Author: Tristan Wells

The footballing icon recorded an unwanted first in his illustrious career on Thursday night as he was sent off at international level for the very first time in 226 senior caps during his country’s shock qualifying defeat by the Republic of Ireland in Dublin.With out-of-sorts Portugal trailing 2-0 at the Aviva Stadium courtesy of Troy Parrott’s first-half brace, Ronaldo received an initial yellow card from Swedish referee Glenn Nyberg just past the hour mark after his elbow went into the back of Dara O’Shea as the two players jostled for position at a corner.However, Nyberg was advised by VAR official…

England beat Serbia 2-0 at Wembley to keep their 100 per cent record in World Cup qualifying intact.On came the likes of Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Eberechi Eze as England produced a strong finish, with Foden assisting Eze’s marvellous late goal in England’s first of two dead-rubber qualifiers this week.A much-changed Serbia team playing their first match under new head coach Veljko Paunovic certainly made them work for it, but the hosts deserved all three points.Bellingham and Foden impress on returnSo much of the talk surrounding this England squad has centred on the returns of Bellingham and Foden after…

Nigeria will face DR Congo in a World Cup play-off final on Sunday after beating Gabon.The Super Eagles’ hopes of qualifiying for next summer’s tournament in Canada, Mexico and the United States remains alive, but there is still a long way to go.Therefore, as per FIFA’s latest rankings, Nigeria – the highest-ranked team of the four at 41st – were paired with Gabon – the lowest at 77th – for the second round semi-final.How can Nigeria qualify for the 2026 World Cup? For Nigeria, it’s one obstacle down and sevreral more to go.They now move onto the CAF play-off-final against…

Nigeria will play the Democratic Republic of Congo in a World Cup qualifying play-off final on Sunday. Akor Adams struck in the 78th minute to open the scoring, but former Southampton midfielder Mario Lemina popped up with an 89th-minute equaliser to force extra time at the Moulay Hassan Stadium. Chidera Ejuke struck seven minutes into the additional half-hour to eke Nigeria’s noses ahead, before star striker Victor Osimhen bagged a brace to cement their place in Sunday’s final. Sebastien Desabre’s side are bidding to play in just their second World Cup, having only featured once back in 1974. Cameroon, the…

Tuchel will be eager to avoid any complacency or drop off in intensity after back-to-back 5-0 away wins and a 3-0 home friendly victory over Wales, after which he criticised the atmosphere and faced some sarcastic chants in Riga. Nico O’Reilly is expected to make his senior England debut this evening, with Morgan Rogers set to get the nod at No10 as the recalled Jude Bellingham likely has to make do with a spot on the bench. Source link

The DR Congo, meanwhile, were two points off Group B winners Senegal across the 10-game campaign, with a 3-2 defeat on matchday eight the pivotal result. Now, they find themselves here, needing to get past Marc Brys’ Cameroon to earn a place in the play-off final. The other semi-final game happening this evening is between Nigeria and Gabon in Rabat, Morocco. The winners of that game will take on today’s victors for a place in the inter-confederation play-offs next year. Source link

Should Nigeria win that fixture then they would secure a place in a six-team inter-confederation play-off to be held in Mexico in March, with one qualification spot on the line. First up for Nigeria is a meeting with Gabon on neutral ground in Morocco. This camp has been beset by controversy after players and staff boycotted training ahead of this all-or-nothing match over a pay dispute, which has since been settled. Source link

Bellingham is England’s galactico, strutting his stuff in the Los Blancos midfield with No5 on his back, heir to the legendary Zinedine Zidane, and not dissimilar in his elegant yet all-action style. An A-lister who makes others feel like B-listers, he is one of the most marketable footballers on the planet and an exceptional player, too. Football data experts CIES value him at £158million, the fourth-most valuable footballer in the world behind only Lamine Yamal, Erling Haaland and his Real team-mate Kylian Mbappé. Source link

The Three Lions can breathe easy with their place at next summer’s finals in North America having been sealed with two matches to spare thanks to last month’s rout in Latvia, where they made it back-to-back 5-0 away triumphs in Group K either side of a 3-0 home friendly victory over Wales.England have been flawless during qualifying so far with six wins from six, 18 goals scored and still none conceded, with players now intent on impressing head coach Thomas Tuchel with only one more camp to go after this before he names his World Cup squad.Serbia did look to…

Thomas Tuchel’s side are unbeaten in the six games they have played so far in Group K, winning all six. The Three Lions are yet to concede a single goal either. They host Serbia at Wembley today before a trip to Albania rounds off their campaign this weekend. This month’s camp has seen Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden recalled to the squad after both were omitted from recent selections. Bellingham, the Real Madrid midfielder, has not featured for England since June, while Foden, the Manchester City forward, has not had a call-up since March. Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers was selected…