📰🏟️ American’t
Plus: NBA tests “one free throw rule”…
Good afternoon. Welcome back to another week full of top sports stories. Let’s get you up to speed.
—Kyle
1) US ends World Cup journey with 4-1 loss
Team USA exited the 2026 FIFA World Cup last night with a 4-1 loss to Belgium in the Round-of-16, despite a raucous home crowd in Seattle.
- Belgium dominated the game across all facets for 90 minutes, overwhelming the US midfield and significantly outperforming the American backline.
- It marks the 4th time that Team USA has been eliminated in the Round of 16 since 2010, with the Yankee squad unable to make its second quarterfinals in modern history (2002).
- In other World Cup action, Spain defeated Portugal 1-0 to make the quarterfinals, ending Portuguese legend Cristiano Ronaldo’s career on the world’s biggest stage.
Grading America’s 2026 WC run
2) Wimbledon begins quarterfinal round
The quarterfinals at the All England Club kicked off this morning, with women’s #7-seed Coco Gauff qualifying for her first-ever Wimbledon semifinals with a victory over #4 Jessica Pegula.
- It follows a string of earlier upsets on the women’s side, where there’s guaranteed to be a 1st-time Wimbledon champ for the 9th consecutive tournament.
- On the men’s side, #1 Jannik Sinner cruised into the semis with a straight-set win this morning, while #7 Novak Djokovic is facing #3 Felix Auger Aliassime at the time of publication.
Keep up with the latest action
3) Dodgers finally end historic extra-inning streak
The Dodgers pulled out an 8-7 victory over the Colorado Rockies last night in an 11-inning marathon, marking Los Angeles first extra-inning game of the entire 2026 season (92 games to date).
- It’s the 2nd-longest such streak in MLB history to open a season, trailing only the 2005 Red Sox (98 games).
- The Dodgers are now a perfect 56-0 when leading after 8 innings, thanks largely to a lockdown bullpen led by Tanner Scott.
How LA has dodged extra innings
4) World Cup draws NFL playoff-level audiences
The FIFA men’s World Cup is drawing massive viewership figures across the US, and approaching levels seen only during the NFL playoffs.
- Fox and Telemundo saw a combined 36.2M average viewers for Team USA’s July 1 over Bosnia and Herzegovina, per data published last night.
- That figure approaches the 39.2M viewer average for last season’s NFL Divisional Round, and represents the largest US TV audience since Super Bowl LX in February.
- However, that milestone will likely be very short lived, with last night’s USA-Belgium coverage expected to deliver a combined 40M+ average viewers.
5) NBA tests new “one free throw rule”
The league is testing a new free-throw rule at its Summer League—which tipped off on Friday—that’s designed to speed up the pace of games.
- Under the “one free throw rule,” each shooting foul results in exactly 1 free-throw attempt worth the full value of the foul: either 1, 2, or 3 points for a single shot.
- The rule, used in the G League since 2019-20, isn’t in effect for the final two minutes of regulation or in OT.
- It’s unclear whether the league aims to bring it to the NBA, similar to other recent rule changes that first started at lower levels (like coaches' challenges).
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