The draw for the 2026 World Cup is finally over! After what seemed like an eternity, the real business finally got underway in Friday's ceremony in Washington DC, with Rio Ferdinand leading the way and sporting icons such as Tom Brady, Shaquille O'Neal and Wayne Gretzky teaming up to throw up some intriguing groups for next summer's tournament in North America.

Reigning champions Argentina are in with Austria, Algeria and Jordan, while 2022 runners-up France have been placed in the closest thing to a 'Group of Death' alongside Senegal and Norway. As for England, they were paired with Croatia, Panama and Ghana, while things went reasonably well for all three of the co-hosts – United States, Mexico and Canada, although the Canucks may well be hoping that Italy don’t belatedly qualify via the European play-offs.  

So, who were the big winners of the draw? Whose hopes of winning the tournament have been boosted? And which nations will be fearing an humiliating first-round exit? And GOAL breaks it all down below…

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  WINNER: The USMNT

  Things are suddenly looking up for U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino. The Argentine came in for plenty of stick during a trying start to his tenure that featured some desperately disappointing defeats and very worrying signs of a strained relationship with 'Captain America' Christian Pulisic. However, after a run of five games without defeat, including a 5-1 demolition of Uruguay achieved without some of his most talented players, Pochettino will now be very confident of avoiding an early exit at next summer's World Cup.

  Truth be told, there's absolutely no reason why the co-hosts can't progress as winners of Group D because the draw couldn't have gone much better for them: Australia were among the weakest sides in Pot Two, Paraguay finished sixth in CONMEBOL and, like the Socceroos, struggle to score goals; while Turkey/Romania/Slovakia/Kosovo was the weakest of the UEFA play-off brackets.

  All things considered, a first World Cup quarter-final appearance since 2002 is a distinct possibility for the Americans if Pochettino can maintain the momentum he's built up in recent months.

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  LOSER: France

  As one of the seeded sides in a 48-team World Cup, Dider Deschamps' France would have been forgiven for anticipating a rather straightforward group-stage assignment. What they've received, though, is a very early and very tricky test of their credentials.

  In Norway, Les Bleus drew the team that absolutely nobody wanted from Pot Three, meaning the French are definitely going to have a fight on their hands for top spot in Group I – and not just because they'll have to figure out a way to stop Erling Haaland.

  The 2022 runners-up have also been landed in the same pool as Senegal, who are ranked 19th in the world and showed just how dangerous they are by dismantling England in a friendly at the City Ground earlier this year. It's also worth noting that The Lions of Teranga upset France at in the opening round of games at the World Cup in South Korea and Japan 23 years ago. If history were to repeat itself in the U.S. next summer, France would actually be at risk of suffering another humiliatingly early exit.

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  WINNER: The surviving members of Belgium's Golden Generation

  A bit like Kevin De Bruyne all the way back in 2022, we'd pretty much given up on Belgium's 'Golden Generation' ever realising their potential. However, all hope is not yet lost. While several stars retired after the Red Devils' calamitous campaign in Qatar, De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku, Axel Witsel and Thibaut Courtois are still knocking about and, fitness-permitting, all four will feature at next summer's tournament in North America.

  Granted, the Belgians performed pretty poorly in qualifying. As winger Jeremy Doku admitted, the majority of their displays were sub-standard and we're not going to suddenly tout them as potential World Cup winners.

  However, Rudi Garcia's squad does not lack quality or experience, and should (in theory, at least) cruise through a group containing Iran, Egypt and New Zealand, with only The Pharaohs looking remotely capable of challenging them for top spot.

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  LOSER: Scotland

  When Scotland last appeared at the World Cup, in 1998, they were drawn in the same group as Brazil, Morocco and Norway. This time around, they've managed to avoid the Scandinavians, but having to once again tackle the Selecao and The Atlas Lions means the Scots could well struggle to reach the round of 32.

  Brazil may not be the force they once were, but they're still the record five-time champions and results have certainly picked up since Carlo Ancelotti took over during the summer. It certainly wouldn't be a surprise if the former Real Madrid boss were to coax the best out of Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo next summer.

  As for Morocco, they're once again Africa's best hope of finally winning the World Cup. They finished fourth in 2022 and are presently on a 19-match unbeaten run.

  Bottom line: Scotland might need to produce the kind of heroics they pulled out of the bag in their dramatic and decisive qualifying win over Denmark just to make the knockout stage. And who knows, with the support of the travelling Tartan Army, maybe it's not beyond the realms of possibility?!

Plans to field an All-Indigenous Prime Minister’s XI for the annual match at Manuka Oval in Canberra were dropped by Cricket Australia after the re-election of the current Prime Minister Scott Morrison in 2019.The idea to rejuvenate the traditional concept of the PM’s XI fixture by making it an All-Indigenous team versus an overseas touring team was first raised by CA as part of the same reconciliation movement to redress Australian cricket’s poor history of racial inclusion that saw it drop any reference to “Australia Day” for Big Bash League matches to be played on January 26.It was floated prior to the 2019 federal election, widely expected to be won by the Labor Opposition led by Bill Shorten, but shelved after it is believed to have been given a less than enthusiastic response in the months after the Liberal/National Coalition was returned to government in defiance of opinion polls.Amid a gradual growth in the number of Aboriginal cricketers in Australian domestic ranks, CA’s high-performance wing is understood to have welcomed the idea on the basis that the chosen XI would be more than strong enough to hold their own against the touring Sri Lankan team.However, ESPNcricinfo understands that the pushback was couched as a new government indicating it “wasn’t quite ready” for such a move, forcing CA and ACT Cricket into a series of changes to their plans.Related

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Early in the second Morrison government, the Indigenous Affairs Minister Ken Wyatt gave a National Press Club address outlining a blueprint for a referendum on Aboriginal recognition in the Australian Constitution, a move that drew criticism from some of the more conservative elements of the government.Aboriginal players who had toured England in 2018, as part of a tour to commemorate the 1868 journey by the first ever team to represent Australia on foreign soil in any sport, had been informally told of the plans and even reached the stage where diary space in their summer schedules was cleared for training and playing time in Canberra.A source close to the players described their reaction as “irate” when informed of the plan being dropped, ostensibly because it was felt that the government was “already sufficiently active” in the Indigenous sphere.A compromise of sorts was reached by having the PM’s XI co-captained by the Aboriginal allrounder Dan Christian alongside Peter Siddle, and coached by Jason Gillespie, who became Australia’s first male Aboriginal Test cricketer when he made his debut in 1996, after Aunty Faith Thomas became the first Aboriginal Test cricketer in 1958.Morrison subsequently used the match as a photo opportunity, running drinks to the PM’s XI while clad in a team cap and sharing high fives with the players, while also doing a stint in the commentary box.Nevertheless, the episode underlined a difference of opinion on inclusiveness between Morrison and CA that has been further heightened by the Prime Minister’s publicly stated opposition to CA’s stance on January 26, which was reached after consultation with its Indigenous Advisory Council, co-chaired by Mel Jones and Justin Mohamed.”I think a bit more focus on cricket, and a little less focus on politics would be my message to Cricket Australia,” Morrison told radio 4R0 on Thursday. “I think that’s pretty ordinary – that’s what they’re putting on their press releases – that would be my view.”In December 2019, CA released their second Reconciliation Action Plan with the stated aim of finding more common ground between Indigenous communities and the sport. As of last season, just 69,000 of the reported 1.7 million Australians playing cricket are from Indigenous backgrounds. To help grow that number, the report included 104 areas for action, including the aim for all cricket clubs in Australia to commit to an annual reconciliation statement each year.CA has subsequently discussed plans to hold an annual match between an All-Indigenous XI and a touring team separate to the Manuka fixture, however both this idea and the PM’s XI game itself were put on hiatus for the 2020-21 season due to Covid-19.The Indigenous leader Mick Dodson, a former Australian of the year and co-author of a 2010 independent report on cricket’s Indigenous past, For The Love Of The Game, that helped drive CA’s current approach, said the governing body had already driven great change, with more to come.”They’ve taken Aboriginal participation in official cricket around the country from 8,500 [in 2013/14] to almost 70,000,” Dodson told the ABC’s PM program. “That’s over 800% increase. They’ve done a terrific job. No other sport in Australia could claim that. It’s not just Indigenous Australians, it’s people from diverse and different cultural backgrounds, they’ve done a terrific job.”Adam Cassidy [Cricket Australia’s diversity and inclusion manager] and the Cricket Australia team should be very, very proud of what they’ve achieved in such a short time. Because they’re inclusive and have an inclusive and diverse policy, you get figures like that.”A CA spokesperson said: “CA places great importance on the annual PM’s XI fixture – a tradition that has spanned successive governments and CA administrations dating back to the 1950s.”We have welcomed the Prime Minister’s support for continuing the tradition and look forward to working together on the next iteration of the fixture next summer.”The Prime Minister’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

Roberto De Zerbi is now in the frame to replace Pep Guardiola, amid a new update on the Manchester City manager’s future at the Etihad Stadium.

Guardiola’s contract isn’t due to expire until the summer of 2027, having penned an extension last season, and Man City fans will no doubt be hoping he stays for the foreseeable future, given the unprecedented success he has brought to the blue side of Manchester.

Trophies Pep Guardiola has lifted at Manchester City

Number of times won

Premier League title

6

Champions League

1

UEFA Super Cup

1

Club World Cup

1

FA Cup

2

League Cup

4

Community Shield

3

However, Jurgen Klopp resigning as Liverpool manager at the end of the 2023-24 campaign due to fatigue displayed just how draining it is to be a Premier League manager for a sustained period of time, and there will come a point where City need to start seriously thinking about successors.

At the moment, the former Barcelona boss will be focusing on closing the gap to Arsenal at the top of the Premier League table, while also attempting to win a second Champions League, but there has now been a new update on when he could leave the Blues.

Man City targeting De Zerbi amid Guardiola future update

According to reliable reporter Paul Hirst, in a report for The Times, an exit at the end of the 2026-27 campaign is on the cards as the 54-year-old has won everything there is to win since arriving at the Etihad Stadium back in 2016.

The three-time Champions League-winning manager is expected to see out his current contract, but Man City may then be faced with the difficult task of bringing in a successor, and De Zerbi is in the frame, as the former Brighton & Hove Albion boss has admirers within the club.

Guardiola is personally a fan of the Marseille manager, who has made a fantastic start to the 2025-26 campaign, with his side currently second in Ligue 1, just two points behind Paris Saint-Germain at the top of the Ligue 1 table.

Not only is the 46-year-old impressing in France, but he was also hailed by Statman Dave for the work he did during his first year as Brighton manager.

The Italian is well-known to favour a possession-based style of football, so he may not need to make wholesale changes at Man City, which is another bonus, alongside his experience in the Premier League.

The only concern will be that De Zerbi is yet to lift many major trophies, winning only the Ukrainian Super Cup with Shakhtar Donetsk in the 2021-22 season.

In truth, whoever replaces Pep will find it almost impossible to eclipse what the Spaniard has achieved at City, and supporters will be hoping he extends his stay beyond the end of next season.

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Every current Premier League boss ranked from best to worst.

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Batsman averaged 14 in Sri Lanka’s 2016-17 tour and was left out for 2018-19 series

Matt Roller26-Dec-2020Dinesh Chandimal gave credit to a conversation with Hashim Amla during Sri Lanka’s 2016-17 tour of South Africa after compiling his highest Test score in two-and-a-half years – and his highest in ‘SENA’ countries since May 2016.Chandimal had struggled for form in South Africa during the 2016-17 series, averaging 14.16 and managing 85 runs across six innings. He missed the 2018-19 series altogether, being dropped after a lean run in New Zealand and Australia, but matched his run aggregate from his previous tour on the first day of the 2020-21 series as Sri Lanka put themselves in the box seat in Centurion.”It was a tough time to bat, especially at 54 for 3, and the South African fast bowlers bowled outstandingly in that period,” Chandimal said. “So I had a tough time. I especially wanted to get the first 30 balls right, and then I wanted to capitalise after that. I’m really happy with the way I played.”Chandimal was speaking to host broadcaster SuperSport, for whom Amla was working as a summariser. Told by Pommie Mbangwa that Amla had been praising his innings, Chandimal was quick to bring up the advice that he had been given four years ago.”I must thank Hashim also,” he said. “I remember in 2016, I had a chat with him [about] how to bat in South Africa – I hope he remembers that. After the LPL in Sri Lanka, we didn’t have that much time to practise before we came to South Africa.”I used the practices really well, and I got really good information from our head coach, Mickey Arthur, who knows the conditions really well here. So I did lots of hard work before the game started, and it worked really well.”Amla suggested that his advice to Chandimal had not been “rocket science”, but said that it demonstrated his willingness to improve his game in overseas conditions. Prior to his innings on Boxing Day, Chandimal had managed only one score above 30 in his last 14 attempts in ‘SENA’ countries – South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia – since his hundred in England in 2016.Related

Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram and Faf du Plessis put South Africa in control

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“I remember [the conversation] very well,” Amla said. “He came and just asked what advice I could offer on batting in South Africa. You find that [for] many subcontinent players, scoring runs in South Africa, Australia and England is almost like the holy grail for them, because they’re used to scoring in the subcontinent so the more difficult batting conditions [are a challenge].”Suddenly, they’re really eager to improve. We just talked about the basic stuff – [there was] no rocket science to it. I’m very happy for him. The way he batted today, his technique looked really solid, he left well [and] he put the bad ball away.”Both men suggested that Sri Lanka had put themselves in the box seat by racking up 340 for 6 on the first day, with Chandimal admitting that the initial target had been a significantly lower total.”To be honest, we were thinking 280-plus score in the first innings [would be competitive],” he said. “So I mean, 340, this surprised everyone in our team. As a team, we’re really confident after today’s play and are looking forward to putting them under pressure tomorrow.”If we can get another 30-40 runs, that will be great for us, and at the same time we just want to take early wickets and put them under pressure.”

Erling Haaland matched an incredible Cristiano Ronaldo record by opening the scoring for Manchester City against Arsenal.

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Haaland opens scoring against ArsenalNorway star netted 100th Man City goalEquals insane Cristiano Ronaldo recordFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱Getty Images SportWHAT HAPPENED?

Haaland opened the scoring for City in their Premier League clash against Arsenal on Sunday, racing on to Savinho's through-ball and beating David Raya in the ninth minute. The goal was Haaland's 100th for City in just 105 appearances, and he's now matched Ronaldo's record of scoring a century of goals in 105 games for Real Madrid.

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Per Squawka, Haaland and Ronaldo now hold the record of fewest games needed to reach 100 goals for a top-five European team in the 21st century. Haaland's opener took his tally for the season to 10 goals in just five matches, and meant Arsenal trailed away from home in the Premier League for the first time in 2024.

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City's lead didn't last long, though. In the 22nd minute, Riccardo Calafiori, handed his full debut after Mikel Arteta was "forced" to drop Ben White, scored a wonderful equaliser from outside the box to level the match.

WHAT NEXT?

Haaland will be eyeing the next hundred after reaching three figures for City. The 24-year-old is on a historic run right now and more records will continue to fall, with Alan Shearer's Premier League record surely on his mind should he stay in England for long enough – and City avoid expulsion from the top flight.

da bet7k： Everton are reportedly pushing hard to complete the signing of Sevilla right-back Juanlu Sanchez, but there is more Premier League interest in him, too.

da apostaganha： The 22-year-old is an exciting young talent who has already won an Olympic gold medal with Spain, winning a total of four caps for his country and hoping to be a part of their 2026 World Cup squad.

Juanlu emerged as a target for Wolves during the summer transfer window, with talks opening at one point and a move to Molineux potentially looking on the cards.

In the end, he rejected their advances, however, and decided to remain at Sevilla for the time being, continuing to be an influential player for the Spanish giants this season.

Juanlu has made 10 La Liga appearances in 2025/26 to date, assisting once in the competition, but it looks as though his long-term future may lie away from the club, with Everton seemingly in the mix to acquire his signature.

Everton applying "strong pressure" to sign Juanlu

According to Diario de Sevilla [via Sport Witness], Everton are putting “strong pressure” on to sign Juanlu from Sevilla, with Crystal Palace also in the same boat.

Sevilla’s financial issues could see them forced into selling the wide man, with as much as £17.6m possibly needed to prise him away from Spain.

Juanlu looks like such a shrewd target for Everton, with the Spain international possessing the versatility to add so much depth to David Moyes’ squad, being able to thrive on the wing and even in midfield alongside his natural right-back role.

Still only 22, his best years are ahead of him, with former manager Xavier Garcia Pimienta heaping praise on his qualities as a player in the past.

“He has played as an inside midfielder [before], we were short on space in midfield due to Saul’s [Niguez] suspension and [Albert Sambi] Lokonga’s injury. I spoke to him, I knew he could do well in that position. Juanlu has an incredible present and a better future.”

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The lure of Palace may be big, given their status as reigning FA Cup holders, but Everton are enjoying life in their sparkly new stadium, with Jack Grealish a big-name loan signing, and Juanlu will hopefully see them as the more exciting proposition.

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