The Pulse Newsletter 📣 | This is The Athletic’s daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox.Good morning! Avoid the post today. Inside:
World Cupdate: What a night of soccer, ladsEvery day, I enter this digital space and assume there’s no way the World Cup could be better than the day before. Most days, I’m wrong. Last night, I was extremely incorrect. Quickly:
Three matches, with all three going to the final minutes or extra time. Germany, considered a Cup contender, is out after losing on penalty kicks to Paraguay. (The same Paraguay team that USMNT walloped, by the way). Japan is done, too, succumbing to a late comeback from Brazil, which scored in the 96th minute to win 2-1.
And the best match of the night went last, a Morocco win over the Netherlands, also on PKs. Ismael Saibari, who’s played his entire professional career in the Netherlands and was bloodied earlier in the game, sealed it with this:
— Telemundo Deportes (@TelemundoSports) June 30, 2026See the live bracket here, and make sure you’re signed up for our World Cup newsletter while you’re at it. It’s going to be a wild three-week stretch. Three more matches today. Let’s move on to a busy news day, too:News to KnowWes Hale / Getty ImagesAnother dizzying NBA day
