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EGYPT CELEBRATE 2026 WORLD CUP COMEBACK THANKS TO MOHAMED SALAH MAGIC

Mohamed Salah scored twice as Egypt beat Djibouti 3-0 to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The Pharaohs secure their place with one game to spare, joining Morocco and Tunisia at the expanded tournament.

Egypt celebrate 2026 World Cup comeback thanks to Mohamed Salah magic
Photo Credit: Getty Images

Egypt qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup with one game remaining, thanks to two goals from Mohamed Salah.

Egypt easily defeated Djibouti 3-0 on the road in neutral Casablanca, knowing that a victory from the final two rounds of games would be sufficient to guarantee first place in Group A.

The Pharaohs took the lead in the eighth minute when Ibrahim Adel nodded in Zizo's cross, and six minutes later, Salah, a forward for Liverpool, grabbed Trezeguet's through pass and stabbed in the second.

Despite criticism of his performance for the Reds this season, Salah stayed in the thick of things, curling over the bar and nearly setting up a third goal before halftime when Mostafa Mohamed flicked his cross onto an upright.

The second half saw a slowdown in play, but Salah's incredible first-time lob inside the area late in the game put the score at 3-0.

The Pharaohs join Morocco and Tunisia, two other North African nations, as the third African team to earn a ticket to the World Cup.

Egypt has won a record seven Africa Cup of Nations championships, but it has only made three appearances in football's biggest event—in 1934, 1990, and 2018—and has struggled to duplicate its continental success in World Cup qualifying throughout the years.

Burkina Faso will place second in Group A after defeating Sierra Leone thanks to a strong performance from Mohamed Zougrana.

The Stallions still have a chance to qualify for the continental play-offs by finishing as one of the top four runners-up.

In other African qualifying action on Wednesday, Cape Verde wasted their first chance to reach the finals, drawing 3-3 in Libya after coming from behind twice.

After defeating Congo-Brazzaville and Tanzania, respectively, Niger and Zambia, who play each other in their last Group E match, will finish as runners-up to Morocco, though neither team is expected to have enough points to go to the playoffs.

If the Desert Foxes win away against Somalia in Group G on Thursday, Algeria will be the next country to secure a spot in the bigger 48-team championships.

CRISTIANO RONALDO PROTESTS AL-HILAL'S BENZEMA DEAL BY SKIPPING AL-NASSR LEAGUE MATCH

Cristiano Ronaldo is fuming. Discover why the Al-Nassr star skipped his last match and is now threatening to leave Saudi Arabia.

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Ronaldo "considering leaving Saudi Arabia" despite signing 2027 contract extension

Cristiano Ronaldo has been the main attraction in the Saudi Pro League ever since he landed in the Middle East three years ago. Now, for the first time, it looks like he’s actually thinking about leaving. He’s frustrated. He feels the playing field isn’t level, and it’s starting to get to him.

Here’s the deal: Four clubs in the league—Al-Ittihad, Al-Nassr, Al-Hilal, and Al-Ahli—get their backing straight from the state. But Ronaldo sat out Al-Nassr’s match against Al-Riyadh on Monday night. Why? He was protesting. He found out Al-Hilal was about to sign Karim Benzema from Al-Ittihad, and that was the last straw. From Ronaldo’s perspective, Al-Hilal keeps getting more freedom to splash cash than everyone else. They’re the current champions, and Ronaldo still hasn’t managed to win his first Saudi title.

Saudi officials tried to calm him down. According to Diario AS, they reached out and argued that most of Al-Hilal’s extra spending comes from Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, not the Public Investment Fund (PIF). Al-Hilal just brought in Kader Meite for €30 million, Saimon Bouabre for €23 million, and now Benzema. Al-Nassr, on the other hand, only managed two free transfers this winter. Sure, they spent a lot more in the summer, but that didn’t seem to matter to Ronaldo.

Reports from Portugal, cited by AS, say Ronaldo’s not ruling anything out—not even leaving Saudi Arabia this summer. That’s despite just signing an extension with Al-Nassr until 2027.

And honestly, he has a point. Since he arrived, Al-Hilal have spent €647 million, while Al-Nassr have shelled out €410 million and Al-Ittihad €365 million. These numbers probably don’t include salaries—and let’s face it, nobody’s making more than Ronaldo. He’s supposed to return on Friday when Al-Nassr face Al-Ittihad, but right now, no one really knows if he’ll play or if he’s planning his next move.

N’GOLO KANTE SKIPS TRAINING AS AL-ITTIHAD BLOCK HIS MOVE TO FENERBAHCE OFFICIALLY

N’Golo Kante has gone on strike at Al-Ittihad after a paperwork error blocked his move to Fenerbahce. Can he still sign by Friday?

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Paperwork error halts N’Golo Kante’s transfer to Turkey at final hour

N’Golo Kanté didn’t show up for Al-Ittihad training on Tuesday, and it’s not hard to see why. He was all set to head to Fenerbahçe, but the deal fell apart at the last minute—apparently because Al-Ittihad messed up some paperwork. Kante was supposed to fly to Istanbul and sign, but thanks to this administrative slip, he’s stuck in limbo. There’s still a shot at reviving the transfer sinceKanté Turkey’s transfer window stays open until Friday, February 6.

Kante was one of the first big European names to jump to the Saudi Pro League, joining Al-Ittihad in 2023 after seven years with Chelsea. He’s been a key player in Jeddah, helping Al-Ittihad win the 2024-25 league title and the King’s Cup.

Then, in the middle of the January window, word got out that Fenerbahce wanted him. The Turkish club were eager to add a World Cup winner to their squad. The plan was to swap Kante for Youssef En-Nesyri, who’d head to Saudi Arabia. Everything seemed set until deadline day, when news broke that an error by Al-Ittihad in the Transfer Matching System stopped the transfer cold.

Fenerbahce didn’t hold back. They blamed Al-Ittihad directly, saying they’d done everything right: agreements with the players, medicals, paperwork, all wrapped up on time. But Al-Ittihad entered something wrong in the system, and that was that. Fenerbahçe even asked for an extension and reached out to FIFA, but nothing moved. In the end, the deal died, and Fenerbahçe put out a statement saying they understood the frustration and would keep working to strengthen the squad.

Meanwhile, Kante’s making his feelings clear. According to Ben Jacobs, he skipped training on Tuesday, still hoping the move to Fenerbahce can happen. Santi Aouna says talks between the clubs aren’t dead yet. L’Equipe is reporting that Kanté doesn’t want to play for Al-Ittihad while he waits for FIFA’s decision. With the Turkish window open until Friday, there’s still a glimmer of hope for Kante, though En-Nesyri’s move is off the table for now.

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