Key events
Barney Ronay
At 4.38pm on 28 June Donald Trump dropped a Truth. Nothing unusual in that. Trump’s Truth Social feed is relentless and ever-giving.
That same afternoon he also Truthed at 3.58pm, 3.59pm, and twice at 7.42pm, all in the same instantly recognisable, weirdly cartoonish tone, as if a giant maize-based salted snack from a jaunty 1970s TV advert has been pumped full of voodoo and vitamins and propped up behind a lectern to explain geopolitics to the world, but only in the kind of words you might use while arguing with your nine-year-old sister.
Trump’s messaging that afternoon ranged across boasts about his allegedly incredible new ballroom, a 600-word Truth on the poor condition of some golf courses, and a series of complaints about losing the latest appeal in his sexual harassment case – the key injustice being the fact the jury was allowed to watch a video that appears to show Trump literally boasting about his skill at sexually harassing people. This, just to be clear, is the president of the United States.
In the middle of this, the 4.38pm Trump Truth stood out. First, because of its tone, which was relatively low-key and non-bombastic, featuring only implied rather than direct insults. And second because it was about the World Cup. Remember that?
Sid Lowe
At the Embassy Suites on Broad Street, downtown Chattanooga, the vans have pulled out for the last time. The day before departure, like every day, a small crowd of kids had climbed barriers and trees, trying to get a glimpse of Spain’s players.
A girl stood on a ladder and held a placard in each hand, raised above the fence. One said: “I’ve been here three weeks. I know you’ve seen me!” The other ran: “Please come out!” On Wednesday afternoon, Tennessee time, they did. They won’t be back.
Spain are leaving their base behind and heading to Los Angeles and, if all goes well, from there to Dallas. They do so with more doubts than there were before the World Cup started. Well, Fabián Ruiz says, maybe on the outside: inside, at the training ground where the last session has just finished before they fly west, it is a little different.
Fabián does not use many words and is not really given time to do so, but one he comes back to is natural. The debates? They are for other people. Yet Fabián says: “Sometimes things don’t go the way we would like; we’re working to ensure they do.”
Preamble
Hello and welcome to live coverage of Spain v Austria in Inglewood. France and Lionel Messi have stolen the show at this World Cup, but Spain remain the likeliest winners among the rest. They recovered from a shock draw with Cape Verde to thrash Saudi Arabia and eliminate Uruguay, and the core of their wonderful Euro 2024-winning is still intact.
It’ll be a huge shock if they fail to get past a game but limited Austria, who scraped through to the knockout round when Sasa Kalajdzic scored a 96th-minute roof-raiser against Algeria. The prize for the winners is no prize at all: Portugal or Croatia in the last 16.
Kick off 12pm local/3pm EDT/8pm BST/5am AEST
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