International Football
Five African countries await their fate at Friday’s FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 draw
The five African countries that have qualified for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ will know their fate on Friday night, 01 April 2022 at the Final Draw in Doha, Qatar.
African champions Senegal are among the five teams from the continent that booked their places following Tuesday night’s second-leg of the FIFA World Cup playoffs.
The four other countries that joined the Teranga Lions are the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon, Ghana’s Black Stars, Atlas Lions of Morocco and Tunisia’s Eagles of Carthage.
All the 32 sides that will be involved in the tournament will be drawn into eight groups of four for the tournament that will be played in November and December 2022.
Host nation Qatar, as it is the norm, will be placed in position one of Group A of the draw.
Road to Qualification:
CAMEROON: Eighth appearance
Group stage:
The indomitable Lions topped Group D with 15 points, off five wins and a single loss. Their only defeat was against Ivory Coast away from home. They completed home and away doubles over Mozambique and Malawi.
They sealed qualification to the play-off round on the final day, with a 1-0 win over Côte d’Ivoire in Douala.
In the group phase, the Cameroonians scored 12 goals and conceded only three. Vincent Aboubakar, Christian Bassogog, Eric Choupo-Moting, Karl Toko Ekambi and defender Michael Ngadeu scored two goals each.
Play-off-
In the play-off round, Cameroon lost 1-0 at home to Algeria, but a never-say-die attitude in Blida saw them win 2-1 with a last minute goal and progress to Qatar on the away goal rule.
GHANA: Fourth appearance
Group Stage:
The Black Stars sealed a ticket to the play-off round on the final day, with a win over South Africa at home as the two sides finished with 13 points each. With similar goal difference, Ghana edged out Bafana Bafana on account of scoring more goals.
Ghana won four matches, drew one and lost one, against the South Africans in Johannesburg. They scored seven goals in six matches and conceded three, skipper Andre Ayew being their top scorer with three.
Play-off:
In the play-off round, Otto Addo’s boys progressed on the away goal rule after drawing 1-1 with Nigeria in the return leg in Abuja. They had drawn 0-0 at home in Kumasi but Thomas Partey’s goal at the Moshood Abiola Stadium proved vital.
SENEGAL: Third appearance
Group Stage:
The African champions had an unbeaten record in Group H, winning five of their six matches. Their only blemish was a 1-1 draw away to Togo on the penultimate round of matches with Habib Diallo scoring a last gasp equalizer.
They scored 15 goals and conceded only four. Famara Diedhiou was their top scorer with four goals while Sadio Mane and Ismaila Sarr scored three each.
Play-off:
The Lions of Teranga prevailed 3-1 over Egypt on penalties after winning the return leg 1-0 in Dakar. The result pushed the aggregate score to 1-1, having lost by a solitary goal in the first leg in Cairo.
Keeper Edouard Mendy saved one penalty with Sadio Mane striking home the winner to send them to Qatar.
MOROCCO: Sixth appearance
Group Stage:
The Atlas Lions were the only side to progress through the group phase with a 100pc record. They completed home and away victories over Guinea Bissau, Guinea and Sudan to attain a maximum 18 points.
They scored 20 goals and conceded only once, away to Guinea in a match they won 4-1. Ayoub El Kaabi was their top scorer with five goals while Ryan Mmae had four.
Play-off:
The Moroccans were in free-flowing form in the play-off round. Despite a 1-1 draw with DR Congo in the first leg in Kinshasa, they ran riot at home in Casablanca, winning 4-1 to easily make the plane to Qatar.
TUNISIA: Sixth appearance
Group Stage:
Tunisia topped Group B with 13 points off four wins, a draw and a loss. They dropped points in the 0-0 draw away to Mauritania, and their only defeat also came on the road, a 1-0 loss against Equatorial Guinea in Malabo.
The Carthage Eagles scored 11 times with veteran Wahbi Khazri contributing to three goals as their top scorer. They conceded only two goals.
Play-off:
The Tunisians were forced to sweat by Mali, though they eventually edged them out 1-0 on aggregate. An own goal in Bamako gave them a slight 1-0 edge and they were held to a 0-0 draw at home in the return tie.
But, the return on the road proved to be vital as it hoisted them into Qatar.
-Cafonline
International Football
Players’ union, FIFPRO, wants 20-minute halftimes, more cooling breaks amid extreme heat
Global players’ union FIFPRO is exploring whether extending halftime to 20 minutes and introducing more frequent cooling breaks could better protect players from extreme heat.
Nine of the 16 host cities for the 2026 World Cup face conditions considered “extreme risk” for heat-related illness.
Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Guadalajara, Houston, Kansas City, Miami, Monterrey and Philadelphia are expected to face dangerous levels of heat and humidity, posing player safety concerns and fuelling calls for mandatory cooling aids or schedule changes.
FIFPRO’s heat risk assessments are based on wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT), a measure combining temperature, humidity, solar radiation and wind speed to estimate how environmental conditions affect the body’s ability to cool itself.
Under FIFPRO guidelines, a WBGT reading above 28 degrees Celsius indicates conditions in which matches should be postponed or rescheduled to protect players’ health.
By comparison, world soccer governing body FIFA’s own guidelines set the extreme risk threshold higher, at 32 degrees Celsius WBGT – but even by that standard, six of the nine cities are still projected to exceed safe limits.
Major League Soccer in the U.S. has a threshold of 29 degrees Celsius WBGT.
“Cooling breaks at the 30th minute and 75th minutes are quite traditional, but from a physiological point of view it does not make sense,” said Vincent Gouttebarge, FIFPRO’s Medical Director.
“Even if you ingest more than 200 millilitres of fluid, you already cannot take it all. So I would definitely like to see some project where we look at the efficacy of perhaps more frequent but shorter cooling breaks – every 15 minutes, rather than only one during each half.”
LONGER HALFTIMES
Gouttebarge also questioned whether the traditional 15-minute halftime interval is sufficient when matches are played in extreme heat.
“You can imagine that halftime of 15 minutes might not be enough in order to decrease the core temperature,” he said.
“It could be a halftime of 20 minutes which would be significant. That has been shown in the laboratory and FIFPRO, together with the national union in Portugal in August, we are going to test this kind of mitigation strategy.”
The urgency of stronger heat protocols became clear at this month’s Club World Cup where two matches — Benfica-Bayern Munich in Charlotte and Chelsea-Esperance in Philadelphia exceeded the WBGT threshold FIFPRO considers unsafe.
“According to our position, those games should have been postponed later that day or rescheduled,” Gouttebarge said.
FIFPRO officials acknowledged that FIFA has responded constructively during the tournament by lowering thresholds for mandatory cooling breaks and improving pitch-side hydration, but stressed that proactive planning is critical.
“FIFA have been quite responsive once the tournament was under way,” said Alex Phillips, FIFPRO General Secretary.
“They have actually modified how they’ve been dealing with heat during the matches based on FIFPRO’s input, which is credit to the work of the team. Obviously, it would have been better if that happened in advance, but it’s better that they have adapted.”
FIFPRO warned that the risks highlighted at the Club World Cup are a preview of what players could face at the expanded 2026 World Cup.
“This is not just affecting the Club World Cup, but also future tournaments either in the U.S. or elsewhere in the world,” said Alexander Bielefeld, FIFPRO Director of Policy & Strategic Relations.
“We need a better balance between commercial interests and the health and safety of players,” he added, referring to earlier kick-off times to accommodate European television audiences.
-Reuters
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Former Manchester United and England midfielder Paul Ince has been charged with drink-driving, police said on Monday.
Ince, who earned 53 caps for England and won two Premier League titles during his six years at United, has been released on bail and will appear in court on July 18.
“The incident involved a black Range Rover which had collided with the central reservation barrier. Officers attended the scene and arrested a 57-year-old man,” the Cheshire police said in a statement.
“Paul Ince, of Quarry Road, Neston, has since been charged with drink-driving.”
Reuters has contacted Ince’s representative for comment.
After retiring as a player, Ince led Milton Keynes Dons to a League Two title in 2007-08. He most recently managed Reading during 2022-23.
-Reuters
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International Football
From garbage collector to Starman of Ancelotti’s Brazil team: the story of Ribeiro
“I was without a team for a year and a half, doing trials… and no club in Brazil wanted me.!” Alex Ribeiro
Alexsandro Victor de Souza Ribeiro (Rio de Janeiro, 1999) was, until a few days ago, a semi-unknown to the general public in Brazil.
However, Carlo Ancelotti, impressed by his strong performance against Real Madrid in the Champions League, insisted on calling up the Lille centre-back… and giving him his debut.
Not only that. He started alongside Marquinhos against Ecuador (0-0) and Paraguay (1-0) and helped the Seleçao keep two consecutive clean sheets for the first time in the qualifying rounds.
Alex, as he likes to be called, impressed with his 1.92 meters (6′ 1″) frame and confidence. According to ‘R10Score’, he was the Brazilian player who completed the most actions with the ball (186) and the second with the most cuts (11).
He completed 154 of the 166 passes he made (92% accuracy) and won 12 of the 16 duels he was involved in: 5 of 7 at ground level and 7 of 9 in the air. “A gentleman defender,” boasted the official Ligue 1 Portuguese account.
His path to the elite wasn’t easy. “I don’t think you know this, but this is my first game as a professional in Brazil. Strange, isn’t it? There’s nothing better. To debut in Brazil like this, with a win and qualification,” he boasted after defeating Paraguay.
These first few days with Ancelotti have been unique; I’ll remember them for the rest of my life. I’ve responded well not only to myself, but also to the coach and the Brazilian people. I was able to demonstrate my ability to those who had doubts. Few people give me the opportunity that the manager has given me,” he insists
The Lille centre-back took his first steps in Flamengo’s youth system, where he even met Vinicius.
“When we played against Real Madrid, Vini came up to me and hugged me. He said, ‘I’m glad to see you here, brother.’ That inspired and motivated me even more,” he told ‘Globo Esporte’.
‘Fla’ cut him off. He had to make a living as a street vendor. He also collected trash, especially cans. “I was without a team for a year and a half, doing trials… and no club in Brazil wanted me, so I went to Europe to play in Portugal’s Third Division.”
Praiense (2018-20), Amora (2020-21), and Chaves (2021-22)—the latter already in the Second Division—were his springboard to Lille. The Bulldogs signed him in 2022-23 for €2 million. He has become a more than worthy successor to his compatriot Gabriel Magalhaes.
“Little by little, my name is spreading. My football is reaching everywhere. This includes Brazil,” he said before making his debut with the Seleçao. Now that he’s made it, he has another challenge: “I want to continue it.”
-Marca
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