World Football News – The latest world football news

IRAN WORLD CUP GROUP REVEALED

Iran are going to the World Cup 2022 tournament in Qatar after they sealed qualification as one of the four automatic teams in the Asian qualifiers. They qualified for the World Cup 2022 tournament alongside South Korea, Japan and Saudi Arabia from the Asian region. Iran (25 points from ten games) finished two points ahead of South Korea (23 points from ten games) in Group A of the third round in the Asian qualifiers to secure a place in Qatar automatically with the top two sealing passage to the tournament via the automatic route.Saudi Arabia won Group B of the third round in the Asian qualifiers with 23 points, while Japan finished runners-up on 22 points with the two teamssealing passages to the tournament in Qatar later in the year.

For the World Cup 2022 tournament, Iran have been drawn with 1966 champions England,the United States of America (USA) and the winner of the European playoffs involving three teams namely Scotland, Wales and Ukraine. Continue reading

ARGENTINA TO FACE LEWANDOWSKI IN QATAR

Former world champions Argentina will have to navigate a World Cup 2022 group that has Bayern Munich hitman Robert Lewandowski who has won the last two editions of the FIFA Player of the Year award in the men’s game after they were drawn with Poland. The two-time world champions were drawn in Group C alongside Poland, Mexico and Saudi Arabia when the draw for the World Cup 2022 tournament took place earlier this month.

Argentina would be hoping to end their wait for a World Cup title in Qatar buoyed by the presence of Lionel Messi who scored seven goals during the qualifiers. He was the joint topscorer for Argentina in the qualifiers for the World Cup 2022 tournament alongside Lautaro Martinez. Both Messi and Martinez scored seven goals and they might still add to the tally when Brazil and Argentina take on each other in June this year to decide the game abandoned in September 2021. Continue reading

BALE DOUBLE TAKES WALES TO FINAL

Real Madrid attacker Gareth Bale was at the double as he masterminded Wales progress to the final of the playoffs in path A of the European qualifiers as far as the World Cup 2022 tournament on Qatari soil is concerned. Wales had earlier settled for the playoffs after finishing behind Belgium in their qualifying group.

In the playoffs, they were drawn in path A alongside three other teams namely Austria, fellow home nation Scotland and Ukraine. Wales were drawn to face Austria at home in a one-legged playoff tie to progress into the final, while Scotland were drawn to face Ukraine at home also in a one-legged playoff tie for a place in the final. Continue reading

SALAH VS MANE: WHO MISSES WORLD CUP?

While the draw for the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers (African category) was released some days ago, it has continued to make some rounds and attract more attention as well as different opinions. One of the major reasons for this is particularly because if the fact that two of Africa’s best players and English Premier League giants Liverpool duo Mohammed Salah and Sadio Mane have been pitted to play against one another.

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One of the exciting games from the draw is one thar will see Senegal face Egypt in the qualifier and it automatically means that either of the two African stars will have to miss the showpiece event later this year. Both players are still with their countries at the ongoing African Cup of Nations tournament trying to guide their respective countries to the title with the two nations seen as two of the favorites to lift the crown at the end of the competition.
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ARGENTINA SEAL QATAR 2022 SPOT

Two-time world champions Argentina have booked their place at the World Cup 2022 tournament joining the likes of arch rivals Brazil, Germany and defending champions France. The Argentines were able to secure their place at the World Cup 2022 tournament thanks to the goalless draw with Brazil in the latest set of games in the South American section.

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Argentina could not take down the Brazilians just like they did when the two teams met at the Copa America tournament in the summer. The Argentines ended their long wait for a trophy by beating Brazil 1-0 in front of their fans thanks to the first half strike from Paris Saint Germain (PSG) attacker Angel Di Maria.
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BRAZIL MAINTAIN SIX-POINT LEAD OVER ARGENTINA

Leaders Brazil maintained their six-point lead at the top of the South American log ahead of the World Cup 2022 tournament in the Asian nation of Qatar courtesy the emphatic victory over Uruguay. The Uruguayans were on the receiving end of a 4-1 thrashing at the hands of the Selecao. Brazil were able to move closer to securing a place at the World Cup 2022 tournament by virtue of the big win over the Uruguayans.

Brazil took an early lead in their matchday twelve (12) clash at home to Uruguay thanks to Paris Saint Germain (PSG) attacker Neymar. The ex-Santos and Barcelona forward scored the first goal of the game on ten minutes. Leeds United star Raphinha then scored the first of his two goals for his country eight minutes later to double the advantage. Continue reading

SLIMANI LEADS AFRICAN SCORING CHART

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Lyon striker Islam Slimani is the leading goalscoreron the African continent ahead of the World Cup 2022 tournament in Qatar. Slimani is the highest goalscorer amongst the African players after his four-goal performance in the colours of Algeria against Djibouti in a Group A encounter played last week Thursday.

Slimani scored four goals for Algeria as they thumped lowly Djibouti 8-0 at home. The African champions showed their class with an emphatic performance. RamyBensebaini, Baghdad Bounedjah (penalty), RiyadMahrez and RamizZerrouki were the other goalscorers for the Algerians during the World Cup 2022 qualifier. In the other Group A clash played last week Thursday, LacinaTraore (penalty) and Mohamed Konate scored in three second half minutes to hand Burkina Faso a 2-0 win over hosts Niger Republic. Continue reading

LYON AGREE DEAL TO SIGN AJAX GOALKEEPER

French Ligue 1 club Olympique Lyon have agreed a deal in principle to sign Ajax goalkeeper Andre Onana, according to multiple reports. The Cameroon international goalkeeper who is yet to feature in any game of football since he was slapped with a ban following a discovery that he failed a doping test, had been attracting a lot of interest from a couple of clubs across Europe including English Premier League club Arsenal. But the Gunners were concerned about his football ban and it resulted in them not making any formal approach to his club Ajax for the acquisition of his services.

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Arsenal may now have to look elsewhere in their search for a new goalkeeper this summer as reports continue to make the rounds that German shot-stopper Bernd Leno could be leaving the Emirates this summer. Leno’s future at Arsenal has come under question a couple of times in the past but he is still an Arsenal player for now but with the reports continuing to gather pace, it is likely that the north London club could be willing to cash in on him in the coming weeks.
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PEREZ: ZIDANE DREAMS OF BECOMING FRANCE COACH

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has revealed that the club’s former manager Zinedine Zidane has the dream of becoming the head coach of the France national team in the future.

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Zidane stepped down from his role as Real Madrid manager after revealing that he no longer felt trusted at the club following Perez’s failure to promise him enough funds to sign new players this summer, but the president has subtly quashed those claims and revealed that the French manager is always welcome to return to Madrid because it’s his home.
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STADIUM BANS TRIGGER QUALIFYING FIXTURES POSTPONEMENT

While preparations have been going smoothly ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2022 that will be kicking off next year, there are new developments that are currently set to pose a direct impact on the tournament. According to several reports, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) ordered the ban of some stadiums that were earlier selected to be used as venues for World Cup Qualifying fixtures.

The fixtures were initially set to take place in June but based on the latest developments, there will be a shift in the schedules. Earlier in the week, a report was gathered that CAF decided to place a strict ban on as many as 20 countries (out of the entire 54 member countries) on their stadiums from being used as venues for international fixtures.

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These stadiums have been chalked off the earlier prepared list and will no longer be used as venues for these fixtures because they do not meet the required standards that they should meet. Because of the ban, several teams are now left without any venues to play their matches, with 8 of the participating 40 teams waiting for updates on the new venues they will have to make use of.
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