WHY AYOUB EL KAABI IS OFFICIALLY MOROCCO’S MOST DANGEROUS WEAPON THIS YEAR
Ayoub El Kaabi’s stunning overhead kicks led Morocco to the AFCON last-16. Discover the carpenter-turned-star’s incredible rise.
With captain Achraf Hakimi barely featuring in the Africa Cup of Nations group stage while he recovers from injury, Ayoub El Kaabi has stolen the spotlight for the host nation.
Hakimi, crowned Africa’s best footballer, has only made a late cameo so far. Meanwhile, El Kaabi came off the bench and lit up the opening match against Comoros, sealing Morocco’s 2-0 win with a jaw-dropping overhead kick.
That goal changed everything for him. At 32, El Kaabi got the nod to start the next game—a 1-1 draw with Mali. He couldn’t find the net in that one, and the Moroccan team looked frustrated, weighed down by all the hype. But then Monday rolled around, and El Kaabi went right back to work, scoring twice in a 3-0 win over Zambia. Morocco topped Group A and booked a last-16 showdown with Tanzania in Rabat.
He opened the scoring with a header, then finished things off with—what else—another overhead kick.
Back home, fans went wild. Here’s a player who first broke into the national team before the 2018 World Cup but was never really a fixture in the starting eleven. Now, he’s a national hero.
You can’t escape the viral videos. Clips of fans imitating El Kaabi’s bicycle kick in the most unlikely places have exploded online. There was even a drone light show over Casablanca, recreating his acrobatic goal in the night sky. Someone put together a video montage of all his overhead kicks, and it racked up millions of views. Honestly, this move is his trademark. Back in the 2020/21 season with Wydad Casablanca, he scored four of them, and he’s pulled it off a few times for Morocco, including a stunning one against Benin last June.
But El Kaabi isn’t one to brag. After the Zambia match, he shrugged off the praise, saying, “The most important thing is to score. It doesn’t really matter who scores or how they do it.”
His story starts far from the spotlight, in the streets of Casablanca. He grew up in a tough neighbourhood, working as a carpenter to help his family get by. “I grew up in a shanty town in Derb Mila, a neighbourhood that everybody knows,” he told UEFA.com in 2024. Money was tight, so he’d go to school, then work construction jobs with his dad in the summers. “The work I did at that time made me a man,” he said. He still speaks fondly of carpentry: “It is a really great job that embraces art and creativity.”
El Kaabi didn’t sign his first pro contract until he was 21, with Racing Casablanca. After one standout season in Morocco’s second division, he moved up to Renaissance Berkane in the top flight, then had a spell in China. He came back to play for Wydad, then headed to Turkey, where he hit his stride with Hatayspor—until a devastating earthquake in early 2023 forced him to move on.
A short stay in Qatar followed, but the real turning point came when he joined Olympiacos in Greece. In just over two years, he’s scored 75 goals for them, including the winner in the UEFA Conference League final against Fiorentina in May 2024—a stooping header, not a bicycle kick for once.
El Kaabi first made his mark for Morocco by finishing as top scorer as they won the 2018 African Nations Championship, a tournament just for home-based players. He played at the World Cup in Russia that year, then captained Morocco to another African Nations Championship win in 2021.
He’s played at the Cup of Nations in both 2022 and 2024, but until now, he’d never scored at the tournament. Now, with Soufiane Rahimi and Youssef En-Nesyri behind him in the pecking order, he’s Morocco’s main man up front. On Sunday in Rabat, he’ll try to keep the story going with a win against heavy underdogs Tanzania.
THE HIDDEN MATH BEHIND FIFA’S $33,000 WORLD CUP FINAL TICKET PRICE SURGE
Gianni Infantino defends $32,970 ticket prices at the Milken Institute, citing the US market as the world's most developed.
FIFA just tripled the price of its top tickets for the World Cup final, now charging $32,970 for the best seats at the July 19 match at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. On Thursday, those front-row “category 1” seats popped up for sale, right as members of Congress started pushing FIFA for answers about high prices and demanding more transparency on how tickets are being priced.
Before, the highest category 1 ticket for the final topped out at $10,990. Now, the only way to snag that price is if you need a wheelchair or special-access seat; otherwise, you’re looking at the new, much steeper cost.
Prices don’t stop there. For the July 14 semifinal at AT&T Stadium in Texas, seats are $11,130, $4,330, $3,710, and $2,705. The next day’s semifinal in Atlanta? $10,635, $3,545, and $2,725. U.S. group stage matches aren’t cheap either; opening night in California runs $2,735, $1,940, or $1,120 a seat. The June 19 clash against Australia in Seattle sits at $2,715. And for the finale against Türkiye back in LA, tickets range from $2,970 down to $840.
Representatives Nellie Pou and Frank Pallone Jr, both Democrats from New Jersey, fired off a letter to FIFA’s president Gianni Infantino, calling FIFA’s use of “dynamic pricing” too secretive and criticising practices that make it tough for regular fans to get seats. Their letter didn’t mince words: “We’re deeply concerned about FIFA’s opaque pricing and shifting rules. Fans are getting frustrated and feel misled. We want to know how FIFA ensures everyone can actually afford to attend and what’s being done to address these concerns.”
Gianni Infantino hasn’t backed down. On Tuesday at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, he defended his price tags. “We have to look at the market,” Infantino said. “This is the most developed entertainment market anywhere, so we charge market rates. Tickets here can legally be resold, so if you price them low, people just flip them for more. In fact, even with what some call high prices, tickets end up reselling for twice as much or more.”
He also pointed out, “You can’t go to a college game in the U.S., never mind a pro one, without spending at least $300 for a decent ticket.”
Sure, tickets for huge events like the Super Bowl or the College Football Championship can hit these levels, but scores of seats at U.S. college and pro sporting events, even the NBA playoffs, still go for under $300.
When it comes to resale, FIFA doesn’t set those prices. On its official ticket exchange, final match seats were listed Thursday from $8,970 all the way up to a wild $11,499,998.85, the latter for a spot four rows from the top in the upper deck. FIFA takes 15% of each sale from both buyer and seller. Last month, somebody listed a final ticket for $2,299,998.85.
Infantino joked about those prices: “If people list final tickets for $2 million, number one, that’s not the actual price. Number two, who’s paying that? If someone does, I’ll personally deliver them a hot dog and a Coke.”
Ticket prices aren’t the only pain point for fans. Getting to the game, especially at MetLife Stadium, has its own sticker shock. NJ Transit originally set a $150 round-trip fare from anywhere to the stadium, way up from the normal $13-ish round trip from Manhattan’s Penn Station. After plenty of backlash, they cut it down to $105, but that’s still steep.
Governor Mikie Sherrill, via her spokesperson Steve Sigmund, said she’s pushing for more corporate contributions to lower fares for fans. “The governor is grateful for the companies helping reduce costs and will keep working to make the World Cup a win for both fans and New Jersey.”
FIFA, for its part, warned that these high transit prices could dampen turnout in New Jersey, while other host cities, LA, Dallas, and Houston, aren’t hiking fares for the games.
MetLife Stadium, usually home to the Giants and Jets, will host eight World Cup matches, including the final. Group stage games for powerhouse teams like Brazil, France, Germany, and England all kick off starting June 13.
FIFA EXTENDS PRESTIANNI BAN WORLDWIDE; WINGER SET TO MISS WORLD CUP OPENERS
Gianluca Prestianni will miss games against Algeria and Austria if selected by Scaloni. Get the full disciplinary breakdown.
FIFA has extended Gianluca Prestianni’s suspension for homophobic conduct to apply globally, which could sideline him for Argentina’s first two matches at the 2026 World Cup. The winger from Benfica, initially punished after a well-publicised incident with Real Madrid’s Vinícius Júnior, will now have his ban affect not just club matches but international competitive games as well.
The disciplinary move by FIFA follows a request from UEFA, and the FIFA Disciplinary Committee has confirmed the six-match ban will take effect worldwide. According to a FIFA spokesperson, the committee agreed to broaden the suspension’s scope, impacting all levels of competitive play.
This decision carries serious implications for both Benfica and Argentina. What was once a suspension limited to UEFA competitions now bars the 20-year-old from participating in any FIFA competitive events, including the upcoming World Cup in North America.
If Prestianni makes Lionel Scaloni’s final Argentina roster for 2026, he will be forced to sit out the opening group stage games against Algeria and Austria. Despite this setback, he remains eligible for friendlies; he was actually called up earlier this year for matches against Mauritania and Zambia following his November 2025 senior debut.
While the ban totals six matches, half of those come with a two-year probationary clause. After missing a Champions League match against Real Madrid under a provisional suspension, Prestianni still has two active games left to serve. Notably, domestic games with Benfica this season are unaffected, since the worldwide ban targets only competitive international fixtures.
The incident that triggered this whole saga happened on February 17 during a Champions League knockout match at Estadio da Luz. Vinicius Junior accused Prestianni of racial abuse, prompting referee Francois Letexier to pause the game for eight minutes and activate FIFA’s anti-discrimination protocol.
Prestianni has denied these accusations and issued a statement saying he never directed racist insults at Vinicius Junior, suggesting the player misunderstood what was said. He also condemned the threats he received from Real Madrid players in the aftermath.
Despite his denials, UEFA’s investigation concluded that Prestianni engaged in discriminatory, specifically homophobic, conduct, leading to his suspension.
Questions remain about the length of the ban, as UEFA’s rules generally mandate a minimum 10-match suspension for offences against human dignity based on factors like race or sexual orientation. UEFA has not explained why the disciplinary body settled on a shorter six-match penalty.
Looking ahead, Prestianni faces a challenging path to regain standing under scrutiny. Should he violate conduct rules again within the probationary period, the remaining three matches of his ban could be enforced immediately, potentially harming his prospects with both Benfica and the Argentina national team.
