FiveThirtyEight’s top stories this week

1 A [FiveThirtyEight]( email [Popular This Week] Monday, July 16, 2018 [1. How The World Cup Semifinalists Match Up]( [TOPSHOT-FBL-WC-2018-MATCH58-BRA-BEL]( The World Cup in Russia has become one of European dominance. The four teams that remain all hail from the continent: France, Belgium, England and Croatia will be battling in the semifinals Tuesday and Wednesday for a shot at glory in the final Sunday in Moscow. In this World Cup of Upsets, the French are the only consistently successful team left. Croatia and Belgium have never reached the final, while England’s only appearance was in 1966. [Read more]( [2. How France And Croatia Made It To The World Cup Final, In One Chart]( [dottle-wcpaths-1-CROP]( [Read more]( [3. The Mueller Investigation Keeps Growing Fast]( [Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein Announces Indictment Of 12 Russian Military Officers For DNC Hacking]( At a surprise news conference on Friday, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced that the Justice Department would be charging 12 Russian intelligence officers with a wide range of offenses, including conspiracies to hack the Democratic National Committee, state election systems and other targets. This brings the total number of the people charged in connection with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election to 32. [Read more]( [4. How Brett Kavanaugh Would Change The Supreme Court]( [US-POLITICS-JUSTICE-TRUMP]( After 12 days of intrigue, President Trump named Brett Kavanaugh as his nominee to the Supreme Court Monday night. Justice Anthony Kennedy, the longtime “swing” justice on the court, is retiring at the end of July. [Read more]( [5. World Cup 2018: Croatia 2, England 1]( [0711_WCsemi LIVEBLOG 4x3alt]( [Read more]( [6. How Four Potential Nominees Would Change The Supreme Court]( [Donald Trump,Neil Gorsuch]( On Monday evening, President Trump is scheduled to announce his nominee to replace the retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court. The nominee, if confirmed, will likely change the court dramatically, cementing a conservative, five-justice majority that could long endure. News reports suggest that four names -- Brett Kavanaugh, Raymond Kethledge, Amy Coney Barrett and Thomas Hardiman -- have risen to the top of the pile, and that “rollout packages” were being prepared for each of them. Three of them are also favored as front-runners in prediction markets. [Read more]( [7. The Abortion Debate Isn’t As Partisan As Politicians Make It Seem]( [National Republican Coalition for Choice Demonstration]( Welcome to Secret Identity, our regular column on identity and its role in politics and policy. [Read more]( [8. France’s Benchwarmers Are Worth More Than Most Starting Lineups]( [FBL-WC-2018-MATCH21-FRA-PER]( France enters today’s semifinal match against neighboring Belgium as the favorite to win the 2018 World Cup. At least on paper, though, France has been the least remarkable team of the four that remain: Les Bleus have scored fewer goals than each of the other semifinalists, they’ve possessed less of the ball than two of the other semifinalists, and they’ve taken the fewest shots. [Read more]( [9. World Cup 2018: France 1, Belgium 0]( [0710_WCsemi LIVEBLOG 4x3_alt2]( [Read more]( [10. What The Bork And Thomas Confirmation Fights Tell Us About Kavanaugh]( [Robert Bork]( The process of confirming Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court promises to be a Senate classic -- grandstanding and softball questions galore. Some of those senators will likely also feel the process’s effects in the midterm elections, at least according to popular political wisdom. Democrats in red states will have to navigate the realities of electoral politics: How will voters react if their senators go against President Trump’s conservative nominee? Will they be punished for a vote against the president? [Read more]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Weekly Listen [Play]( [Politics Podcast: The Fight Over Kavanaugh Is Just Beginning]( [FiveThirtyEight] [View in browser]( [ABC News]( [Unsubscribe]( Our mailing address: FiveThirtyEight, 147 Columbus Avenue, New York, NY 10023.