World Cup
Six of the best as Morocco win handsomely in World Cup qualification
Striker Ayoub El Kaabi netted a hat-trick as Morocco stormed to a 6-0 win over Congo in World Cup qualification on Tuesday, maintaining their 100% start to the African preliminaries for the 2026 finals in North America.
But other leading contenders, Cameroon and African champions Ivory Coast, were held to away draws on a busy day of action around the continent.
El Kaabi kept up the goalscoring form that helped Olympiakos win the Europa Conference League last month with his hat-trick as Morocco made it three wins out of three in Group E.
The thrashing of Congo in Agadir started with a sumptuous curling goal from Azzedine Ounahi and there were also goals for Chadi Riad and Soufiane Rahimi as Morocco reminded everyone of their exploits at the last World Cup in Qatar where they reached the semi-finals.
Zambia were expected to prove the toughest challenger for Morocco in the group but their chances are now severely impaired after a 1-0 home defeat by neighbours Tanzania. Waziri Junior scored the only goal of the game in the fifth minute.
Ivory Coast had their 100% start to their Group F campaign halted in a 0-0 draw away against Kenya but remain top of the standings. The match was played in Lilongwe, Malawi because Kenya, due to co-host the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations finals, do not have a suitable stadium for their home internationals.
Kenya had an effort cleared off the Ivorian goalline midway through the second half before Ivorian substitute Oumar Diakite struck the woodwork in the 82nd minute.
Cameroon top Group D after a potentially important point away against Angola after Bryan Mbeumo put them ahead in the 11th minute before a home fightback in Luanda saw Angola force a second-half own goal from Michael Ngadeu for a deserved share of the spoils.
Also in the group, Diney Borges’ 10th minute goal allowed Cape Verde to beat Libya 1-0 while Mauritius won a World Cup qualifier for only the second time as they edged Eswatini 2-1 at home.
EXILE
Sudan went to the top of Group B despite the civil war raging in the country that has brought their league to a halt and forced players into exile. They won their derby away against South Sudan 3-0, spoiling the re-opening of the renovated stadium in Juba attended by FIFA president Gianni Infantino.
The victory saw Sudan move two points ahead of Senegal in the standings.
Mali missed out on a chance to move closer to leaders Ghana in Group I after being held by 10-man Madagascar, who had centre back Louis Demoleon sent off in the 15th minute of the match played at Soccer City in Johannesburg
But Mali failed to make use of the advantage and played out a goalless draw. They had only arrived in South Africa 10 hours before the afternoon kick off after botched travel arrangements.
Comoros Islands are level with Ghana on nine points after a 2-0 away win over Chad.
Thapelo Morena scored a second-half double as South Africa joined Benin and Rwanda at the head of Group C with seven points from four matches after winning their derby against Zimbabwe 3-1 in Bloemfontein.
Iqraam Rayners’ goal after 31 seconds handed South Africa a dream start only for Zimbabwe to equalise within a minute through Wolverhampton Wanderers striker Tawanda Chirewa, winning only his second cap.
Rwanda won 1-0 away against Lesotho at the same time with a goal from Jojea Kwizera, who plays for Rhode Island in the second tier of football in the U.S.
Benin had gone top of the standings on Monday after a shock 2-1 win over Nigeria.
Tuesday’s matches concluded the fourth round of African World Cup qualifiers, which will resume in March next year.
-Reuters
With just a year to go until the 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off in the United States, concerns are mounting over the impact of extreme summer heat on players and fans.
According to experts interviewed by the BBC, FIFA may be forced to adjust match schedules drastically—possibly even staging the World Cup final as early as 9 a.m.—to mitigate the risks posed by soaring temperatures.
The warnings follow sweltering conditions witnessed during recent international and Club World Cup matches held in the U.S., where athletes and spectators alike were exposed to intense heat and humidity.
One of the leading voices raising the alarm is Professor Mike Tipton, an expert in thermal physiology at the University of Portsmouth. Speaking to BBC Sport, he emphasised the potential health risks of playing in extreme conditions and recommended that matches begin as early in the day as possible.
“From a thermo-physiological point of view, for health and performance reasons, I would look to start matches as early as possible,” Tipton stated, suggesting that even the final—traditionally held in the afternoon or evening—could be moved to a morning kickoff.
Tipton went further, noting that the ideal solution would be to host the tournament during a cooler time of year, as was done with the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, which was shifted to November and December due to extreme heat.
However, with the 2026 tournament already locked in for June 11 to July 19, FIFA’s only remaining flexibility lies in scheduling match times.
The 2026 edition will be jointly hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico across multiple cities, some of which are known for intense summer heat.
Health experts are urging organisers to prioritise player safety and fan well-being, warning that failing to act could lead to performance issues, heat-related illnesses, or worse.
FIFA has yet to publicly comment on any proposed changes to match schedules, but as temperatures continue to rise, pressure is mounting for the governing body to take decisive action ahead of football’s biggest tournament.
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FIFA’s Global Football Development chief Arsene Wenger acknowledged that the quality of pitches hosting Club World Cup matches in the U.S. was not good enough, but insisted it would be better when the country co-hosts the 2026 World Cup.
The pitches, often very dry and sprinkled with water during cooling breaks or at halftime, have been widely criticised, mainly by coaches and players of the European teams taking part.
“I’ve been personally on the pitch at Orlando,” former Arsenal manager Wenger said on Saturday. “It’s not at the level that the European clubs are used to because it’s not perfect, but that will be rectified for the World Cup next year.”
Paris St Germain coach Luis Enrique raised the issue early in the expanded Club World Cup tournament.
“The ball bounces like a rabbit,” Luis Enrique said after his team’s opening 4-0 win over Atletico Madrid.
“Today, for example, the field used to be artificial turf, and now it’s natural grass laid over it, which means it has to be watered manually. It’s a big problem for the way we play.”
“FIFA really needs to take this seriously. Not just the stadium fields but also the training pitches. If we’re calling this the best club tournament in the world, it should have world‑class facilities. I can’t imagine an NBA game played on a court full of holes.”
-Reuters
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Congo will be allowed to continue participating in the World Cup qualifiers despite missing two fixtures in March when they were banned, world football’s governing body FIFA said on Wednesday.
Congo were suspended from February to May because of government interference in the running of their football association (FECOFOOT) but the ban was lifted when officials returned to their positions and were handed back access to their headquarters and technical training centre.
Sports minister Hugues Ngouelondele had appointed an ad-hoc committee last year to run the association, claiming it needed to sort out disputes among association office bearers, but FIFA suspended FECOFOOT due to third-party interference, which violates its statutes.
During the ban, Congo were not allowed to participate in any international competition, which meant they did not honour 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Tanzania and Niger in March.
A FIFA spokesman told Reuters the points from those fixtures were forfeited and a 3-0 victory awarded to their opponents.
But they will continue in the qualifiers when they resume in September, even if they have no chance of qualifying.
Congo are scheduled to play Tanzania at home in September and conclude their fixtures in October with matches at Niger and Morocco.
Congo have no points in the group, which Morocco lead with 15 points, six more than Tanzania in second place.
The group winner qualifies for next year’s World Cup in North America while the runner-up has a possibility to participate in playoffs if they are among the four best second-placed teams in the nine African qualifying groups.
FIFA has taken a hard line on government interference in football matters with the likes of Chad, Kenya, Pakistan and Zimbabwe among those banned in recent years.
Congo were African champions in 1972 but have never been to a World Cup.
-Reuters
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