2026 World Cup - players.bio

Nagelsmann backs Woltemade to shine for injury-hit Germany

BERLIN: Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann on Thursday backed Newcastle striker Nick Woltemade to lead the line for his injury-hit side in their 2026 World Cup qualification bid. The Germans face Luxembourg away on Friday before returning home to take on Slovakia on Monday, with the latter match likely to determine who qualifies for the tournament directly. Woltemade, 23, has only played six games for Germany since making his debut in June. He scored the winner in October’s 1-0 victory over Northern Ireland, his first Germany goal. “Right now he’s super important because we’ve got a few players out injured in that position and because he’s a very good player,” Nagelsmann said. “He’s in high demand for us right now because he’s doing well, he’s important in pressing, in holding onto the ball and in scoring goals.” The 1.98-meter tall Woltemade hit the ground running in England after moving to Newcastle in the summer, scoring in four of his first five Premier League games. “He’s scored several times already.

FIFA clears 2 recruits for Congo to play in African qualifying playoffs

ZURICH: FIFA approved two soccer players to change national eligibility to Congo from Belgium ahead of 2026 World Cup qualifying playoffs for Africa starting Thursday. Celtic forward Michel-Ange Balikwisha and Standard Liege goalkeeper Matthieu Epolo are now available to play for Congo against Cameroon in a playoffs semifinal. Both players have Congolese family ties and were born in Belgium. They represented Belgium at youth and Under-21 level though not the senior national team, which let FIFA approve the changes. FIFA said Epolo’s move was approved Wednesday and Balikwisha was cleared Tuesday. The winner of Congo vs.

Turkiye imposes bans on 102 players in gambling probe

ANKARA: Turkiye’s football federation (TFF) on Thursday imposed bans of various lengths against 102 players from its league’s top two tiers as part of a probe into alleged betting on matches, with Galatasaray’s Eren Elmali and Metehan Baltaci among those sanctioned. Earlier this month, the TFF suspended 149 referees and assistant referees after an investigation found that officials working in the country’s professional leagues were betting on football matches. The probe widened on Monday with the arrest of eight people, including the chairman of a top-tier club, and the suspension of 1,024 players from all leagues as the investigation continues. Matches in the second and third-tier leagues were also suspended for two weeks. In a statement, the TFF’s Professional Football Disciplinary Council (PFDK) announced the bans that local media said involved 25 players from the top-tier Super Lig and 77 players from the second tier. Under the measure, the PFDK imposed bans of 45 days and nine months on Elmali and Baltaci, respectively.

Jude Bellingham facing fight to get back in England team

LONDON: Jude Bellingham might have to wait to get back in the England team, with coach Thomas Tuchel saying Wednesday he is in no rush to change his system to accommodate the return of the Real Madrid star. Since Bellingham last played for England — in a 3-1 loss to Senegal in a friendly in June — Morgan Rogers has been installed in the No. 10 role and starred in recent 5-0 wins over Serbia and Latvia that helped to clinch a spot in next year’s World Cup. Bellingham is back in the squad after fully recovering from shoulder surgery and Tuchel sees him as a No.

Mbappe says France football team ‘to remember’ Paris terror victims

PARIS: France captain Kylian Mbappe said the national football team wished to remember all the victims of the 2015 Paris terror attacks as they prepare to play on the 10th anniversary of the atrocity. On Friday, November 13, 2015, a series of attacks in Paris and around the Stade de France during a friendly match between Les Bleus and Germany left a total of 130 people dead. “Everyone knows how special tomorrow is,” Mbappe said on the eve of France’s World Cup qualifier against Ukraine. “Not in a good way.

Yamal released from Spain squad after medical treatment

BARCELONA: Lamine Yamal was released from Spain’s squad on Tuesday for their World Cup qualifiers against Georgia and Turkiye after treatment on a groin injury, prompting criticism from the Spanish football federation (RFEF). The 18-year-old Barcelona winger, who has missed five matches for his LaLiga club due to the issue, had a radiofrequency operation on Monday as Spain’s training camp began, RFEF said. “This procedure was performed without prior notification to the national team’s medical staff, who only learned of the details through a report received at 10:40 p.m. last night, which indicated a medical recommendation for rest for 7-10 days,” RFEF said in a statement. “In view of this situation, and prioritising the player’s health, safety and well-being at all times, the Royal Spanish Football Federation has taken the decision to release the player from the current squad.” Spain manager Luis de la Fuente described the situation as something he had not come across previously. “The thing is, these things happen outside the federation, that’s how it is, that’s how it happens, you have to accept it ...,” De la Fuente told Radio Nacional de Espana (RNE).

Gabon’s Aubameyang carries hopes of World Cup playoff underdogs

RABAT: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang could crown a chequered international career with success in the African World Cup playoff in Morocco this week but Gabon are very much the outsiders as four countries look to keep alive hopes of making next year’s finals. Gabon meet Nigeria in Rabat on Thursday, followed by a clash between Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of Congo, in a playoff tournament for the four best runners-up across the nine already-concluded African qualifying groups. The nine winners are automatically through to next year’s finals in Canada, Mexico and the US but this week’s mini-tournament offers the possibility of a 10th representative for the continent. Thursday’s two winners will meet in a final on Sunday to determine the African side that advances to the inter-continental playoff in March, where the last places for the 48-team World Cup will be determined. French-born Aubameyang won the African Footballer of the Year award 10 years ago on the back of his scoring exploits with Borussia Dortmund and has been Gabon’s talisman since his first cap in 2009 but never able to steer his country to international success despite them twice hosting the Africa Cup of Nations. The 36-year-old’s 80-cap tally might have been substantially higher had he not clashed with administrators and coaches and more than once temporarily retired from international football

Saudi judoka Hessah Almelaiki’s journey from ‘curiosity’ to gold

ALKHOBAR: What began as “curiosity” at university has turned into a golden future for Hessah Almelaiki.

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2026 World Cup Sport News

Nagelsmann backs Woltemade to shine for injury-hit Germany

FIFA clears 2 recruits for Congo to play in African qualifying playoffs

Turkiye imposes bans on 102 players in gambling probe

Jude Bellingham facing fight to get back in England team

Mbappe says France football team ‘to remember’ Paris terror victims

Yamal released from Spain squad after medical treatment

Gabon’s Aubameyang carries hopes of World Cup playoff underdogs

Saudi judoka Hessah Almelaiki’s journey from ‘curiosity’ to gold