Sports

Brushing off an earlier standoff over unpaid allowances, Super Eagles today thumped Panthers of Gabon to sail through to the Africa qualifying final round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup following an exciting 4–1 victory in Rabat, Morocco. The tightly contested match saw Super Eagles dig deep to overcome a stubborn Gabonese side, with late goals from Chidera Ejuke and a Victor Osimhen brace sealing the win in extra time. The Super Eagles appeared on course for victory when Akor Adams broke the deadlock in the 78th minute, taking advantage of a poor back pass from a Gabonese defender to…

Just hours before kickoff of the crucial 2026 World Cup qualifier between Gabon and Nigeria, FIFA announced excellent news for fans. The world football governing body has made entry to the Moulay El Hassan Stadium in Rabat, Morocco, completely free. Gabon's largest newspaper, L'Union, which ran the story, also gave a website link where fans can register. The Panthers of Gabon expect to be cheered by about 3000 partisans while the Super Eagles will be charged on by a possibly even larger number of fans,given the presence of huge Nigerian communities not only in Morocco, but also in neighbouring countries…

Barcelona have made Harry Kane their first-choice target to replace Robert Lewandowski. The Spanish champions regard the 32-year-old England captain as the ideal younger replacement for the 37-year-old Pole, whose contract expires in June 2026 and may well be prepared to trigger the clause in Kane’s contract with Bayern Munich that would allow him to leave for £57m in the summer. These formed part of an exclusive report today in the authoritative The Guardian UK. Kane has proven a huge success at Bayern since joining them from ­Tottenham for £100m in August 2023, scoring an astonishing 108 goals in 113…

By our reporter Nigeria would be shooting herself on the foot if she does not prepare the Super Eagles properly by organizing all aspects needed to win Thursday's crucial World Cup playoff against the Panthers of similarly oil-rich Gabon. This is because some neutrals,having assessed the dimensions to preparations as well as how both teams organize their play, believe Gabon will win the match. Instructively, the belief is coming amid reports that the Super Eagles refused to train on Tuesday in Rabat, Morocco, the match venue, in protest at a backlog of allowances being owed them. One of the allowances…

Raheem Sterling has been the victim of another burglary and is understood to have been in the house with his family when the incident occurred. It is understood that the invasion took place last Saturday at the Chelsea player’s residence and involved masked men trying to break into the property. Sterling and his family escaped unharmed but it is the second time that the former England international’s home has been targeted. A spokesperson for Sterling said: “We can confirm that Raheem Sterling was the victim of a home break-in this weekend. We can also confirm that he and his children…

More than 20 Olympic medallists, coaches and other international athletes, including the tennis player Martina Navratilova and the swimmer Sharron Davies, have signed a letter calling for a halt to the execution of a boxing champion and coach, who is on death row in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Amid growing international outrage over Iran’s escalating use of capital punishment as a tool of oppression, the strong-worded letter condemned the Iranian regime’s decision to uphold the death sentence on Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani. Sani, 30, from Mashhad in north-east Iran, was arrested for taking part in nationwide protests in 2019…

Nigeria's foes in Thursday's 2026 World Cup playoff in Morocco, the Panthers of Gabon, effectively began their preparations for the crucial qualifier today in Rabat. A report in the Gabonese Press Agency (GPA), monitored by People&Politics, stated that about 10 additional internationals hit camp, as of press time. Some of them were Olympique Marseille hitman Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, N. Lémina, Averlant, Oyono, Ecuéle, Do Marcolino, Openda, and Moussounda. "Further arrivals are expected, notably that of Denis Bouanga," GPA wrote. Thirty-year-old Bouanga plays as a winger and forward for Major League Soccer (MLS) side Los Angeles FC. The Panthers held their first…

By David Hytner, at the Etihad Stadium, and John Menzies, at Balaidos It was all about which of these rivals could capitalise on Arsenal’s draw at Sunderland on Saturday, who could make a statement about their intention to chase down the Premier League leaders? It was Manchester City who cleared their throats and made it plain that they are in this race for the long haul. Liverpool barely got a word in. The table looks a lot more appealing for Pep Guardiola and his players now, City only four points behind Arsenal, and it was an occasion when they blew…

By Jacob Steinberg, at Stamford Bridge & Miles Starforth, at the Stadium of Light Relegation beckons when all it takes to undo 51 minutes of hard graft is a full-back without a goal in 165 games for club and country popping up to break the deadlock. This is the reality for Wolves now. They are in a miserable state, so much so that it is hard to see why Rob Edwards is prepared to leave Middlesbrough to take the vacancy at Molineux, and they looked utterly bereft of fight as Chelsea handed them their ninth defeat of the season, Saturday…

After yet another relatively quiet night at the office, David Raya sprang into action. As soon as the referee pointed to the spot at Slavia Prague on Tuesday, Arsenal’s goalkeeper sprinted to the touchline to confer with the coach Iñaki Caña in a routine that began when the pair first worked together at Brentford. No matter that Arsenal were cruising at 3-0 up with five minutes remaining and on their way to a 10th straight victory – Raya was on the verge of creating history if he could save the penalty and keep the team’s eighth successive clean sheet. In…