Four-time champions Italy will miss out on a third consecutive World Cup final after losing on penalties to Bosnia and Herzegovina in their European qualifying playoff for the 2026 edition.
With the match level at 1-1 after extra time, Bosnia secured the spot kicks 4-1, as the Italians, reduced to 10 men in the first half of normal time, crumpled under the pressure.
Esmir Bajraktarevic hit the winning spot kick in Zenica, where the Bosnians booked a place in Group B, as well as matches against cohosts Canada, Switzerland and Qatar, and plunged Italy into a new nightmare.
Italy took the lead in the 15th minute through Moise Kean’s fine first-time finish, curled home from the edge of the box.
The Italians were reduced to 10 men, however, when Alessandro Bastoni saw red for a professional foul, denying the home side a clear goal-scoring opportunity by chopping down Amar Memic four minutes before half-time.
After relentless pressure thereafter, they found their way to level terms, with Haris Tabakovic pouncing on a loose ball in the box following a corner.
Italy missed their first and third kicks of the shootout, while the home support were electrified as their side rifled in the four kicks they were required to take.
Italy are the first former winners to fail to qualify for three consecutive World Cup finals. Their last win in the tournament was in 2006, when current manager Gennaro Gattuso was part of the national team.
Bosnia, meanwhile, reached their second World Cup finals, and first since 2014, in front of a passionate crowd, which was sent delirious by Bajraktarevic’s decisive penalty. (AlJazeera)
Ghana have sacked manager Otto Addo, 72 days before the start of this summer’s World Cup.
Addo’s departure followed a 2-1 defeat by Germany in a friendly in Stuttgart on Monday, and a 5-1 thrashing by Austria in Vienna last Friday.
The Black Stars, who are in the same World Cup group as England, have lost their last four games and despite having Manchester City winger Antoine Semenyo and Tottenham forward Mohammed Kudus among their ranks, failed to qualify for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations under Addo.
Following the Germany game, the Ghana Football Association said, external it had “parted ways” with Addo and his exit was “effective immediately”.
It added: “The Ghana Football Association will communicate the new technical direction of the Black Stars in due course.”
Addo, 50, was born in Germany and spent his entire playing career in the country, also winning 15 caps for Ghana, and began his second spell as national team manager in March 2024.
The World Cup, which is being held in Canada, Mexico and the USA, runs from 11 June to 19 July.
Ghana will open their campaign against Panama on 18 June (00:00 BST) before facing England on 23 June (21:00 BST) and Croatia on 27 June (22:00 BST). (BBC)
President Donald Trump said he did not think it would be “appropriate” for the Iranian soccer team to attend this year’s World Cup, co-hosted by the United States, and cited safety concerns as a reason on Thursday while the countries remained embroiled in a war.
“The Iran National Soccer Team is welcome to The World Cup,” Trump wrote on his social media site, “but I really don’t believe it is appropriate that they be there, for their own life and safety.”
Iranian leaders said earlier this week that it’s “not possible” for the country to participate in the World Cup.
Trump’s message appears to depart somewhat from what the Republican president relayed Tuesday at the White House to FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who later publicly said that Trump assured him the Iranian players and coaches would be welcome.
A White House official, who insisted on anonymity to discuss private conversations, had confirmed Trump’s message to Infantino about Iran’s participation.
On Thursday, the White House did not immediately clarify what Trump meant by “their own life and safety,” such as whether he anticipated threats against them while in the United States after U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran that began Feb 28.
Iran, one of 48 teams in the tournament, is scheduled to play in Inglewood, California, against New Zealand on June 15 and Belgium on June 21 before finishing group play in Seattle against Egypt on June 26. The U.S. is hosting the tournament with Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19.
Iran’s soccer federation has planned to take the team in June to a tournament base camp in Arizona, at the Kino Sports Complex in Tucson.
Since June, Iran has been subject to a travel ban into the U.S. as part of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. But athletes and coaches from the target nations are exempt, which means the Iranian team would be allowed to enter the U.S.
But there are also likely fears from Iranian soccer players about playing in a tournament abroad where they could be feted by an anti-regime diaspora while their families face threats back home.
The Iranian women’s soccer team, which arrived in Australia to play at its Asian Cup tournament before the U.S. and Israeli bombing attacks on Iran started, did not sing the Iranian national anthem before its first game. That was widely interpreted as a gesture of protest or an act of mourning. Several members of the team stayed in Australia on humanitarian visas afterward.
At the 2022 men’s World Cup, played in Qatar, the Iranian team did not sing the anthem before a game against England and did not celebrate the two goals scored in a 6-2 loss. At that time, Iran was in turmoil several weeks after the death in police custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who had been detained for allegedly violating a strict Islamic dress code.
FIFA’s own evaluation was “low risk” for World Cup safety and security plans proposed by the U.S., Canada and Mexico soccer federations, which are guaranteed by their governments. Trump has often taken credit for “winning” the World Cup hosting rights in 2018, when the three neighbors easily beat Morocco in a vote by FIFA member federations.
“All parties have experience of hosting major sports events on a regular basis and established arrangements are in place for managing security and safety at stadiums and for high-profile individuals,” FIFA’s in-house inspection team wrote eight years ago.
Iranian athletes who previously defied the Islamic regime have left the country to continue their careers.
Iran’s first female athlete to win an Olympic medal, Kimia Alizadeh, a bronze medalist at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games in taekwondo, criticized wearing the mandatory hijab headscarf. She competed for the Olympic refugee team at Tokyo in 2021 and for Bulgaria at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Judoka Saeid Mollaei went into hiding in Germany after a dispute with Iranian team officials at the 2019 world championships. Mollaei, the defending champion, said he was ordered to lose a bout to avoid a potential gold medal match against an Israeli opponent. He got Mongolian citizenship and took silver at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. (JapanToday)
The president of Iran’s soccer federation says he does not know if the national team can play World Cup matches in the United States following the surprise U.S. and Israeli bombardment of his country.
“What is certain is that after this attack, we cannot be expected to look forward to the World Cup with hope,” Mehdi Taj told sports portal Varzesh3 as Iran traded strikes with Israel as part of a widening war prompted by the bombardment.
The U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran continued for a second day on Sunday after the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei threw the future of the Islamic Republic into uncertainty and raised the risk of regional instability.
Iran has been drawn in Group G at the World Cup and is scheduled to play in Los Angeles – where it faces New Zealand and Belgium on June 15 and 21, respectively – before it plays Egypt in Seattle on June 26.
The United States is hosting the tournament with Canada and Mexico from June 11-July 19.
Fans from Iran were already banned from entering the U.S. in the first iteration of the travel ban announced by the Trump administration.
FIFA did not immediately reply to an email from The Associated Press over the current situation regarding Iran’s participation in the World Cup. (JapanToday)
Not satisfied with inability of the Super Eagles to qualify for next year’s FIFA World Cup after similarly missing out of the last edition in Qatar in 2022, a former Vice President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Chief Gabriel Chukwuma, asked for the resignation of the entire board of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) led by Ibrahim Gusau.
Although the NFF has petition FIFA to disqualify DR Congo who defeated Super Eagles in shootouts of the final match of the African Playoffs in Morocco last month for fielding nine players that Nigeria consider ineligible”, Chukwuma stressed that seeking to get into the Intercontinental playoffs through the boardroom was beneath the three-time continental champions.
“The NFF board should resign because if they had gotten their acts together earlier, the Super Eagles would have qualified with ease without depending on play-offs or boardroom points now.”
The former proprietor of Gabros FC of Nnewi who is one of the highest stakeholders in Nigerian football, having managed a football club for 22 years from amateur to professional rank, said that apart from not qualifying for the 2026 World Cup, the current board rendered all male national teams powerless.
“The board has through cluelessness reduced our male teams to minnows of African football, beaten easily by unpopular or unknown names in football,” he noted with sadness.
Chukwuma recalled: “Since last year, I have been telling them to contact me so that I can assist in contributing money and can possibly engage some of my friends to assist, if money was their problem.
“Now, they have failed, there is nothing they can do. They should stop deceiving President Bola Tinubu that there is still hope for Super Eagles to Reach the World Cup to be hosted by USA, Canada and Mexico.
“Just because our president is a listening president, they go to him and deceive him. They forget that Nigerians like football. They hardly eat or sleep when Nigerian teams are playing as they are always ready to watch them.
“The federal government gave NFF tax payers’ money, including my money and they swallowed it. Nigeria have the crop of best legs in the whole world. But the problem is that those who manage our football dont know what to do, they are only interested in doing players’ agent.
He decried the situation where everyone in football administration will wants his or her players to be in the teams to play matches.
“Football is either you get results or you get rich. As long as you want to enrich yourself you cannot get results. I said this many months ago that Nigeria cannot qualify for the World Cup. Not that I was wishing the country bad luck but just to challenge those managing our football to qualify for the World Cup.”
Chukwuma reiterated, ” Let me say it again, all NFF board members should resign from their positions to allow young managers take over the management of football in the country and prepare for the 2030 World Cup.
“It is shameful that some countries that are not up to Lagos qualified easily. And now, I am hearing that these same people who have dragged our football into the abyss are preparing to return for another term.
“It is an insult to the whole nation. If President Tinubu allows them to go for anothet term, we have accepted defeat and should say goodbye to ever qualifying for the World Cup. And if they are not resigning, I am ready to go to court to force them out, for capable people to take over. “ (ThisDay)
Soccer fans have accused FIFA of a “monumental betrayal” after latest prices for World Cup tickets began to circulate on Thursday.
The governing body allocates 8% of tickets to national associations for games involving their team to sell to the most loyal fans.
And a list published by the German soccer federation revealed prices ranged from $180-$700 for varying group stage games. The lowest price for the final was $4,185 and the highest was $8,680.
Those group-stage prices are very different from FIFA’s claims of $60 tickets being available, while the target from United States soccer officials when bidding for the tournament seven years ago was to offer hundreds of thousands of $21 seats across the opening phase of games.
Fan organization Football Supporters Europe (FSE) described the current prices as “extortionate.”
“This is a monumental betrayal of the tradition of the World Cup, ignoring the contribution of supporters to the spectacle it is,” it said in a statement.
The English Football Association shared pricing information with the England Supporters Travel Club (ESTC) on Thursday evening, which showed that if a fan bought a ticket for every game through to the final it would cost just over $7,000.
FIFA said in September that tickets released through its website would initially range from $60 for group-stage matches to $6,730 for the final. But those prices are subject to change as it adopts dynamic pricing for the first time at the World Cup.
FIFA tickets are available in four categories, with the best seats in Category 1.
In the price list published by the German federation, there were only three categories.
The lowest priced ticket was $180 for Germany’s opening group game against Curacao in Houston. The lowest price for the semifinal was $920 rising to $1,125.
The FSE called on FIFA to immediately halt ticket sales via national associations “until a solution that respects the tradition, universality, and cultural significance of the World Cup is found.”
The Associated Press approached FIFA for comment.
FIFA launched its third phase of widespread ticket sales Thursday, with fans now able to apply for specific matches for the first time through its “Random Selection Draw.”
Following last week’s draw for the 2026 tournament, which will be co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, an updated schedule has been published.
That means fans know when and where the likes of Lionel Messi and Argentina will play. Previous ticket ballots were blind as the qualification period had not even been completed and the draw was yet to take place.
Now participating nations have been placed in groups, with their paths through the tournament determined. For instance, Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo could go on to meet in the quarterfinals in Kansas City if both Argentina and Portugal top their respective groups.
Not that fans are guaranteed to get tickets to the games they apply for.
The draw opened Dec 11 at 11 a.m. ET (1600 GMT) and closes Jan 13, 2026.
FIFA says ticket applications can be made at any point during this window and the timing of entry will not impact the chances of success. Fans can apply via FIFA’s website for a maximum of four tickets per household per match and a maximum of 40 tickets throughout the tournament.
Fans will need a FIFA ID to apply for tickets and can pick which matches and which pricing category they want to apply for.
Successful applicants will be notified by email in February and charged automatically.
The last time the U.S. hosted the World Cup in 1994 prices ranged from $25 to $475. In Qatar in 2022 prices ranged from around $70 to $1,600 when ticket details were announced.
Tickets for the final at MetLife Stadium on July 19 are already going for in excess of $11,000 on secondary resale sites.
For this tournament FIFA has also set up its own resale platform where it charges a 15% fee based on the total resale price.
FIFA said that closer to the tournament any remaining tickets will go on general sale on a first-come, first-served basis.
It did not reveal a time frame for the release of those remaining tickets. (JapanToday)
Iran will play at least one of its World Cup matches in the United States though the tournament draw on Friday avoided a group-stage clash between the geopolitical rivals.
The Iranian team, representing a country targeted by U.S. airstrikes in June and whose citizens are subject to a travel ban imposed by President Donald Trump’s administration, will open its World Cup campaign against New Zealand in Seattle or Inglewood, California, on June 15.
Iran’s next two games could be played across the Canadian border in Vancouver or in Inglewood and Seattle. FIFA will confirm the detailed game schedule Saturday.
The United States was drawn to play Australia, Paraguay and a third team to be determined in the European playoffs in March.
Iran’s participation in the tournament, co-hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico, has already presented diplomatic challenges.
Last week Iran said it would boycott the draw after several officials including soccer federation president Mehdi Taj and general secretary Hedayat Momebeni were denied U.S. travel visas. The federation later modified its stance saying Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei would attend the event at the Kennedy Center in Washington.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether Ghalenoei was present at Friday’s draw.
Iran was among 12 countries subject to a travel ban ordered by Trump’s administration on June 5. A second World Cup nation, Haiti, also is on it.
Exemptions were promised for teams and support staff traveling for the World Cup, but not for fans.
The Trump administration called Iran a “state sponsor of terrorism” and barred visitors except for those already holding visas or coming special visas issued for minorities facing persecution.
Later in June, Trump ordered a bombardment of Iran by so-called “bunker buster” bombs and cruise missiles targeting underground uranium enrichment plants. Within days he declared a ceasefire in a 12-day war between U.S. ally Israel and Iran.
Iran is an established force in soccer, ranked No. 20 in the world by FIFA and second only to Japan among Asian national teams.
Team Melli, as the squad is popularly known, is preparing to play at its seventh World Cup. Its best known player is forward Mehdi Taremi, who has played for Inter Milan, Porto and now Olympiakos.
Iran’s most problematic diplomatic relations among its future World Cup opponents are with Egypt.
Their diplomatic ties were severed in 1979 after Egypt signed a peace treaty with Israel and remained strained until recent years.
New Zealand’s government condemned the death in September 2022 of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of the country’s morality police.
Amini’s death just a few weeks before the last World Cup played in nearby Qatar brought domestic politics into the stadiums where Iran played.
The team refused to sign Iran’s national anthem before its opening game in Doha against England, and there were clashes between fans and pro-government supporters at its second game against Wales.
Many fans displayed the “Woman, Life, Freedom” slogan to protest the government before Iran’s World Cup campaign ended with a 1-0 loss to the U.S. (JapanToday)
The draw for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, to be hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico from 11 June to 19 July 2026, was conducted in Washington on Friday, producing 12 groups for the expanded tournament.
In Group A, Mexico will face South Africa, South Korea and a qualifier. Group B pairs Canada with a qualifier, Qatar and Switzerland. Brazil take their place in Group C alongside Morocco, Haiti and Scotland, while hosts United States lead Group D with Paraguay, Australia and a qualifier.
Germany heads Group E with Curaçao, Ivory Coast and Ecuador. The Netherlands will compete in Group F with Japan, Tunisia and a qualifier. Belgium, Egypt, Iran and New Zealand make up Group G. Group H features Spain, Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia and Uruguay.
France are placed in Group I with Senegal, Norway and a qualifier. Argentina will contest Group J with Algeria, Austria and Jordan. Group K includes Portugal, Uzbekistan, Colombia and a qualifier. England lead Group L with Croatia, Ghana and Panama. (Guardian)
United States President Donald Trump received the inaugural Fifa Peace Prize before the draw for the 2026 Fifa World Cup.
The award has been introduced this year by Fifa president Gianni Infantino, designated for a person who has “taken exceptional and extraordinary actions for peace” and “united people across the world”.
It was widely expected that Trump, who arrived at the ceremony with Infantino and has made several public appearances with him in recent months, would be the winner.
That was confirmed at the ceremony in Washington DC on Friday.
As well as receiving a large golden trophy, Trump was also given a medal and certificate by Infantino before making a speech.
Trump stated he had saved “tens of millions of lives” through diplomatic interventions and had “stopped wars happening just before they started”.
“This is truly one of the great honours of my life,” Trump said, before claiming that the 2026 World Cup has set a new record for ticket sales.
“Gianni has done an incredible job. It is a nice tribute to you and the game of football, or as we call it soccer. It is beyond the numbers we thought were possible,” Trump said.
“The world is a safer place now. The USA was not doing well a year ago; now we are the hottest country in the world right now.”
The 2026 World Cup will be co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, and will take place between June 11 and July 19.
Trump later returned to the stage alongside Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney to perform the ceremonial opening to the draw.
The three leaders drew the balls of their respective nations, which had already been assigned their groups. Afterwards, the trio posed for a selfie taken by Infantino.
Mexico are in Group A – and will play in the tournament’s opening match – while Canada are in Group B and USA feature in Group D.
Trump, after repeating his comments about ticket sales, joked about the name clash between American football and what Americans generally call soccer.
“We have to find another name for the NFL,” Trump said. “This is football, we call it soccer here in the USA but it is really football. It doesn’t make sense that we call it soccer.” (BBC)
Curaçao will be playing in the World Cup for the first time. Coach Dick Advocaat’s team drew against Jamaica, securing their historic spot. Suriname was relegated to the play-offs after a defeat against Guatemala.
Curaçao knew that it only needed to draw against Jamaica to secure a historic World Cup spot and miraculously achieved this feat in the Jamaican capital of Kingston, NU.nl reports. Jamaica hit the post and crossbar no fewer than three times after halftime. In stoppage time, the home team was awarded a penalty. But after VAR intervention, the referee overturned the decision, and Curaçao secured a draw.
The Curaçao players, staff, and fans went wild when the final whistle blew. With a population of only 150,000, Curaçao will be the smallest ever participant in the World Cup next year. And at 78, Advocaat will become the oldest national coach ever at a World Cup.
Over a hundred Curaçaoans in the Netherlands followed the early morning match at an event at De Mansion in Dordrecht. “It was a close call, and we didn’t want to celebrate too soon, but we are incredibly happy to be going to the World Cup,” fan Edson Rafael told ANP.
Suriname did not have the fairy tale ending it was hoping for, but its World Cup dream is still alive. Coach Stanely Menzo’s team has been relegated to the play-offs after losing 3-1 to Guatemala.
Menzo’s team got through the first half pretty well. But Suriname fell almost immediately after the break as Guatemala scored its second and third goals. At this point, Suriname was also in danger of missing its spot in the play-offs based on goal difference. But in the 93rd minute, Suriname came to 3-1 thanks to an own Goal by a Guatemala defender.
That goal secured Suriname’s place in the play-offs, miraculously keeping their World Cup dream alive. (NLTimes)
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