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The semi-finals of the FIFA Club World Cup begin tomorrow at 5:00am (AEST) with Brazilian club Fluminense taking on English club Chelsea. It will be the first time the two clubs have played each other.

The winner will advance to the final and play the winner of Thursday morningโ€™s (AEST) semi-final between Spainโ€™s Real Madrid and Franceโ€™s Paris Saint-Germain.

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Stat of the day

367
The number of runs scored by stand-in South African captain Wiaan Mulder in the first innings of a Test against Zimbabwe. Mulder decided to declare and end the innings, forgoing the opportunity to surpass the record for the most runs in a single Test innings. The record of 400 runs is held by West Indies legend Brian Lara. Mulder said: "First things first. I thought we'd got enough and needed a bowl. And, secondly, Brian Lara is a legend, let's be real. He got 400 against England and for someone of that stature to keep that record is pretty special. I think if I get the chance again, I'd probably do the same thing."

Wiaan Mulder during last monthโ€™s World Test Championship final against Australia (Getty)

Quote of the day

"I really want to apologise to Jasper Philipsen and the Alpecin-Deceuninck team โ€” even though it wasnโ€™t deliberate... Iโ€™m not a reckless rider, but still, itโ€™s never pleasant."
French cyclist Bryan Coquard after the third stage of Le Tour de France Last night. During a sprint 60km from the finish, Coquard made contact with Jasper Philipsen, and the former went down in a nasty crash. Philipsen, who was leading the sprint classification after winning the opening stage, was forced to retire from the race with a broken collarbone. Belgian cyclist Tim Merlier won the stage.

French cyclist Bryan Coquard (Getty)

Random fact of the day

Standing at 152cm tall, Jim โ€œNipperโ€ Bradford is the shortest man to have ever played in the AFL/VFL. Bradford played seven games with Collingwood and nine games with North Melbourne in the 1940s.

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In case you missed itโ€ฆ

โšฝ The Matildas are set to play Panama tonight in the second match of a two-match series in Western Australia. The Aussies will be looking for redemption after a shock 1-0 loss to Panama, the worldโ€™s 56th-ranked side, on Saturday. New coach Joe Montemurro is expected to continue to test new players and combinations as he settles into the role. He said on Monday: โ€œI haven't really looked at [the first game] as a loss โ€” I've looked at it more as information for us to go forward. When you make a lot of changes like that, there was going to be a little bit of instability, but I still have belief in the process, and still have belief going forward.โ€

Montemurro is using the beginning of his tenure as Matildas coach to learn as much as possible (Getty)

๐Ÿ‰ Wallabies playmaker Noah Lolesio has been cleared of any serious injury after he was stretchered off during Sundayโ€™s Test against Fiji. Lolesio appeared to experience whiplash as he went down in a tackle in the 61st minute of the match. A Wallabies spokesperson said that he would continue to be monitored this week. While the Wallabies side for the opening Test against the Lions on 19 July is not confirmed, Ben Donaldson was Lolesioโ€™s replacement on Sunday and seems to be coach Joe Schmidtโ€™s most likely choice for a starting fly-half if Lolesio is unavailable.

The tackle that saw Lolesio leave the field on a stretcher (Getty)

๐Ÿšฃ The Australian menโ€™s rowing eight claimed a stunning victory in the Grand Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta in England on Sunday. The Aussies beat the Dutch national team by a full boat length in the final and equalled the course record set by another Australian crew in 2018 โ€” the last time Australia won the event. The Henley Royal Regatta is a prestigious annual rowing competition that has been held in the town of Henley-on-Thames near London since 1839.ย 

The Aussie menโ€™s eight celebrate as they cross the finish line at Henley (Rowing Australia)

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Djokovic is seeking to become the oldest ever man to win a grand slam (Getty)

Wimbledon: No Aussies left in singles draw as quarter finals begin tonight

Alex de Minaur has been knocked out of Wimbledon in the fourth round by seven-time champion Novak Djokovic. There are now no Australians left in either the menโ€™s or womenโ€™s singles draw. Hereโ€™s how the tournament is shaping up.ย 

De Minaur bows out

De Minaur made a strong start against the Serbian, winning the opening set 6-1. Djokovic showed his composure and experience to outplay de Minaur over the next three sets and ultimately win 1-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. The 24-time slam winner said after the match: โ€œIt is extremely difficult to play someone like him if you are not feeling the ball really well. He exposes all your weaknesses and I was pleased to hang in tough in the right moments."

Djokovic advances to the quarter-finals at Wimbledon for the 16th time, where he will take on Italian 22nd seed Flavio Cobolli, playing in his first quarter-final.ย 

Other results at the All England Club

In the menโ€™s draw, Italian world number one Jannik Sinner was two sets down to Grigor Dimitrov when the Bulgarian injured his pectoral (chest) muscle while serving and was forced to retire. Sinner said: โ€œI donโ€™t take this as a win at all.โ€ Dimitrov has now retired from the past five Grand Slams due to injury. The favourite to win the menโ€™s draw is still two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz, who plays Great Britainโ€™s Cameron Norrie tonight.ย 

In the womenโ€™s draw, 18-year-old Mirra Andreeva became the youngest woman in 18 years to reach the Wimbledon quarters after she defeated American 10th seed Emma Navarro in straight sets. Andreeva will play Switzerlandโ€™s Belinda Bencic, also a first-time Wimbledon quarter-finalist.ย 

There are no women who have previously won the tournament remaining in the draw, meaning Wimbledon will have nine different champions in nine years. The favourite to win is world number one Aryna Sabalenka, who has not yet dropped a set and plays her quarter-final against German Laura Siegemund tonight.

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This yearโ€™s series will come down to tomorrow nightโ€™s match (Getty)

State of Origin: Hereโ€™s what you need to know ahead of tomorrow nightโ€™s decider

The 2025 State of Origin series is tied at 1-1 and will be decided tomorrow night in Sydney as the NSW Blues and Queensland Maroons face off in Game 3. Hereโ€™s what you need to know before kick-off.ย 

Storylines

The Blues have been the favourites all series. Despite a lacklustre performance in game one, they still won 18-6 on Queenslandโ€™s home turf. In game two, the Maroons scored four tries in the first half before the Blues came roaring back in the second, only to lose 26-24.ย 

The Blues will once again head into tonightโ€™s match as favourites despite the result in game two.ย 

Maroons captain Cameron Munster departed Queensland camp after the death of his father on the weekend. Munster has decided to play the game three despite the loss, however. Coach Billy Slater said: โ€œThe one thing he was certain about is he was playing on Wednesday night.โ€

History

The Blues won last yearโ€™s series in a decider at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane. If they win tomorrow nightโ€™s match, it will mark the first time the side has won two consecutive series since 2019.ย 

The Maroons have not won a decider in Sydney since 2013, while the Blues have only ever won two deciders on their home turf.ย 

Perhaps the more dooming statistic for the Maroons is that they have never won two games away from home to clinch the series after losing the first match.

Team selection

Blues coach Laurie Daley named an unchanged lineup from the one that lost 26-24 to the Maroons in game two. Winger Brian Toโ€™o and prop Payne Haas have both been cleared to play despite injury concerns in the lead-up to the match. Meanwhile, Canterbury winger Jacob Kiraz has been named as the 18th man.ย 

Maroons coach Billy Slater made two changes to his starting lineup. The Brisbane Broncosโ€™ Gehamat Shibasaki will start in the centres after earning his first Origin call-up. The 26-year-old debuted in 2018 and has only played 45 matches in the NRL, but has had a stellar season with the Broncos, scoring 12 tries in 15 matches.

Shibasaki is being brought in after fullback Kalyn Ponga was ruled out with a foot injury. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow will move from the wing to fullback, and Valentine Holmes will shift out of the centres and onto the wing.ย 

Veteran prop Josh Papaliโ€™i has also been recalled to the side after retiring from representative football in 2022. It will be Papaliโ€™iโ€™s 24th appearance for the Maroons. The 33-year-old has played an important role as an impact player for the top-of-the-table Canberra Raiders this season.ย 

How to watch

You can watch State of Origin on Channel 9, Kayo, and Foxtel. Kick-off is at 8:05pm.

Looking backโ€ฆ

Women's Euros
(Group Stage)

Who: Portugal v Italy
Result: It was a 1-1 draw

Who: Spain v Belgium
Result: Spain won 6-2

Looking forwardโ€ฆ (All times are AEST)

International Football

Who: Matildas v Panama
Time: 8:00pm tonight

Where to watch: Paramount+

Wimbledon
(womenโ€™s singles)

Who: Aryna Sabalenka (1) v
Laura Siegemund
Time: 10:30pm tonight

Who: Amanda Anisimova (13) v Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
Time: 11:40pm tonight

Where to watch: Stan Sport, Channel 9

Wimbledon (menโ€™s singles)

Who: Taylor Fritz (5) v
Karen Khachanov (19)
Time: 10:00pm tonight

Who: Cameron Norrie v
Carlos Alcaraz (2)
Time: 11:40pm tonight

Where to watch: Stan Sport, Channel 9

Womenโ€™s Euro 2025

Who: Germany v Denmark
Time: 2:00am tonight

Who: Poland v Sweden
Time: 5:00am tomorrow

Where to watch: Optus Sport

FIFA Club World Cup

Who: Fluminense v Chelsea
Time: 5:00am tomorrow

Where to watch: Kayo, Foxtel,
DAZN (free)

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