Simon and Garfunkel once sang that the words of the prophet are written on the walls of the subway. They were only partially correct because the truth of the gospel is found in all forms of art, including art. Take Paul Rigby’s cartoon in Sydney’s Daily Telegraph, which was a testament to the plight of English batsmen during the 1974-75 Ashes tour: “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, if Thommo can’t get it, Lillee must.” The line became so uncertain that it became part of cricket legend and military tactics when DGMO Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai used it. a statement about the strength of India’s aviation security.And for the defenders facing Dictator Mbappé and his ambassadors, they must be feeling what the English felt when they looked down Dennis Lillee or Jeff Thomson: If Mbappé doesn’t get you, Olise will. And if Olise doesn’t, Dembélé can. And if you avoid Dembélé….You start to walk because this is a talented French attack that threatens to produce crickets when they click. Just ask Senegal and Iraq, who could not have Mbappé and Co. The worst thing is that you get the idea that this place is not playing in high gear yet, but it is showing the light of their skills.Take Mbappé’s first goal, right there he held first with his right hand before putting the ball in the goal with his left, which we are told is not his strong foot. The only things that seem to be able to stop France in this way are natural forces, as they did for 131 minutes before the game restarted and Mbappé found the net again, which seems to have established a direct competition with. Lionel Messi. The latter has 18 in 28 games. Mbappé has 16 of 16, a very dangerous number because this is the biggest stage of football, where great players suddenly find their feet of clay.
As for Messi, he is on course to win the only award that has eluded him in football, the Golden Boot. Messi made the story after scoring two goals against Austria in the so-called Third Reich Derby and went on to reach five goals, and in any year’s World Cup, five goals would be enough for the Golden Boot. Except this is no ordinary World Cup, with Haaland and Mbappé hot on his heels. Maybe it wouldn’t be a tournament if Messi was better at penalties.Despite being a goat, the Argentine is terrible at penalties. Now, all goats have their weaknesses. Shaquille O’Neal sank the free throw, almost one of two. Virat Kohli hasn’t changed his habit of looking hard to deliver outside the off stump. And Messi is a regular penalty taker. In his international career, he has 25 goals from 31 penalties. Including club matches, he has 116 in 149, and he attempts 77%.In comparison, Cristiano Ronaldowhose opponents often call him Penaldo, he has taken 211 penalties and still has a success rate of 83.8%, and 183. Robert Lewandowski has the best record among elite players with a record of 91%, while Harry Kane and 89.2%. Even Ronaldo’s Portuguese counterpart Bruno Fernandes has a success rate of 89.3% from 75 penalties.Now, it should be noted that Messi often blocks penalty tasks for his teammates and “helps” Luis Suárez, but that’s an amazing number for a GOAT of his age.Speaking of the GOATs, Erling Haaland was on hand to lead Norway to a thrilling 3-2 win over Senegal, making the group’s final match even more exciting in France vs Norway. Haaland, whose blonde locks often see him referred to as a Targaryen, is almost the size of a House of the Dragon dragon, especially when it comes to scoring goals. The biggest surprise this time was when he actually got the ball and failed to score.Norway is back in the World Cup after 1998, when Haaland Sr played, and he is having the time of his life, everyone from politicians to fans doing the Viking song and giving a game like Disney to the tribe of invaders, but again, which has been directly related to the skin of a person.
The next match will see France take on Norway and the internet is already awash with Batman vs Superman memes as two of the most talented players of their generation go head to head. Of course, France’s attack has more prongs than Norway’s, who rely heavily on Haaland and Odegaard, but they could still be a match for years to come.Finally, in the last game of the day, Algeria denied Jordan the victory with two quick goals, which leads the writers to say: Kobe will not do it. But perhaps the biggest story was Luca Zidane’s performance in goal. The Algerian got a hand to Nizar Al-Rashdan’s strike but failed to keep it out of the net. He made two mistakes in the first leg against Argentina, which saw Messi score twice, but he would prefer to point the proverbial finger at the ball.
DISCUSSION TIP: HAVE A BALL
This has been the most successful World Cup and one of the reasons is the football that FIFA is using in the tournament. FIFA told the AP that the ball was designed to have deep grooves for “aeroplane stability”, which sees it travel in the direction of goal scorers and increases impact when hitting and dribbling in wet or wet conditions.Austria coach Ralf Rangnick told the AP: “This ball is very fast like a cannonball. I think today and a few days ago, you saw if you throw the ball in a good position, it’s very difficult to save.”
Adidas Trionda is unique because it has only four thermally produced panels, the lowest on the men’s World Cup football. Former England goalkeeper Joe Hart said the ball was getting to the goals faster than he expected. The four-panel design makes it stand out from other balls and can react unexpectedly when hit with spin.This, combined with more protection for the attackers – think how England’s defenders rushed Maradona before defeating the Hand of God – means this World Cup has been a success.
Looking at Day 13: Redemption of the GOAT?
Matchday 13 sees Ronaldo’s Portugal take on Fabio Cannavaro’s Uzbekistan, with the talented Portuguese side hoping to get their campaign back on track after a poor performance against DR Congo.Cannavaro, who won the World Cup with Italy in 2006 after Zidane’s title and the curse of Sarajevo, faces a team that some would argue is more talented than the Golden Generation of Figo, with Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes, Vitinha, Rafael Leão, Pedro Neto and João Neves in the ranks. All eyes will be on Ronaldo, who stuttered in the first game and whose star attraction, and the dangerous mentality thrown in, threatens to overwhelm the team with his power. Much has already been written about the social storm over the absurd comments of João Neves that were deleted.Regardless of the media distraction, questions have to be asked as to whether Portugal would fare well without their former GOAT, whose power has waned with age. On the other hand, anyone who has followed his career knows that his fountain of self-belief knows no bounds, and if anyone can shake off the naysayers, it’s Ronaldo. Just to put his longevity, 211, or 16.9%, of the participants in this year’s World Cup were born after Ronaldo made his debut at Sporting Lisbon.
Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo reacts during the Group K World Cup soccer match between Portugal and Congo in Houston, Wednesday, June 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Meanwhile, England face Ghana, and the English will find a familiar face elsewhere, with Ghana being led by Man Utd’s assistant coach and Alex Ferguson’s right-hand man Carlos Queiroz. This game has the opportunity to increase all the goals in England Harry Kane, who will arrive at the “Boston Stadium” for the first time, but in the arena known as Gillette Stadium and is home to the New England Patriots and Tom Brady, the greatest player of the NFL, who won six titles with the Patriots before taking the seventh at the age of 43 Tampane Buccane.Kane, a self-proclaimed Brady stan, has long talked about becoming an NFL kicker after his playing days are over, but for now he’s still committed to breaking England’s attack. The Three Lions have not won a major trophy since the 1966 World Cup, which they won on home soil, and when Kane gets his hands on the silverware after swapping Spurs for Bayern Munich, he will be hoping to do Brady and win England. He is not alone, and Tuchel has chosen a talented English side to be with him, including the idea of rugby-like finals. The term means bringing in talented players at the death to prevent the team from running out of steam, as Morgan Rogers, Marcus Rashford and Bukayo Saka were introduced in the last 15 minutes against Croatia.On the other hand, Ghana’s ambition is led by Antoine Semenyo, who was born in London and is currently working for Manchester City in the Premier League.Croatia will face Panama in Luka Modric’s 200th game, and Modric could be both a problem and a solution for his team. The perennial winners of the World Cup only gained independence in 1991 but they became runners-up once, in 2018, and came third twice, in 1998 and 2022. However, this year, the men in red and blue seem to be in short supply, although victory would help them qualify. And finally, Colombia will face DR Congo, whose 5-3-2 system stopped Portugal and will do so again they have their “image” back.In total, at the end of the 13th day, each team will have played two games, which gives a clear picture of what we can expect as we move into the round of 32.
SEE MEME
And the winner: Hydration Break with Ronaldinho
PS: Thanks to Twitter users @SarathySatire, @vish0890, @vinit_shenoy and @n_aficionado for their contributions. If you have memes to post, tag @nonsensicalnemo and use the hashtag #TOIOFFSIDE.