LILLE, France, October 3 — Holders Real Madrid fell to their first Champions League defeat since May 2023 as Lille upset them at the Pierre-Mauroy Stadium.
It was also a first loss for Carlo Ancelotti's side in 36 matches in all competitions - dating back to 18 January against Atletico Madrid in the Copa del Rey.
Jonathan David scored the only goal from the penalty spot for Lille after a video assistant referee (VAR) review ruled that Real's French midfielder Eduardo Camavinga had blocked Edon Zhegrova’s free-kick with his arm.
The hosts were superb throughout and more than...
LILLE, France, October 3 — Holders Real Madrid fell to their first Champions League defeat since May 2023 as Lille upset them at the Pierre-Mauroy Stadium.
It was also a first loss for Carlo Ancelotti's side in 36 matches in all competitions - dating back to 18 January against Atletico Madrid in the Copa del Rey.
Jonathan David scored the only goal from the penalty spot for Lille after a video assistant referee (VAR) review ruled that Real's French midfielder Eduardo Camavinga had blocked Edon Zhegrova’s free-kick with his arm.
The hosts were superb throughout and more than...
Dayot Upamecano scored with the last kick of the game for Bayern, but the France defender was confirmed offside by a video review and Thomas Tuchel’s team had to settle for a point against the only other side to have started the league with three wins.
-Runners-up in 2018, Croatia finished third for the second time in their history
-All the goals came in the first half with Gvardiol and Orsic netting for Croatia
-Morocco made history as the first African side to finish in the final four
Croatia 2-1 Morocco
Goals: Croatia - Josko Gvardiol (7), Mislav Orsic (42) ; Morocco - Achraf Dari (9)
Match review
Croatia secured themselves a set of bronze medals by defeating Morocco 2-1 in the third-place play-off at Khalifa International Stadium on Saturday.
Zlatko Dalic’s men picked themselves up after their 3-0 semi-final loss to Argentina to secure third place for the second time at a FIFA World Cup™, having also claimed the final place on the podium at France '98. When these teams met in their opening group game 24 days ago, few would have predicted them meeting again on the tournament’s concluding weekend. Where that group encounter finished goalless, no third-place play-off has ended that way and their reunion exploded into life with two early goals, both from set plays.
The first was a terrifically worked free-kick with Ivan Perisic nodding the ball across the penalty box, where Josko Gvardiol flung himself forward to power a header past Yassine Bounou, the Morocco goalkeeper. For Perisic it was his fifth World Cup assist.
Morocco equalised almost immediately following a wide free-kick by Hakim Ziyech, captaining the team on his 50th appearance. The ball looped off the head of Luka Modric on the edge of the area and fell inside the six-yard box, where Achraf Dari stooped to nod in his first international goal.
Morocco have delighted both the African and Arab worlds with their unprecedented run to the last four after and though Modric tested Bounou with a low drive, Walid Regragui's men were arguably on top as the first period approached an end. However, it was Croatia who reclaimed the lead just before the break.
Teenager Bilal El Khannouss, making his Morocco debut, won the ball on the edge of his box only to then lose it to Mateo Kovacic. Croatia worked the ball swiftly to Mislav Orsic on the left side of the box and he curled a lovely first-time effort over Bounou and in off the far post.
Croatia looked to be the more likely scorers for much of the second half, with Kovacic coming closest for the Balkan team in the 87th minute as he dragged a shot wide of the far post.
Morocco only seriously threatened an equaliser deep into stoppage time with a header from Youssef En-Nesyri which landed on the roof of the net. For Croatia, it was job done.
Key moment
Gvardiol went into the semi-final having been widely billed as one of the best centre-backs on view at Qatar 2022. His contribution had included a vital goal-saving tackle on Romelu Lukaku to ensure Croatia got out of their group at Belgium's expense.
Yet the 20-year-old Leipzig defender went back to Croatia's base on Tuesday night having become the umpteenth victim of Lionel Messi's brilliance, bamboozled by the little magician, who turned him inside out in setting up Argentina's third goal.
Gvardiol bounced back here by scoring his first World Cup following a free-kick routine straight off the training round. Majer clipped a free-kick towards Perisic, running away from goal, and the winger flexed his neck muscles superbly to direct the ball back towards the penalty spot, where Gvardiol struck with a diving header.
With his goal, moreover, he became his country's youngest World Cup scorer, aged 20 years and 328 days. He may have been wearing a protective mask in Qatar but he will now head for home with a face and a name that are much more widely known.
Key stats
-A European nation has now finished third at each of the last 11 World Cups. The last non-European team to rank third was Brazil in 1978.
-Morocco are the first non-European or South American nation to finish in the top four since Korea Republic in 2002.
-Seven months after his senior debut for Genk, 18-year-old Bilal El Khannouss made his international debut at Khalifa International Stadium to become the youngest Morocco player to grace the world stage.
-With his assist for Gvardiol, Perisic has now been directly involved in 11 goals (six goals, five assists) across the last three World Cups. Only Messi (16) has had a hand in more goals across those tournaments.
-This was the 10th World Cup match running where Croatia have failed to keep a clean sheet.
Player of the Match
Josko Gvardiol
AUG 27: The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which is reviewed by its 191 signatories every five years, aims to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons.
Russia objected to a draft text citing "grave concern" over military activities around Ukraine's nuclear plants, in particular Zaporizhzhia.
Participants in the last review in 2015 also failed to reach an agreement.
The 2022 meeting, which had been due in 2020, was delayed because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The failure to agree a joint declaration followed a four-week conference in New York.
The Australian foreign minister, Penny Wong, said she was "deeply disappointed" at the lack of agreement.
"Russia obstructed progress by refusing to compromise on proposed text accepted by all other states," she said.
The US representative, Ambassador Bonnie Jenkins, said the US "deeply regrets this outcome, and even more so on Russia's actions that led us here today".
Russia was opposed to a section of the text expressing "grave concern" over military activities around Ukrainian power plants - including the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, which Russia seized early on in the war in Ukraine.
The draft section also remarked on "the loss of control by the competent Ukrainian authorities over such locations as a result of those military activities, and their profound negative impact on safety".
Russia's representative, Igor Vishnevetsky, said the draft final text lacked "balance".
"Our delegation has one key objection on some paragraphs which are blatantly political in nature," he said - adding that other countries also disagreed with the text.
The final document needed approval of all countries at the conference. A number of countries, including the Netherlands and China, expressed disappointment that no consensus had been reached.
The Dutch said they were "content with the useful discussions", but "very disappointed that we have not reached consensus".
Chinn's ambassador, meanwhile, said despite the lack of agreement, the process was "an important practice of common security and genuine multilateralism".
The Non-Proliferation Treaty, backed by 190 countries in 1970, commits countries which signed up - including the US, Russia, France the UK and China - to reducing their stockpiles and bars others from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Last week, the Zaporizhzhia plant was temporarily disconnected from the power grid, raising fears of a possible radiation disaster.
Russia's military took control of the plant, the largest nuclear plant in Europe, in early March, but it is still being operated by Ukrainian staff under difficult conditions.
The UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), is expected to organised a trip to the Zaporizhzhia plant in the coming days to inspects facilities there.
Last week, Russia said it would allow IAEA inspectors to visit the plant.
