Kylian Mbappe scored twice to send France through to the round of 16 at the FIFA World Cup, but Michel Olisse was the driving force behind the 3-0 win over Sweden, prompting Thierry Henry to declare that the Bayern Munich playmaker has become Les Bleus’ most important player.

France eases to 3-0 win over Sweden in round of 32Their biggest win in the World Cup knockout stage since defeating Brazil 3–0 in the 1998 final. Mbappé struck either side of Bradley Barkola’s goal, but Olise planned the attack all night, scoring two goals and producing moments of individual brilliance that left pundits in awe.

Henry, who worked with Olisse during his time with the France under-21 team, had special praise for the 24-year-old after the match. Acknowledging Mbappe’s status as France’s talisman and leading goalscorer, the Arsenal legend argued that Olise is now the player who helps Didier Deschamps’ team survive.

“What he does on the ball is unique,” Henry said.

“When you’re that kind of person, technical, you forget about your protective duty. Not that Michael is a freak. The way he sees things is not the same as others, he sees everything so thoroughly, so quickly, sometimes he gets angry if you’re not on his wave.

“(When I trained him) sometimes he does something wrong in training and you have to stop yourself from saying, wow, this guy is on another planet – he’s completely different.

“The MVP will always be Kylian (because of his numbers) but the most important player is Michael Olise.”

Olise’s performance merited Henry’s assessment.

The Bayern Munich attacker was at the center of almost everything France did going forward. He almost created a moment in the 35th minute of the tournament when a looping clearance fell on the edge of the area.

Olise contorted his body to deliver an acrobatic bicycle kick that deflected off goalkeeper Jakob Widel Zetterstrom but hit the post. Ousmane Dembele came close to converting the rebound, but Sweden saved.

“If he had scored a goal there, it would have been the goal of the tournament,” Zlatan Ibrahimovic said on Fox Soccer.

France finally broke Sweden’s resistance before half time. Olise and Dembele combined cleverly from a short corner before finding Mbappé on the left side of the penalty area. The captain cut in on the right foot of Victor Gyöckeres and fired an unstoppable finish past Jakob Widel Zetterström.

Olise’s Masterclass

Olise’s vision was again on full display eight minutes after the restart. Seeing Barkola race behind the Swedish defence, he threaded a perfectly weighted ball between two defenders, allowing Paris Saint-Germain to advance and double France’s lead.

The playmaker completed another memorable evening with his second assist of the match in the 74th minute. Another incisive pass split the Sweden backline and released Mbappe into the left channel, with the France captain clinically completing his brace.

Former England midfielder Owen Hargreaves was equally impressed by France’s attacking duo.

“Mbappé and Olise were absolutely disrespectful,” Hargreaves said during Fox Soccer’s coverage.

The numbers show Olisse’s growing influence. His two assists took his tally in the tournament to five, the most by a French player in a single World Cup since records began in 1966. He is also the first player since 1994 to record five assists in a World Cup.

In doing so, Olisse overtook the previous French record of three assists, jointly held by Antoine Griezmann (2022), Youri Djorkaeff (1998), Dominique Rocheteau (1986) and Jean Tigana (1982). This performance also added to an extraordinary campaign in which he has now recorded 31 assists for club and country.

France’s victory sets up a round of 16 meeting with Paraguay, with Mbappé continuing his march towards the Golden Boot. Yet, once again, it was Olise’s creativity, vision and composure in the final third that shaped the contest.

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Sweden has made several changes for the Round of 32 match against France. With Isak Hien ruled out through injury, captain Victor Lindelof returned to central defense after operating in midfield against Japan. Yassin Ayari has replaced Lindelof in midfield, while Daniel Svensson has replaced Adam Bernhardsson at left-back. Emil Lagerbilke comes into central defense alongside Lindelof, and Elliot Stroud also starts as Graham Potter changes his side for the knockout test.

Sweden XI: Jacob Wiedel Zetterstrom; Daniel Svensson, Emil Lagerbijk, Victor Nilsson Lindelof(c), Gabriel Gudmundsson; Elliot Stroud, Lucas Bergvall, Yasin Ayari; Anthony Elanga; Victor Gyökeres, Alexander Isaak.

Diandra Dottin (AFP Photo)

New Delhi: There was a worrying moment ahead of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 semi-final between West Indies and Australia at The Oval on Tuesday when star all-rounder Deandra Dottin had to be carried off the field by her teammates just before the start of the match.This incident happened immediately after the national anthem. Dottin was clearly feeling uncomfortable, although it was not immediately clear whether she was injured or had a medical problem.His early exit added to the anxiety in the West Indies camp ahead of one of the biggest matches of the tournament.

Dottin returns to fight for West Indies

Despite the scare, Dottin returned later in the innings when West Indies were in deep trouble at 83/6.Batting at number 8, she played a fighting knock of 26 not out off 16 balls and stitched a crucial partnership with Genelia Glasgow to help West Indies score 125/7 in 20 overs.At one point the Caribbean team looked set to score very low, but Dottin’s late cameo gave them a fighting chance.

Coach provides health update

Speaking during the innings break, West Indies head coach Shane Deitz confirmed that Dottin was feeling better.“He had a little bit of trouble but he’s fine now and he played a great innings there.”After the inning, Deitz revealed that Dottin had suffered a medical problem but praised his determination.“He had a little medical problem,” Coach Dietz said.“He’s fine now and he played a great innings at the end. Gave us a bit of a score.”“Hopefully if we bowl well, take some early wickets, we have a chance to win this.“She’s a tough character. It’s hard to contain her. Hopefully she’ll come out and get a wicket or two.”

Australia reached the final

West Indies reached the semi-finals after wins over New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Scotland in the group stage.However, their campaign ended in the last four as Australia chased down the target with ease.The six-time champions reached 126/2 in just 13 overs and sealed their place in the Women’s T20 World Cup final with an eight-wicket win.Ashley Gardner led the chase with a brilliant unbeaten 61 off 36 balls, allowing Australia to progress comfortably.

There is growing demand for Vaibhav Suryavanshi to make his India debut, but captain Shreyas Iyer believes the limelight should not come at the expense of those who have already performed well on the biggest stage. Ahead of the England T20I series, Iyer said India’s World Cup-winning senior players have earned the right to be supported despite the teenage wait.

The 15-year-old was ignored once again It was during India’s disappointing 2-0 T20 series defeat to Ireland, where debut caps went to all-rounder Suryansh Shedge and fast bowler Prince Yadav. Speaking ahead of the first T20I against England on Tuesday, Iyer defended the team management’s approach, and insisted that every player in the current XI has earned their place through consistent performances.

“Everybody playing in the team has performed; it’s not just one person who has done it,” Iyer said during the pre-match press conference.

“We need to provide opportunities for everyone and create protections so that everyone has the confidence to move forward in the tournament.”

The India captain also underlined why the team is relying on the core group that headlined the T20 World Cup earlier this year.

“Those who helped us win the last World Cup, definitely those. We also know how to play T20 and play consistently in those formats. In a way, I have a lot of pillars to pack.”

The comments come at a time when pressure is mounting on the selectors and team management to give Suryavanshi a chance to make his long-awaited India debut, as the teenage batting sensation remained on the bench for both the matches against Ireland.

The wait for glory continues

Very few youngsters have generated as much enthusiasm as Vaibhav Suryavanshi before making his debut in India.

At just 15 years and 91 days, the left-handed batsman would have become the youngest player to represent India in international cricket, men’s or women’s, had he played against Ireland. Instead, India retained the top order of Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan while relying on the experience of players who have been central to the team’s recent success.

The logic is easy to understand.

Abhishek has established himself as one of India’s most explosive T20 batsmen, while Samson was among the architects of India’s successful T20 World Cup campaign before enjoying another excellent IPL season. Replacing one of the uncapped teenagers would have been one of the boldest selection calls in recent memory.

Yet the Ireland series also strengthened the argument for change.

Samson scored 0 and 0 in the two matches, while Kishan scored 1 and 12 as India’s batting struggled on the Belfast surfaces. The defeat not only handed India an unexpected 2-0 series defeat, but also ended their remarkable run of 16 consecutive T20I bilateral series wins.

assistant coach Ryan Ten Doeschate has already said that Suryavanshi “will have to go through the process”. Like every other player, acknowledging that the teenager is ready for international cricket.

England is now presenting an even tougher test.

Jofra Archer, Josh Tongue, Saqib Mahmood and Sonny Baker provide real pace, while Adil Rashid and Rehan Ahmed provide plenty of variety in the middle overs. Chester-le-Street has also traditionally favored the bowlers, with the average T20I score in the first innings being just 138, making batting adjustments from the start crucial.

Whether those conditions ultimately persuade India to hand over Suryavanshi or not, his debut remains one of the biggest talking points in the five-match series.

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India women’s cricket team (Getty Images)

England cricketer kate cross And Alex Hartley She has clarified that her criticism of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup semi-final schedule was never directed at India, adding that she has received abuse and even death threats after her comments were widely circulated on social media.The pair addressed the issue on No Balls: The Cricket Podcast, explaining that their original criticism was aimed solely at the tournament’s scheduling policy and not the Indian team.Cross revealed the scale of the response.“That post received 450 comments. It seems there has been some confusion because I don’t think what we said was worth the death threats and abuse we received.”He then clarified that India was never the target of his criticism.“We would like to clarify that this has nothing to do with India. According to the ICC, the scheduling was done to optimize viewership and attendance in the UK keeping in mind the global audience.”

What was the dispute about?

The debate began after the ICC confirmed the Women’s T20 World Cup semi-final schedule ahead of the knockout stage.Under tournament rules, the top two teams from Groups A and B qualified for the semi-finals. Normally, the Group A winners will face the Group B runners-up in one semi-final, while the Group B winners will face the Group A runners-up in the other semi-final.However, there was one exception. If India qualifies for the semi-finals, they will automatically play the first semi-final on 30 June, which was scheduled to start at 8:00 pm IST, a prime-time television slot for Indian audiences. The second semi-final, starting at 12:00 IST on July 3, was believed to be more suited to UK audiences, especially with hosts England still in contention.If India failed to qualify, the tournament would follow only the standard knockout bracket.

What Cross and Hartley originally said

Speaking ahead of India’s final group-stage match, Cross questioned why a team’s semi-final should be decided in advance.“Can we talk about the fact that I saw today that if India qualifies for the semi-finals, they are guaranteed to play in Tuesday’s semi-finals because the ICC feels it is best for them to play time-wise.”Hartley responded by saying that the practice was not new.“It happens in men’s cricket, women’s cricket, all World Cups.”Cross acknowledged that she understood the business reasons but believed the theory was flawed.“Everyone can plan based on when India will play. It is absolutely mental. I don’t understand how you can go into a tournament and the governing body would prioritize a team like this. I understand why they are doing it, but I think it is absolutely ridiculous.”Hartley also said that the scheduling debate may be irrelevant if India do not make the final four.“Yeah, it’s bad but it looks like they may have to struggle to qualify anyway.”

India lost, program followed normal format

The discussion eventually turned academic after India crashed out of the tournament after losing to Australia in their final group-stage match.Due to India failing to reach the semi-finals, the special scheduling provision was not used and the competition reverted to the standard knockout bracket.Australia will face West Indies in the first semi-final on Tuesday, while England will face South Africa in the second semi-final on Thursday.Following the online backlash, Cross and Hartley reiterated that their criticism was directed at the ICC’s scheduling policy, not India, stressing that their comments were misinterpreted and should not have resulted in personal abuse or threats.

Punjab Kings cricketer Shashank Singh has denied the allegations of assault and wrongful confinement made by the home cook. Instead the cricketer has claimed that the employee had entered private areas of the family home and recorded video without permission, and was therefore fired from his job.

Shashank and his father Shailesh Singh – A former IPS officer was earlier named in an FIR lodged at Ratibad police station in Bhopal after his former cook Vipendra Singh Tomar accused him of physical assault, verbal abuse and keeping him in captivity against his will.

Responding to the allegations, Shashank rejected the claims and questioned the timeline presented in the complaint.

“Nothing like this happened. A person who comes on the evening of the 25th and leaves on the morning of the 28th – how can you call this taking someone hostage?” Shashank told PTI in an interview on Tuesday, June 30.

The cricketer also alleged that the chef misrepresented his experience and later admitted that he could not prepare the dishes he had initially claimed.

“The man came to us saying, ‘I know how to cook. I can cook all kinds of food.’ But then he himself admitted that actually he does not know how to cook properly. So how can you trust such a person?” He said.

Shashank Singh retaliated on the allegations

Shashank leveled allegations against the complainant, claiming that the employee had recorded videos inside the private parts of the family residence.

“He came into the house and started recording videos of the bedrooms. He also entered the bedroom, where expensive and luxury items were kept, recorded videos and sent them to other people,” alleged Shashank.

The Punjab Kings batsman said that his interaction with the chef was minimal and was largely limited to discussing his cooking background. According to Shashank, an acquaintance of his father had recommended the cook and asked for advance payment immediately after his arrival.

“He came through a friend of my father’s who recommended him, saying he knew how to cook all these dishes,” Shashank said.

“That’s why he was brought home, but as soon as he arrived he demanded an advance payment of Rs 20,000.”

Shashank claimed that his family had asked the cook to work for a few days before discussing compensation and deciding whether to continue the arrangement. The FIR against Shashank, his father and the family driver was lodged after Tomar alleged that he was assaulted after he expressed his desire to quit the job. Police said investigation is underway.

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Following India’s defeat in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 semi-finals against Australia on Sunday, the BCCI Women’s Selection Committee announced a 15-member squad for the upcoming 2026 Asian Games to be held in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan in September.led by Harmanpreet Kaurwith Smriti Mandhana Serving as vice-captain, India will enter the continental competition as defending champions, having won a historic gold medal in women’s cricket at the 2022 Asian Games to be held in Hangzhou in 2023.India’s squad for 2026 Asian Games: Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Smriti Mandhana (vice-captain), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wicketkeeper), G. Kamalini (wicketkeeper), Bharti Phulmali, Shree Charnani, Renuka Thakur, Kranti Gaur, Arundhati Reddy, Shreyanka Patil*, Radha Yadav, Nandini Sharma.India’s overall World Cup campaign did not live up to expectations. Although the team recorded comfortable wins over Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Netherlands, losses to fellow semi-final contenders South Africa and Australia exposed several weaknesses. Although Shreyanka Patil has been included in the squad for the Asian Games, her participation is dependent on fitness as she suffered a serious tear to her right ankle ligament in India’s group stage match against the Netherlands on June 17.

India’s men’s team for Asian Games 2026

Earlier, the BCCI Men’s Selection Committee announced India’s 15-member squad for the 2026 Asian Games. Shreyas Iyer will lead the team while Tilak Verma has been named the vice-captain as India aim to defend the historic gold medal won in the last edition in Hangzhou. Shreyas Iyer (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Shivam Dubey, Tilak Verma (vice-captain), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Varun Chakraborty, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah.Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Vaibhav Suryavanshi.

The first half ended 0-0. And Morocco will be kicking themselves for failing to capitalize on their chances.

Saibari missed a simple tap in at the back post after a curling free-kick from the right in added time.

Netherlands does not have many chances. The one shot that was on target was saved by Yassin Bonnou.

bad temper game

The story of the match is that there was a heated argument between both the sides. The game turned into some messy moments, after a clash between Dutch defender Van Hecke and Moroccan striker Saibari, with the referee failing to control the game.

There have been some ugly challenges, one of which resulted in Van Hecke bleeding profusely from the head, where the referee was forced to stop play.

Tremendous save by Verbruggen

Some close saves from goalkeeper VanBruggen kept the Netherlands alive. The best was when he lobbed the outside edge of Hakimi’s boot curler midway through the first half of the match.

The Netherlands have been left disappointed after failing to connect in the final third. Somerville has been better than the rest, but Brobbie and especially Gakpo need to do better.

England captain Ben Stokes during the fourth day of the third Test match between England and New Zealand at Trent Bridge in Nottingham, England on June 28, 2026. (Photo/Getty Images)

England’s hopes of a winning end to Ben Stokes’ captaincy were dashed on the fifth morning at Trent Bridge as New Zealand clinched the three-match Test series 2-1 with a 160-run victory.Chasing 373, England started the final day at 103 for 4, but were never able to build the partnership needed to threaten the target. They were out for 212 shortly after lunch, giving New Zealand their first win in the three-Test series after losing the opening match.The visiting team recorded only their fourth Test series win in England, adding to the tally of two-match series wins in 1986, 1999 and 2021.At the beginning of the day, England’s hopes rested on Joe Root and Emilio Gay, but both were out in the fourth over of the day. Gay was out on 10, while Root was run out on 18 by some sharp fielding by Henry Nicholls. Around the ground, boundary boards displayed the message, “Thank you Ben Stokes,” as the England captain watched from the dressing room after being dismissed for 30 on the evening of the fourth day.Jamie Smith and Gus Atkinson put on a 75-run partnership for the seventh wicket to delay the New Zealand attack. Atkinson scored 19 runs but was trapped LBW by Mitchell Santner just before lunch.Smith continued to fight after the intermission but his innings ended on 60 when Nathan Smith took a diving catch at long-on off Santner’s bowling. The dismissal effectively ended England’s resistance and sealed victory for the visitors.Nathan Smith finished the series as New Zealand’s leading wicket-taker with 15 wickets. He was the only member of New Zealand’s pace attack to feature in every match of the series.“It would have been great to go out winning the series,” Stokes said, “but that’s in an ideal world and this world is certainly not perfect.”Four years ago, the Stokes-McCullum partnership started while chasing the target of 299 runs against New Zealand on this very ground. That victory became the opening chapter of what the cricket world came to call Buzzball. It promised fearless cricket and a team willing to risk defeat in the pursuit of victory.On Monday, New Zealand won the series. The team that had lost 3–0 at the birth of the baseball era returned to Trent Bridge to end it with a 2–1 series win.The defeat is England’s first home series defeat of three or more Test matches since 2012. They have now lost seven of their last nine Test matches, increasing the scrutiny on coach Brendon McCullum and managing director Rob Key.