African teams are having a moment in early World Cup play, Alex Fitzpatrick reports.

🇨🇻 The biggest upset so far belongs to Cape Verde, the tiny island nation that held tournament favorite Spain to a scoreless draw on Monday.

• That could help Cape Verde make it out of the group stage.
• Ties earn both teams a point toward the knockout rounds. Meanwhile, goal differential can be the difference between advancing or going home — the fewer goals scored against you, the better.

🇨🇩 Congo yesterday similarly held the Cristiano Ronaldo-fueled powerhouse Portugal to a 1-1 draw.

• Yoane Wissa delivered the country's first-ever World Cup goal — a flawless header in first-half extra time.

🇬🇭 Also yesterday, Ghana took down Panama 1-0 with a buzzer-beater of a goal from Caleb Yirenkyi in the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time.

🇨🇮 Earlier in the tournament, Ivory Coast stunned Ecuador 1-0 with a late goal from Manchester United's Amad Diallo.

🇲🇦 Another big draw came from Morocco, whose 1-1 result against Brazil on Saturday triggered deep soul-searching for the longtime South American heavyweight.

🇸🇳 Senegal even frustrated France for the first half of their Tuesday match.

• But French superstar Kylian Mbappé woke up in the second, netting a pair in an eventual 3-1 win for Les Bleus.

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The national average price for a gallon of regular gas is back below $4 for the first time in months, Axios' Avery Lotz reports from AAA data.

• It's a sign that Americans' pain at the pump is easing after months of war in Iran.

🚢 Iran's squeeze on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz battered the global economy and sent gas prices skyrocketing.

• News of an extended ceasefire agreement sent crude prices to their lowest levels in over three months.

🤑 Reality check: Even if Hormuz is fully opened, gas prices will likely remain above pre-war levels for some time.

• GasBuddy analyst Patrick De Haan, writing on X today: "If everything goes well and no major hurricane disruptions, we could see the national average fall below $3/gal again late this year with diesel falling back below $4/gal."

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1. 🥳 The New York Knicks' victory parade drew swarms of fans to downtown Manhattan this morning, with NYPD "viewing pens" filled up hours before it kicked off. Mayor Zohran Mamdani, in his speech: "So often when this city comes together, it is because we are forced to, by a moment of tragedy or adversity. What a gift it is to be brought together by pure, unfiltered joy." Go deeper ... Watch Mamdani's speech.
2. 📉 Unemployment filings fell to 226,000 last week as layoffs remain historically low. Hiring has picked up recently after a miserable 2025, despite worries over the Iran war's impact on jobs. Go deeper.
3. 🤖 Top AI researcher Noam Shazeer is leaving Google for OpenAI, just two years after Google paid $2.7 billion to poach him and part of his team at CharacterAI. More from Dan Primack.

The Obama Presidential Center opened today in Jackson Park, Chicago.

• It's a full-circle moment for Barack and Michelle Obama, who are building a permanent civic institution in the city that shaped them, Axios Chicago's Justin Kaufmann writes. Go deeper.

A rodeo is coming to the National Mall as part of America's 250th birthday celebrations, Axios D.C.'s Mimi Montgomery reports.

• The free daily performance will tell the history of American cowboys through rodeo acts, trick riding, cattle drives and Mexican charro displays.

🐎 Organizer Binion Cervi tells Axios: "There's so much history that we're going to tell" during the show — stretching back to when the Spanish brought horses to America.

• Go deeper ... Get Axios Local.