World Cup
Brazilians split about Neymar breaking Pelé’s goal-scoring record
Brazil great Neymar received a plaque for becoming the team’s all-time leading goal-scorer in official matches in the early hours of Saturday.
However, the language used to describe his achievement perhaps shows many in the South American nation still consider three-time World Cup winner Pelé top of that chart.
“To Neymar Jr., the all-time top goal-scorer for the Selecao in matches against national teams,” reads the plaque delivered by the president of the Brazilian soccer confederation, Ednaldo Rodrigues, a hardcore Pelé fan. “With your goals you have brought joy to millions of Brazilians and fans all over the world.”
The first goal Neymar scored in Brazil’s 5-1 victory over Bolivia in the opening round of South American World Cup qualifying put him one above Pelé, who died on Dec. 29 aged 82 after a long fight against cancer. The 31-year-old picked up his second goal in injury time, lifting his tally to 79 in 125 appearances.
Neymar’s record-breaking goal came in the 61st minute following a low cross into the penalty box. He celebrated by punching the air, as Pelé usually did.
“I am very happy, no words for this,” Neymar said after he was handed the plaque by Rodrigues. “I never thought I would reach this record.”
Despite celebrations by Neymar and his teammates, the Brazilian soccer confederation was less effusive, as the plaque hinted.
Unlike FIFA, the confederation considers Pelé’s tally to be 95 goals in 114 matches, including those he scored in friendlies against club sides and team selections from Brazilian states.
Santos, the club where Pelé and Neymar started, also doesn’t accept that the Al-Hilal striker broke the record of the man the club and Brazilians call their king.
“The kingdom of soccer,” the club said on its social media channels, posted with an undated picture of Neymar and Pelé.
Brazilian media rejected the idea Neymar had replaced Pelé as the Selecao’s all-time top goal- scorer.
“FIFA despises part of history by not counting all goals by Pelé,” said journalist Mauro Cézar Pereira. Another columnist, Renato Mauricio Prado, described the change at the top of the charts as “an aberration.”
Some of the 18 goals that FIFA does not count for Pelé came against tough club rivals.
Pelé scored twice in Brazil’s 2-2 draw with Inter Milan in 1960. Six years later, he grabbed a hat-trick in a 5-3 victory over Atletico Madrid. Also in 1966, the Brazil icon netted another treble in a 3-1 win over Sweden’s Malmo.
Other goals scored by Pelé for Brazil came against rivals that do not exist today. In 1960, he claimed a hat-trick in a 3-1 triumph over against a combination of Egyptian and Syrian national team players. Nine years later, he netted another for Brazil in a 6-1 win against a selection from the Northeastern state of Pernambuco.
During Pelé’s career, countries often played against clubs. Brazil also used to tour Europe for friendlies, and play against clubs when other national teams were not available.
FIFA’s model to count goals ignores eight goals by Neymar during the Olympics of 2012 in London and 2016 in Rio de Janeiro. Neither tournament is considered a senior competition.
According to official numbers, Pelé has a superior goal average to Neymar’s for Brazil — and it is higher than Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, who are the all-time top scorers for Argentina and Portugal respectively.
Pelé, with 77 goals in 91 official matches, averages 0.84 goal per game. Neymar has an average of 0.62.
Neymar, who is yet to win a Copa America or a World Cup, took a humbling approach amid all the tributes.
“I want to say this (record) doesn’t mean I am better than him (Pelé) or any national team player,” he said in a short statement. “I always wanted to write my story in the national team and today I did that.”
-AP
Russia-based forward Olakunle Olusegun is still awaiting an entry visa to South Africa, creating the possibility that Nigeria may prosecute the encounter with only 21 available players.
Friday’s crucial 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying encounter at the New Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane, South Africa.
Head Coach Eric Sekou Chelle will have a total of 20 players available for Wednesday’s second training session, as the Super Eagles intensify preparations for the tie against the Crocodiles.
By Tuesday night, 18 players had checked into the team’s camp at The Ranch Hotel in Polokwane, with Portugal-based defender Zaidu Sanusi and Spain-based forward Jerome Akor Adams expected to join on Wednesday. United States-based midfielder Alhassan Yusuf Abdullahi is due to arrive on Thursday.
Chelle has had to adjust his squad following injuries to Bright Osayi-Samuel and Cyriel Dessers, prompting the late inclusion of Zaidu Sanusi and Christantus Uche of Crystal Palace. Earlier, a knock to wing-back Felix Agu had reduced the initial 23-man roster to 22.
Team captain William Ekong lacing his boots for training in Polokwane on Tuesday
Friday’s Matchday 9 fixture will kick off at 6pm South Africa time (5pm Nigeria time) at the New Peter Mokaba Stadium, as the Super Eagles aim to strengthen their position in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying race.
21 SUPER EAGLES TO BATTLE LESOTHO IN POLOKWANE
Goalkeepers: Stanley Nwabali (Chippa United, South Africa); Amas Obasogie (Singida Blackstars, Tanzania); Adeleye Adebayo (Volos FC, Greece)
Defenders: William Ekong (Al-Kholood, Saudi Arabia); Calvin Bassey (Fulham FC, England); Oluwasemilogo Ajayi (Hull City, England); Zaidu Sanusi (FC Porto, Portugal); Bruno Onyemaechi (Olympiakos, Greece); Benjamin Fredericks (Dender FC, Belgium)
Midfielders: Alex Iwobi (Fulham FC, England); Frank Onyeka (Brentford FC, England); Alhassan Yusuf Abdullahi (New England Revolution, USA); Wilfred Ndidi (Besiktas FC, Turkey); Christantus Uche (Crystal Palace, England)
Forwards: Ademola Lookman (Atalanta BC, Italy); Samuel Chukwueze (Fulham FC, England); Victor Osimhen (Galatasaray FC, Turkey); Simon Moses (Paris FC, France); Tolu Arokodare (Wolverhampton Wanderers, England); Terem Moffi (OGC Nice, France); Jerome Akor Adams (Sevilla FC, Spain)
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The Cape Verde Islands are one win away from a World Cup place that confirms the promise they have shown in recent years but would have been scarcely believable 20 years ago.
The wind-swept island archipelago, off the west coast of Africa, with a population of around 600,000, will become the second smallest country after Iceland to qualify if they win one of their last two qualifiers over the next week.
They are away to Libya on Wednesday before a home clash with Eswatini on Monday in which to ensure top spot in Group D and beat much-fancied Cameroon to the automatic qualifying spot for next year’s tournament in North America.
Cape Verde reached the last stages of qualification for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil but were deducted points for erroneously fielding a suspended player, thereby missing out on the playoffs where they would also have been two games away from reaching the finals.
In their debut Africa Cup of Nations finals appearance in 2013, Cape Verde reached the quarter-finals, prompting their coach to burst into song at the post-match press conference, and they did so again at the last edition in the Ivory Coast, unlucky to be eliminated on penalties.
Two decades ago, however, they had barely played any international football, averaging two games a year from 1986, when they joined FIFA, to 1990 when they competed in the World Cup qualifiers for the first time ranked 182nd in the world.
The progress since has been rapid, driven by actively finding players from the Diaspora around the world.
TALENT IDENTIFICATION PAYING OFF
“The football association devised new strategies around identifying and recruiting talent throughout the large Cape Verdean communities,” said U.S.-based agent Tony Araujo, who was born on the islands and worked closely with the team over decades.
“The talent identification and global recruitment process started to pay off huge dividends around 2013, when they qualified for their first Cup of Nations final.”
Scarce natural resources and an arid landscape have long caused migration from the islands, stretching back to the Portuguese colonial period.
Migrants left in droves for Portugal as well as other destinations, like the U.S. eastern seaboard and Dutch port of Rotterdam.
The squad for this week’s fixtures has six Dutch-born players plus others born in Portugal, France, and Ireland. Shamrock Rovers’ Roberto “Pico” Lopes, who will play in central defence, was among many scouted and approached, some more creatively than others.
“I set up a LinkedIn profile when I was in college but never really looked at it,” Lopes told Reuters.
“I got a message from the then coach Rui Aguas, but he wrote to me in Portuguese. I thought it was spam and took no notice.
“Then about nine months later, he messaged me back, saying, ‘Hi Roberto, have you had a chance to consider what I said to you?’ I copied the message into Google Translate. And it basically said that, ‘we’re looking at getting new players into the Cape Verde squad and would you be interested in declaring for Cape Verde? I was absolutely buzzing with that! I was like, ‘yep, 100% I’d love to be a part of the squad’,” he recalled.
In the past, it was hard for the team to attract top European-based Cape Verdean talent, Araujo said.
SUCCESS HAS ATTRACTED NEW PLAYERS
“But with new waves of recent success, a lot more European-based talents are inclined to choose Cape Verde to showcase their talents at the international level.”
Victory in Tripoli on Wednesday will be tough, but if unsuccessful they will be heavily fancied to secure qualification on Monday with home success against the Swazis.
Beating Cameroon last month set off celebrations across the islands, and those will surely be repeated with vigour should they secure a World Cup spot.
-Reuters
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Egypt will look to confirm their place at the 2026 FIFA World Cup when they face Djibouti in a Group A clash of the African qualifiers this Wednesday in Morocco.
The Pharaohs, who have appeared at the global finals three times — in 1934, 1990 and 2018 — need only two points from their remaining two matches to seal qualification for the expanded 48-team tournament in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
Currently top of Group A with 20 points, Egypt hold a five-point lead over second-placed Burkina Faso, who will also be in action away to Sierra Leone on Wednesday.
A victory on Wednesday would all but guarantee Egypt’s qualification and pave the way for celebrations in Cairo when they host Guinea-Bissau in their final qualifier on Sunday.
On paper, Hossam Hassan’s men are overwhelming favourites against bottom-placed Djibouti, who have collected just one point from eight matches and have been forced to host home fixtures outside their country due to stadium accreditation issues with the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
Head coach Hossam Hassan has kept faith with most of the players who featured in September’s matches against Ethiopia (2–0) and Burkina Faso (0–0). Star forward Mohamed Salah, Mahmoud ‘Trezeguet’ Hassan, and veteran goalkeeper Mohamed El-Shennawy headline the squad.
The only notable absentee is Omar Marmoush of Manchester City, who is sidelined with a knee injury picked up early in the draw against Burkina Faso.
Hassan — the man whose goal sent Egypt to the 1990 World Cup as a player — is now seeking to etch his name in history as one of the few to qualify for the tournament both as a player and coach.
Liverpool talisman Salah, who has gone three Premier League games without a goal, will be eager to rediscover his scoring touch, while Trezeguet is expected to share more attacking responsibility following his impressive run with Al Ahly.
Both Salah and Trezeguet, alongside El-Shennawy, will be aiming for a second World Cup appearance, having featured at Russia 2018.
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