Cape Verde, with Shamrock Rovers’ Pico Lopes in their ranks, have reached the knockout stage of the World Cup, becoming the smallest country in history to qualify for the next phase of the competition after a 0-0 draw against Saudi Arabia.
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Maxi Araujo rescued a point for Uruguay to deny Saudi Arabia another famous World Cup win as the sides drew 1-1 in Miami. The Saudis, who shocked eventual winners Argentina in their opener at the last World Cup, went ahead through Abdulelah Al-Amri in the first half but came under sustained pressure late on and failed to hold out against the two-time winners.
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The 2034 men’s football World Cup will be held in Saudi Arabia, while Spain, Portugal and Morocco will be joint hosts for the 2030 tournament, world governing body Fifa has confirmed. Three matches in the 2030 tournament will also be held in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay to mark 100 years of the competition. The hosts for both World Cups were confirmed at Wednesday’s Extraordinary Fifa Congress meeting following a vote.
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Karim Benzema is to leave Real Madrid after 14 years at the club. The Ballon d’Or-winning striker, who joined the Spanish giants from Lyon in 2009, will depart on a free transfer when the season ends. Benzema, who had a year left on his contract, is set to move to Saudi Arabia after receiving a “record offer” from Al-Ittihad.
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37 year old free agent Cristiano Ronaldo has signed a 2.5 year deal at Saudi Arabian Club Al Nassr after his high profile departure from Manchester United following damaging comments made towards the club and manager Erik ten Hag in the build-up to the 2022 World Cup.
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