Sports
World Cup 2026: MetLife Stadium in New Jersey to host World Cup final on 19 July

MetLife Stadium in New Jersey will host the 2026 World Cup final on 19 July, while Azteca Stadium in Mexico City will stage the opening group game on 11 June.

Mexico is one of three countries co-hosting the expanded 48-team tournament along with USA and Canada which will last a record 39 days.
They have hosted two World Cups in 1970 and 1986, while the US hosted in 1994.
Canada are first-time hosts and their opening game is in Toronto on 12 June.
The United States will play their opening match at So-Fi Stadium in Los Angeles also on 12 June
The Azteca was the venue for Argentina striker Diego Maradona’s famous ‘Hand of God’ goal in the 2-1 win against England in the 1986 quarter-finals and has a capacity of 83,000.
MetLife Stadium, home to American football teams the New York Giants and New York Jets, is based in New Jersey’s East Rutherford and can hold 82,500 fans. It was one of the host stadiums for the 1994 World Cup.
Fifa president Gianni Infantino, alongside comedian and actor Kevin Hart, rapper Drake and celebrity Kim Kardashian, announced the plans on Sunday and also revealed the third-place play-off match will take place in Miami.
The quarter-finals onwards will be held in US cities, with Los Angeles, Kansas City, Miami and Boston hosting last-eight matches, while the semi-finals will be in Dallas and Atlanta. Dallas will host a record nine matches.
The draw for the World Cup is expected to take place towards the end of 2025.
The tournament will last 10 more days than the 2022 edition in Qatar.
In total, 16 cities have been chosen including Monterrey and Guadalajara in Mexico, and Vancouver in Canada.
Philadelphia, Houston, Seattle and San Francisco are the other US host cities.
Only one city, Guadalajara, will not host a knockout game.
Teams are likely to face a large amount of travel between games.
The shortest distance between a quarter-final and a semi-final venue is just over 500 miles from Kansas City to Dallas while the longest – between Los Angeles and Atlanta – is just under 2,200 miles.
Infantino said “players and fans have been at the core of our extensive planning for this game-changing tournament” and it will be a tournament that will “not only set new records but also leave an indelible legacy”.
Fifa said the schedule was drawn up in consultation with stakeholders including national team coaches and technical directors.
The governing body says teams will have three days of rest for 103 of the tournament’s record 104 matches.
“The tournament’s innovative match schedule will serve to minimise travel for teams and fans alike, while the number of rest days between fixtures will be maximised,” the governing body said.
The new format will feature 12 four-team groups and a last-32 knockout round for the first time.
The tournament hosts will play the group stage in their own countries, with the US staying on the West Coast with two games in LA and one in Seattle.
Canada will play one group stage game in Toronto followed by two in Vancouver while Mexico will play twice at the Azteca and once in Guadalajara.
Sports
JUST IN: Haaland ranked 26th, van Dijk 28th in Ballon d’Or 2025 list

The build-up to the 2025 Ballon d’Or ceremony is officially underway as the organisers began unveiling the rankings on their official X (formerly Twitter) account on Monday afternoon.
Kicking off the list at 30th place is Bayern Munich’s Michael Olise, followed by Florian Wirtz of Bayer Leverkusen at 29th, and Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk in 28th. Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice sits at 27th, while Manchester City’s Erling Haaland narrowly misses the top 25, landing in 26th place.
The partial list, also shared by football journalist Fabrizio Romano, has already ignited fan debates online, especially surrounding Olise’s placement. The French winger delivered an outstanding 2024–25 season for Bayern, registering 12 goals and 15 assists, making his relatively low ranking a point of contention.
The full top 30 list is expected to be released in stages throughout the day.
The Ballon d’Or 2025 ceremony is set to take place later today in Paris, where the world’s top footballer will be officially crowned.
Sports
Super Falcons Onome Ebi retires from football
Though I hang up my boots, my purpose in the game continues, to give back, to guide, and to be a voice for players.

Legendary Super Falcons defender, Onome Ebi, on Wednesday officially announced her retirement from professional football.
Her career spanned over two decades with Nigeria’s women’s national team.
Ebi announced her decision in a post on her X account: “Today, I officially retire from professional football. The journey has been filled with challenges, victories, and lessons that shaped me into who I am today.
“Though I hang up my boots, my purpose in the game continues, to give back, to guide, and to be a voice for players.”
Widely regarded as one of Africa’s greatest female footballers, the 42-year-old centre-back boasts an illustrious record at both continental and global levels.
Sports
U20 World Cup: Flying Eagles Final Squad Unveiled Amid Notable Absentees

Preparations for Nigeria’s Flying Eagles ahead of the 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup have been affected by the withdrawal of several key players.
Top European clubs, including France’s Stade Reims and Germany’s Hoffenheim, have refused to release their Nigerian players for the tournament in Chile, which is not scheduled on FIFA’s official calendar — giving clubs the right to withhold players from international duty.
As a result, Hoffenheim duo Emmanuel Chukwu and Precious Benjamin, along with Stade Reims striker Ibrahim Hafiz, will miss the tournament. All three were considered key prospects for the national team.
In response, head coach Aliyu Zubairu has named a revised 21-man squad that excludes several overseas-based players. Domestic talents like Enyimba winger Clinton Jephta, Bidemi Amole, and Divine Oliseh — who featured in the U-20 WAFU B qualifiers in Togo — were also left out of the final list.
Team captain Daniel Bameyi leads the squad, which includes more than 10 players who participated in recent training camps and friendlies. New additions include Israel Ayuma, Ebenezer Harcourt, Charles Agada, Auwal Ibrahim, Kparobo Arierhi, Tahir Maigana, and Odinaka Okoro.
Meanwhile, dependable fullback Adamu Maigari has been ruled out due to a knee injury.
The team departed Abuja for Chile on Sunday night. Norway-based midfielder Daniel Daga is expected to join the squad later, ahead of their opening match.
Nigeria, runners-up in 1989 and 2005, will be aiming to win their first-ever FIFA U-20 World Cup title. The tournament kicks off on September 27 and runs through October 20. The Flying Eagles were eliminated in the quarter-finals by South Korea at the last edition in Argentina.
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