分类： sports

GUADALAJARA, Mexico — The high-stakes fight for one of the final spots in the 2026 FIFA World Cup reached a tense opening standoff on Tuesday, as Jamaica and the Democratic Republic of Congo went into halftime deadlocked at 0-0 at Estadio Akron. With only one qualification spot up for grabs, the winner of this inter-continental play-off final will become the 47th nation to secure a place in this year’s co-hosted tournament held across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, leaving just one final qualification slot remaining after the decider.

Both sides entered the match hungry to end decades of waiting for a World Cup return, setting the tone for a tightly contested, cautious first 45 minutes. Neither team was willing to cede ground or take unnecessary risks that could open the door for a costly opponent break, creating a cagey back-and-forth battle where scoring chances were hard to come by.

The first major moment of the game came early, when the Democratic Republic of Congo found the back of the net, only for the goal to be immediately ruled out for an offside infringement. As the half progressed, Jamaica’s star winger Leon Bailey created the Reggae Boyz’ best chance, unleashing a powerful long-range strike that sailed just wide of the goalkeeper’s left post, falling inches short of opening the scoring.

With the two sides still level after regulation 90 minutes, the match will proceed to two 15-minute extra time periods to determine a winner. If the score remains tied after extra time, a penalty shootout will decide which nation books its place at the 2026 World Cup. The entire second half, and any additional time, will see both sides throw caution to the wind as they push for the goal that will secure their spot in football’s biggest global tournament. (Reporting by Paul A Reid)

One of the most recognizable faces in Democratic Republic of the Congo football, legendary superfan Michel Kuka Mboladinga — widely known by his fan alias Lumumba Vea — has confirmed he will miss his national team’s critical World Cup qualifying playoff against Jamaica this Tuesday in Guadalajara, Mexico. The fan favorite, who has built a global reputation for his unique gameday ritual of holding a motionless pose mirroring that of iconic former DR Congo Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba for the full duration of matches, shared the disappointing update via a post on X (formerly Twitter) Monday.

In his public statement, Lumumba Vea expressed profound regret that unforeseen visa hurdles derailed his plans to travel with the Leopards, DR Congo’s national men’s football team. At the time he submitted his application, the superfan was already in Kenya for prior engagements, and even direct intervention from DR Congo’s Minister of Sports, Didier Budimbu, could not overcome the administrative barriers to securing travel documentation in time.

In an attempt to beat the tight deadline, Lumumba Vea traveled to Ethiopia to apply for an expedited Mexican visa. However, he explained that even emergency express visa processing requires a minimum of one full business day to complete, under strict specific conditions that could not be aligned with his schedule. Factoring in the extensive travel time from East Africa to western Mexico — a journey that takes between 18 and 22 hours with a single stopover, and up to 30 hours when including two connecting flights — the superfan concluded there was no feasible path to reach Guadalajara in time for kickoff.

With no way to make the trip work, Lumumba Vea has made the decision to return to DR Congo’s capital city of Kinshasa, where he will continue to support the national team from home, cheering on the Leopards in his new base as they compete for a spot in the upcoming World Cup.

In a surprise, unannounced appearance at an international friendly match in Antalya, Turkey on Tuesday, FIFA President Gianni Infantino has definitively confirmed that Iran’s men’s national football team will take part in the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada, and will play all three of its Group G matches in the U.S. as originally drawn, even amid ongoing regional conflict involving Iran.

Infantino made the remarks during half-time of Iran’s lopsided 5-0 friendly win over non-qualifier Costa Rica, a warm-up for the global tournament that comes as questions have swirled around Iran’s World Cup participation following the outbreak of cross-regional war between Iran, the U.S. and Israel that began on February 28.

“Iran will be at the World Cup. That’s why we’re here. We’re delighted because they’re a very, very strong team, I’m very happy,” Infantino told Agence France-Presse during his visit. “I’ve seen the team, I’ve spoken to the players and the coach, so everything is fine. Iran’s matches will be played where they are supposed to be, according to the draw.”

The 48-team 2026 World Cup is scheduled to kick off across the three North American host nations on June 11. Under the original tournament draw, Iran is set to open its Group G campaign against New Zealand in Los Angeles on June 15, face Belgium in the same city on June 21, and wrap up group play against Egypt in Seattle on June 27.

Iran’s place in the tournament, and the location of its matches, had been thrown into uncertainty in the weeks following the outbreak of the conflict, which has already seen a deadly mistaken U.S. airstrike on a primary school in the southern Iranian city of Minab on the first day of the war. The strike killed at least 170 civilians, including dozens of schoolchildren and teachers, and preliminary findings from a U.S. military inquiry published by The New York Times confirm the strike was caused by a targeting error that hit the school with a Tomahawk cruise missile. Before Tuesday’s friendly, Iran’s players wore black armbands and posed with photographs of the young victims of the attack to honor their memory.

Weeks prior to Infantino’s announcement, the Iranian Football Federation (FFIRI) confirmed it had entered negotiations with FIFA to request relocating Iran’s group stage matches from the U.S. to Mexico, a move Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said her country stood ready to facilitate if required. The situation grew more muddled after conflicting remarks from U.S. President Donald Trump: Trump initially offered assurances to FIFA that the Iranian team would be welcome to enter the U.S. for the tournament, before reversing course to say Iran should not send its team “for their own life and safety.” Iranian officials immediately pushed back against Trump’s comments, insisting no governing body or nation had the authority to exclude Iran from the global competition.

Mahdi Mohammadnabi, vice president of the FFIRI, told reporters at Tuesday’s friendly that his organization remains committed to abiding by FIFA’s regulatory framework. “For us, what matters most are FIFA’s rules and regulations. We will comply with whatever FIFA decides. Every host country has made commitments to FIFA and must honour them,” he said.

Mohammadnabi added that Infantino’s unscheduled stop in Antalya came after the FIFA president learned Iran was staging warm-up friendlies in the Turkish resort town while en route from Mexico to Qatar. “Having learnt that we were organising friendly matches here, he came to see us in person, and we had a fruitful discussion,” Mohammadnabi said. “Given our history in this competition, it is only natural that FIFA should support the Iranian team. Mr Infantino is providing the necessary support to our national team and has given our players a great boost.”

On the pitch, Iran turned in a dominant performance against Costa Rica, who failed to qualify for the 2026 World Cup. Captain Mehdi Taremi scored two first-half penalties, while additional goals from Ali Gholizadeh and Mohammad Mohebbi put Iran up 4-0 by the half-time break. Second-half substitute Mehdi Ghayedi rounded out the scoring with a fifth goal in the 51st minute, after which head coach Amir Ghalenoei rotated his squad to give reserve players minutes. The match marked Iran’s second warm-up friendly in Turkey in a week, following a 5-0 win over Nigeria in Belek last Friday. When asked before the match whether Iran would ultimately compete in the World Cup, Iran backup striker Dennis Eckert Ayensa simply replied “Inshallah” — meaning “god willing” in Arabic.