Short takes
• The 3-3 draw Friday between Spain and Portugal was one of the greatest first-round World Cup games I've seen. Spain came from behind twice, then actually took the lead, before a sublime Cristiano Ronaldo free kick in the dying minutes not only tied the score but completed Ronaldo's hat trick. The two teams are favored to top Group B, and by the looks of it, nobody will want to play either one in the knockout stages.
• Saudi Arabia may go down as the worst team in World Cup history. The Saudis lost 5-0 to Russia, the lowest-ranked squad in the field, and still have to play Uruguay and Egypt. And just so we're clear about what the 48-team World Cup means, when it comes to the United States in 2026: It means that there will be a dozen or more teams that are actually worse than Saudi Arabia.
• Egypt winger Mo Salah, his team's best player, didn't play in the country's 1-0 loss to Uruguay on Friday, and now Egypt already stands on the brink of elimination. If it loses to Russia on Tuesday, it's likely that its tournament — the first time Egypt has qualified since 1990 — will be all but over. As injured as Salah is, I would think he would play Tuesday, with the World Cup on the line.
