Sports

W’Cup Playoffs: Super Eagles Camp in Morocco Boosted with 10 Early Arrivals

Published

8 months ago

November 10, 2025

Eric

The Super Eagles’ camp officially opened on Sunday in Rabat, Morocco, with the arrival of 10 players, as Nigeria begin final preparations for their crucial 2026 FIFA World Cup CAF playoffs.

The first batch of players and team officials arrived at the Rive Hotel, Rabat, on Sunday afternoon, signalling the start of what could be a decisive week in Nigeria’s campaign to return to the world’s biggest football stage.

The team’s media officer, Promise Efoghe, told the News Agency of Nigeria that early arrivals included the trio of Calvin Bassey, Alex Iwobi and Samuel Chukwueze, as well as Tolu Arokodare and Olakunle Olusegun.

“Later on Sunday, three more players – Wilfred Ndidi, Moses Simon, and William Troost-Ekong—joined up with the squad, bringing the number of players in camp to eight.

“By nightfall, Benjamin Fredericks and Chidozie Awaziem also checked in, raising the total number of players in camp to 10 as preparations gathered pace,” he said.

NAN also reports that coach Eric Chelle on Saturday finalised his 24-man squad for the playoffs as he named a strong roster of Europe-based stars and local standouts for the decisive fixtures in Rabat.

The Super Eagles face Gabon in the first playoff match on Thursday. A win would send them into the African playoff final against either Cameroon or the Democratic Republic of Congo on November 16, also in the Moroccan capital.

The playoff round provides African teams with an additional route to the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

However, the winner of this series must still overcome opponents from other continents in a final intercontinental playoff scheduled for March 2026 in Mexico.

Chelle’s squad features several changes from last month’s qualifiers, where Nigeria recorded victories over Lesotho and Benin to climb to second place behind South Africa in their qualifying group.

The crucial victories earned the Super Eagles a playoff slot as one of the four best runners-up across the nine African groups.

Among the returnees is Maduka Okoye of Udinese, back to provide competition in goal, while Awaziem also returns in defence.

Midfielder Raphael Onyedika and forward Chidera have been recalled to add depth and creativity.

Players omitted from last month’s roster include Felix Agu, Terem Moffi, and Christantus Uche.

Nigeria, the highest-ranked of the four teams in this playoff round, are widely seen as the favourite to progress — but coach Chelle has cautioned against complacency, stressing the need for discipline and tactical precision.

Sports

Luka Modric’s World Cup Story Ends, Cristiano Ronaldo Gets Lifeline

Published

23 hours ago

July 3, 2026

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

It was an emotional encounter as two of world’s best footballers; Luca Modric and Cristiano Ronaldo squared against each other in a bid to lay their hands on the coveted World Cup trophy when Portugal met Croatia in the round of 32. But after about 97minutes of play time, the World Cup story of Modric came to am abrupt end while Ronaldo gets a lifeline, proceeding to the Round of 16.

Both Ronaldo and Modric are not likely to feature in another World Cup tournament.

Portugal battled into the last 16 of the World Cup with a drama-filled 2-1 victory over Croatia on Thursday to set up a titanic showdown with European champions Spain.

In another nerve-shredding World Cup classic, Goncalo Ramos headed Portugal into the lead in the fourth minute of stoppage time before Croatia saw a last-gasp equaliser agonisingly ruled out for offside in Toronto.

Portugal’s 41-year-old superstar captain Cristiano Ronaldo had helped haul his team back into the contest, burying a 68th-minute penalty to cancel out Croatia’s 53rd-minute opener from Ivan Perisic.

Ronaldo later joined frenzied celebrations after Ramos glanced home a sensational header deep into injury time to give Portugal the lead.

But Ronaldo and his Portugal team-mates were left stunned when Josko Gvardiol prodded home an apparent equaliser in stoppage time.

Yet there was one final twist when the goal was chalked off for offside after a lengthy VAR review to the disbelief of Croatia’s players and their large contingent of fans at Toronto’s BMO Field.

After the final whistle, an emotional Ronaldo held up and pulled on a Portugal shirt bearing the number 21, a tribute to late team-mate Diogo Jota, the Liverpool star who tragically died in a car crash almost a year to the day from Thursday’s win, on July 3 last year.

“We knew it before the game. It was a so special moment. We speak today, our group, about that, the coincidence of life, it’s unbelievable,” Ronaldo said afterwards of the tribute to Jota.

“I was amazed because the situation of today. It means a lot to us, not only because we won the game, but the also the way we won the game. It was a difficult game, we knew it.”

The result ensures that Ronaldo’s incredible World Cup career will be extended for at least one more match when the Portuguese face Iberian rivals Spain in the last 16 in Dallas on Monday.

Ronaldo’s second-half penalty made him the oldest man to score in a World Cup knockout match.

Spain romp past Austria

Spain had advanced to that meeting with a scintillating 3-0 win over Austria in Los Angeles earlier Friday that confirmed their status as one of the favourites for the title.

Two goals from Mikel Oyarzabal and a Pedro Porro header sealed victory for the Spaniards, who produced their most complete performance of the tournament to advance to the next round.

Spain opened their World Cup campaign with a faltering 0-0 draw against Cape Verde, but have subsequently built momentum with each match.

AFP

Sports

Ronaldo Celebrates Saudi Pro League Win with Al-Nassr

Published

1 month ago

May 22, 2026

Eric

Al Nassr captain, Cristiano Ronaldo, has finally won the Saudi Pro League title.

They were confirmed champions on Thursday, thanks to a 4-2 drubbing of relegation battlers, Damac.

The title race had gone down to the final day after Al-Nassr dramatically dropped points against Al-Hilal the previous week.

Jorge Jesus’ side knew there could be no mistakes against a Damac side fighting for survival at the other end of the table.

Ronaldo was on the scoresheet, as his brace helped Al Nassr secure the title ahead of rivals Al Hilal.

Sports

FIFA Lists Six Females Among 52 Referees for 2026 World Cup

Published

3 months ago

April 10, 2026

Eric

FIFA on Thursday unveiled its list of match officials for the June 11-July 19 World Cup, including 52 referees, six of whom are women.

Football’s governing body will also take 88 assistant referees and 30 video match officials, who hail from all six confederations and 50 member associations.

“The selected match officials are the very best in the world,” said Pierluigi Collina, FIFA’s chief refereeing officer.

“They were part of a wider pool of officials that was identified and monitored over the past three years. They have attended seminars and officiated at FIFA tournaments.

“In addition, their performances in domestic and international matches were regularly assessed.”

The World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico will be the biggest in history, with a 48-team line-up and 104 matches to be played.

There are 41 more match officials than at Qatar four years ago, where 32 teams played 64 matches.

“The fact that six women match officials have been selected continues a trend that was started four years ago in Qatar as we aim to further develop women’s refereeing,” Collina said, with six women having already refereed in 2022.

AFP