Sports
Spain thrash France, zoom into World Cup final
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Spain shocked tournament favourites France 2-0 to reach the World Cup final on Tuesday, producing a tactical masterpiece to shatter Les Bleus’ dreams of winning the title for the third time.
A first-half penalty from Mikel Oyarzabal and a 58th-minute Pedro Porro goal sealed an utterly clinical victory for the European champions at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Spain, World Cup winners in 2010, will now face either Argentina or England in Sunday’s final in New Jersey.
France had entered the showdown as the overwhelming favourites for the tournament after a dazzling, goal-laden run to the semi-finals.
But France’s vaunted front four of captain Kylian Mbappe, Ballon D’Or winner Ousmane Dembele, Bradley Barcola and Michael Olise were snuffed out by a combination of Spanish poise and power.
Spain, who had beaten France in their previous two competitive meetings, had vowed to go on the front foot in the pre-match build-up, and they proved as good as their word.
A superior performance by Spain’s midfield, led by Manchester City star Rodri and assisted by Fabian Ruiz and Dani Olmo, never allowed the French to gain a foothold in the contest.
Spain’s midfield quickly overran the outnumbered French duo of Adrien Rabiot and Aurelien Tchouameni, passing around their opponents with ease to control the early exchanges.
The first signs of French frustration came after just nine minutes when midfielder Rabiot was booked for treading on Olmo’s foot on the edge of the area.
Yet despite the early dominance, it was France who looked the more threatening when venturing into the final third, and it needed a desperate late block by Pau Cubarsi to thwart Mbappe in the 16th minute as the French captain looked to break clear.
Spain’s early dominance got its reward in the 20th minute, though, when a hopeful cross by Marc Cucurella flew across the penalty area.
Lucas Digne didn’t get enough purchase on his attempted headed clearance, and as the Aston Villa player instinctively swung out a leg, he kicked Yamal, sending the Barcelona star crashing to the turf.
El Salvadoran referee Ivan Barton pointed immediately to the spot, and after a brief delay as French players loitered, Oyarzabal stepped up to sweep in a spot-kick that beat the dive of French goalkeeper Mike Maignan.
France’s rocky start got worse after 31 minutes when key central defender William Saliba hobbled off with an injury to be replaced by Maxence Lacroix.
Spain almost doubled their lead with a sublime passing move on 38 minutes when wonderful interplay on the edge of the area sliced open France’s defence, with Dayot Upamecano’s block denying Fabian Ruiz.
France enjoyed their best spell in the closing minutes of the first half, and only excellent anticipation from Spain goalkeeper Unai Simón denied Mbappé after Rabiot’s clever through ball.
Spain, though, reasserted themselves at the start of the second half, and Deschamps’ failure to adjust France’s tactics again left the Spanish midfield in charge.
At 58 minutes, Spain struck the hammer blow. Porro and Olmo worked a sensational one-two on the edge of the area that sent Porro through, and the Tottenham defender clipped a fine finish past Maignan.
Only a fractional offside decision denied Spain a third goal in the 61st minute, when Lamal had the ball in the net.
Deschamps made a flurry of substitutions, but France were unable to penetrate Spain’s smothering defence, their best chance coming when Mbappé’s shot was blocked at the near post by Simon.
French frustration was symbolised by Mbappe in the closing minutes, booked for following through on Simon as Spain closed out the victory.
AFP
Sports
Liverpool Legend, Mo Salah Joins Tranzonspor On Two-Year Deal
MOHAMED SALAH has agreed to join Turkish side Tranzonspor on a free transfer.
The Liverpool legend had been a free agent since his contract at Anfield expired at the end of the 2025/26 campaign.
Salah, 34, has agreed to move to Turkey on a two-year contract.
Tranzonsport confirmed that they were in negotiations with the attacker on social media.
The club then revealed that Salah would be arriving in Istanbul on Wednesday ahead of finalising the transfer.
A statement read: “Professional footballer Mohamed Salah, with whom we have begun transfer negotiations, will be at Istanbul Atatürk Airport General Aviation Terminal at 12:00 on Wednesday, August 5 (tomorrow).
“The player is scheduled to arrive in Trabzon on the same day in the evening hours.
“The time and other details regarding the welcome program in Trabzon will be shared with the public through our club’s official communication channels during the day.”
It read: “Professional footballer Mohamed Salah, with whom we have begun transfer negotiations, will be at Istanbul Atatürk Airport General Aviation Terminal at 12:00 on Wednesday, August 5 (tomorrow).
“The player is scheduled to arrive in Trabzon on the same day in the evening hours.
Sports
Infantino Could Have Earned £47m Annually From Abandoned World Cup Proposal
FIFA president Gianni Infantino could have earned nearly £47 million ($63 million) annually if his controversial proposal to sell a stake in the FIFA World Cup had gone ahead, according to reports.
The proposed deal was abandoned following widespread opposition from football governing bodies and member associations, with reports suggesting it could have increased Infantino’s annual earnings by about £42 million from his current salary of approximately £4.5 million.
That would have taken his total annual compensation to almost £1 million per week.
The plan involved raising about £3.1 billion in private investment for FIFA’s Football Future Enterprise (FFE) project. Investment bank JP Morgan was reportedly advising on the initiative, while Thrive Capital, backed by Jared Kushner, was among the investors expected to acquire a 20 per cent stake.
Infantino had repeatedly insisted that “nobody is selling football” as criticism of the proposal mounted.
UEFA reportedly spearheaded the opposition, with its member associations threatening to boycott FIFA competitions, including the World Cup. Concacaf and the Asian Football Confederation also voiced their opposition, while England’s Football Association backed UEFA’s position.
The FA called for a comprehensive review of FIFA’s leadership and governance, stressing the need for greater transparency and long-term protection of the global game.
Facing mounting pressure, Infantino eventually announced that the proposal would not proceed, saying the project had created divisions that were no longer in the interest of its intended objectives.
“Having listened carefully to all the views, it has become clear that the project has created divisions of a nature that, regardless of the level of support, are no longer in the interest of the objective set out in the first place,” he said.
Infantino added that FIFA’s purpose remained to unite and improve the sport, while pledging to bring football stakeholders together and rebuild unity.
Despite the collapse of the proposal and the criticism surrounding his leadership, reports indicate that Infantino intends to seek another term as FIFA president at the organisation’s 2027 election.
Sports
Oshoala Scores As 10-Woman Super Falcons Defeat Zambia In WAFON 2026 Cracker
After loosing to Malawi in there Opening match of 2026 WAFCON cracker, The Super Falcons dig deep to secure a vital victory over Zambia in Rabat, despite playing the entire second half with 10 players.
The Super Falcons stumbled to a catastrophic loss in their July 28 opener against Malawi but put up a disciplined display against Zambia, a tournament favourite, to earn their first three points of the tournament on Saturday night.
Head Coach Justin Madugu made five changes to the side, bringing in six-time CAF Women’s Player of the Year winner Asisat Oshoala in place of Toronto-based Esther Okoronkwo, and Rofiat Imuran for Shukurat Oladipo.
The Copper Queens of Zambia came into the side with a lot of confidence after thrashing Egypt 6–0 in their opener, and it showed from the first blast of the whistle.
A misplaced possession move led to a turnover, with Super Falcons captain Rasheedat Ajibade sending a long ball toward Oshoala, whose speed helped her beat the Zambian defence and allowed her to get to the ball before the Zambian goalkeeper, who saved the initial attempt but was unable to stop the ball from ricocheting off Oshoala for the only goal of the encounter.
It was Oshoala’s 15th WAFCON goal in a storied career.
The Super Falcons went a woman down when Oluwatosin Demehin got sent off for bringing down the Copper Queens’ captain, Barbara Banda.
The game plan changed from then, as the Super Falcons maintained a strong defensive shape and only attempted forays into the opponent’s half on the counter.
In the end, their defensive grit, captain Ajibade’s disciplined play, and good goalkeeping from Chiamaka Nnadozie helped the Super Falcons to secure their first three points of WAFCON 2026.
Attention will now turn to the Cleopatras of Egypt, whom they face on Wednesday for a chance to progress to the next round.
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