England beat Costa Rica 3-0 in their match on Thursday in the United States, in the final test of the Three Lions before the 2026 World Cup.

Arsenal star Declan Rice scored England's first goal in the 10th minute of the match, with a shot that went straight to the right of the Costa Rican goalkeeper.

The VAR cancelled out a penalty for the Three Lions that was awarded to Barcelona's new player Anthony Gordon in the final minutes of the first half.

In the second half, the English team managed to score two more goals thanks to Anthony Gordon from the penalty spot and Ollie Watkins in the 68th and 87th minutes.

The Three Lions begin their campaign in the 2026 World Cup when they face Croatia on June 17.

Portugal end World Cup preparations with hard-fought win over Nigeria

The Portugal national team concluded its final preparations before the start of the 2026 World Cup competitions by achieving a new victory over the Nigeria national team by two goals to one, in a friendly match that witnessed many technical observations, most notably the continued replacement of captain Cristiano Ronaldo for the second match in a row, which raised questions about his expected role during the upcoming tournament.

The Portuguese national team entered the match strongly from the first minutes, and imposed its control over the course of the game in search of an early goal that would give it the advantage.

Ronaldo almost opened the scoring in the ninth minute after he singled out the Nigeria goalkeeper following a brilliant pass from Nelson Semedo, but he failed to convert the opportunity into a goal.

Portugal's first goal came in the 23rd minute through Pedro Neto, who took advantage of a perfect pass from Diogo Dalot and shot a powerful ball from inside the box that settled into the net, giving his country the lead.

Despite Portugal's advantage, Nigeria were able to get back into the game in the 37th minute, when Akor Adams took advantage of a defensive mistake to snatch the ball and manage to equalize, amid clear confusion in Portugal's backline.

In the second half, the Portuguese national team continued its offensive attempts to settle the confrontation, until Francisco Conceição was able to score the winning goal in the 75th minute, after he started from the right side and evaded the defense before firing a powerful shot that hit the goal.

On the individual level, Ronaldo played for 64 minutes before being substituted, making 17 correct passes with a high success rate of 94 per cent and shooting four times towards goal, but all his attempts came out of bounds.

Ronaldo's scoring fast with the Portuguese national team continues in October 2025, when he scored two goals against Hungary during the World Cup qualifiers, which adds to the controversy over his readiness and expected role in the upcoming World Cup.

Saudi national team reassures its fans with a strong performance against Senegal

A negative draw decided the match between the Saudi national team and its Senegalese counterpart, today, Wednesday, in the last friendly match for the two teams before the start of the 2026 World Cup.

The head coach of the Saudi national team, Greek Georgios Donis, relied on a starting line-up during the first half, before making ten changes at once at the start of the second half to give the largest number of players the opportunity to participate.

The final minutes of the match saw the Senegalese team suffer from a numerical deficit after striker Nicolas Jackson was sent off in the 84th minute after receiving the second warning.

The national team performed remarkably well and succeeded in threatening the goal of Senegalese goalkeeper Edouard Mendy on more than one occasion, the most prominent of which was Musab Al-Juwair's chance in the tenth minute after an elaborate pass from captain Salem Al-Dosari.

On the other hand, goalkeeper Mohamed Al-Owais blocked a Senegalese attempt with a header from Lamine Kamara in the 14th minute, keeping a clean sheet.

The Saudi national team almost opened the scoring in the 30th minute, but Mohammed Abu Al-Shamat did not succeed in taking advantage of a chance after shooting a header from close range over the crossbar.

Despite the pressure imposed by the Senegalese national team in the last minutes of the first half, they were unable to pose a real danger to the goal of Al Owais.

In the second half, substitute Ayman Yahya fired a powerful shot from outside the box with the hour of the match passing, but it passed by the goal.

The Saudi national team will begin its campaign in Group H of the World Cup against Uruguay on June 16, before meeting Spain and then Cape Verde.

Senegal will start their Group E matches against France, and then they will meet Norway and Iraq in the next two rounds.