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

Published

2 years ago

February 5, 2024

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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.

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Super Eagles vs Rwandan FIFA World Cup qualifying match on Saturday

Saturday’s showdown at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium comes five months and two weeks after the Super Eagles defeated the Amavubi 2-0 in the latter’s home ground in Kigali in a Matchday 5 encounter.

Published

2 days ago

September 1, 2025

OCHEFA

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• Super Eagles coach, Stanley Nwabali

Rwanda’s delegation to Saturday’s 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Nigeria will arrive in Lagos on Tuesday afternoon.

This is even as injured Super Eagles goalkeeper, Stanley Nwabali, has assured top officials of both the NFF and the National Sports Commission (NSC) that he will be fully fit for Saturday’s 2026 World Cup showdown against Rwanda in Uyo.

Nigeria Football Federation’s Director of Communication, Dr Ademola Olajire, disclosed that a one-man Rwanda advance party will be in Lagos today but the full delegation will make landfall in the commercial capital on Tuesday aboard a Rwandair Airline flight at 1.15pm, and will proceed to Uyo, Akwa Ibom State by 4pm of the same day.

Last week, Super Eagles No 1 goalkeeper Nwabali was stretchered off after he was injured while playing for his South African club Chippa United.

“He (Nwabali) has assured us he will be fit for the World Cup qualifiers against both Rwanda and South Africa,” a source told SCORENigeria.

“He spoke to NFF President (Ibrahim Gusau) and some other top officials in this regard,” the top football source said yesterday

Sports

Fenerbahce sacks head coach Mourinho

We have parted ways with Jose Mourinho, who served as head coach of our professional A team since the 2024-2025 season.

Published

5 days ago

August 29, 2025

OCHEFA

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•Jose Mourinho

Fenerbahce on Friday sacked Portuguese coach Jose Mourinho, two days after elimination from the Champions League playoffs by Benfica, the Turkish club said in a statement.

“We have parted ways with Jose Mourinho, who served as head coach of our professional A team since the 2024-2025 season.

We thank him for his efforts for our team and wish him success in his future career,” it said.

The former Chelsea, Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Roma coach who arrived at the Istanbul club in June 2024, led Istanbul’s Yellow Canaries to second place in the league last season behind Galatasaray, failing to end their title drought.

Sports

BREAKING: Champions League draw for 2025/2026 season confirmed [Full fixtures]

Published

6 days ago

August 28, 2025

Charles Flames

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The draw for the league phase for the 2025/2026 Champions League have been conducted on Thursday.

This year, the competition will continue to use the ‘Swiss-style’ league phase rather than the group stage to which fans had become accustomed.

That means that 36 teams will again take part in the competition.

Then the top eight sides will then qualify automatically for the knockout stages, while the teams that finish in ninth to 24th place will be drawn in a two-legged play-off to secure a place in the last 16 of the competition.

Teams ranked 25-36 are eliminated from all competitions.Here are some of the fixtures:

Bayern Munich will face Chelsea (H), PSG (A), Club Brugge (H), Arsenal (A), Sporting CP (H), PSV (A), Union SG (H), Pafos (A)Chelsea will play Barcelona (H), Bayern Munich (A), Benfica (H), Atalanta (A), Ajax (H), Napoli (A), Pafos (H), Qarabag (A)Real Madrid take on Manchester City (H), Liverpool (A), Juventus (H), Benfica (A), Marseille (H), Olympiacos (A), Monaco (H), Kairat Almaty (A).

Inter Milan have been drawn against Liverpool (H), Dortmund (A), Arsenal (H), Atletico Madrid (A), Salavia Praha (H), Ajax (A), Kairat Almaty, Union SGBorussia Dortmund will face Inter Milan (H), Manchester City, Villarreal, Juventus, Bodo/Glimt, Tottenham, Athletic Club, Copenhagen (A)Liverpool play Real Madrid (H), Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid, Frankfurt, PSV, Marseille, Qarabag, Galatasaray (A)

Barcelona take on PSG (H), Chelsea, Frankfurt, Club Brugge, Olympiacos, Slavia Praha, Copenhage, Newcastle (A).