World Cup
Mexico’s Guadalajara hosts World Cup playoff match under spectre of violence
Just over a month ago, Mexico’s second-largest city, Guadalajara, was reeling from a wave of violence triggered by the capture and death of cartel boss Ruben “El Mencho” Oseguera. Streets were scattered with burnt-out cars, businesses were shuttered, and spent shell casings littered the ground.
On Thursday night, the city showed a very different face. Guadalajara hosted its first international football match since that military operation as it scrambles to assuage security concerns ahead of the World Cup, which Mexico will co-host with the U.S. and Canada.
In an intense playoff match with few scoring opportunities, the Reggae Boyz defeated New Caledonia 1-0 at the nearly full 50,000-capacity Akron Stadium and took a step closer to their dream of returning to a World Cup after 28 years.
“It was something that took place only one day. The next day, everything was under control, so I didn’t cancel the plane tickets. I was always confident,” said Rick Brown, a 53-year-old Jamaican-born Canadian, who arrived in the city on Tuesday with his two young children to cheer his team in its attempt to qualify for its second World Cup.
“I feel pretty safe. There are lots of guards,” he added, pointing to the heavily armed officers outside the stadium. “The city is great. It reminds me of Jamaica: the people, the food, the weather, it’s like a home away from home”.
But much of the focus was outside the ground.
Both squads arrived at the stadium under heavy security. Military and police personnel with rifles escorted the teams from the moment they landed in the city.
Guadalajara will host four group stage matches of the World Cup, welcoming teams such as Mexico, Spain, and Uruguay. The South Korean and Colombian squads have also chosen Guadalajara as their bases.
While the city has wanted to use the World Cup as a platform to attract more tourism and has touched up local infrastructure and beautified public squares ahead of the competition, the imminent arrival of some 3 million visitors has also put a spotlight on the cartel violence and thousands of missing people in the state of Jalisco, of which Guadalajara is the capital.
“We continue to reinforce security, especially within the state. We have reestablished an institutional presence and security measures so that people feel safe and secure wherever they go. And the best way to feel safe is to see security personnel nearby,” said Jalisco’s Secretary of Public Security, Juan Pablo Hernandez, explaining that more than 2,000 officers were ensuring the safety of the teams and attendees at the stadium.
“Jamaica vs New Caledonia is one of the most important test matches we have before the World Cup,” he added, nodding that his staff has received training from the FBI and various police forces such as those of France and Colombia to address any unforeseen events related to insecurity.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino has said the international football body is “analysing” the situation in Mexico, but downplayed concerns and emphasized he had “total confidence” in the country, its President Claudia Sheinbaum, and the authorities.
DISAPPEARANCE CRISIS
In Mexico, over 132,000 people are reported missing. Jalisco, home of one of the country’s two most powerful crime groups — the Jalisco New Generation Cartel — accounts for 10% of the total.
Sheinbaum has vowed to improve the ability of authorities to find the missing by improving coordination between law enforcement agencies and making it easier for data to be shared across state lines.
But researchers and relatives of the victims say that the number of disappeared could be even higher, as one in four cases goes unreported for fear of reprisals. Families across the country have decided to take justice into their own hands, criticising local authorities for not doing enough, and sometimes searching for relatives and friends themselves.
In March of last year, in a case that shocked the country, a search group entered a ranch an hour west of Guadalajara after receiving an anonymous tip and found some 200 pairs of shoes, hundreds of articles of clothing, and charred human remains. Authorities later said the site appeared to be a killing site and training camp for the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.
Since last year, search groups have found at least 500 bags containing human remains in four graves within a 20-kilometre radius of the Akron Stadium, highlighting the magnitude of the disappearance crisis plaguing the state.
“It’s not that we disagree with the World Cup; we disagree with the excessive public spending on aesthetics or cleaning areas for tourists, when Mexico is a country going through many crises, especially regarding public safety and disappearances,” said Hector Flores, 45, co-founder of the Luz de Esperanza search group.
Speaking at a roundabout covered with posters of people who have disappeared in Jalisco, Flores recalled that his son, Hector Daniel, was taken from his home in May 2021 by the Jalisco Attorney General’s Office’s personnel. Since then, he has made the search a way of life, and after years of institutional silence, in June, a court recognized his son as a victim of enforced disappearance, confirming not only the involvement of state agents in his disappearance but also acknowledging that the Mexican state has gravely violated its human rights obligations.
The Jalisco Attorney General’s Office didn’t respond to a Reuters request for comment.
“The World Cup is an excellent opportunity to ask for help from the international community and for them to learn about the situation in Mexico. It’s unacceptable that more than 133,000 families are searching for their loved ones and absolutely nothing is happening… Jalisco is a mass grave, all of Mexico is a mass grave,” he said.
-Reuters
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Argentina’s dramatic 3-2 victory over Egypt in their FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 16 encounter on Tuesday was more than just a thrilling comeback. It was a match packed with historic milestones, record-breaking achievements and statistical landmarks.
The defending champions maintained their perfect record against Egypt, winning all three meetings between the nations, while extending their unbeaten run at the FIFA World Cup to 11 matches (nine wins and two draws), the longest such streak in Argentine World Cup history.
The victory also reinforced Argentina’s dominance against African opposition, marking a ninth consecutive World Cup triumph over teams from the continent.
It was equally significant in the knockout rounds, where La Albiceleste have now won nine of their last 11 matches.
One of the most memorable moments came from Enzo Fernández, whose dramatic winner entered football folklore as the 3,000th goal scored in FIFA World Cup history.
Earlier, Argentina remarkably had the 1,000th goal in World Cup history when they beat Nigeria 2-1 in Boston in 1994.
For much of theTuesday contest with Egypt, Argentina looked destined for elimination. Egypt’s spirited first-half display handed the South Americans an unfamiliar challenge. It was the first time Argentina had trailed in a World Cup match since their shock 2-1 defeat to Saudi Arabia in the opening game of Qatar 2022.
Even more remarkably, it was the first time Argentina had conceded a first-half goal at the World Cup since their memorable Round of 16 clash with France in Russia 2018. They had gone 11 consecutive World Cup matches without conceding before the interval.
The comeback itself was historic. Never before had Argentina recovered from a half-time deficit to win a World Cup match. Their closest previous example came in the 1990 semi-final against Italy, when they trailed 1-0 at the break before drawing 1-1 and advancing on penalties.
As expected, Lionel Messi once again found himself at the centre of history. The Argentine captain made his 31st World Cup appearance, extending his record as the most-capped player in tournament history. Cristiano Ronaldo follows on 27 appearances, while Germany’s Lothar Matthäus remains third with 25.
Messi also stretched another extraordinary record by scoring in nine successive World Cup matches, a feat unmatched in the competition’s history. The goal was also his sixth consecutive strike in a World Cup knockout-round match, a run dating back to Qatar 2022.
The Argentine superstar further cemented his place atop the all-time World Cup scoring charts with 21 goals. France’s Kylian Mbappé sits second on 19, while Germany’s Miroslav Klose is third with 16.
Argentina’s attacking consistency was also underlined as they scored at least twice in an 11th consecutive World Cup match, equalling a record previously held by Uruguay between 1930 and 1954.
For Egypt, despite the heartbreak of surrendering a two-goal lead, there were personal milestones to celebrate. Defender Yasser Ibrahim became the oldest Egyptian player to score in a World Cup knockout match at 33 years and 147 days, while veteran winger Trézéguet marked his 100th international appearance for the Pharaohs.
Yet on a night when Egypt came agonisingly close to producing one of the greatest upsets in World Cup history, Argentina’s resilience, Messi’s enduring brilliance and Fernández’s landmark goal ensured that the record books would once again belong to La Albiceleste.
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- Thursday’s quarter-final will be Morocco coach Ouahbi’s 11th game since his March appointment
- Morocco are unbeaten under Ouahbi with six wins and four draws in 10 games
- Ouahbi coached Morocco to the Under-20 World Cup title in Chile last October
Morocco coach Mohamed Ouahbi is already a World Cup-winner, but his success was at junior level, and he is treading new ground in the senior ranks as his side prepare to take on France in Thursday’s quarter-final.
It has been a remarkable ascent for the 49-year-old, born in Belgium to Moroccan parents and another example of the wealth of talent the North African can draw on from the diaspora.
Ouahbi was coach of the Morocco side that won last October’s Under-20 World Cup in Chile, ironically eliminating France at the semi-final stage.
The success made him a potential candidate to replace Walid Regragui when the Morocco coach quit after the Africa Cup of Nations in January, but the 49-year-old Ouahbi was expected to be down the pecking order.
Counting against him was a lack of experience as a senior head coach, but he got the job and has since proven wrong those who doubted he could make the transition from the juniors.
Ouahbi hails from Schaerbeek, the industrial suburb northeast of Brussels, and at 21 began as the under-nines coach at Anderlecht. He rose through the ranks to eventually become assistant to former Albanian international Besnik Hasi in 2016
But it proved a short tenure, and when Hasi was fired, Ouahbi returned to the youth ranks, working with talent at Anderlecht like current Belgium players Jeremy Doku and Youri Tielemans plus Bilal El Khannouss, who features in Morocco’s midfield.
“I have to say that he was not only a good youth coach but also a man of strong values and principles,” Jean Kindermans, who was in charge of Anderlecht’s youth development for years, told Belgian media.
Ouahbi left the club in 2021 after 17 years. “Anderlecht has had many great players trained under Mo, who went on to enjoy brilliant careers abroad,” Anderlecht wrote in a tribute.
He joined Al Fateh in Saudi Arabia, where he served as assistant coach to former Anderlecht colleague Yannick Ferrera before, four years ago, joining the Morocco federation and taking charge of their junior ranks.
“He is an incredibly good motivator,” Kindermans added.
“I think that is one of his strengths today, dealing with all those superstars, something he never was as a player himself. To command their respect, there has to be something like motivation, and that is something he is capable of.”
Thursday’s quarter-final will be Ouahbi’s 11th game in charge since his March appointment. Morocco have won six and drawn four of the previous 10 in an unbeaten run that has seen him feted for tactical changes that have improved the side.
“He sticks to his own style of play and isn’t dictated to by the opposition. When Morocco play now, we have our own identity,” says the country’s former international Youssouf Hadji, one of the team assistants.
–Reuters
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BY KUNLE SOLAJA, NEW YORK
As Morocco proudly fly Africa’s flag as the continent’s sole remaining representative at the FIFA World Cup 2026, a Reuters report has revealed that the Atlas Lions’ remarkable rise in global football has been powered by an unlikely ally — the North African kingdom’s vast phosphate wealth.
Morocco, who became the first African nation to reach a World Cup semi-final at Qatar 2022 and are now seeking to go even further in North America, have benefited from substantial investments channelled into football development by OCP Group, the world’s largest producer and exporter of phosphate fertilisers.
According to Reuters, OCP has become a key stakeholder in Morocco’s football revolution through a National Football Training Fund launched in 2024 in partnership with the Royal Moroccan Football Federation and private investors.
The initiative forms part of a broader national strategy that has transformed Morocco into one of the leading football powers on the African continent.
“We have this commitment to the development of the country,” Hicham El Habti, president of the OCP-funded University of Mohammed VI Polytechnic and a member of OCP’s strategic committee for innovation and learning, told Reuters.
El Habti explained that OCP’s involvement follows a royal directive encouraging state-owned institutions to contribute to national development goals.
“There’s a huge investment from OCP in the training fields. There is a partnership with FIFA,” he said, according to Reuters.
While OCP’s entry into football development began only two years ago, Morocco’s football transformation has deeper roots.
Reuters recalled that in 2009, King Mohammed VI directed major investments into football infrastructure across the country. The programme included the construction of modern pitches, youth academies, stadium upgrades and the recruitment of professional coaches to nurture future generations of talent.
OCP’s intervention has since accelerated those efforts by funding football academies and providing modern infrastructure, technical expertise and improved facility management.
The impact has been visible on the pitch.
Morocco’s achievements over the past four years have elevated the country into football’s elite ranks. After their historic fourth-place finish at Qatar 2022, the Atlas Lions have continued to challenge the traditional powers of the game, earning widespread respect for their organisation, technical quality and competitive spirit.
Their latest World Cup campaign has reinforced that reputation, with Morocco standing as Africa’s last hope in a tournament where several of the continent’s representatives made early exits.
Ironically, the financial foundation of this football success story lies beneath Morocco’s soil.
Phosphate, an essential ingredient in global agriculture, remains one of the world’s most strategic natural resources. Unlike nitrogen fertilisers, which can be manufactured using natural gas, phosphate is a finite resource that cannot be artificially created.
According to Reuters, global fertiliser market analyst Josh Linville of StoneX described Morocco as “the bright spot in an otherwise dismal phosphate marketplace.”
Linville noted that Morocco enjoys advantages over major competitors, many of whom face export restrictions, geopolitical uncertainties or production challenges.
The country’s strategic importance has grown even further in recent years. Reuters reported that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump recently eased some restrictions on Moroccan phosphate imports to help address global supply shortages and rising prices linked to tensions in the Middle East.
For many Moroccans, however, the value of phosphate wealth is measured not only in export revenues but also in the joy generated by football success.
Reflecting on the national mood, El Habti told Reuters that the current World Cup campaign has revived memories of the euphoria that swept the country during Qatar 2022.
“You will see every face smiling,” he said. “It reminds us of 2022. Morocco was a very happy country for two months after the end of the World Cup. I’m feeling the same energy, the same vibes now.”
With Africa’s hopes resting squarely on Moroccan shoulders, the Atlas Lions are proving that visionary planning, sustained investment and the intelligent use of natural resources can help transform footballing dreams into reality.
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