Author: AFP

Batter Will Young was drafted into the New Zealand Test squad on Saturday in place of Kane Williamson, who called time on his international career mid-series against England.

Young will arrive in London on Sunday and join the squad ahead of the second Test at the Oval from Wednesday, Cricket New Zealand said.

Williamson, New Zealand’s most prolific run-scorer, stunned the cricketing world with his retirement announcement on Friday ahead of the second Test.

The 35-year-old former skipper, who played in the first England Test, said that “it just feels like the right time for me to step away”.

“I feel really good about it,” said Williamson, one of the ‘Fab Four’ batter of his generation alongside India’s Virat Kohli, Australia’s Steve Smith and England’s Joe Root.

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His decision sparked a slew of praise from some of the leading lights of the game.

“From an opponent to a friend over the years,” Kohli said of Williamson.

“It’s been a pleasure watching you bat and compete against you over so many years but more than that I value our friendship and shared perspectives on the game and beyond.”

Fellow Indian great Sachin Tendulkar was equally effusive.

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“A thorough gentleman and a true role model for youngsters,” Tendulkar said. “His retirement will probably be received with unexpected relief in more than a few bowling camps.”

Young has played 23 Tests but is yet to score a century, with a highest score of 89.

England lead the three-Test series 1-0 after winning the opener at Lord’s by 115 runs.

READ: Ex-pacer tips Vaibhav Sooryavanshi to surpass Tendulkar, Kohli

United States of America (USA) star Christian Pulisic played down injury concerns after he was hooked at half-time in the World Cup co-hosts’ 4-1 opening win over Paraguay, telling journalists it was just a precaution.

“I just got a bit of a kick in the first half, so I’m really hoping that it’s nothing. Taking a little bit of precaution today. But I’m hoping I’ll be fine in the next few days,” said Pulisic.

The AC Milan forward is the US team’s talisman, shouldering the weight of a nation’s expectations as they try to make history with a deep run in a World Cup in which all of their games will be played on home soil.

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Pulisic was a constant menace in a rampant first half, providing an assist as well as helping create Paraguay’s own goal with a clever one-two with Weston McKennie.

But he was taken off at the half, and later told reporters he had received a knock in “the back of my leg.”

“Sort of my (left) calf area. But I’ve had similar things before…I’m staying positive. I don’t think it’s anything at all.”

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Coach Mauricio Pochettino also said the forward was substituted because “we didn’t want to take any risks.”

The US will hope Pulisic is correct, after the convincing win, with games ahead against Australia on Friday, and Turkey.

“An incredible start, but there’s a lot more that we still have to do,” said Pulisic.

READ: Dembele backs Mbappe, says criticism of France captain has gone too far

Alex Grimaldo believes Spain can emulate their Golden Generation by winning the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2026 two years after being crowned European champions.

The Bayer Leverkusen left-back was part of the squad that dazzled in Germany in 2024, beating the hosts and richly talented France and England sides to win the trophy.

But La Roja have not won a World Cup knockout game since Andres Iniesta’s winning goal in the 2010 final.

An ageing squad, who had won the Euros in 2008 and 2012, crashed out in the group stage at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and failed to get past the last 16 in Russia and Qatar.

However, blessed with the prodigious talent of Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal, the European champions arrive in the United States in top form.

Excluding penalties, Luis de la Fuente’s side are unbeaten in 31 competitive games stretching back to March 2023.

Spain will face tournament debutants Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia and Uruguay in Group H.

“I see us as favourites,” a confident Grimaldo told AFP ahead of his first World Cup.

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“The stats are things of the past. We have to concentrate on the day-to-day and go into the first game against Cape Verde as well-prepared as possible.

“The team is full of confidence and very motivated. We are desperate to do a good job because we have the team to do so.”

A set-piece specialist, Grimaldo came through the ranks of Barcelona’s fabled La Masia academy but was forced to move to Portuguese giants Benfica to find regular football.

After seven seasons in Lisbon, his move to Leverkusen propelled him into the national team for the first time in 2023.

Grimaldo was one of the stars as Leverkusen won the Bundesliga for the first time and completed a league and cup double under Xabi Alonso in the 2023/24 campaign.

In three seasons in Germany, the 30-year-old has scored 30 goals and provided 45 assists from left-back.

“I am a full-back that offers a lot going forward. I think that makes people think that I don’t know how to defend, when I have defended all my career,” he said.

“I think I am in very good form. I have played at an incredible level for many years, which has brought me to where I am today.”

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No other player has scored more than Grimaldo’s six goals from free-kicks over the past three seasons in Europe’s top five leagues.

And he believes only the great Lionel Messi can claim to be better from dead ball situations.

“I think the distance that is best for me is 25 metres out, more or less. I don’t know if there is anyone that hits it better than me, excluding Messi because Messi is Messi,” he said with a smile.

“From further out there are players that hit it very well like Julian Alvarez or Dominik Szoboszlai.”

Despite his prolific Bundesliga form, Grimaldo remains behind Chelsea’s Marc Cucurella in the battle to be De la Fuente’s starting left-back.

He believes he suffers as only two players in the Spain squad not to play in La Liga or England’s Premier League.

“It is something that I have said a number of times and I don’t hide it. I think (a return to) Spain is the objective I have for the future, but it depends on many things,” he said.

For now the burning desire is to return home as a World Cup winner.

READ: Infantino draws backlash in Italy over World Cup qualification remarks

FIFA president Gianni Infantino joked that struggling Italy might manage to qualify for the World Cup if the competition was expanded from 48 to 64 teams in 2030.

Four-time world champions Italy failed to qualify for Russia 2018, Qatar 2022 and now North America 2026, the first edition to feature 48 teams.

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“We have had discussions about expanding to 64 teams … the matter was presented to the FIFA council,” Infantino told Brazilian digital broadcaster CazeTV on Thursday before the World Cup opener, which Mexico won 2-0 against South Africa.

“Maybe Italy qualify with 64 teams, or we could even go up to 208 teams,” he added with a laugh in a brief interview as he entered Mexico City’s Azteca Stadium.

South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) president Alejandro Dominguez of Paraguay is promoting a proposal to expand the 2030 World Cup to 64 teams to mark the centenary of the tournament’s first edition, Uruguay 1930.

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Part of the event will be held in Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina as a nod to the tournament’s history, but the main host nations will be Spain, Portugal and Morocco.

“We first have to see how this first World Cup with 48 teams goes,” Infantino said.

READ: World Cup 2026: Will Neymar feature for Brazil against Morocco?

Co-hosts Canada grabbed a second-half equalizer to draw 1-1 with Bosnia and Herzegovina on Friday in the first World Cup finals game ever played on Canadian soil.

Cyle Larin got Canada’s goal after Jovo Lukic put Bosnia ahead with a header in the 21st minute in Toronto.

The result gave Canada its first point in World Cup history.

Canadian sides had a perfect record of futility at two previous tournament appearances in 1986 and 2022, with six losses.

Lukic’s goal from a corner sent the small but enthusiastic Bosnian contingent at the Toronto Stadium into a frenzy.

Canada had the majority of play in the first half but failed to generate any real chances.

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The stadium erupted in the 17th minute when forward Jonathan David had a clear shot on goal, but it was easily handled by Bosnian keeper Nikola Vasilj.

Canada’s Ismael Kone had a golden opportunity in the 30th minute, but sailed his strike well over the net, prompting groans from tens of thousands of Canadians who blanketed the stadium in a sea of red.

The second half began in similar fashion, with Canada largely on the attack, but unable to find the net.

Bosnia’s veteran defender Sead Kolasinac saved a certain goal when he diverted a strike from David onto the crossbar, extending Canada’s agony.

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But Larin’s strike in the 78th minute marked a high point in Canada’s limited World Cup history, causing a mostly Canadian crowd of 43,000 to erupt.

Canada threatened to go ahead in the final minutes, narrowly missing a goal near the final whistle.

Canadian entertainment royalty attended the match at the home of the MLS’s Toronto FC, including film star Ryan Reynolds, from Vancouver, and Saturday Night Live and Austin Powers star Mike Myers, a Toronto native.

READ: Pele’s 1958 World Cup medal to fetch £500,000 at auction

Ghana player Thomas Partey, who is facing trial in Britain on rape charges, has been denied a visa to enter Canada to play in the World Cup, FIFA said on Friday.

“FIFA can confirm that player Thomas Partey will be unable to travel from Ghana’s Team Base Camp in Boston, USA, to Canada for their first match against Panama on Wednesday, 17 June, as his visa application has been refused by the Canadian government,” world football’s governing body said.

FIFA said it was “not involved in the immigration processes of host countries, including the adjudication of visas”.

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“As with previous FIFA events, the host government ultimately determines who receives a visa and is admitted into the country,” it added.

It is believed that Partey will however be eligible to play in Ghana’s subsequent Group L games against England and Croatia, which will both take place in the United States.

Partey, a former Arsenal midfielder who plays for Spanish side Villarreal, has pleaded not guilty to seven charges of rape and one count of sexual assault relating to allegations by four different women between 2020 and 2022.

The 32-year-old is due to stand trial next year.

READ: Pele’s 1958 World Cup medal to fetch £500,000 at auction

Pele’s 1958 FIFA World Cup winners’ medal is expected to fetch £500,000 ($670,000) when it is auctioned in England later this month.

The medal, won by the Brazilian legend when he was a teenager, is part of a catalogue of 450 World Cup-related items being sold by sporting memorabilia specialists BUDDS, which estimates they will fetch £2 million in total.

A Brazil shirt won by Pele in the 1958 final is estimated to sell for more than $6 million in a separate auction at Sotheby’s in New York, which runs June 29 to July 16 — three days before this year’s World Cup final.

Pele, then just 17 years old, scored two of Brazil’s five goals in the 1958 final against host nation Sweden.

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The victory marked the first of Brazil’s record five World Cup titles, three of which were spearheaded by the striker known as “The King”.

Pele, born Edson Arantes do Nascimento, died in December 2022 at the age of 82 after being diagnosed with colon cancer.

Other lots in the British auction include the shirt worn by England goalkeeper Gordon Banks when he made his famous save from Pele at the 1970 World Cup in Mexico.

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The auction also features memorabilia from England’s 1966 World Cup triumph, including Banks’ winners’ medal and Alan Ball’s shirt from the final.

“This is the largest collection of World Cup memorabilia ever offered at auction, and it is difficult to imagine many sales that could rival it in terms of historical significance,” said David Convery, head of sporting memorabilia at BUDDS.

An online auction is running from June 1 to 21 featuring shirts from the nations competing at the 2026 World Cup, before a live sale on June 25 at BUDDS’s auction rooms in Wellingborough, central England.

READ: Cristiano Ronaldo ‘very positive’ ahead of FIFA World Cup opener

Cristiano Ronaldo said on Friday that he was feeling “very positive” before flying out of Lisbon with the Portuguese team to their World Cup base camp in Palm Beach, Florida.

“We’re approaching this competition with a lot of hope,” said the five-time Ballon d’Or winner.

“The preparation has been very good, tiring, because we have worked hard,” continued the veteran Portugal captain who insisted he was “physically good”.

“I am very positive, I believe things will go well and that we will put in a good performance.

“It’s a very good generation… which will bring a lot of joy to the Portuguese people,” the forward said of the squad around him.

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“The most important thing is to start well, with the first match, then follow up with the second and third… finish top of the group and from there, take it one match at a time,” he added.

Portugal open their World Cup campaign on June 17 in Houston against the Democratic Republic of Congo, before facing Uzbekistan and Colombia in Group K.

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At 41, Ronaldo will be heading to his record sixth World Cup, but there are concerns in some quarters that his presence will prevent Roberto Martinez’s strong side from flourishing.

Portugal played two friendly matches in recent days against Chile and Nigeria, winning both 2-1, but Ronaldo failed to score.

Portugal finished third in the 1966 World Cup and reached the quarter-finals four years ago in Qatar.

READ: Babar Azam pens heartfelt message on Kane Williamson’s retirement

New Zealand’s most prolific run-scorer and arguably greatest batter Kane Williamson announced his immediate retirement from international cricket on Friday in the middle of their series against England.

The 35-year-old former skipper called time ahead of the second Test at The Oval next week. He played in the Black Caps’ defeat in the first Test at Lord’s, making 0 and 18.

“I’ve thought about it for a while, but over the last few days it’s become clear now is the right time,” he said.

“I’ve always felt a strong drive and hunger for international cricket, and I take pride in knowing I’ve given it my all in every match I’ve played for New Zealand.

“Continuing with anything less wouldn’t be right and I feel fortunate to step away on my own terms.

Williamson said he felt “optimistic” about the team’s direction.

“There’s a huge amount of talent and a real desire to do something special with this New Zealand team,” he said.

Williamson made his international debut in 2010 and played 378 games for his country, finishing as New Zealand’s all-time leading run-scorer with 19,346 including 48 centuries and six double-centuries.

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He played 110 Tests, smacking 33 centuries on his way to 9,515 runs at an average of 54.06.

His leadership style was much admired and he captained the side in all three formats during a golden period from 2016 to 2024.

During that time, New Zealand made two World Cup finals, three semi-finals, and won the inaugural World Test Championship in 2021.

“Anyone who’s had the privilege of working with Kane understands he is a very special player and person,” said New Zealand coach Rob Walter.

“His numbers and batting skills speak for themselves, but it’s what he means to this Black Caps team, as well as world cricket — that will be his legacy.

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“His impact on the culture and standards of this team will remain embedded in its DNA.”

Williamson’s list of accolades is immense, including being named the ICC Cricketer of 2015 and Test player of the year in 2019, while also winning the domestic Sir Richard Hadlee Medal on a record four occasions.

New Zealand great Hadlee hailed him as “a wonderful player and fine leader”.

“He’s demonstrated a willingness to continually advance his game to the highest level in all three formats and he rightfully finishes as one of the best players of his era,” he said.

“The way he prepared himself physically and mentally was perhaps the most impressive part. He was always committed to working hard and developing his technique to ensure he was ready to be a world class player.

“He’s been an unflappable leader and the architect of some of our greatest moments in cricket.”

READ: Thibaut Courtois likely to retire after FIFA World Cup 2026

Morocco made two injury-enforced changes to their FIFA World Cup squad on Thursday, with winger Abde Ezzalzouli and defender Nayef Aguerd ruled out ahead of their tournament opener against Brazil.

Real Betis forward Ezzalzouli picked up a knee injury in a friendly against Norway last weekend. He has been replaced in Morocco’s squad by Amine Sbai of Angers, according to an updated FIFA squad list.

Marseille centre-back Aguerd, who has not played since March after undergoing surgery for a groin issue, makes way for Saudi-based Marwane Saadane.

The Moroccan delegation based in New Jersey declined to comment when contacted by AFP, but team captain Achraf Hakimi posted a message of support for the injured pair.

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“Football can be cruel sometimes. Thanks for what you’ve given the squad since the first day. We’ll continue to fight for you. We love you,” Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) star Hakimi wrote on social media.

It is a double blow to Morocco’s World Cup hopes, four years after they became the first African and Arab nation to reach the last four of the competition. Both Ezzalzouli and Aguerd were part of the 2022 squad.

Morocco will play five-time world champions Brazil in New Jersey in their opening game on Saturday before facing Scotland and Haiti in Group C.

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However, new coach Mohamed Ouahbi has a lack of experienced defenders at his disposal following the retirement of long-serving captain Romain Saiss and an injury sustained by Adam Masina in the Africa Cup of Nations final in January.

Crystal Palace’s Chadi Riad was included despite limited playing time this season after returning from a lengthy absence in January.

Morocco have also turned to Fulham defender Issa Diop. The 29-year-old opted to represent his mother’s country, having previously played for France at the youth level. He was also eligible for Senegal through his father.

Morocco squad for FIFA World Cup 2026

Goalkeepers: Yassine Bounou (Al Hilal), Munir Mohamedi (RS Berkane), Ahmed Tagnaouti (Royal Armed Forces).

Defenders: Noussair ⁠Mazraoui (Manchester United), Anass Salah-Eddine (PSV), Youssef Belammari (Al Ahly), Marwane Saadane (Al-Fateh), Chadi Riad (Crystal Palace), Issa Diop (Fulham), Redouane Halhal (KV Mechelen), Achraf Hakimi (PSG), Zakaria El Ouahdi (Genk).

Midfielders: Samir El Mourabet (Strasbourg), Ayyoub ⁠Bouaddi (Lille), Neil El Aynaoui (Roma), Sofyan Amrabat (Real Betis), ​Azzedine Ounahi (Girona), Bilal El Khannouss (Stuttgart), Ismael Saibari (PSV).

Forwards: Amine Sbai (Angers), Chemsdine Talbi (Sunderland), ​Soufiane Rahimi (Al Ain), Ayoub El Kaabi (Olympiacos), Brahim Diaz (Real Madrid), Yassine Gessime (Strasbourg), Ayoub Amaimouni-Echghouyabe (Eintracht Frankfurt).

Manager: Mohamed Ouahbi

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