World Cup: From fall guys to contenders, the US mean business against England in Group B clash
“Soccer’s coming home,” they sing, to the tune of the Skinner and Baddiel classic.
It’s a chant of choice for American fans ahead of the World Cup showdown, poking fun at their English opponents.
We heard it from the crowd watching the University of Maryland take on Fairleigh Dickinson University.
The gag is, of course, the replacement of the word “football” with “soccer” – for UK listeners, it’s a lyric that could only have been written in fingernail on a blackboard.
As supporter wind-ups go, it’s at the benign end of the scale, far removed from the terracing attrition in the land where the game began. Some cultural traditions, it seems, take longer to transfer.
US soccer is football, but not quite as we know it in the UK, certainly not as we speak it.
It’s where players “turn and burn”, wear “cleats” on their feet, not boots; take “PKs”, not penalties and, yes, take liberties with the very name of the game.
From fall guys to contenders
However you word it, the US men’s team have come a long way. They are fall guys-cum-contenders in a sport that America found late.
As the game grew worldwide, it struggled for space in a crowded sporting marketplace, squeezed out by American football, baseball, basketball et al.
America’s male footballers have long been in the shadow of the country’s women’s team. They are a sporting superpower and serial winners of the World Cup (a record four times).
The women’s game has reaped the benefit of a college system that was attracting many of the country’s best female athletes to soccer scholarships, while their male counterparts leaned towards more traditional US sports.
The US Soccer Hall of Fame at FC Dallas
The US Soccer Hall of Fame at FC Dallas hosts a display that recalls the 1950 World Cup match when America’s men, famously, beat England 1-0.
It was such a shock that they made a film of it: The Miracle Match. Seventy-two years on, there would be nothing miraculous about a US win against England in Qatar.
Read more:
Who’s predicted to win the World Cup?
The US women’s team are perennial winners
Men’s soccer has ‘taken off’
After a stilted journey towards an established soccer set-up, the US men’s team are ranked 16th in the world.
FC Dallas president and chairman Dan Hunt spoke to Sky News about how the men’s game, domestically, has grown.
He said: “The success of American soccer really goes back to 1994. Having the World Cup here in the United States kicked off a new generation of players on the men’s side.
“The women’s game was already successful and doing well, but the excitement and energy that brought really kickstarted soccer again in this country.
“It’s been a history of fits and starts and stops. You look at the big win against England in 1950, which was such a reference point, and then we basically went dark for 40 years, between 1950 and 1990.
Maryland fans are confident their country’s team will have a good World Cup
“The old NASL (North America Soccer League) has come and gone. The promise that we had to make as a country was to create a first division professional league, and that’s what brought MLS (Major League Soccer) to life.
“The early years of MLS were incredibly difficult but, for me, the most pivotal moment was the 2002 World Cup where the US team did really well with a number of MLS players.
“Some had already gone abroad and had success in Europe, but that really was the foundation because, only a year earlier, MLS had talked about going out of business and that was the little bit of momentum we needed.
“Since then, the MLS has really taken off.”
Read more:
US and Wales share the points in World Cup opener
Timothy Weah earned the US a point in their opening match against Wales. Pic: USA TODAY Sports
While football club academies in America have, increasingly, become a feeder to the highest level of the sport, the college system still provides a pathway to the professional game.
The University of Maryland is a powerhouse production line of talent – graduates from its scholarship programme have played in the last five World Cups.
Sasho Cirovski is the university’s coach, whose career has spanned decades of growth in the American game.
Sasho Cirovski says soccer has come a long way in the US
He told Sky News: “The American college system is unique to the whole world. It’s the one place in the world where you can combine high level academics with high-level soccer in a residential setting with tremendous facilities.
“You’re prepared to deal with being away from home, you’re prepared to deal with the expectations of performance.
“You’re scrutinised by the media, you’re challenged by the coaches, and you’re around players who also want to be high-level pros and win championships. So, when you have that kind of support network where you can grow, and you can blossom, it allows players to realise their dreams.
“We have the great advantage in this country of being able to watch and experience and learn from other sports. There is a character and competitiveness about the American athlete – a winning mentality, a toughness that is bred across different sports.
“For a long time, we had to learn from watching the Bundesliga or English Premier League – now we can see it in our own country. But we can also see it from other sports, so there’s a wide array of learning around you that really shows you what it’s going to take to be great.”
US
Donald Trump tells Volodymyr Zelenskyy ‘you’re gambling with World War Three’ in fiery Oval Office meeting
Donald Trump and JD Vance held a heated meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in front of the media – which saw the US president tell his Ukrainian counterpart he is “gambling with World War Three”.
Mr Zelenskyy travelled to the US as he attempted to secure a ceasefire agreement with Russia and a possible mineral deal with the United States.
But his visit to the White House ended prematurely – with the signing of an agreement and a joint press conference with Mr Trump called off following their Oval Office clash.
Ukraine latest: Russian official responds to White House meeting
As the pair met with US vice president JD Vance joining them, tensions rose and a shouting match unfolded – all while cameras rolled and representatives from the media looked on.
The last 10 minutes of the almost 45-minute meeting descended into a tense back-and-forth, which began with Mr Vance telling Mr Zelenksyy: “I think it’s disrespectful for you to come to the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media.
“You should be thanking the President [Trump] for trying to bring an end to this conflict.”
Members of the press were gathered in the Oval Office as the tense exchange unfolded. Pic: AP
Tensions rose after JD Vance called Mr Zelenskyy ‘disrespectful’. Pic: Reuters
As the Ukrainian president tried to object, Mr Trump raised his voice and told him: “You’re gambling with the lives of millions of people.
“You’re gambling with World War Three, and what you’re doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country that’s backed you far more than a lot of people say they should have.”
“You’re right now not in a very good position,” he continued. “You don’t have the cards right now with us, you start having problems right now.”
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What happened when Trump met Zelenskyy?
‘This will be great television,’ says Trump
At one point, Mr Vance blasted Mr Zelenskyy for airing “disagreements” in front of the press, but the US president remarked: “I think it’s good for the American people to see what’s going on.”
“You’re not acting at all thankful,” he said. “This is going to be great television.”
Defending himself and his country, the Ukrainian president openly challenged Mr Trump on his softer approach to Vladimir Putin and urged him to make “no compromises with a killer”.
This fiery spectacle was hard to witness
The fiery and very public bust-up between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy is a disaster for Ukraine and its European allies, and a triumph for Russia.
The spectacle of the US president berating his Ukrainian counterpart and telling him he is gambling with World War Three – played out on television from the Oval Office – was hard to witness.
Zelenskyy, looking increasingly uncomfortable, decided to fight back. He likely felt he had little choice but to defend himself and his war-torn country.
But this act of defiance drew even more condemnation from Trump as well as from JD Vance, who also started attacking the Ukrainian leader.
It is hard to imagine a greater contrast from the chummy scenes between Sir Keir Starmer and Trump and the scolding language used by the American president against Zelenskyy, at times addressing him as though he were a naughty schoolboy.
Ukraine’s president, his arms crossed, tried his best to speak up, but he was clearly fighting a losing battle. The extraordinary breakdown is far more serious than just a made-for-television drama.
American support for Ukraine is critical if Kyiv is to withstand Russia’s war. The UK, France and Ukraine’s other European allies have been working overtime to try to keep Trump on their side.
The US president has vowed to end the war and has started talks with Vladimir Putin. The two presidents also plan to meet. That alone was hard for Ukraine to witness.
But the Ukrainian side has attempted to work with Washington rather than against it, including by being willing to part with profits from its minerals and other natural resources in return for locking Trump into a long-term partnership with Ukraine.
That all looks to be shattered – or at best is in serious jeopardy.
If Trump, in anger, withdraws all his military support to Ukraine, Kyiv’s ability to withstand Russia’s military will be seriously diminished.
The Europeans lack the capability to fill the void. The only person who wins in this scenario is Vladimir Putin.
Posting on his Truth Social platform shortly after the clash, Mr Trump described the meeting as “very meaningful” and said: “Much was learned that could never be understood without conversation under such fire and pressure.
“It’s amazing what comes out through emotion, and I have determined that President Zelenskyy is not ready for Peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations.”
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Volodymyr Zelenskyy leaving the White House early. Pic: AP
He continued: “I don’t want advantage, I want PEACE. He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace.”
Zelenskyy posts on X after early exit
Mr Trump and Mr Zelenskyy had been due to have lunch with their delegations in the White House’s cabinet room after the meeting – but untouched salad plates and other items were seen being packed up as the meal was hastily called off.
Having left the White House early, Mr Zelenskyy said in a post on X: “Thank you America, thank you for your support, thank you for this visit.
“Thank you @POTUS, Congress, and the American people. Ukraine needs just and lasting peace, and we are working exactly for that.”
Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy have clashed in the White House, with the US president telling his Ukrainian counterpart: “You’re gambling with World War Three.”
Mr Trump also told Mr Zelenskyy “you either make a deal or we are out.”
“Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel,” he said. “We’re trying to solve a problem. Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel, because you’re in no position to dictate that exactly. You’re in no position to dictate what we’re going to feel.”
Ukraine latest: Trump says Zelenskyy disrespected US and can come back when he’s ready for peace
Here is a look at what Sky News’ correspondents thought of the extraordinary exchange.
Dominic Waghorn, international affairs correspondent
European leaders will be looking at tonight’s spectacle in the White House in horror. Their approach has been to look on the bright side and hope wooing and flattering Donald Trump will bring him round on Ukraine.
Only those in the room will know for sure, but from where the rest of us were sitting, this looked very much like a deliberate ambush, led by the vice president JD Vance.
The Oval Office was reduced to a reality TV show. It seemed like the kind of orchestrated pile-on only Jerry Springer or Jeremy Kyle could be proud of.
If that is the conclusion of European allies, their choice is stark. Rise to the moment, accept America has become a rogue, unreliable ally under Mr Trump and do what they can to protect Ukraine, or watch themselves and Ukraine be picked apart by greater powers.
It is a moment of destiny for Europe that Sir Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and others have been putting off arguably for too long, unwilling to accept their transatlantic partner cannot be trusted.
It must be repeated that neither Mr Trump nor Mr Vance have yet uttered a word of criticism for Vladimir Putin. They seem to like and respect him as do their cohorts on the far right of American politics.
If that is the case Ukraine now has only Europe to rely on. Is Europe up to the challenge?
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Mr Zelenskyy listens to Mr Trump. Pic: Reuters
Deborah Haynes, security and defence editor
The fiery and very public bust-up between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy is a disaster for Ukraine and its European allies and a triumph for Russia.
The spectacle of the US president berating his Ukrainian counterpart and telling him he is gambling with World War Three – played out on television in the Oval Office – was hard to witness.
Mr Zelenskyy – looking increasingly uncomfortable – decided to fight back. He likely felt he had little choice but to defend himself and his war-torn country.
But this act of defiance drew even more condemnation from Mr Trump as well as from JD Vance, who also started attacking the Ukrainian leader.
Mr Zelenskyy and Mr Trump in the Oval Office. Pic: AP
It is hard to imagine a greater contrast from the chummy scenes between Sir Keir Starmer and Mr Trump and the scolding language used by the American president against Mr Zelenskyy, at times addressing him as though he were a naughty school boy.
Ukraine’s president, his arms crossed, tried his best to speak up, but he was clearly fighting a losing battle. The extraordinary breakdown is far more serious than just a made-for-television drama.
American support for Ukraine is critical if Kyiv is to withstand Russia’s war. The UK, France and Ukraine’s other European allies have been working overtime to try to keep Mr Trump on their side.
The US president has vowed to end the war and has started talks with Vladimir Putin. The two presidents also plan to meet. That alone was hard for Ukraine to witness.
But the Ukrainian side has attempted to work with Washington rather than against it, including by being willing to part with profits from its minerals and other natural resources in return for locking Mr Trump into a long-term partnership with Ukraine.
That all looks to be shattered – or at best is in serious jeopardy.
If Mr Trump, in anger, withdraws all of his military support to Ukraine, Kyiv’s ability to withstand Russia’s military will be seriously diminished.
The Europeans lack the capability to fill the void. The only person who wins in this scenario is Mr Putin.
Mr Zelenskyy and Mr Trump speaking in the Oval Office. Pic: Reuters
David Blevins, Sky correspondent, in Washington
Donald Trump said it would make “great television”.
It certainly didn’t make for great diplomacy. Quite the opposite.
The gulf between the United States and Ukraine laid bare on camera around the globe.
The niceties in the Oval Office came to an abrupt end when Mr Trump said he wasn’t aligned with either Ukraine or Russia.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy questioned how diplomacy would work when Vladimir Putin “breaks ceasefires”.
Vice president JD Vance accused him of being “disrespectful” by trying “to litigate this in front of the American media”.
It went from bad to worse when Mr Zelenskyy replied: “You have a nice ocean and don’t feel now, but you will feel it in the future.”
Mr Trump retorted: “Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel… you’re in no position to dictate that.
“You don’t have the cards right now… you’re gambling with the lives of millions of people… you’re gambling with World War Three… and what you’re doing is very disrespectful to this country.”
Mr Zelenskyy, Mr Trump and vice president JD Vance. Pic: Reuters
You could have cut the atmosphere in the West Wing with a knife as the back-and-forth continued for several minutes.
It brings the flurry of diplomatic activity in Washington this week to a disastrous conclusion.
The French president had flattered Trump with words, the UK prime minister stepping up the charm offensive with a letter of invitation from the King.
But Mr Zelenskyy, who looked like a man with the world on his shoulders, had chosen not to ignore the elephant in the room.
Instead, he continued to demand security guarantees from the United States as part of any ceasefire.
The hostile words culminated in a moment unprecedented in living memory – the Ukrainian president leaving the White House and being told not to return until he’s ready to make peace.
Ivor Bennett, Moscow correspondent
Like everywhere else, Moscow will have watched this exchange open-mouthed – stunned by its implications. But while jaws will still be on the floor in Europe, here in Russia they’re already grinning from ear to ear, because it really couldn’t have gone any better for the Kremlin.
Not only was Volodymyr Zelenskyy publicly humiliated by the leader of the nation on which Ukraine’s future depends, the attack read like a script written by Vladimir Putin.
The Ukrainian leader was accused of “forcing conscripts to the frontline”, of taking foreign leaders on a “propaganda tour” and even “gambling with World War Three”. They are phrases one hears on Russian state media on an almost daily basis.
Under the Biden administration, that kind of language was aimed at Mr Putin, but this was an illustration of how Mr Trump has turned everything on its head and Russia’s president is the beneficiary.
When it was Emmanuel Macron and Sir Keir Starmer in the White House earlier this week, there was a sense of anxiety coming from the Kremlin. On both occasions, Mr Putin felt the need to make public overtures towards Washington, as if to remind Donald Trump of what Russia has to offer, betraying a fear that he may be vulnerable to the other side of the argument.
Well there’s definitely no anxiety now – instead Moscow appears to be gloating.
“Historic,” was the one-word reaction from Kirill Dmitriev, the Harvard-educated head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, who was in Riyadh last week for the first meeting between Russian and US officials.
And the reaction from Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova hinted at how Russia might use this going forward.
“It’s a miracle of restraint how Trump and Vance restrained themselves and didn’t punch this scumbag,” she wrote on Telegram, full of flattery.
Expect Moscow to dial up the charm offensive, giving Mr Trump the “respect” he accused Mr Zelenskyy of lacking. The aim will be to make tonight’s spat a permanent separation.
US
FBI most wanted drug lord among 29 cartel figures sent from Mexico to US as Trump turns up pressure on organisations
Mexico has sent 29 drug cartel figures, including a most wanted drug lord, to the US as the Trump administration cranks up the pressure on the crime groups.
The early days of the new US president’s second term were marked by him triggering trade wars with his nearest allies, where he threatened to hike tariffs with Mexico, and Canada, insisting the country crack down on drug cartels, immigration and the production of fentanyl.
With the imposition of the 25% tariffs just days away, drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero, one of the FBI’s “10 most wanted fugitives”, was one of the individuals handed over in the unprecedented show of cooperation.
The FBI wanted poster for Rafael Caro Quintero. Pic: AP/FBI
It comes as top Mexican officials are in Washington ahead of Tuesday’s deadline.
Those sent to the US on Thursday were rounded up from prisons across Mexico and flown to eight US cities, according to the Mexican government.
Prosecutors from both countries said the prisoners sent to the US faced charges including drug trafficking and homicide.
“We will prosecute these criminals to the fullest extent of the law in honour of the brave law enforcement agents who have dedicated their careers – and in some cases, given their lives – to protect innocent people from the scourge of violent cartels,” US attorney general Pamela Bondi said in a statement.
‘Cartel kingpin’
Quintero was convicted of the torture and murder of US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) agent Enrique ‘Kiki’ Camarena in 1985.
The murder marked a low point in US-Mexico relations.
Quintero was described by the US attorney general as “a cartel kingpin who unleashed violence, destruction, and death across the United States and Mexico”.
After decades in jail, and atop the FBI’s most wanted list, he walked free in 2013 when a court overturned his 40-year sentence for killing Mr Camarena.
Rafael Caro Quintero. Pic: Reuters/FBI
Quintero, the former leader of the Guadalajara cartel, returned to drug trafficking and triggered bloody turf battles in the northern Mexico state of Sonora until he was arrested a second time in 2022.
The US sought his extradition shortly after, but the request remained stuck at Mexico’s foreign ministry for reasons unknown.
President Claudia Sheinbaum’s predecessor and political mentor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador severely curtailed Mexican cooperation with the DEA to protest undercover US operations in Mexico targeting senior political and military officials.
‘The Lord of The Skies’
Also sent to the US were cartel leaders, security chiefs from both factions of the Sinaloa cartel, cartel finance operatives and a man wanted in connection with the killing of a North Carolina sheriff’s deputy in 2022.
Vicente Carrillo Fuentes, a once leader of the Juarez drug cartel, based in the border city of Ciudad Juarez, across from El Paso, Texas, and brother of drug lord Amado Carrillo Fuentes, known as “The Lord of The Skies”, who died in a botched plastic surgery in 1997, was among those turned over to the US.
As were two leaders of the now defunct Los Zetas cartel, brothers Miguel and Omar Trevino Morales, who were known as Z-40 and Z-42.
The brothers have been accused of running the successor Northeast Cartel from prison.
Soldiers escort a man who authorities identified as Omar Trevino Morales, also known as Z-42. Pic: AP/Eduardo Verdugo
Miguel Angel Trevino Morales after his arrest. Pic: AP/Mexico’s Interior Ministry
Vicente Carrillo Fuentes, the purported leader of the Juarez cartel, pictured after his arrest in 2014. Pic: AP
Trump-Mexico relations
The removal of the cartel figures coincided with a visit to Washington by Mexico’s foreign affairs secretary Juan Ramon de la Fuente and other top officials, who met with their US counterparts.
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Mr Trump has made clear his desire to crack down on drug cartels and has pressured Mexico to work with him.
The acting head of the DEA, Derek Maltz, was said to have provided the White House with a list of nearly 30 targets in Mexico wanted in the US on criminal charges and Quintero was top of the list.
It was also said that Ms Sheinbaum’s government, in a rush to seek favour with the Trump administration, bypassed the usual formalities of the countries’ shared extradition treaty in this incident.
This means it could potentially allow US prosecutors to try Quintero for Mr Camarena’s murder – something not contemplated in the existing extradition request to face separate drug trafficking charges in a Brooklyn federal court.
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