Author: AFP

FIFA president Gianni Infantino told AFP on Tuesday that Iran “will be at the World Cup” and will play their group matches in the United States of America (USA) as scheduled, despite the Middle East war.

“Iran will be at the World Cup,” Infantino said at half-time as Iran beat Costa Rica 5-0 in a friendly in southern Turkey. “That’s why we’re here. We’re delighted because they’re a very, very strong team, I’m very happy.”

“I’ve seen the team, I’ve spoken to the players and the coach, so everything is fine,” added Infantino, whose attendance at Tuesday’s game was unannounced.

Infantino went on to stress that Iran’s “matches will be played where they are supposed to be, according to the draw”.

The World Cup, being hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada, starts on June 11.

Iran are set to play their first Group G game against New Zealand in Los Angeles on June 15. They are then scheduled to play Belgium in Los Angeles on June 21 and Egypt in Seattle on June 26.

Iran’s participation had been thrown into doubt by the war with the USA and Israel that broke out on February 28.

“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,” Mehdi Mohammad Nabi, the vice president of the Iranian Football Federation (FFIRI), told AFP at the match.

The FFIRI had said earlier this month it was “negotiating” with FIFA to relocate the country’s World Cup matches from the United States to Mexico.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum also said that her country is prepared to host Iran’s first-round matches at the tournament if needed.

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Infantino initially said that US President Donald Trump had given assurances that the Iranian team would still be welcome. But Trump then stated that Iran’s team should not travel to the tournament “for their own life and safety”.

Iran hit back at Trump’s comments, saying that “no one can exclude Iran’s national team from the World Cup”.

On Tuesday, Mohammad Nabi said Infantino had been 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,” Mohammad Nabi 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.”

Asked before the game if Iran would be at the World Cup, back-up striker Dennis Eckert Ayensa told AFP: “Inshallah” (god willing).

Iran, who also played a friendly against Nigeria in the Turkish town of Belek last Friday, crushed Costa Rica, who have not qualified for the World Cup 2026, 5-0 on Tuesday.

Skipper Mehdi Taremi, with two penalties, Ali Gholizadeh and Mohammad Mohebbi put Iran four goals up by the break. Half-time substitute Mehdi Ghayedi added a fifth in the 51st minute, by which time coach Amir Ghalenoei had started to empty his bench.

Before the game, Iran’s players wore black armbands and posed with photos of what officials said were young victims of the war, including those killed in an airstrike on a primary school in Iran on the first day of the conflict.

READ: PSL 11: Islamabad United vs Peshawar Zalmi clash abandoned

Lionel Messi will start for Argentina in a friendly against Zambia on Tuesday in what is the reigning world champions’ final game on home soil before they defend their FIFA World Cup crown.

Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said Messi, who began on the bench for Friday’s lacklustre 2-1 win over Mauritania, will spearhead what is expected to be a full-strength side against Zambia.

“Messi will be in the starting lineup tomorrow,” Scaloni said.

Messi, 38, has not formally confirmed whether he plans to play in the 2025 World Cup, but he played a full part in Argentina’s qualification campaign for the finals.

Scaloni indicated that he expects Messi to be part of his squad for what would be the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner’s sixth World Cup appearance.

“The important thing is that he comes and enjoys being at a World Cup — which, theoretically, will be his last,” Scaloni said of Messi. “We want him to enjoy it, because later on, you really miss playing in events like these.”

Scaloni said Messi on Tuesday will be surrounded by the established core of the team, which topped South American qualifying, and that will start the World Cup among the favourites for the title.

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“Most of the players we know well will be playing. This will be the final test,” Scaloni said.

“Later, we’ll make some changes to take a look at some of the younger guys, but the idea is to field our most familiar lineup,” he said, emphasising that Friday’s scrappy win over Mauritania was not representative of his squad.

“I am convinced that the team’s performance level is not what we saw the other day,” Scaloni said. “If we see that the team isn’t quite there, we’ll look for other options. But they deserve a vote of confidence.”

Scaloni has already submitted a preliminary 55-player list to the Argentina Football Association, with the final 26-man squad to be confirmed at the end of May.

“I have the list pretty well figured out, but if performance levels aren’t up to par, we’ll take measures to ensure we bring the absolute best squad possible; we are striving for something as close to perfection as we can get,” he said.

“The players who have been with us for a while hold a slight advantage simply because we know them well; however, they have to maintain that advantage — and everyone knows what happened the other day (against Mauritania) cannot be repeated.”

READ: PSL 11: Fakhar Zaman handed two-match ban over ball-tampering

Four-time world champion Max Verstappen suggested he could quit Formula One at the end of the season after enduring another frustrating race on Sunday in Japan.

The Red Bull driver finished eighth in Suzuka, ending his four-year reign as Japanese Grand Prix champion in ruthless fashion.

He told the BBC that he was “not enjoying the whole formula behind” this season’s championship, which has brought in sweeping new regulations.

“You just think about, is it worth it?” he said. “Or do I enjoy being more at home with my family? Seeing my friends more when you’re not enjoying your sport?”

Verstappen has repeatedly railed against the new regulations, which see a 50-50 split between conventional and electrical power.

He labelled his car “undriveable” after qualifying in a lowly 11th for the Japan race. When asked if he could walk away from the sport, he replied that he was “thinking about everything inside this paddock”.

“It’s really anti-driving. Then at one point, yeah, it’s just not what I want to do,” he said. “And of course, you can look at it and make a lot of money. Great. But at the end of the day, it’s not about money any more because this has always been my passion.”

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Max Verstappen sought a change of scenery by competing in a four-hour race in Germany before the Japanese Grand Prix.

He will not compete again in F1 until the Miami Grand Prix on May 3, after the Bahrain and Saudi Arabia races scheduled for April were cancelled because of the war in the Middle East.

When asked how he would fill his time during the break, Verstappen answered: “I’ll do some more racing, some stuff that makes me smile.

“And at the same time speak to the team as well, to try and find more pace and some more stable balance because this is not sustainable for us as a team,” he added.

Verstappen is in ninth place in the championship standings, 60 points behind leader Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes after three races.

He finished sixth in the season opener in Australia and retired from the grand prix in China because of a cooling issue.

“I want to be here to have fun and have a great time and enjoy myself. At the moment that’s not really the case,” he said. “I’m trying. I keep telling myself every day to try and enjoy it. It’s just very hard.”

READ: Youngest F1 title leader Antonelli to keep ‘raising bar’ after Japan win

Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli vowed to “keep raising the bar” after winning Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix to become the youngest driver in Formula One history to lead the championship standings.

The 19-year-old Italian took advantage of a mid-race safety car to jump into the lead after a dreadful start from pole position, crossing the line ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

Antonelli’s Suzuka victory came two weeks after the first grand prix win of his career in China, and sent him top of the championship standings after three races, nine points ahead of team-mate George Russell.

Mercedes are struggling to contain the excitement building around their young driver, even if Antonelli said he was “not thinking too much about the championship”.

“Of course it’s great but it’s still a long way to go and I need to keep raising the bar, because George is very quick,” he said. “For sure he’s going to be back at his usual level and also competitors will eventually get closer.”

Antonelli led home Piastri by 13.722sec, with Leclerc a further 1.548sec back in third.

Russell finished fourth to drop to second in the championship standings on 63 points. Leclerc is third on 49.

Russell battled Piastri for the lead over the first half of the race, but pitted just before the safety car, which dropped him out of contention for the win.

Piastri secured second in his first grand prix start of the season, after crashing on his way to the grid in the opener in Australia and missing the race in China because of a technical problem.

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Piastri led for the first half of the race before the safety car gave Antonelli his chance.

“It would have been really interesting to see what would have happened without that,” said Piastri. “A shame that we never got to see what would have happened, but I think for us to be disappointed at this point about finishing second is a pretty good place to be.”

Kimi Antonelli had become the youngest pole-sitter in F1 history in China and again was at the head of the grid. But he suffered a shocking start and was down in sixth by the first corner.

Piastri took the early lead ahead of Leclerc, with Norris, Russell and Hamilton all sweeping past Antonelli.

“It’s an area where I need to work a lot because it’s definitely not good enough,” said Antonelli. “I’m just making my life a lot harder.”

The young Italian had made up some of the lost ground when a crash by Haas driver Ollie Bearman brought out the safety car during the pit stop window.

Piastri had already pitted, but Antonelli was able to dive in for fresh tyres moments after the safety car was deployed and emerged in front of the Australian, a stroke of luck that effectively won him the race.

“I was very lucky with the timing of the safety car,” said Antonelli.

Formula One now takes an extended break until the Miami Grand Prix on May 3. The Bahrain and Saudi Arabia races scheduled for April have been cancelled because of the war in the Middle East.

READ: Aryna Sabalenka sinks Coco Gauff to win second straight Miami Open title

Aryna Sabalenka won her second straight Miami Open title on Sunday, beating Coco Gauff 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 to complete a “Sunshine Double” Indian Wells-Miami sweep.

The world number one from Belarus, fresh off her first triumph in the California desert, became the fifth woman, and the first since Iga Swiatek in 2022, to win both of the elite early-season hardcourt WTA 1000 titles.

“It means a lot,” Sabalenka said after joining Poland’s Swiatek, German great Steffi Graf, Belgian Kim Clijsters and fellow Belarusian Victoria Azarenka on the list of women to win both titles in the same year.

“My goal has always been to put my name in history, and I just did it.”

Sabalenka underscored her WTA dominance in a season in which her only defeat to date was her Australian Open finals loss to Elena Rybakina, whom she went on to beat in the Indian Wells title match and in the semi-finals here.

She handed Gauff her first career defeat in a hardcourt final.

The American had won her first nine, including a triumph over Sabalenka in the 2023 US Open championship match.

Gauff had also beaten the Belarusian for the title on the red clay of Roland Garros last year.

So Sabalenka said she wasn’t surprised to see Gauff dig in, even after the Belarusian pocketed the first set with a ruthless display of power and precision.

She broke Gauff to open the match and, after Gauff saved three break points in a gritty fifth game, broke the American again in the seventh before serving it out in 37 minutes without facing a break point herself.

In a tense second set, Gauff’s first break point chance, from a blistering backhand passing winner in the second game, sparked a jubilant reaction from the crowd at Hard Rock Stadium, home of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, which is just about an hour away from Gauff’s Delray Beach home.

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But Gauff couldn’t convert, slamming a forehand into the net on the next point as Sabalenka held. It needed another gutsy hold from Gauff to keep it on serve in the fifth game.

Up 40-0, she wasted three game points with a pair of errors off the ground and a double fault, then had to save a break point before taking the game.

But Gauff was finding more depth on her returns and broke Sabalenka for the first time to take the second set.

“I knew that she was going to try her very best to fight in this match,” Sabalenka said. “I was just trying to keep a positive mindset going into the third set. I’m super happy how well I handled my emotions, how well I stayed focused from the very beginning to the very end.”

And the third set, again, was virtually all Sabalenka. She broke to open the final frame and broke again when Gauff sailed a backhand long on Sabalenka’s first match point.

“What a month,” said Sabalenka, who, along with two prestigious titles, acquired a new puppy and got engaged to boyfriend Georgios Frangulis.

Gauff was also feeling grateful after a rocky March that saw her withdraw from her third-round match at Indian Wells with a nerve issue that caused “scary” pain in her left arm.

She had said after a dominant semi-final win over Karolina Muchova that she was making progress with the inconsistencies in her serve and forehand, although seven double faults hurt her cause against Sabalenka.

And after considering skipping the event, the 22-year-old was thrilled to reach the final for the first time.

“I feel like I’m nowhere near the peak of my tennis, so I think it gives me comfort a little bit playing these tournaments and having great results,” she said.

READ: Ravichandran Ashwin joins MLC franchise San Francisco Unicorns

Legendary spinner Ravichandran Ashwin will become the first Indian international to ply his trade in Major League Cricket (MLC) after signing a deal with the San Francisco Unicorns, the club said Saturday.

The 39-year-old right-arm off-spinner, who retired from international cricket in 2024, will head to the United States after an agreement to join Australia’s Big Bash League fell through due to a knee injury.

“(Major League Cricket) has proven over recent seasons that it can put on a show, bringing in world-class players and offering significant exposure to US domestic cricket talent, and the opportunity to be a part of it with the San Francisco Unicorns was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up,” Ashwin said in a statement released by the club.

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“Taking on the mantle as the first Indian-capped player to compete in Major League Cricket is a major responsibility that I fully embrace,” he added. “My absolute focus is to help this franchise win games and push for its first Championship.”

Major League Cricket is a T20-format featuring six teams that play in a condensed month-long tournament. San Francisco’s season gets underway on June 19 with a clash against the LA Knight Riders at Grand Prairie Cricket Stadium near Dallas, Texas.

Ashwin amassed some 765 wickets across 287 appearances for India in Test, one-day, and T20 cricket during his career, and was a member of the squad that won the 2011 World Cup.

READ: Momin Qamar reacts after match-winning performance on PSL debut

World number two Jannik Sinner of Italy stretched his win streak over fourth-ranked Alexander Zverev to seven matches on Friday, advancing to a Miami Open men’s final against Czech Jiri Lehecka.

The 24-year-old Italian fired 15 aces in beating Germany’s Zverev 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) after an hour and 53 minutes — boosting his streak of consecutive sets won at the elite Masters 1000 level to 32.

Sinner is trying to become the first man since Roger Federer in 2017 to complete the “Sunshine Double” by winning titles at Indian Wells and Miami in the same year.

“Standing here again in a final means very much to me,” Sinner said. “We’ll try to push in a couple of days, but in any case, it has been an incredible swing.”

Reigning Wimbledon champion Sinner, a four-time Grand Slam winner, also beat Zverev two weeks ago in the Indian Wells semi-finals and seeks his second Miami crown in three years.

“Coming here, trying to produce some good tennis, that was my main goal,” Sinner said. “Trying to play as many matches as possible. I couldn’t do better. I’m very happy.”

Also attempting a “Sunshine Double” is world number one Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, who defends her Miami crown against American fourth seed Coco Gauff in Saturday’s WTA final.

Lehecka, seeded 21st, dominated 28th-seeded Arthur Fils of France 6-2, 6-2 in the other semi-final at Hard Rock Stadium, home of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins.

Lehecka is winless in three matches against Sinner without taking a set.

“He’s an incredible player,” said Sinner. “He’s going to be for sure more free than me, but I try to control whatever I can control, and the rest we’ll see how it goes.”

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Jannik Sinner blasted a forehand winner to break Alexander Zverev for a 3-1 lead and held from there to capture the first set after 42 minutes on a service winner.

Neither player could manage a break into the second-set tie-breaker, which turned when Zverev sent an overhead smash long to hand Sinner a 5-4 lead.

Zverev, who last beat the Italian in the fourth round at the 2023 US Open, sent a backhand wide on the next point and Sinner settled matters with a service winner, improving to 8-4 all-time against the German.

“Today has been a very tough encounter. He played some incredible tennis,” Sinner said. “I was serving very well, especially in the crucial moments, so I’m very happy.”

Sinner seeks a 26th career ATP title in his 35th career final.

Jiri Lehecka, who has not dropped a set in the event, delivered the Frenchman’s first four broken service games to advance after 75 minutes.

“It feels great. It’s definitely something I’ve been working towards the whole year and the whole pre-season,” Lehecka said.

“I really trusted my game and the work I put in. It didn’t matter when, but I knew it would come, and today was a nice example of how I want to play. I executed it well, so I’m very happy with today’s performance.”

Lehecka will jump past his current career-high ranking of 16th next week. He’s assured of leaping eight spots to 14th and, with a title, would reach 12th.

The 24-year-old seeks his third ATP title after Adelaide in 2024 and Brisbane in 2025. It’s the eighth career final for the Czech but his first in a Masters 1000 event.

READ: MS Dhoni to miss first two weeks of IPL 2026 due to injury

Legendary Indian captain MS Dhoni is likely to miss the first two weeks of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 with a calf strain, his team Chennai Super Kings said on Saturday.

Dhoni, 44, led Chennai to five Indian Premier League titles and has only played in the T20 tournament since his international retirement in 2020.

“M.S. Dhoni is currently undergoing rehabilitation for a calf strain. As a result, he is likely to miss the first two weeks of TATA IPL 2026,” Chennai said in a statement.

Wicketkeeper-batter Dhoni, a two-time World Cup-winning captain for India, has defied age to be in CSK’s yellow, batting at number seven under skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad.

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Dhoni played all 14 matches last year, scoring 196 runs, but Chennai finished bottom of the 10-team table.

Notably, the 19th edition of the IPL has begun today, with defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) playing against Sunrisers Hyderabad. The tournament final is scheduled to be played on May 31.

Chennai, who last won the IPL in 2023, will play their opening match on Monday against Rajasthan Royals.  The franchise will then face the Punjab Kings, RCB, and Delhi Capitals in the first fortnight of the season.

READ: England skipper Ben Stokes sidelined after gruesome facial injury

England Test captain Ben Stokes will be sidelined for the first month of the county season as he recovers from a cheekbone injury sustained in a training accident.

Stokes suffered a broken cheekbone after being hit by the ball during a net session with his Durham team-mates last month.

The 34-year-old said that his subsequent surgery was a success, although his photo on Instagram, showing a badly swollen and bruised face, revealed the extent of the horrific injury.

The prolonged rehabilitation process means that Stokes has had to delay his return to action.

The all-rounder, who has not played since the final game of England’s Ashes series thrashing in Australia in January, was originally hoping to make his comeback against Kent in Durham’s first round of County Championship fixtures next week.

But he now looks likely to sit out the first four matches of the domestic campaign before preparing for the New Zealand Test series by facing Worcestershire and Kent in May.

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“He was going to play the first game; he’s been training so hard to be ready. But he won’t play in that, obviously. We have to wait for the specialists to clear him,” Durham coach Ryan Campbell said.

“Unfortunately, it’s made a change, the accidental bump. He is pencilled in for Worcester and Kent, and I think it will just be those two, to be honest.

“He has got to recover from the facial injuries and then have to build up again. It is a long, old summer, and he will have that mapped out but is keen and ready to go.”

Campbell believes Ben Stokes was lucky to avoid further damage given the nature of the grisly injury.

“It was so, so much worse than you’d think. The ball was hit so hard, we are just lucky he got away with it,” he said. “The initial whack was bad. If it hits him in the eye, it could have been different. That could have been horrific.”

“His cheekbone worked the way it is supposed to: it caved in and looked after the rest of him. It is a bit scary, but a reminder to all of us to keep our eye on the ball.”

READ: PSL 11: Yasir Khan’s heroics in vain as Peshawar Zalmi down Rawalpindiz

World number one and defending champion Aryna Sabalenka powered past second-ranked Elena Rybakina 6-4, 6-3 on Thursday to line up a Miami Open title clash with Coco Gauff.

Sabalenka, who fell to Rybakina in the Australian Open final before turning the tables on the Kazakh in the Indian Wells title match earlier this month, broke the big-serving Rybakina twice in each set to come out on top in the blockbuster semi-final and keep her bid for the “Sunshine Double” of Indian Wells and Miami on track.

“I think I did everything right,” said Sabalenka, who applied ruthless pressure on Rybakina’s serve while delivering a sterling service performance that featured nine aces — including four in a row across the seventh and ninth games of the opening set.

“She’s an incredible player, always pushes me to the limit,” Sabalenka said. “With her, you have to bring your best tennis, and that’s why I was able to pull out such great tennis today.”

Sabalenka had to save a match point to beat Rybakina in Indian Wells, but she was on the front foot on Thursday, seizing a break for a 3-1 lead in the opening set.

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Rybakina recouped the break immediately, but Sabalenka broke again to pocket the set and took command in the second with a break for 2-0 in a game which Rybakina led 40-0.

Trailing 0-4, Rybakina clawed back a break for 4-1, but Sabalenka wouldn’t flinch again. Rybakina saved one match point on her own serve before Sabalenka served it out with a love game punctuated by a fierce forehand winner.

The match marked the first time outside the WTA Finals that the world’s two top-ranked players met before a final since Martina Hingis and Jana Novotna in the 1998 US Open semi-finals.

It could only come about because Rybakina was seeded third, her rise to second in the rankings on Monday coming a day after the Miami draw was made.

READ: Klopp hails Salah as one of Liverpool’s ‘all-time greats’