FIFA has unveiled the official match ball for the 2026 World Cup, combining high-tech refinements and design details celebrating the three co-host countries — the United States, Mexico and Canada.
The ball, called Trionda, was again designed by German manufacturer Adidas, provider of the official World Cup balls since the 1970 tournament.
“I am delighted and proud to present the Trionda,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino as the ball was revealed at an event in New York on Thursday.
The first World Cup organized by three countries, with 48 teams competing, inspired both the name and the design of the ball featuring red, blue and green colors.
Iconography from each host nation — maple leaves from Canada, the eagle from Mexico and stars from the United States also feature, with a triangle referring to the unity of the three countries.
Less visible are technological advancements that include deep seams designed to produce “optimal in-flight stability” and embossed icons that improve grip in wet or humid conditions.
A motion sensor chip will relay information on the ball’s movement, sending data to the video assistant referee (VAR) system.
The unveiling marks another step in the countdown to the North American World Cup, which will be held June 11-July 19 next year.
FIFA has launched its online phased ticket sales procedures, with more than 4.5 million fans from 216 countries and territories entering the presale draw.
The tournament draw will be held in Washington on December 5. (JapanToday)
European soccer body UEFA is moving toward a vote to suspend its member federation Israel over the war in Gaza, people familiar with the proposal told The Associated Press on Thursday.
A majority of UEFA’s 20-member executive committee is expected to support any vote in favor of suspending Israeli teams from international play, two sources told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.
Such a step would prevent Israeli national and club teams from playing in international competitions including next year’s World Cup. Israel’s men’s team is set to resume its World Cup qualifying campaign in two weeks with away games against Norway and Italy.
It is unclear whether world soccer body FIFA will support excluding Israel given the close relations between FIFA’s leader, Gianni Infantino, and President Donald Trump.
The Trump administration’s support to secure the World Cup, and process visas for players, officials and potentially hundreds of thousands of visiting fans, is seen as key to FIFA delivering a successful tournament in the U.S., Canada and Mexico next year.
A State Department spokesperson said it will work to stop any efforts that tried to ban Israel’s team from the World Cup.
FIFA’s ruling council is scheduled to meet in Zurich next week. The 37-member council includes eight from UEFA.
FIFA declined to comment on Thursday. Infantino is based this week at FIFA’s satellite office in Trump Tower in Manhattan while attending events on the fringes of the United Nations General Assembly.
Calls to exclude Israel from soccer and other sports have increased in recent weeks amid an outcry over the humanitarian toll of its military campaign in Gaza. Last week Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said Israel should be banned from international sports events just like Russia, which was sidelined after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Earlier this week seven independent experts working with the U.N. Human Rights Council urged FIFA and UEFA to suspend Israel from international competitions.
UEFA and its president Aleksander Ceferin signaled a tougher view on Israel last month when banners saying “Stop Killing Children. Stop Killing Civilians” were placed on the field in front of the Paris Saint-Germain and Tottenham teams ahead of the Super Cup game in Udine, Italy.
The discussion about whether to ban Israel from international sports comes as Israel faces increasing criticism and isolation over its military campaign, launched in response to the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023.
Last week, Israel was accused of committing genocide in Gaza by an inquiry commission commissioned by the United Nations Human Rights Council.
Israel’s sports and culture minister, Miki Zohar, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the head of Israel’s soccer federation, Moshe Zuares, have been working “intensively behind the scenes” to block efforts to oust Israel from UEFA, Zohar’s office said Thursday. “The right step now is to act responsibly with the professionals and not to make statements, and this is how all the parties involved in the efforts are acting. We will address this later.”
The decision to ban Russia in 2022 was partly driven by a swath of UEFA member federations refusing to play scheduled games against Russian opponents. No national or club team in Europe has so far refused to play an Israeli opponent, though soccer leaders in Norway and Italy have publicly expressed their unease in recent weeks.
The Norwegian soccer federation also pledged to give its profits from ticket sales for the Oct. 11 game in Oslo to humanitarian work in Gaza by Doctors Without Borders.
Both Italy’s Gabriele Gravina and Lise Klaveness of Norway are elected members of the UEFA executive committee which could vote on suspending Israel. Zuares, the Israeli soccer federation president, is also on the panel as is Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, a member of the Qatari government who is president of European champion Paris Saint-Germain.
Israel enraged Qatar, an influential U.S. ally that has been a key mediator throughout the war, with a Sept. 9 airstrike targeting Hamas leaders in Doha, the Qatari capital.
At the Champions League final in May, PSG fans displayed a banner saying “Stop Genocide in Gaza” in French. UEFA did not open a disciplinary case despite having rules against political messaging inside stadiums.
On Wednesday evening in Greece, Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv played PAOK in the UEFA-organized Europa League. There were pro-Palestinian protests outside the stadium in Thessaloniki and a “Stop Genocide” banner displayed inside. (JapanToday)
The world’s football governing body, FIFA, has officially opened disciplinary actions against South Africa for fielding an ineligible player, Teboho Mokoena, during a 2026 World Cup qualifying match against Lesotho in March, PUNCH Online reports.
South African outlet, SABC Sport, reports that FIFA has levelled charges against the South African Football Association and Mokoena.
The report stated, “In a letter to SAFA dated September 15, 2025 – seen by the public broadcaster, FIFA confirmed that both the player and the association face charges of breaching several disciplinary regulations, including the fielding of an ineligible player.
“The case has been referred to the FIFA Disciplinary Committee, with SAFA and Mokoena given six days to submit their response.”
Bafana Bafana are facing charges after fielding Mokoena, who was ineligible to play in March’s 2026 World Cup qualifier against Lesotho.
The 28-year-old midfielder had accumulated two yellow cards earlier in the qualifiers – first against Benin in November 2023 and then against Zimbabwe in June 2024 – which, under FIFA rules, triggered a one-match ban.
If found guilty, Bafana Bafana could be forced to forfeit the result of the match, which would hand Lesotho a 3–0 victory on paper, while other sanctions such as fines or suspensions could also be imposed.
South Africa currently lead Group C with 17 points, but a potential deduction will see them level on points with the Benin Republic (14) and also reduce the gap between them and Nigeria to three points, leaving the chances of picking the automatic ticket open with two games to go.
Lesotho, meanwhile, will find their tally bumped up from six points to nine, but will remain in fifth position, two points behind third-placed Nigeria and fourth-placed Rwanda on 11 points each.
South Africa will face Zimbabwe and Rwanda in their final two qualifiers in October.
Meanwhile, Nigeria will face Lesotho (away) and the Benin Republic (home), with the hope that South Africa slip up in either or both of their fixtures.
FIFA has recently punished Equatorial Guinea for also fielding an ineligible player, Emilio Nsue, during the qualifiers, and the decision was upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sports. (Punch)
Nigeria produced a sensational second-half comeback to beat hosts Morocco 3-2 and seal a record-extending 10th Women’s Africa Cup of Nations title.
The Atlas Lionesses led 2-0 at the break in Rabat through Ghizlane Chebbak’s fine curling effort and a scuffed shot from Sanaa Mssoudy.
But Esther Okoronkwo inspired the West Africans after the break, pulling a goal back from the penalty spot in the 64th minute after Nouhaila Benzina handled Folamide Ijamilusi’s cross.
Okoronkwo burst into the Morocco box and squared for Ijamilusi to equalise in the 71st minute, then teed up substitute Jennifer Echegini to score the winner with two minutes of the game remaining.
The 21,000-capacity Olympic Stadium was stunned into silence as the Super Falcons players collapsed to the turf in celebrations at the final whistle after producing a seemingly unlikely revival that will live long in the memory.
Nigeria billed their campaign as Mission X and have achieved their target, reclaiming the title they last won in 2018 and preserving their 100% record in Wafcon finals.
Morocco, meanwhile, had hired 2023 Women’s World Cup-winning coach Jorge Vilda after he parted company with Spain in a bid to land their first continental crown, but have now lost back-to-back Wafcon finals.
The Super Falcons pick up $1m in prize money – which has been doubled since the last edition – and become the first side to lift the new-look Wafcon trophy.
However, the stadium had largely emptied out by the time Fifa president Gianni Infantino and Confederation of African Football counterpart Patrice Motsepe took to the stage for the presentation.
The 2024 edition of the tournament had been delayed because of scheduling issues last year, which included the participation of the West Africans and Zambia at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Nigeria had not been shy in expressing their intentions of winning their 10th Wafcon, with players consistently asked about that target in media engagements.
The Super Falcons have certainly backed up their off-field talk in their performances in Morocco this month as coach Justin Madugu found the right blend in the knockout phase.
Yet the top-ranked side in Africa made a poor start and Nigeria were unable to match Morocco’s level in the first half.
The North Africans went ahead in the 13th minute when Halimatu Ayinde gave the ball to Chebbak, who sent a fine shot just inside the left-hand upright, and doubled their lead 11 minutes later when Mssoudy shot across goal.
Okoronkwo was composure personified after the intervention of VAR to make it 2-1 from the spot, and then kept her head when she burst through the Morocco defence to control, pause and put the ball on a plate for Ijamilusi.
Another big moment came when Morocco were awarded a penalty in the 79th minute when Imane Saoud helped a cross onto the hand of Blessing Demehin, who was barely two yards away.
Chebbak had the ball on the spot when Namibian referee Antsino Twanyanyukwa was called to the VAR screen and overturned her decision almost four minutes later.
And the comeback was completed when Okoronkwo provided a pin-point free-kick delivery and Echegini got ahead of centre-back Benzina to sweep home from six yards out.
The West Africans have now beaten a third host nation in a Wafcon final following successes over South Africa and Cameroon in 2000 and 2016 respectively. (BBC)
Cole Palmer scored two goals and made another as Chelsea stunned Paris Saint-Germain in the final of the Club World Cup on Sunday, beating the European champions 3-0 at the MetLife Stadium to win the first edition of FIFA’s new competition.
PSG were the favourites for a game attended by Donald Trump after coming to the United States fresh from winning the UEFA Champions League and having destroyed Real Madrid 4-0 in the semi-finals.
But having been three goals ahead midway through the first half in the semis, this time the roles were reversed as PSG found themselves 3-0 down by the break.
Palmer opened the scoring midway through the first half and struck again to make it two on the half-hour mark, before taking advantage of passive defending to set up Joao Pedro for the third on 43 minutes.
A bad day for PSG was summed up when Joao Neves was shown red following a VAR review four minutes from the end for pulling Marc Cucurella by the hair off the ball.
It was a scoreline that few could have predicted as Chelsea capped what has been a long but memorable season — they are the first ever winners of the 32-team Club World Cup having also won the UEFA Conference League and finished fourth in the Premier League.
They will also take away around $125 million in prize money, meaning the prospect of a drastically curtailed summer break before returning for next season will surely feel worth it.
For PSG, meanwhile, the financial rewards are similar but there will be genuine disappointment at falling short of adding this title to their Champions League triumph and French league and cup double.
Nevertheless, conquering Europe was always the main aim this season for Luis Enrique’s team, who now have exactly a month to digest this and take a holiday before returning to action in the UEFA Super Cup against Tottenham Hotspur.
There was a real sense of occasion at the MetLife Stadium, with the backdrop of the Manhattan skyline and with President Trump in attendance along with First Lady Melania Trump in a crowd of 81,118.
There was even the first-ever half-time show at a FIFA tournament, adding a Super Bowl feel to a final played at the home of NFL sides the New York Giants and New York Jets.
As for the football, for the second time in six weeks PSG found themselves involved in a final that quickly turned into a one-sided affair.
The club claimed a historic 5-0 win over Inter Milan in the Champions League final, but here they were ripped apart by Chelsea on another hot afternoon.
Palmer almost put Chelsea ahead inside the opening 10 minutes, before PSG should have scored at the other end only for Desire Doue to try to pass to Achraf Hakimi rather than shoot inside the box, allowing Cucurella to block.
It was Chelsea who struck in the 22nd minute as Malo Gusto got the better of Nuno Mendes down the right before seeing his shot blocked by Lucas Beraldo. The ball came back to Gusto and he teed up Palmer to finish into the bottom-left corner.
Palmer has been the face of Chelsea on billboards in the United States during the tournament and he lived up to his star billing by scoring again on the half-hour. (Punch)
Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo says he will not play at this month’s Club World Cup after turning down offers from participating teams.
The 40-year-old is out of contract with Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr at the end of June.
In May, Fifa president Gianni Infantino raised the prospect of Ronaldo joining a team involved at the Club World Cup after Al-Nassr’s failure to qualify.
“I will not be at the Club World Cup,” said Ronaldo.
“Some teams reached out to me. Some made sense and others did not, but you can’t try and do everything. You can’t catch every ball.”
Ronaldo posted on social media that “the chapter is over” following Al-Nassr’s final league game of the season in May, leading to speculation he was set for a move.
However, sources have told BBC Sport that the club are confident of extending Ronaldo’s deal.
Speaking before Portugal’s Nations League final against Spain on Sunday (20:00 BST), Ronaldo said a decision on his future was “almost final”.
The striker joined Al-Nassr in 2023 after the termination of his deal with Manchester United.
He has scored 99 goals in 111 appearances for the club, including 35 times in 41 matches last term.
Ronaldo scored the winner in a 2-1 victory against Germany on Wednesday to book Portugal’s spot in the Nations League final. (BBC)
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