Latest news with #WorldCupQualifying
The National
22-07-2025
- Sport
- The National
SFA blame 'technical erorr' for Denmark ticket debacle
Tickets for Scotland's World Cup Qualifying clash with Denmark in September this morning went on sale to Scotland Supporters Club (SSC) members with between 21 and 32 points. However, fans who did not qualify within this window were able to log on and purchase. This has meant they have been forced to null and void any purchase made today and launch a new sale tomorrow. This has enraged fans, with the SFA blaming a technical error. Read more: A statement reads: "The Scottish FA is aware of a technical error that occurred during this morning's ticket sale for the upcoming FIFA World Cup Qualifying match against Denmark, which allowed purchase by some Scotland Supporters Club (SSC) members who were not eligible during the window that was reserved for those with 32-21 Points. "As a result, we will regrettably need to restart the sales process from scratch in the interest of fairness, with any purchase that was made today being cancelled and refunded. "The new sale will commence at 10am on Wednesday, 23 July. "The SFA would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused to supporters." It comes after fans were already baffled at being given an allocation of just 1,740 tickets for the opening qualifier.
The National
16-06-2025
- Sport
- The National
From war-torn Yugoslavia to belated UAE debut, Sasa Ivkovic is proud to represent ‘country I love'
At the end of a week scarred by controversy over the value of wearing the UAE shirt, a player born during war in Yugoslavia showed just what it means to represent the national team. Sasa Ivkovic made his debut for the UAE in their final match in round three of Asia's World Cup qualifying process, in Kyrgyzstan last Tuesday. The Al Wahda centre-back was a commanding presence at the heart of the UAE backline. He did not deserve to leave Bishkek with anything less than a win, but the national team had to make do with a 1-1 draw because of a last-second equaliser. Despite the frustrating end, Ivkovic was proud of his night's work. That much was clear by the fact that, as he headed to the team bus, he was holding a blue plastic bag with two treasured possessions inside. They were the white shirts of the national team with No 2 and 'Ivkovic' written on the back. There was no chance was he swapping them with anyone. 'I am protecting my shirt as it's my first game; these are for me and my family,' Ivkovic said, as he gripped tight hold of the bag. It was the sort of feelgood ending that a tempestuous week really needed. The start of it had been headlined by the banning of Khalid Al Dhanhani and Sultan Adil due to misconduct during the national team's training camp. That issue led the new coach, Cosmin Olaroiu, to point out that indiscipline of any kind while representing the country at football would not be tolerated. 'This shirt that we wear is more than ourselves,' Olaroiu had said. 'We are carrying the responsibility for a million people.' It is a responsibility that Ivkovic is grateful to be asked to bear. 'It feels great,' he said. 'I am really happy because that was my first game for the UAE, the country that I love. 'At the same time, the feelings are a little mixed because they scored in the last second. That was unfortunate because we almost had the win in our hands. 'But I am proud of my team because we gave 100 per cent. There are some things to improve, but this is a new group. There are a lot of players missing, and I think we will grow. At the next gathering, we will be even better.' Ivkovic's continued involvement – perhaps even as a first-choice starter – seems assured after his outstanding display in Bishkek. His manager termed it 'fantastic,' and was impressed by the solid partnership he had formed with fellow Wahda centre back Lucas Pimenta. 'For his first game, I expected him to be more emotional, but he performed fantastically,' Olaroiu said. 'He and Pimenta, their performances were top.' Ivkovic said the fact he did not outwardly show nerves might be due to his age. His first crack at international football is coming after a lengthy club career which started out in Serbia, before taking in a spell with Maribor in Slovenia. He had five seasons with Baniyas from 2019, then helped Wahda to AFC Champions League qualification after joining them last season. Although he represented Serbia in age-group football, he officially switched allegiance to the UAE in February. 'I am 32, so I have some experience of these kinds of matches, but of course there is emotion when you play your first game,' Ivkovic said. 'This wasn't a friendly game. It was an important game, so there was emotion, but I tried to stay concentrated and focused. I'd have been even more happy if we could keep [the score to] zero, but I am looking forward to the next matches.' Representing the UAE in senior international football is a long way from his tough start to life. Ivkovic was born to Serbian parents in Vukovar, a city in what is now Croatia, during the Yugoslav War. 'I was born in a really difficult moment,' Ivkovic said. 'My family was born and lived in what is now regarded as Croatian territory after the war. 'So many bad things happened in the war. I was born in 1993, and after that we moved to Serbia. It was not an easy period, and I am always thankful to my parents for the energy they have given me. 'I was born and raised at a difficult time, but we managed to succeed, and make [ourselves] good people, I guess.' The family followed a wave of refugees who had been forced from their homes by the conflict, and resettled in a town near Novi Sad, the second largest city in Serbia. That is where Ivkovic spent his formative years in football before, aged 17, he moved to the capital to join one of the country's footballing giants, Partizan Belgrade. It was there that he pursued his ambition of going pro, and following in the footsteps of his hero, the long-time Partizan captain, Sasa Ilic. 'He is a legend, not only a great player having captained Partizan for so many years, but also a legend as a human being,' Ivkovic said. 'Everybody, when we were kids, would look up to him. He was the one guy we all wanted to be.' Ivkovic says he is thankful he has little memory of the conflict himself, and is glad participation in football has taught him how to respect others. 'As a Serbian there, my parents decided to move to what is now Serbian territory, as it would be easier for us,' he said. 'It was 30 years ago, and everything is good. I hope for peace everywhere, that is most important. It was a very difficult time for our country, but the new generation, we try to look ahead positively, and have no bad blood between us. 'Especially in sport. As sportspeople, we always have to strive to achieve this: to have respect for one another.'
Associated Press
13-06-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
Bermuda, Curaçao, Jamaica and Trinidad drawn into CONCACAF all-island World Cup qualifying group
MIAMI (AP) — Bermuda, Curaçao, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago were drawn into an all-island Group B on Thursday night for the third round of World Cup qualifying in North and Central America and the Caribbean. El Salvador, Guatemala, Panama and Suriname were put in Group A, and Costa Rica, Haiti, Honduras, and Nicaragua in Group C. A double round-robin will take place in September, October and November, and the three groups winners will qualify for the expanded 48-nation field next year. The region has a minimum six berths, with Canada, Mexico and the United States qualifying automatically as co-hosts. The top two second-place teams advance to six-team playoffs next March that include the No. 7 team from South America, No. 9 team from Asia, the No. 10 team from Africa and New Caledonia, which is the No. 2 team from Oceania. There will be semifinal single legs involving the four lowest-ranked playoff nations, with the winners advancing to single leg finals that will produce two qualifiers. Europe has 16 direct qualifying berths, Africa nine, Asia eight, South America six and Oceania one. ___ AP soccer:
BBC News
12-06-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Valuable lessons for 'games that matter'
Northern Ireland captain Trai Hume has challenged his team-mates to carry lessons from friendlies forward into "the games that matter".Michael O'Neill's side played 33 minutes with 10 men in Tuesday's 1-0 win over Iceland in their final friendly before World Cup qualifying begins in Ireland travel to Luxembourg and Germany in their opening qualifiers, and also face Slovakia in Group A."They are the games that matter. We are starting the campaign off with two away games so it is going to be tough," said Sunderland defender Hume."We want to have a good start and hopefully get a win in the first game."Isaac Price's opener gave Northern Ireland the lead in a low-key first half at Windsor Park but Brodie Spencer was dismissed for a last-man tackle in the 57th minute. "It's one of those things you can't control, but it's good to have that experience as a team. We stuck together and thankfully got the win," added Hume."It's tough no matter what level playing with 10 men. You have to run that wee bit extra and put in hard work. "You never know if that is going to happen in competitive games so it is good to have that experience especially as a young group."After joining from Irish Premiership side Linfield in 2022, Hume played a key role for Sunderland as they dramatically secured promotion to the Premier League in the play-off final. The 23-year-old said he is "really excited" about playing in the Premier League."I'm probably not looking forward to pre-season as much because it's going to be that wee bit tougher but that's part and parcel of it. "I'll have to work harder than I have before because I'm stepping up a level and playing in the best league in the world. It will be tough but I'm excited."It is a challenge I know me and my team-mates at Sunderland are looking forward to and hopefully we can get going."
Irish Times
11-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
No birthday surprise for Hallgrímsson against Luxembourg
There was, writes Gavin Cummiskey, no shortage of effort from Heimir Hallgrímsson's players in Luxembourg on Tuesday evening, but the gift of a goal to celebrate his 58th birthday never came , the game ending scoreless. The upside from 'this low-key summer camp' is that the manager has unearthed some alternative options, Jason Knight, Kasey McAteer and Killian Phillips among those who have played their way in to contention for the start of World Cup qualifying in September. One of Galway, Dublin and Derry will play themselves out of championship contention come Saturday night, and, says Darragh Ó Sé, 'they'll only have themselves to blame' . 'You can cry all you like about being in the Group of Death, but that's only looking for excuses. For one thing, it doesn't seem to have caused Armagh a lot of bother.' In hurling, Limerick might have lost the battle last weekend, in the shape of that penalty shoot-out defeat by Cork, but Cian Lynch is still hopeful that they can win the war by collecting their sixth All-Ireland title in eight years come July 20th. Gordon Manning talks to the Limerick captain. By 2027, hurling and football finals could be played in August , Gordon hearing GAA president Jarlath Burns express his preference for the former to be played on the first weekend of August and the latter on the third Sunday. READ MORE And in advance of next year's celebration of the centenary of the National Leagues, Seán Moran traces the history of the competitions and all the format-tweaking that has taken place since their birth. In rugby, Gordon D'Arcy believes 'there are people, plenty of them, who get a bit of joy out of seeing Leinster fall short,' so he is urging them to turn the resulting 'siege mentality into a fuel source' in Saturday's URC final against the Bulls. Dan Sheehan will do his level best to be part of just such a triumph, Johnny Watterson talking to the Irish hooker , Johnny also hearing from Bulls' coach Jake White who is hoping his players are inspired by the memory of the club's former winger Cornal Hendricks who died suddenly at the age of just 37 last month. In golf, Philip Reid talked to Shane Lowry over at Oakmont Country Club on the eve of the US Open, the Offaly man left frustrated by a year that, in his view, has seen him play his best ever golf, but has yet to yield a victory. ' Every Sunday I come off the golf course I feel like I'm after getting punched in the gut ,' he says. And Philip also hears from Rory McIlroy who is hoping to recover from his post-Masters slump . 'You dream about the final putt going in at the Masters,' he says, 'but you don't think about what comes next.' TV Watch : Sky Sports Golf has just the eight hours of coverage of the build-up to the US Open today (from 2pm). Later, if hockey's your thing, Ireland's game against the Netherlands in the men's FIH Pro League will be on the TG4 Player (7pm).
