The Scottish National party (SNP) has lost the formerly safe seat of Aberdeen South in a shock loss to the Scottish Conservatives. The Scottish Conservatives’ Douglas Lumsden beat the SNP’s Richard Thomson by 6,050 votes, with a 14.69% swing away from the SNP. The Tories vote share was 49.51%. Lumsden’s vote tally was 14,308, with Thomson on 8,258. Jo Hart for Reform came a distant third with 2,478 votes. The turnout was just 38%. In his victory speech, Lumsden said the people of the city had spoken “loud and clear” that the “destruction of the North Sea oil and gas industry must stop now”. He added: “We said at the start of this campaign that it is a referendum on the oil and gas industry and the people of Aberdeen have given a resounding answer that we back the oil and gas industry.” The Tories threw significant resources into the contest, with its UK party leader, Kemi Badenoch, visiting the constituency three times as they sought to make it a battle over increased North Sea oil and gas production. The SNP did hold onto Arbroath and Broughty Ferry in a separate byelection, with Lara Bird taking the seat vacated by Stephen Gethins who quit Westminster for Holyrood. The SNP’s Stephen Flynn, who gave up the Aberdeen South seat in order to take a seat in Holyrood, wrote on social media: “A tough night in Aberdeen that some will need to reflect on, quite heavily.” He added: “We lost Aberdeen South to the Tories in 2017, and we won it back two years later. I’ve no doubt that we can do so again. If we get things right.” The byelection was called after Flynn stood down to take up a seat at the Scottish parliament in May. The law does not allow people to hold seats in the Scottish parliament and the House of Commons simultaneously. He had held Aberdeen South in the 2024 general election with a 3,758-vote majority. The SNP’s defeat suggests some voters rebelled against the party over Peter Murrell’s theft of £400,000 in party funds while he was chief executive and married to Nicola Sturgeon, the former first minister.

Scottish Conservatives win Aberdeen South, ousting SNP

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Mexico 1-0 South Korea: World Cup 2026 – as it happened

It wasn’t pretty, distinguished by little other than its black v lilac colour scheme, but Mexico became the first side at the 2026 World Cup to secure their place in the knockout stage. If they and England both top their groups, the path is open for an apocalyptic meeting at the Azteca in the last 16. The question for Mexico and South Korea after their opening wins was whether they had been good or their opponents bad, and this offered a fairly clear answer: neither is over-blessed with creative edge. The only goal came after 50 minutes and was a gift from South Korea. Kim Seung-gyu, the goalkeeper, came to claim a looping header, but did so over the top of Lee Ki-hyuk, jarring his elbow on the defender’s head and spilling the ball for Luis Romo, who hooked in his fifth international goal on his 64th appearance. Romo was one of three changes made from Mexico’s line-up for the opener, coming in for Álvaro Fidalgo as Javier Aguirre resisted the popular demand to give a start to the 17-year-old Gilberto Mora. A remarkable double save from Raúl Rangel in the closing minutes preserved the lead as he got down to parry Cho Gue-sung’s header and had the core strength to twist and gather Yang Hyun-jun’s sliced follow-up. This was the first time Mexico had ever played a World Cup game in Guadalajara, yet still there were a number of empty spaces. It was nothing like as empty as it had been in South Korea’s win over Czechia last week, but plastic seats were visible in clear patches, particularly in the corporate tier that runs round the centre of this stadium like the cream in a Victoria sponge. This is not the old 71,000-capacity Estadio Jalisco, where Gordon Banks kept out Pelé’s header in 1970 and the France forward Bruno Bellone, in whose garden Grace Kelly died, scored in the shoot-out in the 1986 quarter-final against Brazil with a penalty that hit the post and bounced in off the head of the goalkeeper Carlos. This rather is the Estadio Akron, about 15 miles west of the Jalisco, which opened in 2010. The outside covered in turf, it rises unshowily from a flat plain to the west of the city of Zapopan, which borders Guadalajara, like the sort of venue an ambitious hobbit might erect on an industrial park on the fringes of the Shire’s green belt. Both sides lacked the urgency of their opening fixtures, perhaps as a result of the format. With a win already on the board, a draw as good as secured their progress, unless both were to lose their final group games and all four sides in the group ended on four points. There was little risk or adventure from either side. The crowd seemed broadly accepting – more patient certainly than the fans at the Azteca who, demanding more, had booed in Mexico’s opening game when they led 1-0 against 10 men – but eight minutes before half-time they too had had enough and an extended spell of South Korean passing provoked furious whistles. Not that it made much difference. South Korea and Mexico have a close relationship and, for the first half at least, the game was played in that spirit. Work began on a free trade agreement between the nations in 2012; although that is yet to be concluded, South Korea is now Mexico’s sixth-largest trade partner globally. Korean migration to Mexico began in 1905 when a ship called the Ilford brought 1,033 passengers across the Pacific, the majority subsequently settling on the Yucatán Peninsular. There’s a Friendship Pavilion donated by the South Korean government in the seniors garden in Chapultepec Park in Mexico City. What sealed the spirit of goodwill, though, was what happened during the 2018 World Cup, when South Korea, having already been eliminated, beat Germany 2-0 in Kazan so that Mexico went through to the last 16. Fans gathered outside the South Korean embassy in Mexico City and, when the ambassador came out, he was carried shoulder-high along the street by a crowd chanting, “¡Coreano, hermano, ya eres Mexicano!” – “Korean, brother, now you’re Mexican!” But friendliness goes only so far, and if a team is going to present a goal on a platter, as Kim did, Mexico were never going to reject the gift. Kim did later make a fine close-range block from Raúl Jiménez, but nobody is going to remember that. South Korea’s preparations had been disrupted when video emerged of two people, assumed to be journalists, making disparaging comments about Son Heung-min’s abbreviated term of military service. In protest, players refused to perform media duties two days before the game. Son himself struggled again. He is only 33 but looks older, struggling to cope with Mexico’s offside trap, and unable to dislodge the ball from between his feet when a chance presented itself. He was substituted soon after. A win against South Africa in their final game would still take South Korea through, and a draw may be enough, but it’s hard to see this limited side going much further. Mexico, meanwhile, may have won two out of two, but so far they’ve shown little beyond a functional competence.

South Korea howler gifts Mexico victory as World Cup co-hosts reach knockout phase

Any great midfield tandem requires each member to be acutely aware of what is happening with the other. It’s little surprise, then, that Stephen Eustáquio would be the first to alert the rest of Canada to Ismaël Koné’s injury. “I saw his leg,” Eustaquio told reporters after Thursday’s 6-0 win over nine-man Qatar. “I saw that something wasn’t right, and I just wanted for the medical staff to get in as quick as possible.” The broadcast caught Koné’s initial glance at his lower left leg, visibly mangled after a kick from behind by Qatar midfielder Assim Madibo. Canada were 3-0 ahead at that point after a bombastic first half, but the nature of the challenge in the 51st minute – and the reaction of both teams – cast a pall over proceedings. As medics ran on to the field Koné’s teammates rushed to his defense, taking umbrage with the nature of Madibo’s challenge. After the match, Qatar forward Yusuf Abdurisag declined to comment further on the sequences, instead commending his teammates for their heart and effort after the game’s first red card was shown to Homam Ahmed in the first half. “They tried to defend their players, and we tried to defend ours,” Eustáquio said. “I think it’s normal, they still want to go far in this competition, but at the same time it’s a clear red. Like, there’s no debate in that he basically broke his leg. They want[ed] a yellow, but for me it makes no sense.” The fracas resumed after the whistle after a confrontation between coaches Jesse Marsch and Julen Lopetegui. By the final whistle, Canada had not just secured their first men’s World Cup win but striker Jonathan David had become the first player on a host nation’s team to score a World Cup hat-trick since Geoff Hurst (1966). Considering Koné’s importance to Canada, however, David wasn’t able to relish in the deserved spotlight. “He means everything to this team,” David said. “If you [ask] the same question to any guy on the team, they will tell you the same. I don’t even know how to describe him. He’s someone that we love a lot.” Alistair Johnston compared the moment to a similar injury at training during the 2024 Copa América. As the Celtic defender remembers, he played a pass to right-flank partner Tajon Buchanan before hearing what “sounded like a gunshot” in what ultimately was a broken tibia for Buchanan. While Johnston was on the opposite side of the pitch from Koné’s point of contact on Thursday, the moment hit him with similar impact. “He’s a kid that’s so easy-going, and just loves the sport so much,” Johnston said. “We talked about it before, but he could stay up all night just playing two-touches with the guys, and that’s why I think it hurt so much. It’s just his love of the game. To see someone like that go down in such a needless challenge as well? It’s frustrating.” In the five minutes after Koné’s injury, Canada goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau was consoling defender Luc de Fougerolles. Crépeau is no stranger to such horrific injury. In goal for Los Angeles FC in the 2022 MLS Cup, he committed to a sliding sweeping action beyond his attacking third and collided with a Philadelphia Union opponent. The sequence left him with a fractured right leg and ruled him out for the 2022 World Cup. A calming presence for a team on the rise, Crépeau knows all too well what lies ahead for Koné once he begins his rehabilitation process. He’s also the embodiment of a positive ending; Crépeau made his World Cup debut against Bosnia and Herzegovina last week. And now he’ll be among the leaders working to ensure Canada can build off of the positives from Thursday’s win and continue to play to make their injured midfielder proud. “Every guy lives the emotions a certain way, and we went through the emotions in that time,” Crépeau said of his moment with De Fougerolles. “Man, it’s so difficult to put into words, but it’s just a moment to say, ‘Hey, you’re not alone. I’m feeling the same thing as you, but we have a job to finish for him.’”

Scottish Conservatives win Aberdeen South, ousting SNP

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