Filipe Luis in for injured Marcelo

Endrick has revealed that his father wanted to name him after a Real Madrid icon - but that his mother blocked it.

The Brazil international will officially join Real Madrid from Palmeiras on July 21, once he turns 18.

Real have completed a €60 million deal to bring the forward to the Bernabeu, of which €35 million was to be paid as a guaranteed sum. That fee has since risen to €46.5 million as a result of add-ons being triggered.

According to Spanish outlet AS, Endrick is expected to be integrated into the Real first team squad once he arrives, given his rapid progress that has seen him become a regular presence in the Brazil national team.

He follows a host of young Brazilian talent in making the move to the Bernabeu, with Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo and Eder Militao all already at the club.

But he has one difference to all of those names - he was almost named after a Real Madrid legend.

Speaking to Marca last year, Endrick said that his father intended to name him after Alfredo Di Stefano, who was arguably the best player in world football across the 1950s and helped Real to win each of the first five editions of the European Cup.

Di Stefano was born in Argentina. However, he only made six appearances for the national team as he was banned from international football for participating in several friendlies with a Colombia XI, which took place during player strikes in Argentina.

The football icon gained Spanish citizenship in 1956, and scored 23 goals in 31 appearances for the Spain national team once his suspension from international football was lifted by FIFA.

Endrick explained: "Real Madrid are a team I love. I grew up watching Real Madrid idols, and I went looking for more of the history.

"My name was not going to be Endrick, it was going to be Di Stefano. But my mother refused.

"I also looked up to the Brazilians who have played there, like Ronaldo Nazario, Vinicius now, Rodrygo, Eder Militao. As I saw my idols playing there, as I saw the history of Real Madrid, I became even more interested."

He has repeated that claim numerous times, including in a new interview with L'Equipe - but despite this, fans aren't quite convinced.

One wrote: "This can't be a real quote."

Another said: "Endrick I love you, but ain't nobody believing this."

And a third asked: "Who interviews Endrick and Yamal every day? It seems like a new interview with them drops every 10 minutes."

Brazil's Supreme Court cleared X to resume service in the country on Tuesday, after the social media platform reversed course and started complying with court rulings billionaire owner Elon Musk had previously vowed to resist.

Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who had been locked in a months-long feud with Musk, gave X the green light to resume operations in Latin America's largest country effective immediately.

In the decision, Moraes said X had met all the necessary requirements to start operating again in the country.

The platform formerly called Twitter had been suspended in Brazil, one of its largest and most-coveted markets, since late August after not complying with court orders related to hate speech moderation and failing to name a legal representative in the country, as required by law.

Musk, who had denounced the orders as censorship and called Moraes a "dictator," started to reverse his position in recent weeks, with his social media network blocking accounts flagged by the court, tapping a local representative and paying pending fines.

Moraes, in his Tuesday decision, ruled that Brazil's telecommunications regulator Anatel must work to allow X to come back online within 24 hours. Users in Brazil were still unable to access the platform as of 7 p.m. local time.

Through its Global Affairs account, X said it was proud to return to Brazil, adding that it "will continue to defend freedom of speech, within the boundaries of the law" in the countries where it operates.

The Brazil dispute was one of a series of recent face-offs between Musk, who views himself as a champion of free speech, and governments including Australia and the United Kingdom seeking to prevent the spread of online misinformation.

Brazil's communication minister said on Tuesday that X's decision to pay the fines and comply with court orders was a "victory for the country."

"We showed the world that here our laws should be respected, by whomever it may be," Juscelino Filho said in a statement.

JUDICIAL BATTLE

X's suspension initially came after an individual ruling by Moraes, who has spearheaded a local crusade against perceived attacks on democracy and the political use of disinformation.

His ruling was later unanimously backed by a five-member panel of the Supreme Court and its chief justice.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva also voiced support for the move, saying that people with businesses in Brazil must follow local laws and the world was "not obliged to put up with Musk's far-right ideology just because he is rich."

Justices flagged at the time, however, that they would be open to reconsidering the suspension if X complied with rulings. The social media company initially said it would not abide by them because they were "illegal."

Brazil is X's sixth-biggest market globally and as of April had about 21.5 million users, according to data platform Statista. During the suspension, many users migrated to rival platforms such as Bluesky and Meta Platforms META.O -owned Threads.

X had legal representation in Brazil until mid-August, when it decided to close its offices in the country due to the orders from the court, which it dubbed "censorship orders," without naming someone to assume legal responsibilities for the firm locally.

That eventually triggered the suspension, in a judicial battle that also affected another prominent business controlled by Musk, satellite Internet provider Starlink, whose accounts Moraes temporarily froze in order to cover fines imposed on X.

A new X representative, lawyer Rachel de Oliveira Conceicao, was tapped in late September, when X also said it had started to block accounts ordered by the court.

Earlier this month, the firm paid pending fines it had previously disdained, opening the door for reinstatement in the country.

With the suspension, X remained out of service in Brazil during the final month of the country's municipal elections, which occurred on Sunday.

In many cities, however, including Sao Paulo - Latin America's largest city - mayoral elections will head to run-offs on Oct. 27.

Brazil beat Argentina 2-1 in Uzbekistan to win their sixth world title, while Ukraine defeated France for bronze.

The result brought Brazil their sixth world title in the ten editions of the tournament, and their first in 12 years after missing out on the final in both 2016 and 2021. Argentina, by contrast, featured in both those deciders, winning the first before losing to Portugal three years ago.

In the match for bronze, meanwhile, Ukraine achieved a best-ever finish of third as they won 7-1 against France, who reached the semis on their debut appearance, having never previously graced the knockout phase of any major tournament. Danyil Abakshyn's hat-trick for Ukraine against France took his finals tally to seven goals, earning him the Silver Boot behind Brazil's Marcel.

Elsewhere, Kazakhstan fell to Argentina in the quarter-finals, having dramatically knocked out holders Portugal in the previous round. Croatia, the Netherlands and Spain also lost in the last 16.

Indeed, for the third time in the four editions since the expansion to 24 teams, all seven European contenders advanced from the group stage. UEFA nations also maintained their record of always taking up at least three of the final-eight slots.
 

France have shut out all the euphoria back home over their run to the World Cup final in order to play a perfect match against Croatia on Sunday, France captain Hugo Lloris said.

The goalkeeper said the team were not being swept up by the wave of celebrations back home and were keeping their focus firmly on their shot of earning a second World Cup title after 1998 when they take on the Croatians in Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium.

"To be honest we are in our little bubble and we don't know what is happening in France," Lloris told reporters on Saturday.

"We are far from thinking that we have reached our goal. We will face a high-quality opponent and they deserve as much credit as we do.

"They have displayed their physical and mental strengths and tomorrow we will need a great French team to win."

France have never needed to go beyond 90 minutes in their run to the final after beating Argentina in the round of 16, Uruguay in the last eight and Belgium in the semi-finals.

But Croatia had to battle from a goal down in all three of their knockout matches to beat Denmark, Russia and England.

They played extra time in all of them and needed penalties against the Danes and hosts Russia.

"Croatia have shown their mental strength which is quite incredible. They have managed to qualify after extra time three times in a row. There is something special in this team," Lloris warned.

"They also have an incredible collective strength. We have a lot of respect for them. We need to perform at a high level and deliver a perfect match to win," said the keeper.

France are in their third World Cup final after winning in 1998 and losing to Italy in 2006. They also reached the Euro final on home soil two years ago only to lose to Portugal.

Lloris said that defeat was not on their minds any longer, with many current players not part of the 2016 team.

"I think that our team is quite calm. I do not really know if we realise how far we have come but it is better that way," Lloris said. "We have this inner strength from the beginning of the tournament with which we can overcome any challenge."

"Tomorrow will be the most important match of our career. It will be a special match because it is a World Cup final and we have to stay in our bubble to focus on the ultimate goal."

Real Madrid forward Rodrygo scored the only goal as Brazil boosted their lacklustre 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign with a 1-0 victory over Ecuador on Saturday.

Rodrygo's deflected 30th-minute strike was enough to secure all three points for Brazil, who were languishing in sixth place in the South American qualifying standings before Friday's result in Curitiba.

The five-time World Cup winners moved up to fourth place with 10 points from seven games after their third win of the qualifying campaign, but remain eight points adrift of leaders Argentina.

With the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico expanded to include 48 teams, the top six finishers in South American qualifying will be guaranteed a place at the tournament. The seventh placed South American team enters an inter-confederation play-off.

Brazil have struggled in recent international tournaments, losing in the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup and failing to progress past the last eight at this year's Copa America.

The lack of fluency that has characterised their recent form was back in evidence against Ecuador on Friday, where despite dominating possession for long periods they created little in the way of clear-cut scoring chances, with only three shots on goal.

The breakthrough came on the half-hour mark, when Rodrygo collected the ball on the edge of the area, took a touch and then shot from 25 yards. The Real Madrid attacker's strike appeared to clip Ecuador defender Willian Pacho before flying in off the post.