But this World Cup is anything but normal. There has been more drama off the pitch than on it so far, and it’s not much more than 24 hours old.
The decision to ban captains from wearing the OneLove armband – a gesture of solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community – came late in the day, only three hours before England kicked off.
The frustration of the English and Welsh managers was clear, but in the end, they felt they were left with no choice.
The World Cup app had crashed, and with it their digital tickets vanished.
Some were left to watch the match on their phones while sat outside on the concourse.
Immensely brave Iranian protest
And while the OneLove armbands might have been replaced with FIFA-sanctioned ones, that did not keep the politics out of the football.
England’s players took the knee as they had promised to do so, as they did throughout Euro 2020, while the Iranian team refused to sing the national anthem.
It was an immensely brave move, one taken as a team in support of the protests back home. They had told us last week that they had discussed together what to do, at 4pm on Monday afternoon we found out.
They are well-known figures in Iran, a football-mad country just across the Gulf from Qatar. Their stand didn’t go unnoticed in the stadium, and it might not go unpunished when they return.
Wales fans wearing rainbow-coloured clothes were prevented from entering the Ahmed bin Ali Stadium. Among them was former Wales national football captain Laura McAllister, who wearing a rainbow bucket hat.
Now a professor at Cardiff University, McAllister wrote on Twitter: “So, despite fine words from FIFA World Cup before event, Cymru rainbow bucket hats confiscated at stadium, mine included.
“I had a conversation about this with stewards – we have video evidence. This World Cup 2022 just gets better but we will continue stand up for our values.”
FIFA has apologised to one, but has not yet explained why they were denied entry.
On the pitch, it could not have gone better for England. Gareth Southgate will be frustrated by the two goals his team conceded, but to put six past your first opponents is a dream start.
Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s former “thug” and “pit bull”, has been accused of lying about a phone call he says he made to the former US president about payments to ex porn star Stormy Daniels.
Cohen, a lawyer who worked for the Trump Organisation from 2006 to 2017, has been giving evidence in the case about hush money payments to Ms Daniels – in an attempt to cover up an alleged sexual encounter in 2006.
Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, called into question an important detail – a phone call made by Cohen to Trump’s assistant, Keith Schiller, on 24 October 2016.
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Cohen, 57, has maintained that during that call he spoke to Trump (who was either given the phone by Mr Schiller or placed on loudspeaker – we don’t know which) and told him he had paid Ms Daniels $130,000 in hush money on his behalf.
But Mr Blanche called this into doubt – showing the jury a number of interactions suggesting Cohen was in contact with Mr Schiller about a different issue at the same time, namely that he was receiving harassing phone calls and texts from a 14-year-old child.
“That was a lie – you did not talk to President Trump on that night, you talked to Keith Schiller about what we just went through,” Mr Blanche said.
Cohen said that, based on his records, he believes he spoke to Trump about the Stormy Daniels matter.
“We are not asking for your belief,” Mr Blanche said. “This jury does not want to hear what you think happened.”
That exchange was part of several hours of questioning which apparently sought to paint a picture of Cohen as someone who is eager to see his former boss behind bars.
Mr Blanche played jurors audio clips of Cohen saying the case “fills me with delight” and that imagining Trump and his family in prison made him feel “giddy with hope and laughter”.
“Does the outcome of this trial affect you personally?” Mr Blanche asked.
“Yes,” Cohen replied. He is due to return to the witness stand on Monday.
Cohen worked as the former president’s fixer. He once described himself as Trump’s “spokesman, thug, pit bull and lawless lawyer”.
He once said he would take a bullet for his boss and admitted at the end of questioning on Tuesday that he “violated my moral compass” while working for Trump.
Hush money payouts are not illegal, but Trump is accused of falsifying business records to hide it – a claim he denies.
Cristiano Ronaldo has topped Forbes’ list of highest-paid athletes for the fourth time in his career.
Spanish golfer Jon Rahm took second place following his switch to Saudi-backed LIV Golf.
Ronaldo became the world’s highest-paid athlete after his move to Saudi Arabian side Al Nassr and Forbes said the 39-year-old’s estimated total earnings were around $260m (£205m) – an all-time high for a football player.
His on-field earnings amounted to $200m (£158m) while off-field he earned $60m (£47m) thanks to sponsorship deals where brands make use of his 629 million Instagram followers.
Rahm earned $218m (£172m) and joins Ronaldo as the only two athletes to earn over $200m.
Third on the list is record eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi, who switched to Major League Soccer team Inter Miami, which helped the Argentine World Cup winner earn $135m (£107m).
The 36-year-old earned $65m (£51m) in on-field earnings but $70m (£55m) off it from deals with major sponsors such as Adidas and Apple.
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James came in fourth at $128m (£101m), while fellow NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks made fifth with $111m (£88m).
France football captain Kylian Mbappe dropped down to sixth with $110m (£87m).
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Neymar, who also moved to the Saudi Pro League to join Al-Hilal, is seventh with $108m (£85m), despite sitting out the majority of the season with a torn ACL.
French striker Karim Benzema, who also moved to Saudi Arabia, is eighth on the list with $106m (£84m), followed by Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry with $102m (£80m).
Lamar Jackson is the only NFL player on the list, in 10th place with $101m (£80m), thanks to the signing bonus negotiated into his new Baltimore Ravens contract last year.
Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, is “under missile attack”, its mayor has said.
Ihor Terekhov made his comment not long after regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said at least five Russian drones had struck the northeastern city late on Thursday.
Mr Terekhov said the city’s Osnovyanskyi district had been hit, triggering a fire.
It is unclear whether there have been casualties.
Fabrice Deprez, a journalist reporting from Ukraine, said on X he had “lost count of the number of explosions shaking Kharkiv right now – a dozen or more in the past hour”.
An air raid alert lasted more than 16-and-a-half hours, public broadcaster Suspilne said – the longest alert since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.