Richard stretches to 32; Emily climbs to second

Richard keeps pulling away. His Switzerland edged Henry’s Canada 2-1, and this morning his Mexico swept Tega’s Czechia 3-0 - six more points and a lead now out to twelve. The one dent: Emily’s Brazil thumped Richard’s Scotland 3-0.

That Brazil romp was the centrepiece of a big day for Emily, who added Colombia’s 1-0 over Pete’s Congo DR to climb into second. Tega’s Morocco beat Ella’s Haiti 4-2 to move up to third, and Nichola’s Bosnia saw off Sophie’s Qatar 3-1.

The table: Richard 32, then Emily 20, Tega 18, Pete 17, Nichola 17, Sophie 16, Ella 15 and Henry 13. With 54 of 72 group games gone, the final round is almost here - and under the new doubling ladder, the knockouts are where this is really decided.

Odds watch

Here’s the new scheme in plain sight: Richard banked six points and stretched his table lead to twelve, yet his price barely moved - ~3.66 (27%). Group points are now just a head-start, so his odds track Argentina’s title chance (24%) rather than his league position. Behind him Ella holds ~4.5 (Spain, 22%) and Nichola ~6.9 (France, 14%). The day’s mover is Emily, in to ~7.7 (+1.3pp) as Brazil and Colombia firmed up two genuine contenders. The tell: Richard leads the table by twelve but the betting by only five points of probability over Ella - exactly what the progression weighting is meant to do. Group games finish on 28 June, when the official knockout bracket drops in automatically and the favourites should tighten further.