Will Change Soccer Forever: FiveThirtyEight

When the 2022 World Cup made its debut on Sunday, it kicked off one of the most significant in-game uses of technology in sports history.

All tournament long, match balls will contain a sensor that collects spatial positioning data in real time — the first World Cup to employ such a ball-tracking mechanism. This, combined with existing optical tracking tools, will make VAR (video assistant referees) and programs like offside reviews more accurate and streamlined than they’ve ever been.

Combining these two forms of tracking has long been a holy grail of sorts in technology circles, and FIFA’s use of the ball sensor in particular will serve as a highly public test case over the next four weeks.

For more on the technology and how it will affect the World Cup, read FiveThirtyEight’s in-depth investigation.

Nov 22, 9:16 AM EST
Budweiser plans celebration with unused beer

With millions of dollars in unused beer sitting in Qatar, the company AB InBev says it will be bringing the beer to the winning country for an “ultimate” celebration.

“Where there is a celebration, there is always a Budweiser. In that spirit, Budweiser wants to bring this celebration from the FIFA World Cup stadiums to the winning country’s fans,” the company said in a statement. “We will host the ultimate championship celebration for the winning country. Because, for the winning fans, they’ve taken the world. More details will be shared when we get closer to the finals.”

Nov 22, 9:03 AM EST
Saudi Arabia stuns Argentina

Lionel Messi and Argentina were stunned by Saudi Arabia on Tuesday as the Saudis rallied to beat one of the tournament’s favorites, 2-1.

Messi, one of the sport’s all-time greats, scored in the 10th minute on a penalty kick. But Saudi Arabia came out strong in the second half with goals in the 48th minute by Saleh Al-Shehri and in the 53rd minute by Salem Al-Dawsari.

 

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — After years of controversy around its location, the 2022 World Cup is underway in Qatar.

There have been allegations of payoffs to FIFA members to earn the bid, criticism of Qatar’s laws against women and LGBTQ individuals, the deaths of migrants used to build the sparkling new stadiums and even last-second controversy over beer sales. The tournament was also moved from its usual summer timeframe to the holiday season to avoid Qatar’s intensely hot weather.

But on the field, the best players in the world — such as Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar — are ready to go. And the U.S. is back with a hungry, young team after failing to qualify for the last World Cup.

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:

Nov 25, 4:09 PM EST
US and England tie 0-0

The U.S. and England tied in their match on Friday, ending the game without scoring any goals.

To advance to the next round, the U.S. will need to win its match against Iran on Tuesday.

England won its match against Iran on Monday 6-2.

Nov 25, 12:47 PM EST
Neymar injures right ankle during Brazil’s 1st match

Soccer star Neymar injured his right ankle during Brazil’s match against Serbia Thursday.

The team’s doctor Rodrigo Lasmar said Neymar sprained his ankle and said he is confident Neymar will continue playing at the World Cup, according to the Associated Press.

Nov 25, 12:47 PM EST
China gifts Qatar two pandas tasked with predicting game winners

Thuraya and Suhail are two pandas gifted to Qatar from China to celebrate their hosting the World Cup. Every day, they are tasked with predicting which countries will win that day’s matchups.

Fans of the U.S. men’s soccer team may hope this less-than-stellar rate holds as the pandas predicted this morning that England wins in the team’s group stage match.

Nov 25, 12:37 PM EST
Senegal beats Qatar 3-1

Senegal beat World Cup host Qatar 3-1, in what was the host’s first appearance in the tournament ever.

The two other Group A members, the Netherlands and Ecuador, are set to face off on Friday.

Nov 25, 7:30 AM EST
Wales suffers defeat at the hands of Iran

With two goals allowed in added time, Wales lost a tight match to Iran 2-0.

In the defeat, Wales has one point in Group B and Iran now has three. The United States will play England later today to wrap up the second games for each team in the group at the 2022 Qatar World Cup.

Nov 25, 6:00 AM EST
Wales and Iran battle to 0-0 at halftime in each squad’s second match

In a closely fought match between the two teams, Wales and Iran have played a tight match so far at halftime at Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium in Ar-Rayyan.

Wales has had possession 54% of the time to Iran’s 30% with the ball contested 16% of the time.

England is leading Group B with three points and they will play the United States who garnered point against Wales in their first match. Wales is tied with the U.S. with one point and Iran yet to put points on the table.

Nov 24, 10:39 PM EST
Brazil wins against Serbia as Neymar suffers ankle injury

Brazil defeated Serbia 2-0 in the opening for Group G at Lusail Stadium courtesy of Brazilian forward Richarlison’s double goals.

Brazil’s Neymar, one of the sport’s most popular players, sprained his ankle, according to Brazil team doctor Rodrigo Lasmar.

Now at the top of the Group G standings, Brazil will play Switzerland on Monday, while Serbia will face Cameroon.

Nov 24, 8:43 PM EST
Portugal beats Ghana 3-2 as Ronaldo breaks record

Soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo made history today, becoming the first male player to score in five different World Cups after scoring a penalty kick in Portugal’s opening match.

Portugal now leads Group H after defeating Ghana 3-2.

Ronaldo left Manchester United earlier this week after an explosive TV interview in which he criticized the club and manager Erik ten Hag.

Nov 24, 2:04 PM EST
Portugal beats Ghana 3-2 as Ronaldo breaks record

Soccer star Christiano Ronaldo made history today, becoming the first male player to score in five different World Cups after scoring a penalty kick in Portugal’s opening match.

Portugal now leads Group H after defeating Ghana 3-2.

Ronaldo left Manchester United earlier this week after an explosive TV interview in which he criticized the club and manager Erik ten Hag.

Nov 24, 11:39 AM EST
Uruguay and South Korea draw 0-0

Uruguay and South Korea did not score any goals in their first appearance in the 2022 World Cup, ending the game with a 0-0 draw.

The two other teams in the group, Portugal and Ghana, are also facing off today.

Nov 24, 8:10 AM EST
Uruguay takes on South Korea

The match between Uruguay and South Korea has kicked off in Al Rayyan, Qatar.

This match is the first one featuring teams from Group H, the last group not to have played yet in Qatar 2022. The other two teams, Ghana and Portugal, will play later today.

Nov 24, 7:07 AM EST
Switzerland defeats Cameroon 1-0

Cameroon-born Swiss star Breel Embolo scored the only goal of the match in the 48th minute shortly after the half as Switzerland defeated Cameroon in the first game of the World Cup for each squad in Group G.

Embolo, who plays for Ligue 1 club Monaco in France, refused to celebrate in what would be the only goal of the match and held up his hands after scoring before he was mobbed by his teammates in celebration.

Switzerland will next play Brazil on Monday while Cameroon will take on Serbia the same day.

Nov 23, 1:02 PM EST
Spain looks like Cup contender with rout of Costa Rica

Spain, one of the oddsmakers’ favorites to hoist the World Cup trophy next month, did nothing to dissuade those picking the 2010 champs to win another title.

Spain defeated Costa Rica 7-0 in the most lopsided game of the tournament so far. Costa Rica had zero shots on goal in the match.

Ferran Torres had two goals, while Dani Olmo, Marco Asensio, Gavi, Carlos Soler and Alvaro Morata each had one.

It was the most goals scored by Spain in a World Cup game, topping the six they scored against Bulgaria in 1998. Spain next plays Germany on Sunday, with the German side facing elimination with a loss.

Nov 23, 10:16 AM EST
Japan shocks Germany with 2 goals in final 15 minutes

Germany controlled possession throughout the first half and appeared ready to cruise to a opening game victory. Then Japan turned it on in a shocking final 15 minutes to steal the win.

German Ilkay Gundogan scored on a penalty kick in the 33rd minute, and thought they had added a second late in the first half before a review took it off the board.

In the second, Ritsu Doan tied the game at 1-1 in the 75th minute after coming on the pitch just four minutes earlier. Eight minutes later, Takuma Asano gave Japan the 2-1 lead and held on for the win.

Nov 23, 10:14 AM EST
German players cover mouths in protest

The starting 11 for Germany posed for photos covering their mouths before the match with Japan in a sign of protest.

Several European team captains had planned to wear “OneLove” armbands during the tournament as a protest against Qatar’s anti-LGBTQ laws. However, FIFA cracked down on the teams’ decision and promised to immediately hand out yellow cards to any player violating the rules on uniform.

Also, German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser was pictured wearing the armband while watching in the stands, alongside embattled FIFA President Gianni Infantino. She had previously said she might not even attend the World Cup due to concerns over human rights.

Nov 23, 7:04 AM EST
Croatia and Morocco draw 0-0

Croatia and Morocco failed to score in their match, which ended up being the third 0-0 draw in the 2022 World Cup so far.

The other two teams in the group, Canada and Belgium, will face off later today at Ahmad bin Ali Stadium — popularly known as the Al-Rayyan Stadium — in Al Rayyan, Qatar. It will be Canada’s first World Cup match in 36 years and only their second ever appearance at the tournament.

Nov 23, 6:57 AM EST
Morocco and Croatia battle to 0-0 draw at halftime

Croatia controlled possession of the ball 51% of the time to Morocco’s 36% in the first half of the Group F match at Al-Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, Qatar.

Croatia had two corner kick opportunities but were unable to capitalize on those opportunities to score while Morocco had one less foul in the first half than the European side.

Nov 23, 5:08 AM EST
Match between 2018 World Cup runners-up and Morocco kicks off

Croatia, runners-up to France in the 2018 World Cup, has taken the field against the second-best team in Africa, Morocco, in Group F’s first match of the tournament.

Morocco has not won a World Cup match since 1998 and has only ever emerged from the qualifying rounds in the tournament once, 36 years ago in 1986.

Nov 22, 4:23 PM EST
Soccer powers take the stage on Wednesday

Germany, Spain and Belgium take to the field on Wednesday as they each look to open the tournament with a win — and deliver a message that they are in World Cup-winning form. Germany and Spain won the World Cup in 2014 and 2010, respectively, while Belgium is No. 2 in the FIFA world rankings.

Our neighbors to the north, Canada, also get their World Cup underway. This is just the second time Canada has appeared in the World Cup and certainly want to do better than that appearance in 1986 when they went 0-3 in the group stage.

Here’s the schedule for Wednesday:

• Morocco vs. Croatia, 5 a.m., FS1
• Germany vs. Japan, 8 a.m., FS1
• Spain vs. Costa Rica, 11 a.m., Fox
• Belgium vs. Canada, 2 p.m., Fox

Nov 22, 4:07 PM EST
Defending champion France routs Australia

Just nine minutes into France’s opening round match with Australia they trailed 1-0 behind a goal from Craig Goodwin.

But any thoughts of the defending World Cup champions stumbling to a loss in their opener — like Argentina earlier in the day — were erased by Adrien Rabiot in the 28th minute. Five minutes later, Olivier Giroud banged one home to take the lead.

The rout was on in the second half when 23-year-old French star Kylian Mbappe headed one home in the 68th minute. Giroud scored a brace with his second goal in the 71st minute. The goal tied him with legend Thierry Henry for the most international goals in French history.

France finished with 23 shots to Australia’s four. The Aussies had just one shot on goal.

Nov 22, 1:11 PM EST
Mexico, Poland go scoreless after Lewandowski misses penalty

Mexico and Poland, both teams hoping to advance to the knockout stage, finished 0-0 in their opening match after Polish star Robert Lewandowski missed a penalty kick in the second half.

Mexican keeper Guillermo Ochoa came up with a big stop in the 58th minute Tuesday. Mexico, meanwhile, dominated possession — 61% to 39% — and had 11 shots but couldn’t break through.

Lewandowski, one of his generation’s great forwards, has not scored a World Cup goal in four matches.

Nov 22, 11:12 AM EST
Fans show off team pride with crazy costumes

Win or lose, you can always count on fans to show up — often in the most outlandish outfits.

-ABC News’ Moe Zoyari

Nov 22, 10:04 AM EST
Denmark, Tunisia settle for scoreless draw

Denmark, one of the sleeper picks to win the tournament, settled for a 0-0 draw with Tunisia in their first game in Group D. It was the first scoreless draw of the tournament and only the second draw — after the U.S.-Wales on Monday.

The Danes are ranked 10th in the world, while Tunisia is ranked 30th.

Denmark held its collective breath in the 93rd minute when the referee was called over to look at VAR for a hand ball, but the ruling came back with no penalty.

Nov 22, 9:35 AM EST
World Cup’s New High-Tech Ball Will Change Soccer Forever: FiveThirtyEight

When the 2022 World Cup made its debut on Sunday, it kicked off one of the most significant in-game uses of technology in sports history.

All tournament long, match balls will contain a sensor that collects spatial positioning data in real time — the first World Cup to employ such a ball-tracking mechanism. This, combined with existing optical tracking tools, will make VAR (video assistant referees) and programs like offside reviews more accurate and streamlined than they’ve ever been.

Combining these two forms of tracking has long been a holy grail of sorts in technology circles, and FIFA’s use of the ball sensor in particular will serve as a highly public test case over the next four weeks.

For more on the technology and how it will affect the World Cup, read FiveThirtyEight’s in-depth investigation.

Nov 22, 9:16 AM EST
Budweiser plans celebration with unused beer

With millions of dollars in unused beer sitting in Qatar, the company AB InBev says it will be bringing the beer to the winning country for an “ultimate” celebration.

“Where there is a celebration, there is always a Budweiser. In that spirit, Budweiser wants to bring this celebration from the FIFA World Cup stadiums to the winning country’s fans,” the company said in a statement. “We will host the ultimate championship celebration for the winning country. Because, for the winning fans, they’ve taken the world. More details will be shared when we get closer to the finals.”

Nov 22, 9:03 AM EST
Saudi Arabia stuns Argentina

Lionel Messi and Argentina were stunned by Saudi Arabia on Tuesday as the Saudis rallied to beat one of the tournament’s favorites, 2-1.

Messi, one of the sport’s all-time greats, scored in the 10th minute on a penalty kick. But Saudi Arabia came out strong in the second half with goals in the 48th minute by Saleh Al-Shehri and in the 53rd minute by Salem Al-Dawsari.

 

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — After years of controversy around its location, the 2022 World Cup is underway in Qatar.

There have been allegations of payoffs to FIFA members to earn the bid, criticism of Qatar’s laws against women and LGBTQ individuals, the deaths of migrants used to build the sparkling new stadiums and even last-second controversy over beer sales. The tournament was also moved from its usual summer timeframe to the holiday season to avoid Qatar’s intensely hot weather.

But on the field, the best players in the world — such as Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar — are ready to go. And the U.S. is back with a hungry, young team after failing to qualify for the last World Cup.

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:

Nov 23, 7:04 AM EST
Croatia and Morocco draw 0-0

Croatia and Morocco failed to score in their match, which ended up being the third 0-0 draw in the 2022 World Cup so far.

The other two teams in the group, Canada and Belgium, will face off later today at Ahmad bin Ali Stadium — popularly known as the Al-Rayyan Stadium — in Al Rayyan, Qatar. It will be Canada’s first World Cup match in 36 years and only their second ever appearance at the tournament.

Nov 23, 6:57 AM EST
Morocco and Croatia battle to 0-0 draw at halftime

Croatia controlled possession of the ball 51% of the time to Morocco’s 36% in the first half of the Group F match at Al-Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, Qatar.

Croatia had two corner kick opportunities but were unable to capitalize on those opportunities to score while Morocco had one less foul in the first half than the European side.

Nov 23, 5:08 AM EST
Match between 2018 World Cup runners-up and Morocco kicks off

Croatia, runners-up to France in the 2018 World Cup, has taken the field against the second-best team in Africa, Morocco, in Group F’s first match of the tournament.

Morocco has not won a World Cup match since 1998 and has only ever emerged from the qualifying rounds in the tournament once, 36 years ago in 1986.

Nov 22, 4:23 PM EST
Soccer powers take the stage on Wednesday

Germany, Spain and Belgium take to the field on Wednesday as they each look to open the tournament with a win — and deliver a message that they are in World Cup-winning form. Germany and Spain won the World Cup in 2014 and 2010, respectively, while Belgium is No. 2 in the FIFA world rankings.

Our neighbors to the north, Canada, also get their World Cup underway. This is just the second time Canada has appeared in the World Cup and certainly want to do better than that appearance in 1986 when they went 0-3 in the group stage.

Here’s the schedule for Wednesday:

• Morocco vs. Croatia, 5 a.m., FS1
• Germany vs. Japan, 8 a.m., FS1
• Spain vs. Costa Rica, 11 a.m., Fox
• Belgium vs. Canada, 2 p.m., Fox

Nov 22, 4:07 PM EST
Defending champion France routs Australia

Just nine minutes into France’s opening round match with Australia they trailed 1-0 behind a goal from Craig Goodwin.

But any thoughts of the defending World Cup champions stumbling to a loss in their opener — like Argentina earlier in the day — were erased by Adrien Rabiot in the 28th minute. Five minutes later, Olivier Giroud banged one home to take the lead.

The rout was on in the second half when 23-year-old French star Kylian Mbappe headed one home in the 68th minute. Giroud scored a brace with his second goal in the 71st minute. The goal tied him with legend Thierry Henry for the most international goals in French history.

France finished with 23 shots to Australia’s four. The Aussies had just one shot on goal.

Nov 22, 1:11 PM EST
Mexico, Poland go scoreless after Lewandowski misses penalty

Mexico and Poland, both teams hoping to advance to the knockout stage, finished 0-0 in their opening match after Polish star Robert Lewandowski missed a penalty kick in the second half.

Mexican keeper Guillermo Ochoa came up with a big stop in the 58th minute Tuesday. Mexico, meanwhile, dominated possession — 61% to 39% — and had 11 shots but couldn’t break through.

Lewandowski, one of his generation’s great forwards, has not scored a World Cup goal in four matches.

Nov 22, 11:12 AM EST
Fans show off team pride with crazy costumes

Win or lose, you can always count on fans to show up — often in the most outlandish outfits.

-ABC News’ Moe Zoyari

Nov 22, 10:04 AM EST
Denmark, Tunisia settle for scoreless draw

Denmark, one of the sleeper picks to win the tournament, settled for a 0-0 draw with Tunisia in their first game in Group D. It was the first scoreless draw of the tournament and only the second draw — after the U.S.-Wales on Monday.

The Danes are ranked 10th in the world, while Tunisia is ranked 30th.

Denmark held its collective breath in the 93rd minute when the referee was called over to look at VAR for a hand ball, but the ruling came back with no penalty.

Nov 22, 9:35 AM EST
World Cup’s New High-Tech Ball Will Change Soccer Forever: FiveThirtyEight

When the 2022 World Cup made its debut on Sunday, it kicked off one of the most significant in-game uses of technology in sports history.

All tournament long, match balls will contain a sensor that collects spatial positioning data in real time — the first World Cup to employ such a ball-tracking mechanism. This, combined with existing optical tracking tools, will make VAR (video assistant referees) and programs like offside reviews more accurate and streamlined than they’ve ever been.

Combining these two forms of tracking has long been a holy grail of sorts in technology circles, and FIFA’s use of the ball sensor in particular will serve as a highly public test case over the next four weeks.

For more on the technology and how it will affect the World Cup, read FiveThirtyEight’s in-depth investigation.

Nov 22, 9:16 AM EST
Budweiser plans celebration with unused beer

With millions of dollars in unused beer sitting in Qatar, the company AB InBev says it will be bringing the beer to the winning country for an “ultimate” celebration.

“Where there is a celebration, there is always a Budweiser. In that spirit, Budweiser wants to bring this celebration from the FIFA World Cup stadiums to the winning country’s fans,” the company said in a statement. “We will host the ultimate championship celebration for the winning country. Because, for the winning fans, they’ve taken the world. More details will be shared when we get closer to the finals.”

Nov 22, 9:03 AM EST
Saudi Arabia stuns Argentina

Lionel Messi and Argentina were stunned by Saudi Arabia on Tuesday as the Saudis rallied to beat one of the tournament’s favorites, 2-1.

Messi, one of the sport’s all-time greats, scored in the 10th minute on a penalty kick. But Saudi Arabia came out strong in the second half with goals in the 48th minute by Saleh Al-Shehri and in the 53rd minute by Salem Al-Dawsari.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — After years of controversy around its location, the 2022 World Cup is underway in Qatar.

There have been allegations of payoffs to FIFA members to earn the bid, criticism of Qatar’s laws against women and LGBTQ individuals, the deaths of migrants used to build the sparkling new stadiums and even last-second controversy over beer sales. The tournament was also moved from its usual summer timeframe to the holiday season to avoid Qatar’s intensely hot weather.

But on the field, the best players in the world — such as Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar — are ready to go. And the U.S. is back with a hungry, youngteam after failing to qualify for the last World Cup.

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:

Nov 23, 10:16 AM EST
Japan shocks Germany with 2 goals in final 15 minutes

Germany controlled possession throughout the first half and appeared ready to cruise to a opening game victory. Then Japan turned it on in a shocking final 15 minutes to steal the win.

German Ilkay Gundogan scored on a penalty kick in the 33rd minute, and thought they had added a second late in the first half before a review took it off the board.

In the second, Ritsu Doan tied the game at 1-1 in the 75th minute after coming on the pitch just four minutes earlier. Eight minutes later, Takuma Asano gave Japan the 2-1 lead and held on for the win.

Nov 23, 10:14 AM EST
German players cover mouths in protest

The starting 11 for Germany posed for photos covering their mouths before the match with Japan in a sign of protest.

Several European team captains had planned to wear “OneLove” armbands during the tournament as a protest against Qatar’s anti-LGBTQ laws. However, FIFA cracked down on the teams’ decision and promised to immediately hand out yellow cards to any player violating the rules on uniform.

Also, German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser was pictured wearing the armband while watching in the stands, alongside embattled FIFA President Gianni Infantino. She had previously said she might not even attend the World Cup due to concerns over human rights.

Nov 23, 7:04 AM EST
Croatia and Morocco draw 0-0

Croatia and Morocco failed to score in their match, which ended up being the third 0-0 draw in the 2022 World Cup so far.

The other two teams in the group, Canada and Belgium, will face off later today at Ahmad bin Ali Stadium — popularly known as the Al-Rayyan Stadium — in Al Rayyan, Qatar. It will be Canada’s first World Cup match in 36 years and only their second ever appearance at the tournament.

Nov 23, 6:57 AM EST
Morocco and Croatia battle to 0-0 draw at halftime

Croatia controlled possession of the ball 51% of the time to Morocco’s 36% in the first half of the Group F match at Al-Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, Qatar.

Croatia had two corner kick opportunities but were unable to capitalize on those opportunities to score while Morocco had one less foul in the first half than the European side.

Nov 23, 5:08 AM EST
Match between 2018 World Cup runners-up and Morocco kicks off

Croatia, runners-up to France in the 2018 World Cup, has taken the field against the second-best team in Africa, Morocco, in Group F’s first match of the tournament.

Morocco has not won a World Cup match since 1998 and has only ever emerged from the qualifying rounds in the tournament once, 36 years ago in 1986.

Nov 22, 4:23 PM EST
Soccer powers take the stage on Wednesday

Germany, Spain and Belgium take to the field on Wednesday as they each look to open the tournament with a win — and deliver a message that they are in World Cup-winning form. Germany and Spain won the World Cup in 2014 and 2010, respectively, while Belgium is No. 2 in the FIFA world rankings.

Our neighbors to the north, Canada, also get their World Cup underway. This is just the second time Canada has appeared in the World Cup and certainly want to do better than that appearance in 1986 when they went 0-3 in the group stage.

Here’s the schedule for Wednesday:

• Morocco vs. Croatia, 5 a.m., FS1
• Germany vs. Japan, 8 a.m., FS1
• Spain vs. Costa Rica, 11 a.m., Fox
• Belgium vs. Canada, 2 p.m., Fox

Nov 22, 4:07 PM EST
Defending champion France routs Australia

Just nine minutes into France’s opening round match with Australia they trailed 1-0 behind a goal from Craig Goodwin.

But any thoughts of the defending World Cup champions stumbling to a loss in their opener — like Argentina earlier in the day — were erased by Adrien Rabiot in the 28th minute. Five minutes later, Olivier Giroud banged one home to take the lead.

The rout was on in the second half when 23-year-old French star Kylian Mbappe headed one home in the 68th minute. Giroud scored a brace with his second goal in the 71st minute. The goal tied him with legend Thierry Henry for the most international goals in French history.

France finished with 23 shots to Australia’s four. The Aussies had just one shot on goal.

Nov 22, 1:11 PM EST
Mexico, Poland go scoreless after Lewandowski misses penalty

Mexico and Poland, both teams hoping to advance to the knockout stage, finished 0-0 in their opening match after Polish star Robert Lewandowski missed a penalty kick in the second half.

Mexican keeper Guillermo Ochoa came up with a big stop in the 58th minute Tuesday. Mexico, meanwhile, dominated possession — 61% to 39% — and had 11 shots but couldn’t break through.

Lewandowski, one of his generation’s great forwards, has not scored a World Cup goal in four matches.

Nov 22, 11:12 AM EST
Fans show off team pride with crazy costumes

Win or lose, you can always count on fans to show up — often in the most outlandish outfits.

-ABC News’ Moe Zoyari

Nov 22, 10:04 AM EST
Denmark, Tunisia settle for scoreless draw

Denmark, one of the sleeper picks to win the tournament, settled for a 0-0 draw with Tunisia in their first game in Group D. It was the first scoreless draw of the tournament and only the second draw — after the U.S.-Wales on Monday.

The Danes are ranked 10th in the world, while Tunisia is ranked 30th.

Denmark held its collective breath in the 93rd minute when the referee was called over to look at VAR for a hand ball, but the ruling came back with no penalty.

Nov 22, 9:35 AM EST
World Cup’s New High-Tech Ball Will Change Soccer Forever: FiveThirtyEight

When the 2022 World Cup made its debut on Sunday, it kicked off one of the most significant in-game uses of technology in sports history.

All tournament long, match balls will contain a sensor that collects spatial positioning data in real time — the first World Cup to employ such a ball-tracking mechanism. This, combined with existing optical tracking tools, will make VAR (video assistant referees) and programs like offside reviews more accurate and streamlined than they’ve ever been.

Combining these two forms of tracking has long been a holy grail of sorts in technology circles, and FIFA’s use of the ball sensor in particular will serve as a highly public test case over the next four weeks.

For more on the technology and how it will affect the World Cup, read FiveThirtyEight’s in-depth investigation.

Nov 22, 9:16 AM EST
Budweiser plans celebration with unused beer

With millions of dollars in unused beer sitting in Qatar, the company AB InBev says it will be bringing the beer to the winning country for an “ultimate” celebration.

“Where there is a celebration, there is always a Budweiser. In that spirit, Budweiser wants to bring this celebration from the FIFA World Cup stadiums to the winning country’s fans,” the company said in a statement. “We will host the ultimate championship celebration for the winning country. Because, for the winning fans, they’ve taken the world. More details will be shared when we get closer to the finals.”

Nov 22, 9:03 AM EST
Saudi Arabia stuns Argentina

Lionel Messi and Argentina were stunned by Saudi Arabia on Tuesday as the Saudis rallied to beat one of the tournament’s favorites, 2-1.

Messi, one of the sport’s all-time greats, scored in the 10th minute on a penalty kick. But Saudi Arabia came out strong in the second half with goals in the 48th minute by Saleh Al-Shehri and in the 53rd minute by Salem Al-Dawsari.

 

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Tuesday’s sports events:

NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Philadelphia 115, Brooklyn 106
Sacramento 113, Memphis 109
Detroit 110, Denver 108
Phoenix 115, LA Lakers 105

NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Buffalo 7, Montreal 2
NY Rangers 5, Los Angeles 3

TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Creighton 90, Arkansas 87
Auburn 85, Bradley 64
Texas Tech 70, Louisville 38
Arizona 87, San Diego St. 70

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — After years of controversy around its location, the 2022 World Cup is underway in Qatar.

There have been allegations of payoffs to FIFA members to earn the bid, criticism of Qatar’s laws against women and LGBTQ individuals, the deaths of migrants used to build the sparkling new stadiums and even last-second controversy over beer sales. The tournament was also moved from its usual summer timeframe to the holiday season to avoid Qatar’s intensely hot weather.

But on the field, the best players in the world — such as Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar — are ready to go. And the U.S. is back with a hungry, young team after failing to qualify for the last World Cup.

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:

Nov 22, 9:16 AM EST
Budweiser plans celebration with unused beer

With millions of dollars in unused beer sitting in Qatar, the company AB InBev says it will be bringing the beer to the winning country for an “ultimate” celebration.

“Where there is a celebration, there is always a Budweiser. In that spirit, Budweiser wants to bring this celebration from the FIFA World Cup stadiums to the winning country’s fans,” the company said in a statement. “We will host the ultimate championship celebration for the winning country. Because, for the winning fans, they’ve taken the world. More details will be shared when we get closer to the finals.”

Nov 22, 9:03 AM EST
Saudi Arabia stuns Argentina

Lionel Messi and Argentina were stunned by Saudi Arabia on Tuesday as the Saudis rallied to beat one of the tournament’s favorites, 2-1.

Messi, one of the sport’s all-time greats, scored in the 10th minute on a penalty kick. But Saudi Arabia came out strong in the second half with goals in the 48th minute by Saleh Al-Shehri and in the 53rd minute by Salem Al-Dawsari.

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(NEW YORK) — As the World Cup matches are underway, human rights activists and others have been protesting the games and Qatar officials over what they say are human rights issues for the hundreds of workers who have been on the ground for the last couple of months.

According to some activists, everyone from construction workers to hotel employees has been allegedly forced to work long hours in the heat with little pay and, in some cases, subtle threats.

Grant Wahl, a longtime sports journalist who has covered soccer for various outlets, including Sports Illustrated, investigated some of these allegations and reported that many workers face unfair conditions.

Wahl, who hosts the podcast “Fútbol with Grant Wahl,” spoke with ABC News’ “Start Here” Monday about what he found when he arrived in Qatar.

START HERE: Grant, unlike a lot of journalists who flew to Qatar last week, you spent time there earlier this year amid these construction projects. Why were you going to look at a bunch of empty stadiums and hotels?

GRANT WAHL: I knew I was going to go to the World Cup, come here and cover.. focusing entirely on the soccer once the tournament started. But before that, I wanted to do a story and do some actual reporting on the topic of migrant workers in Qatar. Nearly 90% of the workforce in Qatar is not Qatari. They’re coming from East Africa, West Africa, the Indian subcontinent [and] the Far East. And they’re taking on jobs of construction, working in domestic situations and houses, hotel workers [and] all sorts of things that migrant workers are doing in Qatar. But the history is that they’re not paid well. They’re not treated well. A lot of people have died.

Human rights organizations who study this stuff very closely say that the Qataris really don’t care, and they’ve shown they don’t care by [not] trying to find out actual reasons people have died. The vast majority of deaths are just classified as natural causes. But, obviously, there’s a tremendous amount of heat in Qatar year-round.

There are a lot of deaths of migrant workers that have taken place due to the heat and the body’s responses to that.

New laws have been passed by the Qatari government under pressure. They were announced in 2019 and the Qatari government made a lot of fanfare about it, saying we have ended this ‘kafala’ system in which employers are allowed to keep the passports of their migrant workers and essentially preventing them from leaving the country, even if they’re being treated badly. So there was a minimum wage established.

It was no longer allowed for workers to pay recruitment fees, either in their country or in Qatar to get to Qatar and get a job there. After these new laws were announced, workers were allowed for the first time to choose to change jobs within Qatar without having to leave the country and come back.

But what I was doing on the ground; I decided I was going to go to 14 FIFA hotels, and I was going to speak to at least one worker at each FIFA hotel and give them anonymity, and really find out what their experience has been like and whether these laws have been followed on the ground in Qatar.

A pattern quickly emerged as I talked to more and more workers, and I talked to nearly two dozen at all of these 14 different FIFA hotels, which is that a lot of these new laws are not being followed. Some of the workers that I spoke to didn’t have their passports.

START HERE: They hold on to your passport as if to be like ‘follow what we’re telling you to do or else you don’t get home’? Is that the implication there?

WAHL: Correct. You literally cannot leave the country if you don’t have your passport, and so there’s an element of freedom attached to that.

A bunch, including someone at the hotel where the U.S. team is staying in Qatar, told me that they had to pay big recruitment fees to come to the country, which puts them in debt from the moment they get there. One thing that did appear to be being followed was the new minimum wage, which I thought was interesting. But keep in mind, the new minimum wage is about $1.25 an hour.

START HERE: But the question then is…what is the responsibility of everyone who’s participating? The U.S. actually held a nice friendly game with some migrant workers the other day almost to say “we see you, folks,” but what about all of us back home? I’ve seen people contemplating whether to boycott these games. Do you think people will connect the dots with, between these issues they hear about in the news and the game they love on their screen?

WAHL: So the U.S. English language broadcaster of this World Cup is Fox Sports and they have said publicly we are not going to cover any of these so-called controversial issues like the migrant worker situation in Qatar or LGBTQ rights or women’s rights, which are all things that U.S. soccer, by the way, is educating its players on and taking time to look into and a lot of other journalistic outlets are discussing. And so Fox has decided not just for this World Cup, but previously when the World Cup was in Russia in 2018, that they were not going to touch this. And that’s certainly a decision they’ve made.

If people, fans, in the U.S. decide they want to boycott the World Cup and not watch it, I understand that.

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(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Monday’s sports events:

NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Cleveland 114, Atlanta 102
Indiana 123, Orlando 102
Chicago 121, Boston 107
New Orleans 128, Golden State 83
New York 129, Oklahoma City 119
Milwaukee 119, Portland 111
Minnesota 105, Miami 101
LA Clippers 121, Utah 114

NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Calgary 5, Philadelphia 2
New Jersey 5, Edmonton 2
Boston 5, Tampa Bay 3
Winnipeg 4, Carolina 3 (OT)
NY Islanders 3, Toronto 2 (OT)
St. Louis 3, Anaheim 1
Nashville 4, Arizona 3 (SO)
Colorado 3, Dallas 2 (SO)
San Jose 5, Ottawa 1
Vegas 5, Vancouver 4

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
San Francisco 38, Arizona 10

TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Texas 73, N. Arizona 48
Duke 74, Bellarmine 57
Arkansas 80, Louisville 54
Creighton 76, Texas Tech 65
San Diego St. 88, Ohio St. 77
Iowa 100, Omaha 64
Arizona 101, Cincinnati 93

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