The Game

Cometh the hour, cometh the man? Scotland are in need of a performance from their talisman against Morocco, can Scott McTominay deliver on the World Cup stage?

Tom Clarke previews that big game with Michael Grant and also chats to Peter Rutzler about USA v Australia, as well as catching you up on all the overnight action as Canada thrash Qatar and Mexico become the first side to qualify for the knockout stage.

In part two Jonathan Northcroft offers further reflections from the England camp and reveals more about Thomas Tuchel's assistant, Anthony Barry, and explains why he thinks the new brave, no-nonsense approach to coaching, is proving so effective.
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England finally got their World Cup underway and it was worth the wait as they beat Croatia 4-2 in an entertaining game.
Two goals for captain and talisman Harry Kane, one for Bellingham and Rashford and a performance that at times resembled the high intensity Premier League type game that manager Thomas Tuchel has so often talked about. There were issues defensively and Tuchel wasn't happy at half time, but it was a win, an impressive one, and England had a cutting edge.

Tom Clarke gets immediate reaction from Matt Lawton who was at the game in Dallas, and is then joined by Gregor Robertson and Alyson Rudd

In the second half Tom Allnutt reports from an underwhelming performance by Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal.
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What. A. Night.
Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland showed their star quality with two goals each as France and Norway impressed but then along came Lionel Messi.

A hat-trick for Argentina's captain as he kicked off his sixth World Cup in style - Tom Clarke spoke to Paul Hirst, James Gheerbrant and Martin Samuel who were at the grounds to witness some big performances from three of the games biggest stars.

And now, it's England's turn. They kick off their tournament against Croatia, Jonathan Northcroft joined Tom to preview that match and wondered if Harry Kane is ready to show he deserves to be regarded in the same group as those modern greats.
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Four draws and our first 0-0 but when it's Cape Verde getting a point against Spain we don't care!
Tom Clarke hears from Martyn Ziegler who spies some empty seats at Saudi Arabia's 1-1 draw with Uruguay and Peter Rutzler who was in Los Angeles to witness Iran's controversial start to this tournament with an entertaining 2-2 draw with New Zealand - which was followed by a remarkable press conference.
Tom also spoke to Michael Grant to hear how Scotland are coping with being top of Group C and he chatted to Paul Hirst who is with the Argentina camp as Lionel Messi prepares to defend his World Cup crown.
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A thrilling night, loads of goals and familiar names making the headlines. Germany thrashed Curacao 7-1 but maybe the newcomers don't care - Tom Allnutt was in Curacao to watch their debut with the locals as they celebrated their first ever World Cup goal.

Ian Whittell was at the game of the night as Japan snatched a 2-2 draw against the Netherlands before Victor Gyokeres and Alexander Isak gave Graham Potter and Sweden a big win against Tunisia.

Tom Clarke also caught up with Matt Lawton in the England camp and pondered who Thomas Tuchel might pick to start against Croatia.

And in part two Tom chatted to Chief Sports Reporter Martyn Ziegler about ticket prices, VAR and those controversial water breaks.

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