Summer Action

 

Portugal upset Germany 2-1 in Munich before claiming the European League of Nations with a win on penalties over Spain in the same arena.

In World Cup qualifiers in Asia, 10 Iranians lost 1-0 in Qatar while South Korea scored twice in Iraq and Palestine enjoyed the same result in Kuwait. Ali Olwan scored all 3 goals for Jordan in Oman and Saudi Arabia put 2 past their Bahraini host while in the Asian Cup qualifiers, East Timor triumphed 1-0 over Maldives in Australia and Singapore returned from Bangladesh with a 2-1 victory while Yemen held Lebanon to a goalless draw in Kuwait. Malaysia struck 4 times after the break to send Vietnam home with their tails between their legs while Iraq stunned their Jordanian hosts with a single goal and Laos celebrated a 2-1 home win over Nepal. There were 3-1 home wins for Sri Lanka against Taiwan and for Turkmenistan over Thailand while Israel achieved the same result in a European World Cup qualifier in Estonia.

In the COCACAF section of the World Cup qualifiers Haiti were humiliated 5-1 by Curacao in Aruba and Cuba were shocked 2-1 in front of their home fans by Bermuda while Jamaica who had only managed one goal away to British Virgin Islands put 3 past Guatemala on their return with Warner Brown netting a brace. An early goal gave Montserrat a win over Belize in Trinidad & Tobago while in South America Colombia earned a 1-1 draw at 10-man Argentina and with both teams reduced to 10 players Chile lost 2-0 in Bolivia.

In the Gold Cup Guatemala defeated Jamaica 1-0 to finish above them in their group and progress to the next round where they won a penalty shootout against Canada who had been pegged back to a 1-1 draw against Curacao in a group mach. Honduras also reached the semis after beating Panama on Penalties, but the final was contested between  Mexico and the United States, with The Mexicans winning the Gold Cup with a 2-1 victory over their hosts.

In a friendly match Senegal came from behind to inflict an embarrassing 3-1 defeat on England in Nottingham.

Spring celebrations

 

On the first day of spring, Japan became the first nation to qualify for the 2026 World Cup, followed later by New Zealand, Iran and Argentina. Having qualified, the Japanese were then held to a goalless draw at home to Saudi Arabia while in other matches North Korea were taken apart 5-1 in Qatar who 5 days later lost 3-1 to late goals in Kyrgyzstan having had a player sent off. Iraq scored 2 goals in stoppage time to salvage a 2-2 home draw after a double from Yousef Nasser had given Kuwait a 2-goal lead, but the Iraqis were given a taste of their own medicine in their next match when Palestine scored 2 late goals to win 2-1 in Jordan while Bahrain were beaten 1-0 away to Indonesia. New Caledonia advanced to the inter-continental playoffs after defeating Tahiti 3-0 in New Zealand with George Gope-Fenepej netting a brace.

In Europe Romania were stunned 1-0 at home to Bosnia and Herzegovina while Moldova were thumped 5-0 at home to Norway and suffered a 3-2 loss to Estonia on the same ground. In a Nations League match Ukraine shocked Belgium 3-1 in Spain, though they were eliminated after losing 3-0 in Belgium, while in America the USA were beaten 1-0 by Panama and Canada lost 2-0 to the eventual Nation League winners Mexico.

In the African section of the World Cup qualifiers, Madagascar bounced back from an early setback to defeat Central African Republic 4-1 with a double from Rayan Raveloson in Morocco where a few days later they lost 3-0 to Ghana for whom Thomas Partey grabbed a brace while Central African Republic play out a goalless draw with Mali who had earlier put 3 past Comoros with 2 from Kamory Doumbia, also in Morocco. Sierra Leone enjoyed a 2-1 win over Guinea Bissau in Liberia while Namibia won 1-0 in Malawi and Nigeria were 2-0 victors in Rwanda with Victor Osimhen scoring both goals. Guinea fired blanks against Somalia in Ivory Coast and there was a goalless draw between Cameroon and Eswatini in South Africa while South Sudan scored late in stoppage time to draw1-1 with Sudan in Libya. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored both goals as Gabon won 2-1 in Kenya while DR Congo were 2-0 winners in Mauritania and Dailon Livramento scored both goals for Cape Verde as they triumphed 2-1 in Angola.

In the Asian Cup qualifiers, Tajikistan failed to add to their early goal at home to East Timor while Afghanistan took an early lead but lost 2-1 in Myanmar and there were goalless draws for Yemen in Bhutan and for Bangladesh in India. In a friendly match in Azerbaijan the hosts were shocked 3-0 by Haiti.