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Verstappen is not afraid of the rain either and stretches his advantage in Canada for the F1 World Cup

The Dutchman Max Verstappen (Red Bull) redeemed himself from sixth place in Monaco two weeks ago by giving a coup of authority in Canada, where he kept the McLarens and the Mercedes at bay to stretch his advantage for the Formula One World Championship in a ‘crazy’ race due to the rain with five dropouts.

After leaving second on the Gilles Villeneuve circuit, Verstappen allied himself with the rain and race incidents and finished with a four-second advantage over the British Lando Norris (McLaren), who finished second and approached the Monegasque Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) in the World Cup, who like the Spanish Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) and the Mexican ‘Czech’ Pérez (Red Bull), had to leave, while the Spanish Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) finished sixth.

It was not easy for the three-time world champion, who had to deal with two safety cars, two steps through ‘boxes’ going up positions and the pace of Norris, who wants to sign up for the World Cup party, but the Dutchman met again with the victory expanding his advantage over Leclerc and also with Norris, who despite suffering to the finish line, contained the British George Russell (Mercedes) and the Englishman Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes).

Caution prevailed during the first third of the race. In the rain none of the first four wanted to risk and while Russell started as a leader and was the only one to have clean air, behind the Australian Daniel Ricciardo (Visa Cash App RB) went wrong and lost three positions with a stroke of the pen.

Alonso benefited from it and, from the first turn, he began a battle that lasted for 25 laps with the British Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), who although he had more race pace, was unable to overtake the two-time world champion, who, however, was overtaken by the Englishman after a bad stop in the Aston Martin garage.

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But the battle was ahead. Russell put up with Verstappen, but he couldn’t do anything with the rhythm of the British Lando Norris, who seemed willing to add his second victory and take the taste of the triumph.

Norris warmed up the tires, knew how to take the car on the driest rail of the entire circuit and started to shoot. In fact, he was the one who had the most race pace in the first third of the race and went out of ‘hunting’ for the first two. The first to fall was Verstappen, ahead on lap 20 on the straight before the wall of the champions and, one lap later, repeated play with Russell, race leader.

It seemed that after the storm calm would come, but nothing could be further from the truth. When Norris had already achieved more than six seconds ahead of Verstappen, who took advantage of a mistake from Russell to take second, the American Logan Sargeant (Williams) went off the track and provoked a safety car that disrupted the entire race.

Verstappen, Russell and Piastri stopped, but Norris, calm with his advantage, waited for a lap to go through ‘boxes’ while he saw what wheels his pursuers put. He didn’t know it, but it was a mistake that could have been difficult for him to sign up for the World Cup party.

Norris stopped and came out behind Verstappen and Russell. And the Dutchman started to shoot as soon as the safety car went off the track. He threw and threw as he took advantage of the struggles between the two British to keep taking time.

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From behind, everyone was trying to innovate, although almost all recreation went wrong. It was the case of Leclerc, who put hard rubbers when everyone else was going with intermediates because of a small cloud that was going to leave a fine rain for a few minutes.

The Monegasque returned to the intermediates, but it was already too late. He had been doubled by Verstappen and a small engine failure forced him to abandon a race after having reigned in Monaco, achieving the great victory of his career.

But it’s not that things were better for Sainz. With the track wet, he ripped with seventeen laps left and accompanied Leclerc in the paddock, where the drivers piled up to see the resumption of the race with eleven laps left until the end.

An accident of the Thai Alexander Albon (Williams) motivated the departure of a new safety car and from the paddock the two Ferrari drivers, those of Williams and ‘Checo’ Pérez, with the rear wing destroyed, saw a race end in which Verstappen returned to victory after the bitter taste of sixth place in Monaco.

Meanwhile, Piastri was unable to keep up with the Mercedes, who gave a last ‘stint’ that endangered Norris’s second place, which maintained a second place that allows him to continue chasing Leclerc.

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Sports

MLS Awaits Blockbuster Debuts as Griezmann and Lewandowski Join the Spotlight

While Major League Soccer awaits Lionel Messi’s return, the league will experience a major spotlight moment on Wednesday with the highly anticipated debuts of two new global stars: Robert Lewandowski and Antoine Griezmann.

French forward Antoine Griezmann, 35, could make his first official appearance for Orlando City when the team visits the San Jose Earthquakes, one of the surprise performers of the current MLS season.

The attacker recently ended his long spell with Atlético Madrid and has already made an early impression with his new club, scoring one of the goals in Orlando’s 6-0 friendly victory over Tampa Bay Rowdies of the United States’ second division.

Orlando is counting on its new star to help turn around a difficult season that began with the dismissal of Colombian coach Oscar Pareja after the team lost its first three matches.

Under Argentine manager Martín Perelman, Orlando City currently sits 13th in the Eastern Conference with 14 points from 15 games, outside the playoff qualification positions.

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The team entered the break for the North American World Cup after suffering a heavy 6-2 defeat against FC Cincinnati on May 23.

Meanwhile, Robert Lewandowski was originally expected to make his Chicago Fire debut last Thursday when MLS resumed play after the international break.

The Polish striker, who will turn 38 in August, was scheduled to step onto the Soldier Field pitch against the Vancouver Whitecaps, coached by Thomas Müller, his former teammate at Bayern Munich.

However, the match was postponed due to poor air quality in Chicago caused by smoke from wildfires in southern Canada.

Lewandowski has continued preparing for his first professional experience outside European football.

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“One thing I can say about Robert is that he has an incredible work ethic,” Chicago Fire head coach Gregg Berhalter said on Tuesday.

“He joined us after dealing with jet lag throughout last week, and he was still demanding from his teammates during training. He does extra work afterward. You can see why he has scored more goals than anyone else in Europe over the last 15 years, because he is an absolute professional,” added the former United States national team coach.

The arrival of Griezmann and Lewandowski adds even more star power to an MLS season already boosted by international figures, as clubs continue attracting some of the biggest names in world football.

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Sports

France edge Paraguay 1–0 as Mbappé penalty sends Les Bleus into World Cup quarterfinals

France secured a narrow 1–0 victory over Paraguay to advance to the quarterfinals of the FIFA World Cup 2026, thanks to a second-half penalty converted by Kylian Mbappé.

The match, played at the Lincoln Financial Field, was heavily affected by extreme heat, with temperatures reaching 37°C and a heat index of 40°C, forcing players and fans to remain constantly hydrated and contributing to a slower-paced encounter.

France dominated possession throughout the first half, holding 76% of the ball and registering six shots on target without managing to convert. Paraguay, meanwhile, maintained a compact defensive structure, often dropping as many as eight players behind the ball and relying on counterattacks.

Despite their control, the French side struggled to create clear chances, a situation that visibly frustrated coach Didier Deschamps. His team returned from halftime with the same approach, eventually forcing a save from Paraguay goalkeeper Orlando Gill after a shot from Manu Koné in the 55th minute.

The breakthrough arrived in the 70th minute when the referee, after a VAR review, awarded a penalty following a foul by Diego Gómez on Désiré Doué inside the box. Mbappé converted from the spot to give France the lead.

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After the goal, France managed the game more calmly, while Paraguay pushed forward in search of an equalizer, opening up their defensive shape.

With his goal, Mbappé reached seven goals in the tournament, level with Argentina’s Lionel Messi in the scoring charts, and moved within one goal of the all-time World Cup scoring record.

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International

Cristiano Ronaldo Makes History as First Player to Score in Six World Cups

Cristiano Ronaldo made football history on Tuesday by becoming the first player ever to score in six different editions of the FIFA World Cup.

The Portuguese forward opened the scoring in Portugal’s Group K match against Uzbekistan in Houston. Just six minutes into the game, Ronaldo found the back of the net with a right-footed strike from inside the box, sending the Portuguese fans into celebration.

The “Commander” sparked excitement throughout the stadium with his iconic celebration, as supporters joined in with his famous “Siuuu!” chant to honor another milestone in the career of one of football’s greatest stars.

At 41 years old, Ronaldo has now scored in Germany 2006, South Africa 2010, Brazil 2014, Russia 2018, Qatar 2022, and North America 2026. With his two goals in this tournament, he has surpassed Lionel Messi’s record, as the Argentine has scored in every World Cup he played except South Africa 2010.

The Portuguese captain has also reached nine World Cup goals, matching Eusébio as Portugal’s all-time top scorer in the history of the tournament.

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Ronaldo’s achievement came just one day after Messi also made history by becoming the outright leading scorer in World Cup history, reaching 18 goals after scoring twice in Argentina’s 2-0 victory over Austria.

With his appearance at the 2026 World Cup, Cristiano Ronaldo has also extended another remarkable record by becoming the first player to participate in six consecutive editions of the tournament, further cementing his legacy as one of the most influential players in football history.

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