Decoding America

Four teams left. Two stadiums. One very short week. That was the single most sports-saturated weekend I can remember in this country — World Cup quarterfinals, Wimbledon finals, and the MLB All-Star festivities starting tonight. Here's where everything landed, and what this week looks like. The Final Four France dispatched Morocco 2-0 (Mbappé continues to look inevitable), and Spain edged Belgium 2-1. Saturday's two quarterfinals were just as dramatic: England beat Norway 2-1 in extra time. All eyes were on Erling Haaland going in, but the moment that decided it was his foul — a shove on an England player just before a corner, caught by VAR, which wiped out what would've been Norway's go-ahead goal. Jude Bellingham scored both England goals himself, including the extra-time winner. (I was watching Bellingham closely too, though if I'm honest it wasn't just the scoring — the guy is disgustingly handsome.) Argentina beat Switzerland 3-1 in extra time —...

Boston, France vs. Morocco, quarterfinal. That was one of the best games of this tournament so far — and I mean that as a compliment to both teams. Morocco threw everything they had at France tonight. It just wasn't enough. France won 2-0 and moves on to their third straight World Cup semifinal. What actually happened Mbappé had the first big moment and blew it — a penalty in the first half, after a three-and-a-half-minute VAR review to even award it, and he missed. For a second it looked like Morocco might make him pay for it. Instead, France answered twice. Right before the second-half hydration break, Mbappé set up Ousmane Dembélé for a goal from outside the box. Then in the 60th minute, Mbappé made up for the miss himself and scored. 2-0, and Morocco never really found an answer after that. The one scare: Mbappé came off in the 77th minute after stretching out his leg and waving to the bench. He told reporters afterward it was a minor ankle knock and that he's ...