2026 World Cup updates: Houston Fifa Fan Festival closed early Friday due to weather conditions

Houston's FIFA Fan Festival will be closed early Friday due to weather conditions.

The festival will reopen on Saturday, July 11, at 2:30 p.m.

Kylian Mbappé spread his arms out wide and spun around after scoring his eighth goal of this year's World Cup. He later gave the jubilant France fans dotted around the stadium a wave when he left the game because of an injury scare.

Les Bleus, with a star striker who said he's fine despite a right ankle issue, are headed back to the semifinals for the third straight World Cup tournament.

Mbappé had a goal and an assist after missing a first-half penalty kick, Ousmane Dembélé also scored and two-time champion France beat Morocco 2-0 Thursday in the quarterfinals.

"There's only one way to relax, and that's by winning. Until we've done that, we don't let up," Mbappé said. "We're in the semifinals and we're very happy, but there's still a long way to go."

Mbappé's goal in the 60th minute was the 20th of his World Cup career and came in his 20th match at the tournament, moving him one behind Argentina captain Lionel Messi. Dembélé scored his fifth goal of the tournament in the 66th.

Mbappé went down to the ground in the 76th minute, about 13 minutes after being hit hard by a Moroccan defender, and was taken off for a substitute a minute later. He was then shown sitting on the bench with an ice pack on his right ankle.

After the match and with both shoes on, Mbappé ran and jumped in celebration with his teammates.

"I took a knock to the ankle, but I'm fine," Mbappé said. "At that point, JP (Jean-Philippe Mateta) was in better shape than I was to play the final minutes."

France will face either Spain or Belgium in the semifinals in Dallas on Tuesday.

Ashleigh Hallam teaches English as a second language at her local library in Indiana. Soccer is now teaching her Spanish as a second language.

For her, this World Cup couldn't make more sense.

Hallam is among a sizable number of English-speaking people in the U.S. who are doing something these days that might be considered a bit surprising: They're watching broadcasts of World Cup matches in Spanish on Telemundo, even though they have little idea - or in some cases, no idea - what the announcers are saying.

"I can't really understand everything they're saying on Telemundo because they're speaking in Spanish," Hallam said. "But you understand what's going on."

The math is simple. Census figures show that about 20% of the U.S. is Hispanic, yet Telemundo points to Nielsen ratings to show that roughly half the World Cup viewers in the U.S. have watched at least some portion of some matches in Spanish. Every match of the tournament has been available for U.S. viewers in English on Fox or FS1, on Telemundo or Universo in Spanish, and there are streaming options such as Fox One or Peacock.

Among the reasons commonly cited by viewers who spoke with The Associated Press in recent days: A fascination with famed broadcaster Andrés Cantor's "¡goooooool!" call. Telemundo doesn't cut away for commercials (as Fox does) during the much-maligned hydration breaks. The broadcasts, some simply find, are more entertaining. And in other cases, it's a cost-based decision: Peacock, which includes Telemundo, is lower-priced than Fox One.

Soccer as a global language, transcending a limited vocabulary

Jackson Braunius is a Michigan native who watched a U.S. game last week from a bar seat at a steakhouse in Miami Lakes, Florida. He said he speaks almost no Spanish - "I know 'cerveza,'" he said, tapping his beer glass - but didn't mind watching on Telemundo whatsoever.

"I figured out the science here," Braunius said. "When they're not talking too loud, nothing is happening. When they get loud, there's a chance. When they get real loud, it's probably going to be a goal."

Comedian Trevor Noah has been hosting World Cup watch parties on YouTube. He's made the switch to Spanish-language feeds, and the hydration break issue was a huge part of that decision.

"We're seeing the players on the pitch discussing what's happening. You see which coach is more stressed. Some players are tapping each other on the back. This is part of the game," Noah said on one of his YouTube streams. "I feel like when you cut to ads, you lose this - you lose the stress, you lose the joy, the anticipation. So, shout out again, Telemundo: Really, really amazing coverage."

Telemundo is hearing the praise and has thanked English-speakers - as well as Noah directly - for lauding its coverage.

The good news for everyone is this: There seems to be more than enough viewers to go around right now. And the success of this tournament could lead to a bidding war for the 2030 World Cup, with some reporting the rights for English-speaking and Spanish-speaking television will be packaged together in that deal. That wasn't the case for this World Cup.

Fox Sports said that Monday night's Belgium-U.S. match saw a peak viewership total of around 41 million at one point, making it the "most-watched soccer telecast in U.S. history," the network said. In other words, the final U.S. game in this World Cup had more viewers than anything in this country since the Super Bowl - with at least 45 million viewers, on average, between Fox (33 million) and Telemundo (an estimated 12 million). The most recent Super Bowl drew an average of about 125 million viewers, according to Nielsen data.

Anglophones become hooked on Telemundo

William Kennedy of Miami is married to a Colombian woman, whose native language is Spanish. He says he knows only enough Spanish to be able to order meals in restaurants. And yet, he finds himself often watching World Cup matches on Telemundo.

If Colombia was on, the Kennedy house was watching Telemundo. If Colombia - which was ousted in penalty kicks by Switzerland on Tuesday - isn't on, Kennedy finds himself usually making his way to Telemundo anyway.

"When the American commentators are doing the game, I don't know what game they're watching. I just don't," Kennedy said. "I'd rather get the excitement in Spanish because essentially what happens is they're talking, and then they're talking really, really fast, and then they're getting loud and your brain is just like, 'Oh, something's happening - even if I don't know what's happening.'"

Hallam - who finds the World Cup has been a great way to bond further with her Spanish-speaking students - only became a big soccer fan a few years ago, when her daughter decided she wanted to play in a recreational league for elementary kids. The league needed coaches, so Hallam literally checked out a "coaching for dummies" book and began teaching herself the game.

She kept coaching her daughter all the way through high school. Now, she's hooked on soccer and hooked on Spanish-speaking broadcasts - and plans to keep watching, even when the World Cup ends.

"It's just very comforting," Hallam said. "We really enjoyed it, and I hope we get to continue. The next World Cup, we're going to watch it just like this."

U.S. star Christian Pulisic fractured his right leg during the Americans' World Cup loss to Belgium and will be sidelined for several weeks.

Pulisic has a bone bruise and a microfracture of his tibia and fibula, the U.S. Soccer Federation said Thursday. The diagnosis was made after an X-ray and MRI on Tuesday.

He would not have been able to play during the remainder of the tournament had the U.S. advanced.

Pulisic is expected to resume training before AC Milan's Serie A opener at Torino on Aug. 23.

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Pulisic hit a leg of Belgium captain Youri Tielemans while attempting a shot in the 52nd minute of Monday's 4-1 round-of-16 loss at Seattle. He remained in the game but was hobbling and Sebastian Berhalter replaced him in the 59th minute.

Pulisic failed to score in the World Cup, missing one of the Americans' five matches because of a calf injury and leaving two other games early. He has 30 goals in 90 international appearances.

Pulisic, who turns 28 in September, is entering his fourth season with Milan.