The mid-half hydration breaks have caused plenty of controversy so far at this World Cup.

Lawrence Ostlere wants rid of them

There are rumours swirling that Sabri Lamouchi has been sacked as Tunisia’s head coach mid-tournament.

The North African side were thumped 5-1 by Sweden last night in their World Cup opener and several sources, including freelance journalist Romain Molina, are suggesting the Tunisian FA have now parted ways with Lamouchi.

The ex-Nottingham Forest boss was appointed after Sami Trabelsi’s dismissal following a last-16 exit from the Africa Cup of Nations.

He has been in charge for just five matches, the most recent two of which have been the thrashing by Sweden and a 5-0 defeat to Belgium in the side’s final pre-tournament friendly.

Back to the protests and disruption planned for Iran’s game against New Zealand this evening.

During a press conference on Friday, Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei – who has been told by the Iranian regime to stop the match if any negative chanting against them is audible – insisted his and the players’ focus would not be on what is going on in the stands.

“We don’t pay attention to any of the hype and anything that goes on around us,” Ghalenoei said. “We are here to represent the respectful people of Iran, be it the Iranians inside Iran or the Iranian diaspora.

“We are not political people... football is separate from politics.”

A bit of a news away from the World Cup (although involving a player at the tournament).

Chelsea and Spain defender Marc Cucurella has completed a £52m move to Real Madrid, signing a contract at the Bernabeu until 2032.

Eberechi Eze says he would gladly take a penalty in a shootout during this World Cup, and just sees the miss in Arsenal’s Champions League final as “part of the journey” to improve.

“If called upon, for sure,” Eze said when asked about taking a penalty. “Why wouldn’t I take it? Football is full of everything and you have to try to accept everything as it is, to enjoy it as much as you can. Playing in a Champions League final is where I want to be, it’s what I want to do. We’ll go for it again next season and if there is a penalty to take then I’ll be there again. All the big players have missed big penalties, have experienced these types of moments.

“I’ve had messages from everyone to speak on those moments. For me, it’s not something I wish never happened. I’m grateful it happened. I’m going to grow from it, learn from it and move forward.”

Iranian protestors have vowed to put their national team through “hell” during this evening’s opening World Cup clash with New Zealand in Los Angeles.

Against the backdrop of the war with the US, protesters against the Iranian regime are planning demonstrations both inside and outside SoFi Stadium, including booing the national anthem and flouting Fifa’s prohibition of the pre-revolutionary Iranian flag in stadiums.

“We’re going to make it hell” one lady, who bought a ticket to the game along with many of her fellow activists,” told the Daily Mail. “There are buses scheduled to leave from San Diego, Orange County, and different cities in LA to come to the stadium… we're going to have hell for them.

“We’re going to boo the anthem that is going to play. We're going to turn our backs during the anthem so we will have our flags showing.

“I know Fifa banned it [the flag] but we will make a way to get it in. So we're going to see this flag, not the terrorist regime’s flag.”

For the first time in World Cup history, a host nation is at war with one of the participants, while Iran’s opening match against New Zealand this evening looks set to be the site of protests against the regime by Iranian emigrants and Iran’s head coach has been instructed by the government to stop the match if negative chanting against them is heard.

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Croatia defender Duje Caleta-Car described Harry Kane as a “master of the game” ahead of their World Cup clash on Wednesday.

Kane has enjoyed a brilliant season, scoring 66 goals in 56 games for Bayern Munich as they won a second successive Bundesliga title and lifted the German Cup.

Croatia beat England in the 2018 World Cup semi-finals but the Three Lions got revenge at the start of their Euro 2020 campaign, when Kane left a lasting impression on Zlatko Dalic’s side.

“Kane impressed me in our match against England at the European Championship, even though he didn’t score,” admitted Caleta-Car.

“His movement and positioning – you can clearly see he’s a master of the game and knows exactly what he’s doing.”

An early contender for bizarrest story of the 2026 World Cup.

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Fifa’s discrimination monitor at the World Cup has called for the removal of a video review official after he appeared to make a hand gesture resembling a white supremacist sign.

Shaun Evans, an Australian official, was seen making an "OK" symbol with his right hand in front of his right leg when the official broadcast of Germany's opening game against Curaçao on Sunday cut pre-game to show the team of video review analysts.

Though the game was played in Houston, video officials work in Dallas at the World Cup broadcast centre. The gesture, with thumb and forefinger touched in a circle and other fingers outstretched, was designated a hate symbol by the New York-based Anti-Defamation League in 2019.