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Super Eagles Slip on FIFA World Ranking

Fola Badmus6 hours ago6 hours ago02 mins

Former African Champions, Super Eagles have dropped one spot in World football governing body, FIFA monthly world ranking. The Eric Chelle lads are ranked 45th in the world and are sixth in Africa behind Morocco, Senegal, Egypt, Algeria and Cote d’Ivoire. Nigeria won 1483.86 points as against her 1484.26 points in July. Meanwhile, Spain have returned to the ranking summit after a making a sensational start to qualifying for World Cup 26. They kicked off their campaign with a 3-0 win in Bulgaria, then made it back-to-back away victories with a 6-0 trouncing of Turkey. La Roja last topped the ranking back in June 2014, when they were world and European champions. Argentina – the reigning world champions – booked their ticket to next year’s global finals back in March and had already secured top spot in the CONMEBOL qualifying standings before their final-round defeat to Ecuador. That loss has resulted in them losing their grip as the planet’s top-ranked team, however. La Albiceleste are now third, with France second after back-to-back wins over Ukraine and Iceland.

24th FIFA U20 World Cup: Flying Eagles Begin Training in Santiago

Fola Badmus6 hours ago6 hours ago01 mins

Nigeria’s U20 boys, Flying Eagles, had their first training session in Santiago, Chile on Wednesday evening at Cancha Liga Training Pitch. The session, which lasted for 2 hours, was supervised by head coach Aliyu Zubair. This comes after a recovery session in the morning at the team’s base, Le Meridien Hotel. The Flying Eagles were scheduled to continue training on Thursday in their build-up ahead of the friendly game against Chile U20 team on Saturday, 20th September. They will also play against the Australia U20 team on Tuesday, 23rd September.

Flamingos Win Back-to-Back Friendlies in Abuja

Fola Badmus6 hours ago6 hours ago02 mins

Nigeria’s U17 Women’s National Team, the Flamingos, stepped up preparations for the 2025 FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco with two wins on Wednesday, 17th September at the FIFA Goal Project, Abuja. In the first game, the Flamingos edged Eagle’s Wing U13 Boys 1–0 thanks to an early strike from Fatimoh Shuaib, who calmly slotted home after a neat exchange with Tabitha Terlumu. Despite pressure from the opponents, goalkeeper Elizabeth Boniface and her defence held firm to secure the narrow win. Later in the day, the Flamingos returned to action against Harmony FA U13 Boys, sealing a comfortable 3–0 victory. Zainab Raji opened the scoring after pouncing on a defensive error, before Olamide Olanrewaju tapped in for the second. Substitute Favour Etim made an instant impact, adding the third to complete a dominant performance, even as Terlumu saw her penalty kick saved. With these results, the Flamingos have now shown both resilience and attacking sharpness as all called-up players remain in camp ahead of the World Cup (Oct 17–Nov 8), where they face Canada, France, and Samoa in Group D.

WAFU-B U17 Boys Tournament: Golden Eaglets Off to Yamoussoukro

Fola Badmus2 days ago2 days ago02 mins

The U17 Boys National Team, Golden Eaglets, will on Wednesday depart the country for the city of Yamoussoukro, Cote d’Ivoire where they will participate in this year’s WAFU-B U17 Boys Tournament. In their final friendly game before the tournament, the Eaglets drew 0-0 with Mop Stars FC on Monday. The team played a total of 13 friendly matches while in camp, winning 10, drawing two and losing only one. They scored 25 goals and conceded five. The five-time world champions will begin their campaign in the tournament against Baby Cheetahs of Benin Republic on Wednesday, 24th September, before taking on Burkina Faso in Group B. Group A has hosts Cote d’Ivoire, Niger Republic, Ghana and Togo. Matches will be played at the Stade du Lycée Scientifique in Yamoussoukro, which has a natural turf and was constructed for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations. GOLDEN EAGLES FOR WAFU-B U17 BOYS TOURNAMENT Goalkeepers: Aquila Ahur (Mailantarki FC); Great Edafe (Beyond Limits); Paul Awelewa (Morak FC) Defenders: Abdullateef Lasisi (La Planet); Mubarak Rasheed (RFO FC); Sadiq Salihu (Niger Tornadoes); Godwin Menyaga (Adoration FC); Abdulsamad Salisu (Central FC); Emmanuel Asika (Mailantarki FC) Midfielders: Paul Ugwu (RBM FC); Famous Umole (Derby FC); David Edeh (Adoration FC); Umar Yahaya (Footwork FC); Ahmed Yusuf (One-Touch FC)

Ex-Barcelona Star Eric Abidal Forced to Deny Own Death

Fola Badmus2 days ago2 days ago03 mins

Former Barcelona defender Eric Abidal has been forced to deny his own death after baseless social media rumours claimed he had passed away this week. Posts online said that complications from a liver transplant he had in 2012 had led to Abidal losing his life, obliging him to clarify that he is still alive and well. Abidal, 46, was first diagnosed with liver cancer in 2011. He had the tumour removed that same year and then underwent a liver transplant a year later before returning to football in 2013. “Some rumours should never exist,” he wrote on Instagram. “I’m here with my family and everything is fine. Respect is essential. There is a family and my children behind this. “To be clear, I’m fine, I’m alive and well. Thank you for your support and messages of concern. Let’s focus on what really matters.” Abidal began his career at Monaco, going on to play for Lille and Lyon in his native France before signing for Barcelona in 2007. After his battle with cancer, he returned to play for the Catalan side in 2013, but was released at the end of that season, returning to Monaco before finishing his career in Greece with Olympiacos. During his time with Barça, he won 15 trophies, including four LaLiga titles and two Champions Leagues, while he was a runner-up at the 2006 World Cup with France, whom he made 67 caps for. Following his retirement, he returned to Barça as sporting director in 2018, leaving that role in 2020. He is working in the same position for Al Wasl Sports Club in the United Arab Emirates after being appointed earlier this year.

Man City Sacks Barman for Wearing United Shirt

Fola Badmus3 days ago3 days ago02 mins

Manchester City have dismissed a bar worker who wore a Manchester United shirt while serving drinks at the Etihad Stadium during the derby on Sunday. The club were made aware of the worker via a post on X from an account called @Mataniels. It included a photograph of the man in question handing over a pint while wearing a black shirt containing a clearly visible United club crest, alongside the caption: “Absolute joke @ManCity – letting one of the bar staff in block 315 wear a United shirt on Derby Day #mcfc.” City’s Man City Fan Support account messaged back: “Thank you for making us aware of this. We can confirm that this individual has now been removed from their position.” The @Mataniels account no longer exists, possibly due to some replies on X pushing back against the message highlighting the worker wearing the shirt. City declined to comment. City won the 197th Manchester derby 3-0 with a goal from Phil Foden and two from Erling Haaland.

U20 World Cup: Flying Eagles Head for 12-Day Camping in Chile

Fola Badmus3 days ago3 days ago04 mins

Nigeria’s U20 boys, Flying Eagles, have departed the country for Chile, as they countenance a 12-day final phase camping in the South American nation ahead of their participation in this year’s FIFA U20 World Cup finals. Seven-time African champions Nigeria will play all their Group F matches at the Estadio Fiscal in Talca, a city 250 kilometres from the Chilean capital, Santiago. They will first confront Norway on Monday, 29th September, before clashes with Saudi Arabia (2nd October) and Colombia (5th October). A team of 20 players and 11 officials (midfielder Daniel Daga will join the team in Chile from his base in Norway) departed from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja on Sunday evening, aboard a Turkish Airline flight to Istanbul, where the contingent will connect to Santiago – venue of their final phase camping. The seven-time African champions had training sessions in Abuja for some weeks, before Sunday’s departure. The 24th FIFA U20 World Cup finals will be played across the cities of Santiago, Rancagua, Valparaiso and Talca. The competition, which started as the FIFA World Youth Tournament, was launched in 1977 and was first hosted by Tunisia. Nigeria were narrowly edged by Korea Republic after extra time in the semi finals at the last championship hosted by Argentina. The country finished as runners-up in 1989 in Saudi Arabia and in 2005 in The Netherlands. Group A is headed by hosts Chile, and also has New Zealand, Japan and Egypt, while Group B entertains South Korea, Ukraine, Paraguay and Panama. Brazil heads Group C that also has Mexico, Morocco and Spain, while Group D includes Italy, Australia, Cuba and multiple winners Argentina. USA, New Caledonia, France and South Africa make up Group E. FLYING EAGLES FOR 2025 FIFA U20 WORLD CUP FINALS Goalkeepers: Ebenezer Harcourt (Sporting Lagos); Clinton Ezekiel (Bayelsa United); Rufa’i Abubakar (Mavlon FC) Defenders: Ocheche Amos Onyejefu (Stade de Reims, France); Odinaka Okoro (Sporting Lagos); Daniel Bameyi (Bayelsa United); Marvelous Avberosou (Ikorodu City); Alatan Azuka (36 Lions); Akinyele Ahmed Olamide (Remo Stars) Midfielders: Israel Ayuma (NK Istra, Croatia); Emmanuel Ekowoicho (FC Montana, Bulgaria); Mustapha Kamaldeen (Kwara Football Academy); Daniel Daga (Molde FC, Norway); Auwal Ibrahim (Akwa United); Nasiru Salihu (Qabala FC, Azerbaijan) Forwards: Achichi Oseer (Royal Antwerp FC, Belgium); Sani Suleman (AS Trencin, Slovakia); Tahir Maigana (Wireless FC); Kparobo Arierhi (Lillestrom SK, Norway); Charles Agaba (NK Istra, Croatia); Abdullahi Shitu Ele (Manchester City FC, England)

U20 Women’s W’Cup Qualifiers: Falconets to Depart for Kigali on Thursday

Fola Badmus3 days ago3 days ago02 mins

Two-time World Cup silver-medallists Nigeria will kick off their race to next year’s FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup finals when they take on their Rwandan counterparts on Sunday, in a second round, first leg encounter in Kigali. The Falconets are scheduled to depart the country on Thursday for the clash with the Rwandan U20 girls. Germany, which denied Nigeria the trophy and gold medals in 2010 (Germany) and 2014 (Canada), and like Nigeria, had appeared in every edition of the competition since it was launched in 2002, failed to qualify for next year’s finals. The clash with the Rwandan counterparts will take place at the Kigali Pele Stadium, formerly known as Stade Regional de Nyamirambo. The Confederation of African Football has appointed match officials from Sierra Leone and Liberia to take charge of proceedings of the encounter in Kigali. Aminata Fullah will be the referee, with Liberian Hannah Lydia Moses as assistant referee 1 and another Sierra Leonean, Fatmata Mansaray as assistant referee 2. The fourth official is Love Tuu Wehyee from Liberia. Militna Ivanete Amrie from Seychelles will be the commissioner while Amegee Aissata Ameyo will be the referee assessor.