FIFA will conduct the largest World Cup draw in history on Friday as the 48-team 2026 tournament, hosted across the United States, Mexico and Canada, begins to take formal shape at Washington’s Kennedy Center. Four debutants, Cape Verde, Curaçao, Jordan and Uzbekistan, will compete on football’s biggest stage for the…
The build-up to the 2026 FIFA World Cup draw has become as much a political spectacle as a sporting event, with Donald Trump set to speak at Friday’s ceremony in Washington — despite being allocated just three minutes that few expect him to keep. The draw, originally intended for Las…
The road to the 2026 World Cup has delivered its first major milestone as FIFA released updated world rankings for all qualified nations, spanning global powerhouses like Spain to debutants such as New Zealand. With the expanded 48-team format, more nations than ever will take part when the tournament kicks…
Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter has unleashed a blistering critique of his successor Gianni Infantino, accusing him of politicising football, sidelining players and transforming the governing body into a tool for world leaders. Speaking from Zurich ahead of Friday’s World Cup draw in Washington, the 89-year-old, who ran FIFA from…
World No. 51 Anastasia Potapova has announced she will compete for Austria beginning in 2026, following the approval of her citizenship application. The 24-year-old tennis player revealed the news on Instagram, saying Austria has become a place where she feels «totally at home» and expressing excitement about making Vienna her…
Uzbekistan is enjoying a breakthrough moment in world chess, with two of its brightest young talents capturing global attention in the same week. Fresh off GM Javokhir Sindarov’s historic victory at the FIDE World Cup, the country’s top-ranked player, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, is now on the verge of winning the prestigious…
Kylian Mbappe delivered another moment of magic on Sunday, scoring a spectacular solo goal in Real Madrid’s match against Athletic Bilbao at San Mamés. The French star opened the scoring after latching onto a pass from Trent Alexander-Arnold before bursting past defenders with his trademark acceleration and firing clinically past…
Former Arsenal and Everton winger Anders Limpar has reflected on the extraordinary hidden-camera prank that convinced him he had accidentally travelled two years into the future during a flight in 1997. The Swedish TV show Blasningen («The Prank») staged an elaborate hoax involving actors posing as scientists, fake military jets,…
The official ball of the 2026 FIFA World Cup is named “Trionda”. Photo: Reuters© Reuters FIFA has stepped back from implementing dynamic pricing across all tickets for the 2026 World Cup, easing concerns over soaring costs for fans attending the expanded tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The shift…
At the 63rd annual WBC Convention in Bangkok, the Board of Directors approved a major rebranding of the CISBB federation, which will now operate under the name WBC EuroAsia. Uzbek sports figure Gafur Rakhimov was unanimously elected president of the newly established body. Rakhimov, who has been part of the…
Cristiano Ronaldo may be heading into his sixth and final World Cup in 2026, but the 40-year-old forward has not ruled out extending his international career to Euro 2028. Ronaldo, who is under contract with Saudi Pro League club Al-Nassr until 2027, has not set a retirement date. That has…
Russian-born tennis player Kamilla Rakhimova has officially switched her sporting nationality to Uzbekistan, the Uzbekistan Tennis Federation confirmed Monday. The 24-year-old, formerly ranked as high as world No. 60, now becomes Uzbekistan’s top women’s player with a current ranking of No. 112. Rakhimova’s decision follows family ties to the country,…
Former Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart says he still wrestles with mixed emotions over his abrupt exit from the club following Pep Guardiola’s arrival in 2016. Hart, once a key figure in City’s rise, winning two Premier League titles and multiple domestic trophies, was dropped almost immediately when Guardiola took…
