24 March 2023

Ten men better than eleven opponents

North, Central America and Caribbean edition of Nations league 2022-23, phase 5, night 1 of 3:

British Virgin islands - Puerto Rico 1:3

Scorers: 1:0 35-pen (35.20) Tyler Forbes
               1:1 44 (43.36) Leandro Antonetti
               1:2 46 (45.22) Devin Vega
               1:3 90+4 (93.51) Ian Silva

Saint Martin - Saint Kitts and Nevis 1:3 (neutral venue)

Scorers: 0:1 26 (25.43) Tiquanny Williams
               1:1 31 (30.34) Pierre-Bertrand Arne
               1:2 35 (34.32) Romaine Sawyers
               1:3 89 (88.37) Harry Panayiotou

French Guiana - Dominican Republic 1:1

Scorers: 1:0 85 (84.22) Jean-David Legrant
               1:1 90+3 (93.05) Carlos Heredia

Barbados - Cuba 0:1

Scorer: 0:1 03 (02.32) Maykel Reyes

- With a direct red card visiting defender Yosel Piedra have said goodbye to the game at 33 (32.42).

Guadeloupe - Antigua and Barbuda 0:1

Scorer: 0:1 56 (56.07) Ashley Nathaniel-George

Suriname - Mexico 0:2

Scorers: 0:1 63 (63.20) Johan Vasquez
               0:2 81-own goal (81.16) Damil Dankerlui

- On 67 (67.17) Santiago Tomas Gimenez (Mexico) missed the whole goal from 11 metres.

Hat-trick achieved at the very start on new elimination process

Qualifying duels for European championship - Germany 2024, phase 01, night 1 of 3:

Portugal - Liechtenstein 4:0

Scorers: 1:0 07 (07.19) Joao Cancelo
               2:0 46 (46.08) Bernardo Silva
               3:0 51-pen (50.35) Cristiano Ronaldo
               4:0 62 (62.13) Cristiano Ronaldo

Denmark - Finland 3:1

Scorers: 1:0 20 (20.15) Rasmus Hojlund
               1:1 53 (52.46) Oliver Antman
               2:1 81 (81.15) Rasmus Hojlund
               3:1 90+3 (92.38) Rasmus Hojlund

Slovakia - Luxembourg 0:0

San Marino - Northern Ireland 0:2

Scorers: 0:1 23 (23.01) Dion Charles
               0:2 55 (54.43) Dion Charles

Bosnia and Herzegovina - Iceland 3:0

Scorers: 1:0 14 (13.28) Rade Krunic
               2:0 40 (39.21) Rade Krunic
               3:0 63 (62.46) Amar Dedic

Kazakhstan - Slovenia 1:2

Scorers: 1:0 23 (22.59) Maksim Samorodov
               1:1 46 (46.05) David Brekalo
               1:2 77 (77.18) Zhan Vipotnik

Just when you think match will finish scoreless, something exciting has happened in stoppage time

Elimination matches for Africa Cup of nations - Ivory coast 2023 (2024), stage 3, night 2 of 3:

Madagascar - Central African Republic 0:3

Scorers: 0:1 36 Isaac Ngoma
               0:2 44 Louis Mafouta
               0:3 79 Louis Mafouta

Ghana - Angola 1:0

Scorer: 1:0 90+5 (95.18) Antoine Semenyo

Congo - South Sudan 1:2

Scorers: 0:1 65 (65.01) Peter Chol
               1:1 89-pen (89.19) Thievy Bifouma
               1:2 90+5 (95.20) Tito Okello

- At 73 (72.57) visiting midfielder Peter Manyang had to leave the game due to two yellow cards.

Zambia - Lesotho 3:1

Scorers: 0:1 33 (32.23) Tshwarelo Bereng
               1:1 37 (36.47) Fashion Sakala
               2:1 53 (52.36) Lameck Banda
               3:1 57 (56.34) Lameck Banda

Gabon - Sudan 1:0

Scorer: 1:0 71 (70.59) Lloyd Palun

Algeria - Niger 2:1

Scorers: 0:1 38 (38.00) Daniel Sosah
               1:1 54-own goal (53.47) Abdel Rahim Bonkano Alhassane
               2:1 88 (87.55) Riyad Mahrez

23 March 2023

Entertaining stalemates

Elimination matches for Africa Cup of nations - Ivory coast 2023 (2024), stage 3, night 1 of 3:

Benin - Rwanda 1:1

Scorers: 0:1 13 (12.52) Gilbert Mugisha
               1:1 82 (81.35) Steve Mounie

- Hakim Sahabo (Rwanda) had to leave the pitch on 60 (60.14) due to two yellow cards.

Sierra leone - Sao Tome e principe 2:2

Scorers: 0:1 43 (42.35) Luis Leal
               1:1 48 (47.36) Mustapha Bundu
               1:2 58 (58.10) Luis Leal
               2:2 77 (77.16) Abu Komeh

22 March 2023

Format changed for advancing into next round

The expanded World Cup in 2026 will be with 48 teams and from last Thursday it was confirmed how they will be divided. In the Rwandan capital Kigali it was decided that in the group stage 12 of them would be formed with four teams each. At the first knockout round (last 32) the first two teams are guaranteed a place together with eight best that occupied third position. Up until the final (plus the classification pair for third-fourth spot) each team is going to play eight games instead of current seven. Competition will last for 39 nights (breaks included) or from 11 June as far as 19 July.
Forty new matches are going to appear as well because from 64 this number will rise up to 104 in total (for the whole event). With more duels played, of course, that there would be also an additional income for the world football organization (mainly coming from sold tickets).