World Cup
Penalty hands Tunisia victory as Africa’s World Cup qualifiers resume
Tunisia needed a late penalty to beat Equatorial Guinea 1-0 and move to the top of the standings in their World Cup qualifying group as Africa’s preliminaries for the 2026 finals resumed on Wednesday.
Mohamed Ali Ben Romdhane struck the 81st-minute spotkick to deny Equatorial Guinea a deserved point as they looked to shrug off the FIFA sanctions that stripped them of the six points from their opening two qualifiers in November.
FIFA found striker Emilio Nsue, a former Spanish junior international, was ineligible to play for the small central African nation despite being in the team over the past 11 years, and reversed Equatorial Guinea’s victories in their opening two matches against Namibia and Liberia.
But the sanction that has seen Nsue, top scorer at the Africa Cup of Natiions finals at the start of the year, suspended for six months looked to have little ill effect on Equatorial Guinea, as they again punched above their weight against one of Africa’s top achievers.
The goal came after a collision between Jannick Buyla and Tunisia’s flying fullback Hamza Mathlouthi that the referee deemed a push.
Tunisia move to nine points in Group H, above Namibia who were held earlier in the day to a 1-1 draw by Liberia in Soweto, South Africa.
Tjipee Karuuombe made a surging run from deep in midfield to get onto a delightful chip from Ben Namib to steer home the ball after eight minutes for Namibia, forced to move the match because of the lack of a suitable stadium.
Terry Sackor got the equaliser in the 65th minute as Liberia finally profited from the long throw that created endless havoc in the home defence.
Togo, who went to the World Cup finals in 2006, were held to a surprise home draw by South Sudan after opening the scoring through their German-born striker Khaled Narey in the 61st minute.
But South Sudan, who have never won a World Cup qualifier, were level within seven minutes after an own goal by Roger Ahoulou.
OWN GOAL
The midfielder also conceded an own goal in last month’s African Champions League final as his club Esperance of Tunisia lost 1-0 on aggregate to Al Ahly of Egypt.
Former Aston Villa defender Curtis Davis, who debuted for Sierra Leone last year at the age of 38 after previously winning England under-21 caps, got the opening goal against Djibouti in El Jadida.
But the small Red Sea state equalised through a 35th-minute penalty, converted by Gabriel Dadzie, born in Ghana but naturalised after playing club football in Djibouti.
Augustus Kargbo snatched the second-half winner for an unconvincing 2-1 triumph that advanced the Lone Stars to four points in Group A.
Djibouti have now lost their last nine World Cup qualifiers.
French-based midfielder Venuste Baboula got the only goal after 29 minutes as the Central African Republic edged Chad 1-0 in Oujda in Group I.
Like Sierra Leone, the Central African Republic hosted their home match in Morocco because their own facilities were deemed not up to international standard.
Africa’s qualifiers continue on Thursday with 10 more qualifiers, including games for Ghana and Senegal, who were at the last finals in Qatar in 2022.
-Reuters
With just a year to go until the 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off in the United States, concerns are mounting over the impact of extreme summer heat on players and fans.
According to experts interviewed by the BBC, FIFA may be forced to adjust match schedules drastically—possibly even staging the World Cup final as early as 9 a.m.—to mitigate the risks posed by soaring temperatures.
The warnings follow sweltering conditions witnessed during recent international and Club World Cup matches held in the U.S., where athletes and spectators alike were exposed to intense heat and humidity.
One of the leading voices raising the alarm is Professor Mike Tipton, an expert in thermal physiology at the University of Portsmouth. Speaking to BBC Sport, he emphasised the potential health risks of playing in extreme conditions and recommended that matches begin as early in the day as possible.
“From a thermo-physiological point of view, for health and performance reasons, I would look to start matches as early as possible,” Tipton stated, suggesting that even the final—traditionally held in the afternoon or evening—could be moved to a morning kickoff.
Tipton went further, noting that the ideal solution would be to host the tournament during a cooler time of year, as was done with the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, which was shifted to November and December due to extreme heat.
However, with the 2026 tournament already locked in for June 11 to July 19, FIFA’s only remaining flexibility lies in scheduling match times.
The 2026 edition will be jointly hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico across multiple cities, some of which are known for intense summer heat.
Health experts are urging organisers to prioritise player safety and fan well-being, warning that failing to act could lead to performance issues, heat-related illnesses, or worse.
FIFA has yet to publicly comment on any proposed changes to match schedules, but as temperatures continue to rise, pressure is mounting for the governing body to take decisive action ahead of football’s biggest tournament.
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FIFA’s Global Football Development chief Arsene Wenger acknowledged that the quality of pitches hosting Club World Cup matches in the U.S. was not good enough, but insisted it would be better when the country co-hosts the 2026 World Cup.
The pitches, often very dry and sprinkled with water during cooling breaks or at halftime, have been widely criticised, mainly by coaches and players of the European teams taking part.
“I’ve been personally on the pitch at Orlando,” former Arsenal manager Wenger said on Saturday. “It’s not at the level that the European clubs are used to because it’s not perfect, but that will be rectified for the World Cup next year.”
Paris St Germain coach Luis Enrique raised the issue early in the expanded Club World Cup tournament.
“The ball bounces like a rabbit,” Luis Enrique said after his team’s opening 4-0 win over Atletico Madrid.
“Today, for example, the field used to be artificial turf, and now it’s natural grass laid over it, which means it has to be watered manually. It’s a big problem for the way we play.”
“FIFA really needs to take this seriously. Not just the stadium fields but also the training pitches. If we’re calling this the best club tournament in the world, it should have world‑class facilities. I can’t imagine an NBA game played on a court full of holes.”
-Reuters
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Congo will be allowed to continue participating in the World Cup qualifiers despite missing two fixtures in March when they were banned, world football’s governing body FIFA said on Wednesday.
Congo were suspended from February to May because of government interference in the running of their football association (FECOFOOT) but the ban was lifted when officials returned to their positions and were handed back access to their headquarters and technical training centre.
Sports minister Hugues Ngouelondele had appointed an ad-hoc committee last year to run the association, claiming it needed to sort out disputes among association office bearers, but FIFA suspended FECOFOOT due to third-party interference, which violates its statutes.
During the ban, Congo were not allowed to participate in any international competition, which meant they did not honour 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Tanzania and Niger in March.
A FIFA spokesman told Reuters the points from those fixtures were forfeited and a 3-0 victory awarded to their opponents.
But they will continue in the qualifiers when they resume in September, even if they have no chance of qualifying.
Congo are scheduled to play Tanzania at home in September and conclude their fixtures in October with matches at Niger and Morocco.
Congo have no points in the group, which Morocco lead with 15 points, six more than Tanzania in second place.
The group winner qualifies for next year’s World Cup in North America while the runner-up has a possibility to participate in playoffs if they are among the four best second-placed teams in the nine African qualifying groups.
FIFA has taken a hard line on government interference in football matters with the likes of Chad, Kenya, Pakistan and Zimbabwe among those banned in recent years.
Congo were African champions in 1972 but have never been to a World Cup.
-Reuters
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