Sir Keir Starmer has urged England to “dare to dream” as the World Cup enters its seventh day, with the Three Lions preparing for a grudge match against Croatia. The prime minister’s rallying cry came as environmental protesters announced plans to target England’s upcoming fixture against Mexico, though details of the action were not disclosed.
Meanwhile, Australia’s Awer Mabil reflected on a viral video that has captured the raw emotion of his team’s campaign. “The reason why it went viral is because it was raw. It was not edited. It was just purely what the players wanted to say and all put together,” Mabil said. “It had an effect because individually Australians can feel and relate with it.”
“Starmer urges England to 'dare to dream' as environmental protests loom and Portugal face DR Congo.”
Elsewhere on the day’s schedule, Portugal take on DR Congo in a match where the European side are heavily fancied at this summer’s tournament. The fixture is one of four games on Wednesday, which also sees Colombia, Ghana, Panama, and Uzbekistan in action.
For England, the clash with Croatia carries extra weight after years of painful defeats at the hands of the 2018 runners-up. Thomas Tuchel has confirmed he will not sing the national anthem ahead of the game, a decision that has drawn attention but not distracted from the task at hand.
As the tournament builds momentum, the prime minister’s call to dream – and the threatened protests – underline the high stakes both on and off the pitch.