The group stage closed Saturday and the bracket finally has shape. Nine African nations through, two first-time knockout entrants from Group A meeting today in Los Angeles, and a 96th-minute header in Kansas City that ended one country's tournament and rescued another's. The knockouts begin this afternoon. Inside: DR Congo in Atlanta, the thriller that was almost a disgrace, Canada vs South Africa, and a Saturday that rewrote three World Cup records in one evening.

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Substitutes were on the field before the play stopped. When Fiston Mayele flicked a finish past Abduvohid Nematov at the near post in the 78th minute, the entire DR Congo bench cleared and ran. They had reason to. The Leopards were leading Uzbekistan, and they were ten minutes away from a Round of 32 spot that no Congolese team had ever earned.

Yoane Wissa curled in a third in stoppage time to make it 3-1, and the rest fell into place. Round of 32 confirmed. England next, in Atlanta, on Wednesday.

This is only the second World Cup DR Congo has ever played in. The first was in 1974, when they competed as Zaire, fourteen years after independence from Belgium and on the back of a continental title. They lost all three games. They scored zero goals. They conceded fourteen, including a 9-0 beating by Yugoslavia that has hung over Congolese soccer for half a century.

The team that walked off the Atlanta turf on Saturday night is a different proposition entirely. Wissa, the Newcastle United striker who scored against Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal in the group opener, finished the group stage with three goals. That total puts him alongside Papa Bouba Diop, Ismaïla Sarr, and Ismael Saibari as the only African players ever to reach three in a single World Cup group stage. His penalty in the 68th minute had leveled Saturday's match after Eldor Shomurodov lobbed Uzbekistan in front in the 10th. His curler in stoppage time closed it.

Coach Sébastien Desabre talked afterward about a group that had been together for four years, players who had carried the work through an Ebola outbreak that disrupted pre-tournament preparation and through thirteen qualifying matches that included an inter-confederation playoff win over Jamaica. "We have always kept on believing," he said. He had planned to bring fresh legs into this final group match, holding back players who had not started against Portugal or Colombia. The decision held up.

The wider picture is its own story. Nine African nations have advanced to the Round of 32 at this World Cup. The previous record at a single tournament was two. Cape Verde and DR Congo are both surprise names in the group, which also includes Morocco, South Africa, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Egypt, and Algeria. The continent that sent one team to the group stage in West Germany in 1974 is sending nine through to the knockout round in 2026.

DR Congo plays England in Atlanta on Wednesday. No fans are traveling from Kinshasa. The diaspora that filled the stadium on Saturday will be back. Half a century is a long time to wait to come back, and the Leopards have not let go of the moment yet.

Ralf Rangnick reached for Alfred Hitchcock to explain it. He has been coaching for forty years, he said, and he cannot remember a match with a more unexpected trajectory. The numbers do not look unusual on paper. Austria 3, Algeria 3, Saturday night at Arrowhead Stadium, a crowd of 69,045. What unfolded inside that scoreline was something else.

Austria led twice. Marko Arnautović timed a run between the Algerian center backs in the first half, stumbled in front of Oussama Benbot, and recovered to roll in his 49th career international goal, a national record extended. Rafik Belghali answered before halftime with a left-footed finish past Alexander Schlager. Marcel Sabitzer put Austria back in front after the break off a Konrad Laimer pass across the face of goal. Riyad Mahrez equalized minutes later off a Houssem Aouar cross.

Then came the part Rangnick had no words for. Algeria began playing keep-away with the match at 2-2, the kind of late-stage management that sends both teams through. In the 93rd minute, Mahrez broke it open with his second of the night, 3-2 Algeria, Austria suddenly facing elimination. Three minutes later, in the 96th, Saša Kalajdžić rose to flick in an equalizer with his first touch after coming on for Philipp Mwene. The goal sent Austria into the Round of 32 for the first time since 1982 and sent Iran out, a team that would have advanced as one of the best third-place finishers had Austria or Algeria won.

The 1982 reference is the one that matters here. Austria and West Germany played out the "Disgrace of Gijón" that summer, a passive 1-0 that eliminated Algeria and led FIFA to mandate simultaneous final-round group matches. Some wondered all week whether the expanded 48-team field, with its third-place permutations, would produce a "Disgrace of Kansas City." Instead, two teams that knew a draw would advance them both played out one of the most chaotic finishes of this World Cup. "I'm extremely happy that at the end it was football that won, that prevailed," said Algeria coach Vladimir Petković. "3-3 as a score says it all."

Both teams move on Thursday. Austria meets Spain in Los Angeles. Algeria meets Switzerland in Vancouver, where Petković will face a team he coached from 2014 to 2021. Iran, the team that did not play Saturday and could only watch, packs up the base camp it had relocated to Tijuana and goes home.

Saša Kalajdžić had been on the field for the length of one substitution and one set piece. Austria was thirty seconds from going home. His first touch was a header into the Algeria net in the 96th minute, an equalizer that pulled Austria into the Round of 32 and ended Iran's tournament in the same instant. The match itself was unforgettable. Hearing Telemundo call the moment is the part you keep.

Two of the first four teams to take the field at this World Cup play the first match of the Round of 32 this afternoon. South Africa opened the tournament in Mexico City. Canada played the second game in Toronto. Sunday at SoFi Stadium, 3 p.m. Eastern, both step into a knockout round neither nation has ever reached.

The Canada subplot is Alphonso Davies. He spoke to reporters in Los Angeles on Saturday about a series of hamstring strains that have followed a year-long ACL recovery, the most recent one in May during the Champions League semifinals. He has not played a competitive minute since. He missed all three group matches. He went to Jesse Marsch before the Switzerland game and asked for a few minutes. Marsch told him no. "It's kind of hard to hear," Davies said. He hopes for the bench today. He reminded the room that he was a teenager in Russia at the 2018 FIFA Congress as part of the Canadian bid for this tournament, and that walking out at BMO Field with the country watching brought him to tears. He scored Canada's first men's World Cup goal in 2022. He wants to be on the field for the second one.

South Africa arrives at SoFi with Teboho Mokoena back in the midfield after a one-game suspension and Themba Zwane still serving the third match of a three-game ban for his red card against Mexico. Patrick Maswanganyi and Thalente Mbatha have been filling the creative gap. Hugo Broos, who is 74 and would become the oldest manager ever to take charge of a World Cup knockout match, has a fully fit squad. Captain Ronwen Williams kept Bafana Bafana in the tournament with the defensive structure that held South Korea at bay in the group decider, a 1-0 win on a Thapelo Maseko goal. South Africa has not scored more than once in any of its last eight matches. The system is built to absorb and counter.

There are MLS threads worth flagging. Mbekezeli Mbokazi is expected to start in central defense for South Africa and plays for the Chicago Fire. Olwethu Makhanya is in Broos' squad and plays for the Philadelphia Union. On the Canada side, Toronto FC right back Richie Laryea has been Marsch's solution at left back in Davies's absence, playing all but seven minutes of the group stage. Jonathan David scored a hat trick against Qatar in the 6-0 group-stage win that put Canada through. Cyle Larin, the substitute hero against Bosnia, will start alongside him.

The winner gets Netherlands or Morocco next. An all-African Round of 16 tie is on the table for South Africa. Opta's projection gives Canada a 66 percent chance to advance from this one. The two countries have met only once before, a 2-0 South Africa win in a 2007 friendly. Whatever today's result, one of these two will play in a World Cup Round of 16 for the first time in its history.

The group stage closed Saturday and the records went with it. Three of the men's game's biggest tournament marks moved in a single evening, and the bracket for the Round of 32 took shape under them. Knockouts begin today.

On The Field

Lionel Messi came off the bench in the 60th minute against Jordan in Arlington, three days past his 39th birthday, and curled in a free kick. That is his 19th World Cup goal, alone at the top of the men's all-time list, and the seventh consecutive World Cup match in which he has scored, passing Just Fontaine and Jairzinho. Giovani Lo Celso and Lautaro Martínez had already put Argentina ahead. The reigning champions finish top of Group J and meet Cape Verde, the debutants who drew 0-0 with Saudi Arabia to clinch their first knockout spot, in the Round of 32. Harry Kane scored his 11th World Cup goal in England's 2-0 win over Panama at MetLife Stadium, passing Gary Lineker on the all-time England list and tying Sándor Kocsis. Kane has 82 international goals total, level with Jürgen Klinsmann. Luka Modrić, 40 years and 291 days old, swung in the corner that Nikola Vlašić headed home for Croatia's winner against Ghana, the oldest player ever to register a World Cup assist in records kept since 1966.

Off The Field

Two federations spent Saturday answering for what just happened. Scotland coach Steve Clarke stepped down within minutes of elimination, seven weeks after signing an extension through 2030 and being inducted into the Scottish Football Hall of Fame on the same day. Scotland beat Haiti, lost to Morocco and Brazil, and went home with one win in nine major-tournament matches under Clarke. South Korea finished third in Group A and missed the Round of 32 by a margin too thin to comfort anyone in Seoul. President Lee Jae Myung posted Sunday morning that he is "utterly baffled" by the exit, named coach Hong Myung-bo directly, and ordered the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to investigate the federation's appointment process. A petition for Hong's dismissal cleared its initial signature threshold Thursday on the National Assembly's website.

SDH AM with Jon Nelson is live right now on the SDH Network YouTube and Twitch channels, recapping a final day of the group stage that gave us Messi off the bench, Kane past Lineker, Modrić making history at 40, Scotland's exit and Clarke's resignation, and the Algeria-Austria thriller that ended Iran's tournament. If you missed it live, the replay is the catch-up of the day.

Atlanta Soccer Tonight is back tonight from 9 to 11 p.m. with Jason Longshore reviewing the Canada vs South Africa Round of 32 opener at SoFi and setting the table for the rest of the knockouts. Listen on 92.9 The Game, the Audacy app, or the 92.9 YouTube channel. Wherever you find us, we'll be there for the first night of the bracket.

Atlanta United 2 fall in the shootout in Athens. Arif Kovač scored his 11th and 12th goals of the season at Turner Soccer Complex on Saturday and the Two still walked out with a single point, drawing Crown Legacy FC 3-3 before losing the extra-point shootout 4-3. Crown Legacy got out fast, scoring inside six minutes through an Assane Ouedraogo header from an Aron John corner and adding a second in the 14th when Nimfasha Berchimas ran the left and squared for Brian Romero. Kovač buried a penalty in the 18th after a Moises Tablante cross deflected onto Jack Neeley's hand, then equalized in the 30th off a Cameron Dunbar setup at the near post. Nathan Richmond put Crown Legacy back in front in the 54th. Neeley was sent off in the 58th for a high follow-through on Dunbar, and Dominik Chong Qui levelled it in the 60th, finishing a line-breaking ball from Dunbar low past the keeper. Crown Legacy defended the draw the rest of the way down a man and won the shootout when Santiago Pita's effort came back off the crossbar. Atlanta United 2 sit at 7-5-3 with 24 points and host Toronto FC II at Turner Soccer Complex on Saturday, July 4 at 7 p.m. on MLS NEXT Pro, OneFootball, and Soccer Down Here.

Lenox Square and the YMCA of Metro Atlanta want soccer balls. The donation drive runs through Friday, July 31, with new soccer balls of every size accepted in bins on the Mall Level and at the Mall Management Office near the Dining Pavilion. The YMCA of Metro Atlanta started youth soccer in Decatur in the 1960s and remains the largest youth soccer provider in the city. If you are in Buckhead this summer for any reason, bring a ball.

Chelsea make a move for Xhaka, Alonso pushing the model: Chelsea are exploring a deal for Sunderland captain Granit Xhaka, with incoming manager Xabi Alonso, who officially starts July 1, viewing the 33-year-old as a veteran voice for a young squad. Tosin Adarabioyo is currently the club's oldest player at 28, and sources tell ESPN the ownership is willing to adapt its long-contract young-talent policy to back Alonso after last season's 10th-place finish. Xhaka is open to the move but Sunderland do not want to sell.

Chalobah price set: Chelsea have turned down a £22m bid plus add-ons from Como for Trevoh Chalobah and are holding out for £35m, per ESPN sources.

Juventus close on Dibu Martínez: Reports in Italy say Aston Villa are open to a small reduction from their €10m valuation of Emiliano Martínez as Juventus push to complete a transfer. Per TMW, Juventus and Martínez have agreed personal terms worth roughly €5m per season over three years, and the club is willing to go up to €5m on the fee. Villa are willing to come down slightly.

"The weight on our shoulders was hard to bear," Yoane Wissa said in Atlanta on Saturday night, and that single sentence does the work for everyone who advanced this weekend: Congo carrying 1974, Algeria carrying 1982, Austria carrying decades of nearly, Canada and South Africa carrying first-times they had never finished. The knockouts start with all of it set down.

Song of the Day: "Hold On" by Alabama Shakes. Brittany Howard sings like someone who knows what it costs to wait this long for the moment to arrive.

Jason