Poland 2026: Senegal’s Lionesses de Téranga Train in Abeokuta for Falconets
The opponents of Nigeria’s U20 Women National Team, Falconets, in Saturday’s FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup third round, first leg qualifying match, Senegal’s U20 girls, have arrived in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital. A delegation of the Lionesses de Téranga flew into Lagos on Tuesday night and were immediately driven by bus to the Ogun State capital, with the team scheduled to have their first training session on Wednesday evening. The Confederation of African Football has appointed officials from Uganda and Burundi to take charge of Saturday’s encounter, which is the first leg of the penultimate round of the qualifiers, with the winner on aggregate to confront the winner of the Guinea Bissau/Malawi fixture for a place at the final tournament in Poland later this year. Ugandan Diana Murungi will be the referee, with her compatriots Immaculate Ongiera and Elizabeth Nassolo as assistant referees 1 and 2. Suavis Iratunga from Burundi will be the fourth official. In the role of commissioner is Ghanaian Christine Ziga, while Berthe Minka from Gabon will be the referee assessor. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Records at stake as Assar, Goda headline 2026 ITTF Africa Cup Egyptian table tennis stars Omar Assar and Hana Goda will be putting their records on the line when the 2026 ITTF Africa Cup serves off in Benghazi, Libya, from February 7 to 9. The annual continental championship, which also serves as a qualifier for the 2026 ITTF World Cup, is organised by the African Table Tennis Federation (ITTF Africa) in collaboration with the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), and hosted by the Libyan Table Tennis Federation (LTTF) at the iconic Al Nasr Sports Club. Assar, who is men’s No. 1 seed, enters the tournament as the most successful player in the men’s singles, with six titles to his name—Yaoundé 2015, Nairobi 2018, Lagos 2019, Lagos 2022, Nairobi 2023, and Tunis 2025. His closest rival, Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna, has won five editions, including the most recent in Kigali 2024. Since his semifinal loss to Aruna at the 2020 Africa Cup in Tunis, Assar has remained unbeaten at the Africa Cup, cementing his dominance with back to back victories in Lagos, Nairobi, and Tunis. In Benghazi, he will once again face the challenge of Aruna, as well as rising compatriot Youssef Abdelaziz, who is steadily establishing himself among Africa’s elite. For Hana Goda, the women’s No. 1 seed, the journey began at just 14 when she stunned the continent by winning her first Africa Cup women’s title in Lagos 2022, becoming the youngest champion in the tournament’s history. She faltered in Kigali 2024, losing 4–0 in the semifinals to compatriot Mariam Alhodaby, but bounced back in Tunis 2025 to reclaim her crown by defeating Africa’s most decorated player, Dina Meshref, who holds a record nine titles. Now 18, Goda is determined to follow in Meshref’s footsteps and add to her growing collection of titles. In Libya, she will face stiff competition from Meshref and Alhodaby, as well as Nigeria’s Fatimo Bello, a finalist in Lagos 2022. Tunisia’s Ela Saidi, who impressed in 2025, is also expected to be a strong contender. With Africa’s finest players converging on Benghazi, the 2026 Africa Cup promises high drama and fierce battles. For Assar and Goda, it is not just about defending records—it is about cementing their legacies as the faces of African table tennis.
