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Former Green Eagles player, United States-based, Paul Okoku, says if the Super Eagles fail to qualify for the 2026 World Cup, the response by Nigerians must be constructive, particularly, in examining both technical and administrative factors.
Lens defender Saud Abdulhamid will spearhead Saudi Arabia’s World Cup team, with forward Salem Al Dawsari set for a third appearance in the tournament, after coach Georgios Donis named his 26-man squad on Monday. Abdulhamid, who won the French Cup this year, is the only player based abroad in the Saudi squad for the event, which will be held in the US, Mexico and Canada from June 11 to July 19. Al Hilal’s Al Dawsari, the 2025 AFC player of the year, is set to feature at his third World Cup, after debuting in 2018 and playing in the 2022 edition. Greek coach Donis will rely on 34-year-old goalkeeper Mohamed Al Owais, who played four games in his two World Cup appearances, while Al Hilal defender Hassan Tambakti and teammate midfielder Mohamed Kanno will lend experience. Al Qadsiah midfielder Mohammed Abu Alshamat will make it to finals, while his twin brother Saleh, who plays for Asian champions Al Ahli was not included in the final list. Saudi lost their first game under Donis 2-1 to Ecuador in a friendly on Sunday and will face Puerto Rico and Senegal in their final warm-ups for the World Cup. They open their Group H campaign against Uruguay in Miami on June 15, before facing Spain in Atlanta on June 21 and Cape Verde in Houston on June 26.
STOCKHOLM: Sweden defender Emil Holm has suffered a muscle injury and will miss the World Cup, with Herman Johansson called up as a replacement, the country’s FA (SVFF) announced on Saturday. The 26-year-old Holm, who has been on loan at Juventus from Bologna, was in Graham Potter’s squad announced on May 12 but is expected to be sidelined for several weeks. The SVFF said FC Dallas midfielder Johansson, 28, has joined the national team camp in Stockholm to replace Holm. “I have fought my whole life to represent my country in a World Cup ... and to have it taken away by an injury.
ANTALYA: Iran have asked FIFA to clarify when tournament visas will be issued following the relocation of their World Cup training camp from Arizona to Tijuana, a senior official from the Islamic Republic’s national football federation (FFIRI) said on Friday. The national team came from behind to beat Gambia 3-1 in a World Cup warm-up match in the Turkish city of Antalya, days after their tournament preparations were disrupted by a base camp relocation to Mexico following approval from Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and FIFA. Iran are scheduled to play all three of their group matches in the United States but the team’s participation in the June 11 to July 19 tournament has been in question since the US and Israel attacked Iran in late February. The relocation followed diplomatic friction and visa complications, with Iran now requiring cross-border clearance for their Group G matches against New Zealand, Belgium, and Egypt in Los Angeles and Seattle. Mehdi Mohammadnabi, first vice president of FFIRI, told Reuters that Iran had written to FIFA seeking a firm answer after earlier applying for visas. “We sent an email to FIFA today and asked them to announce the result as soon as possible, to say on what day the visas will be issued, because we now need both multiple-entry Mexican visas and multiple-entry US visas,” Mohammadnabi said. “Based on the latest conversation we had, they replied that the administrative process will most likely be completed this week,” he added. Mohammadnabi said FIFA had proposed the Tijuana camp and Iran had accepted the arrangement. “FIFA proposed this camp, and FIFA should tell you what has happened,” he said.
JOHANNESBURG: Democratic Republic of Congo will return to the World Cup in June after a 52-year absence as the vast central Africa nation reels from health and security crises. A deadly Ebola outbreak in the east of the country had recorded 10 confirmed and 223 suspected deaths by May 24. The Geneva-based World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that the true spread of the epidemic, thought to have circulated under the radar for some time, is likely much wider. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus from Ethiopia is heading to DR Congo, pledging to do “everything in my power” to conquer the outbreak. Fortunately, none of the 26 stars chosen to represent DR Congo at the four-yearly global showpiece in the United States, Canada and Mexico, play in the affected areas. French coach Sebastien Desabre selected 24 players from 11 European countries, one with a club in the United Arab Emirates and one with Egyptian outfit Pyramids. As the Ebola epidemic spreads and scientists race to develop a vaccine to combat it, fighting between government troops and the Rwanda-backed M23 militia has been raging. The mineral-rich east of the country has been scarred by violence from various armed groups for more than three decades. From 2021, the M23 has seized swathes of territory and fighting has stepped up since the beginning of last year. The national football team, known as the Leopards, are training in Europe ahead of Group K showdowns with Cristiano Ronaldo-inspired Portugal, Colombia and Uzbekistan. Having survived a marathon 13-match qualifying program from Mauritania to Mexico, Desabre and his squad want to erase memories of 1974 in then West Germany. Then called Zaire, the first sub-Saharan qualifiers for the World Cup suffered a
ATHENS: Before North America, World Cup magic made a stopover in Greece. Players battled and bonded not at the mega-stadiums of Mexico, Canada and the United States, but on practice fields squeezed into urban neighborhoods of Athens. There were no luxury suites or grand arenas — just a local soccer competition where migrants and Greek players kicked the ball on city fields before crowds pressed to chain‑link fences, as music spilled into the streets. And while Albania, Afghanistan, Cameroon, Guinea, Mali, Nigeria and Sudan didn’t qualify for the World Cup, amateur players with ties to those countries brought their best game in Athens. Many migrant players have been bracing for the implementation of Europe’s stricter migration and asylum rules in June. But the tournament for migrant and refugee communities was a joyful distraction, a celebration of football and identity. At one venue near Plato’s Academy, where ancient Athenians once debated the meaning of citizenship, the Acropolis rose in the distance beyond the field.
ANTALYA, Turkiye: Iran will have an answer from US authorities over their World Cup visa applications “this week,” their football federation vice president Mehdi Mohammad Nabi said on Friday.
AMMAN: Jordan play at their first World Cup determined to show they belong at football’s top table and with Lionel Messi’s Argentina presenting the most daunting of prospects. Jamal Sellami’s side face Austria in a tough Group J on their World Cup debut on June 16, followed by Algeria and then reigning champions Argentina in their final pool game in Dallas. The tournament expanding to 48 teams from 32 helped propel Jordan, a country of 12 million people with a creaking football infrastructure, to their maiden finals. “We have the right to dream,” the former Moroccan international Sellami told AFP. “We are not thinking like a team satisfied with mere participation.” Jordan had eight wins, five draws and three defeats from their 16 Asian qualifying matches, coming second behind South Korea in their group to make a slice of history. Huge celebrations erupted in Amman, fans driving through the capital honking their horns and chanting while others waved the national flag in triumph. It was a second major milestone for the national side in 16 months, having reaching their first Asian Cup final. They were beaten 3-1 by hosts Qatar in the continental decider in February 2024 but were hugely impressive in getting there against all expectations under their much-admired previous coach Hussein Ammouta. The exciting attacking duo of Yazan Al-Naimat and Mousa Al-Tamari were pivotal in that run, terrorizing the South Korean defense in a 2-0 win over Son Heung-min’s side in the semifinals. But Naimat will miss the World Cup in North America with a serious knee injury, one of several injury blows to the Jordan squad. Jordan’s Asian Cup heroics and World Cup qualification came against the backdrop of deep-rooted problems in domestic
AUCKLAND: Auckland FC goalkeeper Michael Woud has had to put his wedding plans on hold after being selected in New Zealand’s squad for the World Cup, but he says taking part in soccer’s biggest tournament is not a bad reason to cancel. Woud got engaged a year ago when he had little inkling he would be in coach Darren Bazeley’s World Cup plans and had intended to wed fiancée Zana Renton around the time of the June 11 to July 19 finals in North America. Bazeley confirmed six-cap Woud as his third goalkeeper in the 26-man squad behind Max Crocombe and Alex Paulsen this month. And while Woud might not get to play a minute at the World Cup, he said Renton had signed off on it. “My fiancée was really supportive about it.