Australia sealed qualification for the World Cup on Tuesday with a 2-1 win over Saudi Arabia in Jeddah while Oman kept their hopes of a place at the finals alive with a last-gasp 1-1 draw against Palestine in Jordan.

The Socceroos only had to avoid a five-goal defeat to confirm their appearance at a sixth consecutive finals and goals from Connor Metcalfe and Mitch Duke earned the Australians a come-from-behind win to brush aside the Saudis.

Abdulrahman Al-Obud had given the home side a glimmer of hope when he netted from close range in the 19th minute but Metcalfe equalised with three minutes left in the half to extinguish Saudi dreams.

Duke then put the visitors in front in the 48th minute when he glanced Martin Boyle’s free kick past Nawaf Al-Aqidi before Mat Ryan, making his 100th appearance for his country, saved a late penalty save to deny Salem Al-Dawsari an equaliser.

The win confirms the Australians as second-place finisher in Group C behind Japan, who secured their spot at the finals in March.

“It is special. It probably hasn’t sunk in yet,” said Tony Popovic, who took over as coach last September after Australia made a stuttering start to the third round of qualifying.

“It’s been a very intense period since I’ve joined. We’ve built a good foundation now (but) we want to really get better, kick on and try and do something special at the World Cup.”

Saudi Arabia took third place in Group C and will feature in a fourth phase of qualifiers in October alongside Indonesia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq and Oman.

The Omanis kept their hopes alive at the expense of Palestine as Issam Al-Sabhi’s penalty deep into stoppage time earned the Gulf side a draw that kept them in fourth place in Group B.

A header by Oday Kharoub gave Palestine a 49th-minute lead and a second yellow card for Oman’s Harib Al-Saadi had put Ihab Abu Jazar’s side in control until the dying minutes, when Muhsen Al-Ghassani was brought down in the area.

Al-Sabhi stepped up to send goalkeeper Rami Hamada the wrong way to seal fourth place in the group for Oman and eliminate the heartbroken Palestinians.

Earlier in the evening, Japan crushed Indonesia 6-0 with Daichi Kamada scoring twice in the first half in Osaka as the Samurai Blue won Group C while Wang Yudong’s late penalty had China finish their campaign with a 1-0 win over Bahrain.

Iran confirmed themselves as Group A winners with a 3-0 win over North Korea that came after Kye Tam was sent off for the visitors with 24 minutes remaining in Tehran.

Mehdi Mohebi, Mehdi Taremi and Amirhossein Hosseinzadeh were all on target in the last 16 minutes to guarantee first place for the Iranians, who had secured their berth in March.

Already-qualified Uzbekistan took second spot with a 3-0 win against Qatar in Tashkent while the United Arab Emirates claimed third ahead of the Qataris despite conceding a late goal to draw 1-1 with Kyrgyzstan in Bishkek.

South Korea completed their commitments in Group B with a 4-0 thrashing of Kuwait to ensure Hong Myung-bo’s World Cup-bound outfit topped the standings with an unbeaten record.

Jordan, who qualified for their first World Cup on Thursday, finished second in Group B despite losing 1-0 to Graham Arnold’s Iraq in Amman.

-Reuters

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A year from the largest World Cup ever, there has been no announcement on general ticket sales. Prices for most seats, location of a draw, or security arrangements have not been disclosed. FIFA has mostly avoided disclosing details of an event set for 16 stadiums across the United States, Mexico and Canada.

There is uncertainty about whether fans from some nations will be welcome. Eleven of the venues are located in the U.S., where all matches will be played from the quarterfinals on.

Security is a concern, too. At the last major football tournament in the U.S., the 2024 Copa America final at Miami Gardens, Florida, started 82 minutes late after spectators breached security gates.

“That was certainly a reminder and a wake-up call if anybody needed it that those types of things are going to be used in terms of the ultimate assessment of whether this World Cup is successful,” said former U.S. defender Alexi Lalas, now Fox’s lead football analyst.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s travel ban on citizens from 12 nations exempted athletes, coaches, staff and relatives while not mentioning fans. Vice President JD Vance made what could be interpreted as a warning on May 6.

“Of course, everybody is welcome to come and see this incredible event. I know we’ll have visitors probably from close to 100 countries. We want them to come. We want them to celebrate. We want them to watch the game,” he said. “But when the time is up they’ll have to go home. Otherwise, they’ll have to talk to Secretary Noem,” he added, speaking alongside Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem.

Back in U.S. for first time in 32 years
 

The 1994 World Cup sparked the launch of Major League football with 12 teams in 1996, and $50 million in World Cup profits seeded the U.S. football Foundation, tasked with developing the sport’s growth. MLS now has 30 teams, plays in 22 football specific stadiums and has club academies to grow the sport and improve talent.

Next year’s tournament will include 104 games, up from 64 from 1998 through 2022, and the 11 U.S. stadiums are all NFL homes with lucrative luxury suites and club seating. It also will be the first World Cup run by FIFA without a local organizing committee.

“The legacy initiative of 2026 is around how we ensure that football is everywhere in this county,” U.S. football Federation CEO JT Batson said. “How do we ensure that every American can walk, ride their bike or take public transit to a safe place to play football? How do we make it to where every school in America has football accessible to their students? And how do we make it to wherever every American can truly see themselves in the game?”

Interest in football has vastly increased in the U.S., with England’s Premier League averaging 510,000 viewers per match window on NBC’s networks last season and the European Champions League final drawing more than 2 million viewers in each of the past five years on CBS. However, CBS broadcast just 26 of 189 Champions League matches on TV in 2024-25 and streamed the rest.

MLS drew about 12.2 million fans last year, second to 14.7 million in 2023-24 for the Premier League’s 20 teams, but MLS has largely disappeared from broadcast TV since starting a 10-year contract with Apple TV+ in 2023. Apple spokesman Sam Citron said the company does not release viewer figures.

In a fractured television landscape, different deals were negotiated by FIFA, UEFA, MLS, the NWSL, the USSF and the five major European leagues.

“You basically have over 2,800 game windows per season aired in the United States and so that requires distribution largely on streaming platforms like Paramount+ or ESPN+, but it’s difficult for new fan adoption and it makes reach kind of challenging,” said Gerry Cardinale, managing partner of RedBird Capital Partners, which holds controlling interests in AC Milan and Toulouse and owns a non-controlling stake of Fenway Sports Group, parent of Liverpool. “Kids today are getting weaned on Premier League football and Serie A football, and when you watch that as a product, it’s hard for MLS to compete.”

1994 World Cup set attendance record
 

The 1994 World Cup, a 24-nation tournament, drew a record 3.58 million fans for 52 matches. Ticket prices ranged from $25-$75 for most first round games and $180-$475 for the final at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.

FIFA, which has about 800 people working at an office in Coral Gables, Florida, says it will announce information on general tickets in the third quarter. It wouldn’t say whether prices will be fixed or variable.

Hospitality packages are available on FIFA’s website through On Location. For the eight matches at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, including the final on July 19, prices range from $25,800 to $73,200 per person.

Variable ticket pricing possible
 

FIFA appears to be using variable pricing for this year’s Club World Cup, played at 12 U.S. stadiums from June 14 to July 13, and some prices repeatedly have been slashed. Marriott Bonvoy, a U.S. football Federation partner, has been offering free tickets to some of its elite members.

Asked about Club World Cup ticket sales and team base camp arrangements, Manolo Zubiria, the World Cup’s chief tournament officer, hung up four minutes and five questions into a telephone interview with The Associated Press. Brendan O’Connell, the publicist who arranged the interview, wrote in an email to the AP: “The guest was not prepared for those questions.”

FIFA’s media relations staff would not make FIFA president Gianni Infantino available to discuss the tournament.

Ahead of the 1994 World Cup, FIFA announced in May 1992 the draw would take place at Las Vegas on Dec. 18 or 19, 1993. FIFA has not revealed plans for this year’s draw but appears to be planning for Las Vegas on Dec. 5.

Regular ticket sales began in February 1993 for the U.S. football family and general first- and second-round sales started that June. Fans submitted lottery applications in October 1993 for games from the quarterfinals on.

Teams could train away from World Cup cities
 

While not detailing ticketing plans for next year’s tournament, FIFA is spreading it beyond the host cites and lists about 60 possible base camps for teams to use, paired with hotels. Some are fancy — The Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia — and some more Spartan — the Courtyard by Marriott Mesa at Wrigleyville West in Arizona.

Thousands of arrangements must be coordinated. Major League Baseball is drawing up its schedule to ensure that the four teams whose ballparks share parking lots with World Cup stadiums — in Arlington, Texas; Kansas City, Missouri; Philadelphia; and Seattle — won’t play home games on the dates of tournament matches.

Boris Gartner, CEO of La Liga North America, a joint venture of the Spanish football league and Relevent Sports, said the 2026 World Cup should be viewed as just another step in the sport’s long-term growth in the United States.

“If you have a clear understanding of the market and the audience, a clear understanding of the value that these properties bring to media companies, and you mix content with a commercial strategy, with the right media distribution strategy, this is something that will continue to grow over the next two decades,” he said. “If more people are watching the NWSL, more people are going to be interested in football, that could potentially end up watching a Bundesliga game or La Liga game.”

-AP

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Robert Lewandowski said he will not play for Poland again under the current manager, shortly after the striker was stripped of the captaincy role on Sunday.

Poland coach Michal Probierz made the decision to replace Lewandowski as national team captain with midfielder Piotr Zielinski.

“By decision of coach Michal Probierz, Piotr Zielinski became the new captain of the Polish national team,” a Polish football federation (PZPN) statement said.

“The coach personally informed Robert Lewandowski, the entire team and the training staff of his decision.”

Lewandowski’s response via social media was swift.

“Considering the circumstances and the loss of trust in the Polish national team coach, I have decided to step back from playing for the Polish national team as long as he remains the coach,” Lewandowski said.

“I hope I will have the chance to play again for the best fans in the world.”

Lewandowski is not with the current Poland squad, with the Barcelona player citing physical and mental exhaustion after a long season as the reason for his absence.

The 36-year-old is Poland’s highest goal scorer with 85 goals for his country in a record 158 appearances, and had held the captaincy since 2014.

Probierz replaced the sacked Fernando Santos as Poland manager in 2023, taking them to Euro 2024 where his side were the first team to be eliminated.

The PZPN said Probierz will respond to questions on the situation in a press conference on Monday.

Poland defeated Moldova 2-0 in a friendly on Friday and are away to Finland in a World Cup qualifier on Tuesday.

-Reuters

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