Aston Villa Vs Chelsea: Kena Comeback, The Blues Keok 1-2

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia defeated 10-man China 1-0 in Riyadh on Thursday to get their 2026 World Cup qualification campaign back on track. Salem Al-Dawsari’s goal early in the second half moved Herve Renard’s men into third place in Group C, a point behind Australia in the battle for the second automatic qualification spot, and three clear of Indonesia, Bahrain and China. Japan defeated Bahrain 2-0 to remain nine points clear at the top of the group with three games to play, and become the first nation to clinch qualification for the tournament. Australia’s 5-1 win over Indonesia earlier in the day had piled more pressure on the Saudis, who knew that after collecting just two points from their past four qualification games, and with a trip to a dominant Japan coming up on Tuesday, only a victory would do. As expected, the Green Falcons made most of the running, and midway through the first half they came within millimeters of taking the lead. Al-Dawsari slipped the ball to Nawaf Boushal on the left side of the area and the Al-Nassr star curled a shot that bounced back off the underside of the crossbar. Eight minutes before the break the home team came even closer.

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands: European champions Spain salvaged their two-year unbeaten streak in the dying minutes of Thursday’s Nations League quarter-final first leg, denying 10-man Netherlands a famous victory with a 2-2 draw.

SPLIT, Croatia: Ivan Perisic scored one goal and made another as Croatia beat France 2-0 on Thursday to seize the upper hand in the first leg of their UEFA Nations League quarter-final tie. Perisic crossed for Ante Budimir to head in the opener at the Stadion Poljud in Split after the home side had squandered an early penalty. With France out of sorts, Perisic made it 2-0 before the break and a Croatia side captained by Luka Modric saw out the victory to take to Paris for the return match on Sunday. It was not a good night for France as captain Kylian Mbappe made his comeback having not featured in either of the last two international windows, in October and November. Mbappe did have chances, notably seeing a deflected second-half shot from Ousmane Dembele’s cutback kept out by a fine Dominik Livakovic save. The Real Madrid superstar has now failed to find the net in his last six appearances for his country, since scoring a penalty in a 1-1 draw with Poland at Euro 2024. Les Bleus will now have to find a way of overturning the deficit at the Stade de France on Sunday, otherwise Croatia will be heading to the final four of the Nations League. The semifinals and final will take place in June and will be hosted by either Italy or Germany, depending on which of those sides emerges victorious from their last-eight encounter. France won the Nations League in 2021 but suffered a first ever defeat against Croatia in the group stage of the following year’s edition. This latest repeat of the 2018 World Cup final, won 4-2 by the French in Moscow, saw Croatia win a spot-kick just five minutes in. Liverpool center-back Ibrahima Konate was penalized for a blatant handball inside the area, but Mike Maignan saved Andrej Kramaric’s

Jakarta - Gawang kelima tim ini tercatat sebagai yang paling sering dijebol Cristiano Ronaldo. Ada gawang Barcelona, rival Real Madrid yang dulu pernah dibela Ronaldo.

Kroasia berada satu kaki di semifinal UEFA Nations League. Kroasia sukses membenamkan Prancis 2-0 di perempatfinal leg pertama.

Arab Saudi mengalahkan China 1-0 pada kualifikasi Piala Dunia 2026. The Green Falcons kini berada di atas Indonesia dalam klasemen Grup C.

Jakarta - Gawang kelima tim ini tercatat sebagai yang paling sering dibobol Lionel Messi. Termasuk gawang Real Madrid, rival Barcelona yang dulu pernah Messi perkuat.

Jerman pulang dengan kemenangan dari lawatan ke Italia di leg pertama perempatfinal UEFA Nations League. Sempat tertinggal lebih dulu, Jerman berbalik menang 2-1.