Barcelona have made history as the first side to win all 19 home games in a 20-team La Liga season thanks to a 3-1 victory against Real Betis in their final match at Camp Nou on Sunday night.

The Blaugrana once again played a fun, entertaining game against Betis and Raphinha scored twice to lead them to the win, but the story of the night was Robert Lewandowski’s farewell as the Pole captained the side and was given a beautiful and emotional send-off by the home crowd.

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Reactions & Observations

• The talk before the game was all about Robert Lewandowski’s farewell, but the story of the first half was Raphinha: the Brazilian return to the lineup as a starter on the right wing and put on a show, moving everywhere in the final third and creating chance after chance for himself and his teammates. He also scored a sensational free-kick, wrong-footing the goalkeeper with a perfect strike to put Barça ahead.
• Betis didn’t have many good moments but also created danger through their former Blaugrana winger Ez Abde, who forced an outstanding save from Joan Garcia and gave Jules Kounde all kinds of trouble with his pace and skill on the wing.
• Barça had the better chances in the half but couldn’t score more than one goal, and had a narrow lead at the break as they tried to make history and secure a perfect home record for the season.
• The start of the second half did not have a lot of quality as both sides mostly negated each other and couldn’t create meaningful offense, but Barça were gifted a second goal at the hour mark as Héctor Bellerín forgot he no longer played for the home team and passed the ball straight to Raphinha at the edge of the box. The Brazilian couldn’t miss, and he scored with his last touch before being substituted at the end of a fantastic individual performance.
• Betis received a gift of their own shortly after, but this time it was from the referee as he was called to the VAR screen and gave a penalty when Isco kicked the floor inside the box but Gavi was punished for being too close and breathing next to Isco, who scored from the spot to bring Betis back in the contest.
• The hosts would quickly restore their two-goal lead thanks to a fantastic strike from outside the box by João Cancelo, and Barça were once again in control with 20 minutes to go. Then in the 84th minute came the moment of the night as Robert Lewandowski was given a beautiful, emotional send-off by the Camp Nou crowd and was in tears as he left the pitch and was replaced by Marc Casadó.
• The final whistle came to end a historic night for Barça, who are now the first team with a perfect home record in a 20-team La Liga campaign. The farewell to Lewandowski was absolutely beautiful, and the final game of the first season back at Camp Nou went about as well as it could have. Well done, boys!

During the 2026 World Cup, Lionel Messi and Mbappe will be within reach of Miroslav Klose’s record as the top scorer in World Cup history with 16 goals. The Argentine and French players are three and four goals behind the German, respectively.

The 2026 World Cup is approaching, and with it, all eyes are on the world’s biggest stars who will be participating. The protagonists of the 2022 World Cup final, won by Argentina on penalties after a 3-3 draw against France, will once again be in the spotlight this year. 

Both Kylian Mbappe, who scored a hat trick in that final to narrowly miss out on two consecutive World Cup titles, and Lionel Messi, whose brace denied France silverware and allowed him to lift the trophy he so desperately wanted, will compete in the tournament in Mexico, the USA and Canada in search of making more history in the tournament. 

The Argentine and the Frenchman have been quite prolific in the editions they have played so far, sitting just 3 and 4 goals behind Miroslav Klose, the top scorer in World Cup history with 16 goals. 

Both strikers are in great form going into the prestigious tournament, with Argentina and France among the favourites to lift the trophy on 19 July at MetLife Stadium. 

One final shot for Messi

A 38-year-old Messi is preparing to play what will almost certainly be his last World Cup with Argentina before retiring, making it his last chance to retire as at least the top scorer in World Cup history.

The Argentine scored his first goal in his first appearance in the 2006 World Cup, coming off the bench to score in a crushing 6-0 victory over Serbia. The Miami star did not score again in that edition, in which the Albiceleste were eliminated by Germany in the quarter-finals on penalties. 

A much more mature Messi, already established as the best player in the world, surprisingly failed to find the net in five matches at the 2010 World Cup, where they were again eliminated by Germany in the quarter-finals. 

The Argentine was more prolific in the 2014 World Cup, scoring four goals in the three group stage matches. The No. 10 scored in a 2-1 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina, another goal to sink Iran 1-0, and a brace to claim a 3-2 victory over Nigeria. However, the Argentine star did not score again on the way to the final, which they lost in extra time to Germany thanks to a goal from Mario Gotze. 

In the 2018 edition, he scored only one goal, in the group stage in a 2-1 victory over Nigeria, before being eliminated in the round of 16 by a 4-3 defeat to France, where a young Kylian Mbappe was already beginning to shine, and which went on to be crowned champions in that edition. 

The 2022 World Cup, probably the most important tournament of Leo Messi’s career, was the most prolific for the Argentine, who scored in every game on the way to the final except the last group stage match against Poland, in which he missed a penalty. In addition, the Miami star scored twice in the final against France to deny ‘Les Bleus’ two consecutive titles.

More to come for Mbappe

The fact that Kylian Mbappe is just four goals away from becoming the top scorer in World Cup history after playing in only two editions clearly reflects the French striker’s affinity for this tournament. 

The Real Madrid star got off to a flying start, being one of the stars of a France team that ended up lifting the trophy in the final at just 19 years of age. The French winger scored in a 1-0 victory over Peru in the group stage and a brace to eliminate Leo Messi’s Argentina in the round of 16. He also found the net in the 4-2 victory over Croatia in the final. 

The star of ‘Les Bleus’ was lethal once again in the following edition, coming close to lifting his second World Cup at just 23 years of age and finishing that edition as the top scorer with eight goals. The Frenchman scored a goal against Australia in the group stage and a brace to beat Denmark, before scoring another brace in the round of 16 against Poland and his iconic hat-trick against Argentina in the final, which almost prevented Leo Messi from lifting the trophy. 

The fact is that even if Messi manages to score more goals than him in the 2026 World Cup, the French star has at least two more editions ahead of him, barring any surprises, in which it will be almost inevitable that he will establish himself as the top scorer in the history of the tournament. 

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Manchester United secured a 3-2 victory over Nottingham Forest in a match marked by Casemiro’s farewell at Old Trafford and Bruno Fernandes’ 20th assist of this Premier League season.

Fernandes, who was recently crowned the football writers’ player of the season, moved alongside Thierry Henry when his cross was turned in by Bryan Mbeumo for United’s third goal. Mbeumo was also involved for the game’s most controversial moment when his handball in the build up to Matheus Cunha’s strike went unpunished despite a VAR review.

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Both sides had secured their principal targets in recent weeks with United set to return to the Champions League, while Forest only guaranteed survival last weekend. The low stakes made for a wide open contest that burst into life when Luke Shaw volleyed United in front after just five minutes.

Both sides wasted plenty of chances for more goals before the break, but Forest did level just seven minutes into the second period. Elliot Anderson’s inviting delivery was headed in at the back post by defender Morato.

United raced down the other end and Cunha swept home after the ball rebounded off Mbuemo’s thigh onto his arm. In an extremely rare occurrence, Michael Salisbury stood by his original decision to award the goal despite being called by VAR to review the incident.

Morgan Gibbs-White almost immediately leveled once more for Forest but was denied by Senne Lammens racing off his line. Fernandes’ moment arrived 14 minutes from time when Mbeumo prodded in his drilled cross for his first goal since February.

Still Forest refused to go away as England internationals Anderson and Gibbs-White combined to reduce the arrears. Gibbs-White, playing for the first time since suffering a horrendous facial injury in a clash with Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez earlier this month, steered into the bottom corner from Anderson’s driven cross.

Casemiro was given a standing ovation on his final Old Trafford appearance when the Brazilian was replaced by Mason Mount nine minutes from time.

Fernandes was inches away from equalling’s De Bruyne all-time record with a whopping 21st assist of the campaign when Diogo Dalot hit the post from his pass deep into stoppage time.

United, though, held on to add another victory to their impressive run since Michael Carrick took charge in January. The former midfielder is expected to sign a two-year deal to remain in charge at Old Trafford in the coming days.

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