Super Spanish summer

 

A record 48 nations took part in the 2026 World Cup hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States. A string of friendly matches and an Asian Cup qualifier in which Yemen defeated Lebanon 2-0 with a double from Nasser Mohammedoh in Qatar preceded the World Cup.  

In group A, South Korea came from a goal down to beat the Czech Republic 2-1 but were eliminated together with the Czechs after losing 1-0 to South Africa who progressed with hosts Mexico. Qatar earned their first ever World Cup point against eventual group B winners Switzerland who were followed into the next round by hosts Canada and Bosnia & Herzegovina. Canada lost ground after failing to win their group and had to play their remaining matches in America where they were knocked out 3-0 by Morocco with a brace from Azzedine Ounahi in the round of 16. Florian Balogun netted twice as the United States began their campaign with a resounding 4-1 victory over Paraguay while Turkey were shocked 2-0 by Australia who lost by the same scoreline to their American hosts. Having lost 1-0 to 10-man Paraguay, Turkey’s 3-2 win against the USA was not enough to keep them in the tournament as the hosts won group D but were later dumped out of the competition by Belgium in the round of 16 with Charles de Ketelaere netting twice for the visitors. Ecuador began with a 1-0 loss to Ivory Coast and were held to a goalless draw by debutants Curacao but made it out of group E after coming from a goal down to beat group winners Germany 2-1 while in group F the most remarkable result was Sweden’s 5-1 humiliation at the hands of the Dutch for whom Brian Brobbey and Cody Gakpo each scored a double. Iran drew all their group G matches including 0-0 against 10-man Belgium but failed to reach the next round. France hammered Norway 4-1 with a hat-trick from Ousmane Dembélé to top group I and Senegal followed these two teams into the next round after rattling 5 past Iraq with a brace from Pape Gueye. Norway eliminated Brazil 2-1 in the round of 16 with both goals coming from Erling Haaland. Ghana, who had defeated Panama with a goal in stoppage time, held England to a goalless draw, but the English won group L and went on to knock Mexico out 3-2 at the Azteca with a double from Jude Bellingham and finished third after a 6-4 thriller against France in which Kylian Mbappé netted a brace and Bukayo Saka scored a hat-trick for France and England respectively. In group K Portugal drew 1-1 with DR Congo; both teams progressed behind Colombia. Uruguay and Saudi Arabia drew 1-1 and failed to progress from group H which was won by Spain who began with a goalless draw against Cape Verde and continued with wins including a 2-0 victory over France in the semi-final which took them to the final where they met and defeated Argentina 1-0 in extra time to lift the World Cup for the second time in their history. 

All for the Cup

 

The year began with the Africa Cup of Nations in Full swing. Host Morocco had won their group despite a disappointing 1-1 draw with Mali. Another surprising result was Mozambique’s 3-2 win over Gabon that sent them through as one of the best third teams. Ivory Coast’s 3-0 victory against Burkina Faso in the round of 16 was their last hurrah in the competition while Nigeria celebrated a 2-0 triumph against Algeria in the quarter-finals but lost their semi-final match on penalties to the hosts who met Senegal in the final. The Senegalese thought they had won the cup with a goal in extra-time, but their disgraceful behaviour in the final resulted in the match and African crown being awarded to Morocco.

In the preliminary round of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations, Eritrea upset Eswatini with Ali Sulieman scoring both goals in their 2-1 away win after he had scored a late goal in their 2-0 home victory and Burundi put the tie to bed when they netted 4 times in Chad without reply. Lesotho drew blanks against Seychelles in South Africa but came from behind to register a narrow victory a few days later while Djibouti enjoyed a 1-0 win in South Sudan but went out on aggregate having played both matches at the same stadium behind closed doors.

Viktor Gyökeres scored all 3 goals as Sweden eliminated Ukraine 3-1 from the World Cup in Spain before qualifying with a home win over Poland while Bolivia had their World Cup dreams shattered 2-1 by Iraq in Mexico. Completing the list of World Cup participants via the play-offs were Turkey, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Czech Republic and DR Congo.

In the Asian Cup qualifiers Sri Lanka triumphed 3-1 in Taiwan and Nepal lost 1-0 in Laos while in a CONCOCAF friendly series Bonaire sent St Vincent and the Grenadines home 3-1 losers and Aruba beat Liechtenstein 4-1 in the final of a FIFA Series in Rwanda.