Former Croatian international defender Dario Simic (STEPHANE DANNA)
Former Croatian international footballer Dario Simic was arrested Tuesday in an anti-corruption operation linked to a coastal campsite development, the state-run HINA news agency reported.
Simic was held in the capital, Zagreb for allegedly illegally obtaining a permit to create a campsite on the country's central coast, HINA said, citing unnamed sources.
Neither police nor the anti-graft prosecutors have confirmed the arrest, but local media published photographs of Simic in handcuffs exiting a police vehicle.
Two more people were taken into custody along with the 50-year-old Simic, according to HINA.
They include a former regional tourism official accused of helping Simic obtain the required campsite permits and a local businessman who allegedly acted as an intermediary.
In 2024, local authorities in Tisno, where the campsite is located, filed complaints against Simic over alleged illegal construction in a protected coastal zone.
The case concerns a small private campsite with 10 pitches for up to 30 people, according to media reports.
The former tourism official and four others were charged last year with allegedly issuing unlawful campsite permits.
Simic retired from international football in 2008 after becoming the first Croatian to earn 100 caps for his country.
A defender, Simic entered club football with his hometown club Dinamo Zagreb in 1992 and played his first international four years later, before going on to play a key role as Croatia took third place at the 1998 World Cup.
After six seasons at Dinamo he joined Inter Milan, later moving on to city rivals AC Milan, where he won one Serie A and two Champions league trophies before joining Monaco in 2008.
Simic returned to Dinamo two years later shortly before retiring.
He has since started a prominent bottled water company, which is stocked throughout the region.
The football teams of forty-eight countries set out with a chance of winning the World Cup on June 11, and the hopes of just four nations remain alive.
The top four teams in the FIFA rankings, with eight previous titles between them, will lock horns on Tuesday and Wednesday to try to secure a place in what is set to be the grandest of showpiece occasions in sport: the World Cup Final at New York New Jersey Stadium on Sunday, July 19.
Al Jazeera ranks the contenders for the title:
Argentinaβs Lionel Messi takes a break during the quarterfinal [Lee Smith/Reuters]
4. Argentina
Whatβs this? The defending champions as the outsiders?
Well, Algeria, Austria, Jordan, Cape Verde, Egypt and Switzerland must be one of the kindest ever paths to the business end of a World Cup, and La Albiceleste have not exactly been convincing along it.
They were made to sweat by Cape Verde and Egypt in the knockout stages before finding a way to prevail in dramatic circumstances, and the pattern was repeated against Switzerland in Kansas City on Saturday night, when they went almost 90 minutes without a shot on target following Alexis Mac Allisterβs early opening goal.
Their ageing side eventually prevailed after 120 minutes in sweltering conditions. Had Switzerland kept 11 men on the field, things might have been very different, but, once again, in the end, the defending champions found a way to win when they were well below their best.
Surely they cannot get away with another performance like that against England? Well, England fans might well be saying the same about the Three Lions. Both Harry Kane and Lionel Messi fell well short of their best in the last-eight matchups too.
The outpouring of emotion from Messi at full-time in the comeback win over Egypt showed just how close the three-time winners came to being eliminated. In an already emotionally charged matchup with England, expect tempers to rise and tears to flow on either side come full-time.
If Argentina, and β in his first-ever appearance against the Three Lions β Messi, are able to rediscover their swagger and win, ousting their old foes from the tournament in the knockout stages for a third straight time, then the confidence and momentum they would take into the final would be huge.
However, nothing they have shown in the US this summer would suggest that is likely to happen.
And even if it did, whether it would be enough to give them the edge against European champions Spain, or a vengeful France side they vanquished on penalties in the epic final of Qatar 2022, is another matter entirely.
Englandβs Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane celebrate after beating Norway [Paul Childs/Reuters]
3. England
Have we seen the best of England in this tournament? Probably not. And yet, here they are, in the semifinals for just the fourth time ever.
The win over Norway was neither pretty nor convincing, and manager Thomas Tuchel admitted they were lucky to get through, thanks largely to Jude Bellingham putting the team on his shoulders at a couple of key moments once again. Could a midfielder really win the Golden Boot? He is only two behind Messi and Kylian Mbappe with six goals already.
Much to Tuchelβs frustration, bar a 20-minute purple patch in the second half of the 4-2 opening game win against Croatia, England have yet to dominate a team, and relied on counterattacking bursts to give them a 3-2 lead to defend in the epic round-of-16 victory over Mexico in the cauldron of the Azteca.
What they have shown is character, in abundance, and they will likely need plenty more of that if they are to end 60 years of longing for a second World Cup title.
The game against Argentina will be far more than 11 vs 11; the ghosts of football history will line up alongside both teams, and the hype and pressure are sure to be enormous.
A few possible positives for England will be that they have already made par for this tournament: Ranked fourth in the world, they have reached the last four. Anything else would be a bonus. Nobody really considers them a top-two team in the world, which might help to alleviate some of the burden of expectation.
After a trip to the altitude of Mexico City, and the oppressive heat and humidity of Miami, a return to the 22-Celsius (71.6F) climate-controlled confines of Atlanta, where England overcame DR Congo in the round of 32, will be welcome.
They also have no new suspensions to deal with, with Jarell Quansah left with one game of his two-match ban to serve; and there were minutes for Reece James against Norway. England will meanwhile be hoping Declan Rice recovers fully after a 45-minute cameo in which he was patently not fit following illness.
An ageing Argentina side have struggled against the pace, movement and trickery of Cape Verde, Egypt and Switzerland in the past three rounds, and Bukayo Saka, Anthony Gordon, and even Marcus Rashford will be even better placed to exploit that.
Beyond Messi, Argentina have not posed too many attacking questions themselves, though Julian Alvarezβs stunning strike against Switzerland might just be the start of his own World Cup.
All things considered, expect England to make it through to the final, but France would likely be a step too far, and even Spain would be a big ask, despite the additional motivation of revenge for their Euro 2024 final defeat.
Spainβs Mikel Merino celebrates the victory against Belgium [Jessie Alcheh/Reuters]
2. Spain
They are the third semifinalists yet to find top gear at this tournament, bar a one-sided display against Austria in the round of 32.
La Rojaβs stoic defence might have been punctured for the first time this summer by Belgium in the last eight, but the 649 minutes that preceded that goal were the longest streak in World Cup history without conceding, and they have still allowed just seven shots on target in their six matches so far.
Though the goal contribution stats might not reflect it, Lamine Yamal has shown flashes of a return to top form after that season-ending hamstring injury in April, while La Rojaβs carousel of tricky attackers has posed problems for defences in all six matches so far, and Mikel Merino has written himself into folklore with last-gasp winners against Portugal and Belgium.
Four-goal leading scorer Mikel Oyarzabal has gone off the boil in the past couple of games, however, and is unlikely to strike too much fear into the French backline.
While teenage defender Pau Cubarsi looks at home on the biggest stage of all, he is yet to face the kind of test that Kylian Mbappe, Michael Olise and Ousmane Dembele will pose.
If they make the final, Spain will be favourites to win it, and they have won the World Cup the only time they previously reached the last four, but despite having beaten France in their past two encounters, a third should be beyond them.
Franceβs forward line of Kylian Mbappe (bottom), Ousmane Dembele (top), Bradley Barcola (right), and Michael Olise (left) is considered the strongest at the tournament [Mauro Pimentel/AFP]
1. France
Before their last-eight matchup with Morocco, we asserted that France were the class of the field with a fearsome foursome in attack and a defence that, although it had not really been tested yet, had only allowed two goals in five matches.
Well, make that two in six, even if they still have not really been tested, such was the Atlas Lionsβ toothless attack on the night in their 2-0 defeat.
Mbappe further enhanced his credentials for the Golden Boot and all-time World Cup scoring record with another quality goal against Morocco, and Olise, Dembele, Desire Doue and Bradley Barcola continue to threaten across the field in a way no other team on earth can.
Spain, and in particular their defence, will pose a different challenge, and the underworked French defence will likely get their own test this time, too, with the likes of Dani Olmo, Alex Baena, Ferran Torres and Fabian Ruiz getting into promising positions around Oyarzabal, and thatβs not to mention super-sub Merino.
Whoever beats France will surely lift the World Cup, but none of the remaining teams can match the dynamism of Les Bleusβ forwards. Although Spain will likely be their hardest challenge, it is one you can expect Didier Deschampsβs men to overcome, not least fuelled by the additional motivation of having lost to La Roja in the Euro 2024 and Nations League semifinals over the past two years.
Alexander Zverev grew frustrated as he failed to break down a rock-solid Jannik Sinner (Adrian Dennis)
Jannik Sinner was at his clinical best as he successfully defended his Wimbledon title with a bruising four-set victory over French Open champion Alexander Zverev in Sunday's final.
The world number one recovered from losing the first set in a match largely dominated by serve, eventually wearing Zverev down to secure a 6-7 (7/9), 7-6 (7/2), 6-3, 6-4 win.
The Italian was rewarded for his perseverance in an attritional contest with his first Grand Slam title since lifting the trophy at the All England Club 12 months ago.
Sinner's fifth Grand Slam crown is just two behind the majors tally of his injured rival Carlos Alcaraz after notching his 100th match win at tennis' four biggest events.
He hit 58 winners against only 25 unforced errors in three hours and 46 minutes on Centre Court, refusing to buckle against an in-form Zverev who brought a 13-match winning streak at the majors into the final.
Sinner has banished the memories of his shock second-round exit from the French Open at the hands of Juan Manuel Cerundolo when he blew a two-set lead last month.
The closest Sinner came to crashing out of Wimbledon was in the first round when he had to come from behind to beat Miomir Kecmanovic in five sets.
It was plain sailing from then on for Sinner, who has become a fearsome force on grass.
The 24-year-old now boasts a remarkable 44-3 win-loss record this year after winning his sixth title of the season.
Zverev had never even reached the quarter-finals in nine previous visits to Wimbledon, but had been a man reborn in London after finally breaking his Grand Slam duck in Paris.
He managed to take a first set off Sinner in seven meetings, but could not kick on to snap a now 10-match losing streak against a seemingly unbreakable rival.
Zverev, who was bidding to become the first German man to win the trophy since Michael Stich in 1991, will climb above Alcaraz to second in the ATP rankings on Monday.
-Β Zverev left frustrated -
Zverev saved the only break point of a tight first set dominated by serve as it went to a tie-break.
The first 15 points of the breaker went with serve, with both men saving set points, before Zverev clinched with a fizzing forehand winner.
There were no break points in the second set as the players again efficiently bludgeoned their way to 6-6, but this time Sinner stepped it up in the tie-break to level the match.
Zverev finally created his first break point in the seventh game of the third set, but slipped when Sinner dinked over a drop-shot winner.
He clutched his knee and Sinner crossed the net to check on his injured opponent as the crowd held its breath, but was helped to his feet by the Italian.
Sinner made his move in the next game as Zverev's serve finally broke down.
Zverev threw his racquet angrily across the turf after looping a forehand long on a break point which had seen Sinner lying flat on the turf earlier in the rally.
The top seed immaculately served it out to love, sealing a two-sets-to-one lead with an ace.
Zverev gamely tried to prolong the contest but his race was run when Sinner broke for a 4-3 advantage in the fourth set.
He wrapped up the title on serve despite a dramatic final game featuring arguably the two best rallies of the match,Β falling to the turf in celebration after slapping away a forehand winner on his first match point.
European regulators have warned that rapid advances in agentic artificial intelligence have outpaced existing rulemaking, with central banks and financial authorities calling for new safeguards to reduce risks to financial markets. According to remarks made during the European Central Bankβsβ¦
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