No World Cup final send-off for Keir Starmer, but there’s always the golf

And so the 23rd World Cup final will be between two nations who couldn’t beat Cape Verde in normal time earlier in the tournament. It is probably just as well that England didn’t have to face the African debutants. Spain are in their second World Cup final, while Argentina are in their seventh. Let us hope it is more entertaining than the last one held in the US, when Brazil beat Italy on penalties after neither side scored in 120 minutes (today, BBC One and ITV1, 8pm).

If Sir Keir Starmer is looking for something to watch on his final Sunday at Chequers having been denied a red-eye return trip to New Jersey, there is the final round of The Open.

Royal Birkdale, this year’s Open venue, hosted the 1969 Ryder Cup, when Jack Nicklaus famously conceded a short putt to Tony Jacklin to halve the contest. There will be no gimmes at The Open: if players finish tied, around 6.30pm, the Claret Jug will be settled by a four-hole play-off, then extra holes if needed (today, Sky Sports Golf, from 8am).

The Belgian Grand Prix is also on today. The drivers’ championship has reignited in the past three races, with Britain’s George Russell registering a win and two second places to cut the faltering Kimi Antonelli’s lead to 25 points. Can he reduce it again (Sky Sports F1, 2pm)?

If you prefer your grands prix to be accompanied by a salty breeze rather than Castrol GTX, the eighth event in the SailGP series is on the Solent next weekend. Tom Slingsby, an Australian who won gold in the Laser class at the 2012 Olympics, is the leading skipper in the contest for crewed F50 catamarans, with Dylan Fletcher, Olympic champion in the 49er class in 2021, helming the Emirates GBR team led by sailing legend Sir Ben Ainslie (Saturday, TNT Sports 1, 4.30pm).

The Tour de France is putting its cyclists through the wringer this season, forcing them to scale Alpe d’Huez on successive days. A 128km stage 19 ends with a climb of 14km at an average gradient of 8.1%, followed the next day by a 171km race with a slightly easier finish. Whoever comes through that will enjoy their champagne at the end of the easy pedal into Paris next Sunday (Friday, TNT Sports 1, 12.30pm; Saturday, same channel, 10.00am).

Finally, Anthony Joshua returns to the ring next weekend, seven months after he was involved in a car crash in Nigeria in which two of his friends died. The former heavyweight world champion fights Albania’s Kristian Prenga in Saudi Arabia as preparation for his much-anticipated match with Tyson Fury later this year (Saturday, DAZN, pay-per-view card starts 6pm).

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Photograph by Kate McShane/R&A via Getty Images