Norway qualified for their first World Cup since 1998 after Erling Haaland struck again in a 4-1 thumping of Italy on Sunday which sealed a spot in next summer’s finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Haaland scored the decisive brace in the space of seconds at a soaking San Siro for Norway, who completed Group I with a perfect 24 points from their eight qualifying matches.

Norway would have had to lose by nine goals or more to be overtaken by Italy for the group’s only automatic place for next summer’s finals in North America.

Haaland’s father Alf-Inge was still an international player when Norway last competed in the World Cup 27 years ago, a tournament won by Zinedine Zidane-inspired France.

And the Manchester City striker will be one of the players to watch in North America after smashing in 16 goals during qualifying.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has revealed the final three nominees in all Men’s Categories for the highly anticipated CAF Awards 2025.

The ceremony is set to take place in Rabat, Morocco, on 19 November 2025 at 19:00 local time (18:00 GMT), celebrating the standout performances that have defined African football over the past year.

Leading the race for Men’s Player of the Year are three of the continent’s biggest stars — Mohamed Salah (Egypt/Liverpool), Achraf Hakimi (Morocco/Paris Saint-Germain), and Victor Osimhen (Nigeria/Galatasaray).

CAF also unveiled nominees in six additional categories: Goalkeeper of the Year, Interclub Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, Young Player of the Year, National Team of the Year, and Club of the Year.

The selections cover achievements recorded between 6 January and 15 October 2025

Portugal crushed Armenia 9-1 despite the absence of suspended talisman Cristiano Ronaldo on Sunday to clinch qualification for the 2026 World Cup finals.

Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes and Paris Saint-Germain’s Joao Neves both scored a hat-trick as Roberto Martinez’s side racked up a huge win in Porto to top Group F.Renato Veiga got the ball rolling for Portugal, with Goncalo Ramos and Francisco Conceicao also on the scoresheet.

After a draw in Hungary in October and a surprise defeat in Ireland on Thursday, in which Ronaldo was sent off, Portugal wrapped up qualification at the third attempt in their final group match.

They will compete in a seventh consecutive edition of the World Cup, a tournament which the Euro 2016 champions are yet to win.

“We always want to win in the same way — to be convincing and control the game. It’s not always possible, but today we were effective and achieved a good victory,” said Fernandes.

With midfielder Fernandes playing a key role throughout, Portugal made a quick start by scoring in the seventh minute.

Fernandes’s vicious inswinging free-kick from just outside the left side of the box was pushed onto the post by goalkeeper Henri Avagyan but Veiga was on hand to head home the rebound.