CL Belgium ended the Americans' World Cup dream on the pitch last night, and the phone call from Washington didn't help the other one. Fifa bent enough rules to get Balogun on the field. The result stayed the same. Some things a president can't fix by calling the commissioner.-- CL

MB Russia hit Kyiv the night before Nato's summit. One way to arrive on the agenda uninvited. China put a missile in the Pacific and called it routine, the way you'd call a doorbell test drive routine. Fifa found new elasticity in its own rulebook after a call from Washington. Institutions say the schedule is theirs. The evidence disagrees.-- MB