Croatia lost to Portugal because of hair. Plus: An NHL legend returns

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Good morning! Be careful with your hair today. Inside:

😳 Portugal’s wild win

🏒 Ovi’s return

🟥 More Balogun discourse

World Cupdate: Portugal survives by a few follicles

A sports cliche came to life yesterday in Toronto, site of Portugal and Croatia’s round-of-32 match in this World Cup. Normally, it would be lazy to describe a close victory as “winning by a hair.” Yesterday, it was actually true.

And, to zoom out, Portugal’s win over Croatia had nearly everything you want in a soccer game:

Second-half underdog goal to make an upset possible ✅

A legend ties the game on a PK ✅

A late go-ahead goal for the favorite ✅

A game-tying goal even later, waved off due to an agonizing offside call ✅

Here’s the screengrab of Igor Matanovic’s head grazing the ball in the lead-up to that late goal, which triggered offside, along with the reading of a “snick-o-meter” to determine the touch did in fact happen:

Brutal. Portugal 2, Croatia 1. Cristiano Ronaldo plays another day.

Put it in the Ronaldo hater file if you must, but it’s wild that a player of his caliber and longevity scored his first knockout-round goal at 41 years old (and, yes, it was a penalty). Kylian Mbappé, almost 14 years Ronaldo’s junior, has 10.

Still, Ronaldo — and Portugal, late, after Ronaldo had subbed off — delivered, setting up a mammoth round-of-16 game against Spain. If the U.S. escapes with a win against Belgium, the Americans will get the winner of that matchup. Yowza.

Speaking of Spain: The European titans cruised past Austria in yesterday’s opener, 3-0, cementing their status as a favorite in this World Cup alongside France. More here.

In the night’s finale: Switzerland quietly looks really, really good in this Cup. The Group B winners muscled past Algeria, 2-0. The Swiss entered yesterday 14th in our ranking of World Cup teams. They get the winner of Colombia-Ghana next to further prove legitimacy among the world’s elite.

Let’s move on:

Monitoring 👀: Slo-mo is bad, actually

It’s Friday, which means we must assume our digital perch to monitor more sporting news. On today’s docket:

The VAR. The acronym long considered a harbinger of doom overseas is now spreading its claws over new U.S. soccer fans, who don’t understand how the Folarin Balogun red card against Bosnia and Herzegovina came to be. Adam Crafton made a great point this week I can’t shake: Why are we judging these plays in slow motion?

The pubs. My vote for best match in the round of 16 is England-Mexico, in Mexico City at the Azteca, for what will be a spectacle no matter what happens. Any game featuring the Mexican national team in that stadium is electric. Add in the fervor for English soccer — the pubs in Britain can stay open until 5 a.m. for this one — and the discourse is at a fever pitch, days before kickoff. England manager Thomas Tuchel also thinks karma is on his side here. I can’t wait.

A chalky Wimbledon? I loved this simple stat from our Wimbledon report yesterday: At this time last year, we had just 27 seeded players left in the tournament combined. This year, we have 37. Don’t think it’s a bad thing either, as our report explained.

The Gauffs. Yes, plural. While tennis star Coco Gauff continues to shine at Wimbledon (she plays her third-round match today), I have now learned of the existence of another Gauff. Codey Gauff, an 18-year-old switch hitter who is a legitimate MLB prospect. What a family.

Tour de France history? Tadej Pogačar, a generational talent in a sport that’s seen incredible dominance, has the chance to tie the Tour de France record with another win. We’ll have a full preview tomorrow as the race begins. The cyclists won’t get lost with us.

Fine, the wedding. The Athletic’s most fervent Swifties will be live-blogging this weekend’s reported wedding between Taylor Swift and Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce at Madison Square Garden. I was descriptive there because I just needed to tether this firmly to sports. Anyway, hang out here if you’d like more wedding content.

Onward:

News to Know

Ovi back

Alexander Ovechkin will not retire this offseason, he confirmed yesterday, as he agreed to a one-year deal to return to the Capitals. The soon-to-be 41-year-old pondered walking away after 21 years in the NHL, but I think everyone will be glad to witness a proper sendoff for one of the best players in the sport’s history. His return isn’t just sentimental, though.

Cavalli, Contreras suspended

MLB issued seven-game suspensions to both Nationals pitcher Cade Cavalli and Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras yesterday, two days after a fracas between the two led to benches clearing at Fenway Park. After striking Contreras out, Cavalli yelled, “Sit down, boy” in the hitter’s direction, which was received poorly. Catch up on the drama here.

More news:

Caitlin Clark was among three Fever players to earn WNBA All-Star nods. See the full roster.

The Spurs hired former Bulls and Thunder head coach Billy Donovan as their lead assistant. Fascinating.

Two days after acquiring Kawhi Leonard, the Raptors signed coach Darko Rajaković to an extension. It’s deserved.

The USMNT’s win over Bosnia and Herzegovina drew huge viewership numbers. See them here.

Unlike in FIFA contests, players in UEFA games will not be sent off for covering their mouths. Read more.

After striking out in free agency, the Minnesota Wild traded Jake Middleton to Calgary for winger Blake Coleman and defenseman Olli Maatta. Details inside.

📰 Find more news here 24/7.

Watch Guide

📺 Tennis: Wimbledon

6 a.m. – noon ET on ESPN Network

Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic, Jessica Pegula, Naomi Osaka, Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff play today. Just turn it on this morning.

📺 World Cup: Round of 32

2 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. ET on Fox and Telemundo

Welcome to the last day before the round of 16, and our final World Cup day with three matches. Sad, really. Our bookends, Australia-Egypt at 2 p.m. and Colombia-Ghana at 9:30 p.m., figure to be the closest games of the day. The entree, Argentina-Cape Verde, should be a walk for the defending World Cup champions, but Cape Verde has surprised multiple times. We also get to see Lionel Messi play again. Strap in.

📺 MLB: Rays at Astros

8:15 p.m. ET on Apple TV

We’ll cover this in-depth soon, but take a chance to watch Tampa, the AL’s best team, here. Forgive me if this sounds familiar, but the Rays have the third-lowest payroll in all of MLB and are 18 games over .500. It’s a ritual at this point.

📺 WNBA: Lynx at Liberty

7:30 p.m. ET on Ion

League-leading Minnesota and star rookie Olivia Miles travel to play the Commissioner’s Cup champion in New York on a Friday. Easy call.

Pulse Picks

I cannot get over this story, because of its simple facts and also the reality that it would never happen today: how a 30-year-old man duped Texas into letting him play college football. Click, click, click.

This World Cup has been defined by its stars. That’s actually not normal.

Related: Despite the red-card folly, Folarin Balogun’s goal Wednesday — and the subsequent LeBron celebration — cemented him as America’s newest sports star.

Who was responsible for the baggy-shorts trend in 1990s basketball? Michael Jordan? The Fab Five? Illinois? Everyone seems to disagree.

NASCAR has three drivers primed to be the faces of a new generation of superstars. They also don’t like each other.

Need to clear some headspace today? Try the mental exercise some of the world’s best golfers have done.

Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: Our story from the USMNT win Wednesday.

Click here to read article