Category: International Sports

Ghana star Mohammed Kudus has called the 2022 World Cup in Qatar the ‘best football tournament,’ outshining even the Champions League. The West Ham standout lived that thrill three years ago at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, where he scored twice in three games for the Black Stars in his first go at the competition. Mohammed Kudus lit up the pitch against South Korea in the group stage, leaving Ghanaian fans speechless. In an interview with Rising Ballers, the 24-year-old gushed, ‘It was amazing. The World Cup was just different in Qatar—my first time. My family flew out to support me, which made it unforgettable.’

Though the Black Stars bowed out early, Kudus still cherishes the ride.

‘We didn’t go as far as I’d hoped, but being part of it was incredible,’ he said.

Despite missing the 2025 AFCON, Kudus is already eyeing a return to the global stage in 2026, with World Cup qualifiers looming. The Black Stars face Chad and Madagascar in March 2025, starting with a home clash against Chad at Accra Sports Stadium between March 17-21, followed by an away trip to Antananarivo to take on Madagascar.

So far in the 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, Ghana has notched three wins from four games: Mali, Central African Republic, and Madagascar. Their only loss came against Comoros.

That leaves them with nine points, having scored seven goals and conceded five.

Mohammed Kudus, still goalless in these qualifiers, will be eager to find the net when the Black Stars return to action in March.

Mikel Arteta has said he would give up on Arsenal’s title hopes “over my dead body” but added that his side will have to do something unprecedented in Premier League history to win it.

When asked if he would concede the title, Arteta defiantly said: “Over my dead body.

“If not I will go home. Mathematically it is possible. You are there, you have to play every game, suddenly three days ago we could close a gap and you are like ‘you are one-and-a-half games away.’ It doesn’t matter, we have to continue to go.”

“The difficulty is higher than three days about but if you are going to win the Premier League you have to do something special. If you are going to win the Premier League with the circumstances we have you will probably have to do something that nobody else has done in the history of the Premier League.” The loss to West Ham further highlighted Arsenal’s shortage of attacking with options, with Raheem Sterling, Leandro Trossard and Ethan Nwaneri the only available forwards at the moment. Arteta confirmed that injured duo Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli are “progressing really well” but said they are still some way away from making a comeback.

The one positive Arsenal could take from the game was the return of Ben White, who made his first appearance since November after undergoing knee surgery.

Chris Eubank Jr. slapped British rival Conor Benn in the face with an egg at their first face-off in Manchester on Tuesday.

The face-off followed a heated news conference to launch their boxing match, which takes place April 26 in London.

The pair were set to fight in 2022 before Benn (23-0, 14 KOs) tested positive for performance-enhancing drug clomifene. The WBC later said that egg contamination was the “most likely cause.”

Benn has since been cleared to fight.

Heated words were exchanged from the start, with Benn saying, “His dad don’t even like him” in reference to his rival.

Eubank Jr. (34-3, 25 KOs) and Benn will follow the footsteps of their fathers — Chris Eubank Sr. and Nigel Benn — who fought two classic bouts in the 1990s.

Plenty was also made of the difference in weight, with Benn a welterweight and Eubank Jr. having fought at super middleweight. The fight will be contested at 160 pounds, with a rehydration clause set at 170 pounds for the same-day weigh-in.

Second-half substitute Danny Welbeck scored the winner as Brighton beat Bournemouth at Amex Stadium to extend their winning run in all competitions to four matches.

Welbeck, who had replaced Joao Pedro only three minutes earlier, raced on to Georginio Rutter’s pass before sliding a left-footed shot past Kepa Arrizabalaga for his first goal since late October.

Both teams had opportunities to take the lead in an entertaining opening, but it was Brighton who struck first when Pedro stroked home from the penalty spot after being upended by Arrizabalaga.

Kaoru Mitoma hit the post with a first-time effort from Tariq Lamptey’s cross before the interval, but Bournemouth restored parity in the second half when Justin Kluivert collected a Milos Kerkez pass on the left before cutting inside and rifling a magnificent drive past Bart Verbruggen.

The Brighton goalkeeper was forced into a point-blank save from Dango Ouattara as the Cherries sought to complete the turnaround, but Welbeck’s finish ultimately proved decisive.

The victory lifts Brighton up to eighth, level on points with the Cherries in seventh.

Chelsea moved back into the top four by ending their three-match losing run with an emphatic win over the Premier League’s bottom club Southampton at Stamford Bridge.

Christopher Nkunku opened the scoring for the Blues in the 24th minute when he headed in Tosin Adarabioyo’s flick-on following a corner. Twelve minutes later, Nkunku set up Pedro Neto who beat Saints keeper Aaron Ramsdale with a low finish when through on goal. Just before half-time Chelsea added a third as Levi Colwill rose highest to nod in Neto’s wide free kick. In the 78th minute substitute Tyrique George set up Marc Cucurella who rounded off a fine counterattack with a drilled finish.

Dominant Chelsea moves fourth in the Premier League table, two points clear of Manchester City and Newcastle who play on Wednesday. Before the match about 100 Chelsea fans protested against the club’s ownership with banners and chants of “Todd Boehly out”. Chelsea was desperate for this win. After starting the season with 18 wins from 26 matches in all competitions, the Blues had won just three of their past 12 before their match with Southampton.

But they always looked better than the struggling Saints with Nkunku particularly impressing as they created numerous chances.

While the French forward starred, key man Cole Palmer continued to stutter. Much has been written about Chelsea’s top scorer, who has now gone seven matches without a goal. He missed two glorious chances when one-on-one in the first half with one effort saved by Aaron Ramsdale and another dragged wide. After the restart he blasted a cut-back over the bar and had a free-kick kept out by Ramsdale. So, while there were plenty of positives for Chelsea supporters, some will continue to worry about Palmer’s lengthening goal drought. Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca also chose to play goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen who was at fault for Aston Villa’s late winner against the Blues last time out.

The 22-year-old Swedish keeper had little to do although he did make a fine diving save to deny a Paul Onuachu header with the score goalless.

Late on, Chelsea gave Premier League debuts to 19-year-old midfielder Mathis Amougou and 17-year-old forward Shumaira Mheuka.

Liverpool tightened their vice-like grip on this season’s Premier League title as they extended their lead to 11 points with a comfortable victory at Manchester City. The leaders had already seen their position strengthened when Arsenal lost at home to West Ham on Saturday before moving into what looks like an unassailable position with a superb display against the fallen reigning champions.

City opened brightly but were caught cold by a clever Liverpool corner routine after 14 minutes, Mohamed Salah scoring his 30th goal of the season after Dominik Szoboszlai played Alex Mac Allister’s delivery into his path. Salah repaid the compliment eight minutes before the break, playing in a perfectly weighted delivery for Szoboszlai to calmly finish low past City keeper Ederson. Liverpool was able to close out a hugely significant win without any alarms in the second half, content to protect the advantage they had established in the first 45 minutes. Liverpool closes in on title glory Liverpool are in the form and mood to wrap up a 20th English title after a commanding, ruthless performance to sink the side who have been their closest Premier League rivals for so long.

City find themselves in reduced circumstances with an ageing squad and injuries to key players such as Rodri, John Stones and Erling Haaland, but Liverpool’s dominance was a powerful statement that they have no intention of squandering their position. Etihad Stadium has not been a happy place for them in recent seasons, Liverpool winning only one of their previous 15 league games there, but the destiny of the points was never in serious doubt once Salah gave them that early lead. It was inevitable that Salah would spearhead Liverpool in this crucial game as he racked up more incredible numbers. The first goal meant Salah has scored 30 or more goals in five separate seasons for Liverpool, a record he shares with Roger Hunt and Ian Rush.

Szoboszlai was his partner in goals here, the Hungarian giving a powerful display of running from midfield, with captain Virgil van Dijk imperious as he held it all together at the back. Liverpool were efficiency personified, demonstrating how they have flourished under Slot this season while his City counterpart Pep Guardiola faces a huge rebuilding job. Slot is too composed to call it, but with Liverpool holding an 11-point lead and having only lost one league game so far this season, he can surely sense the finishing line, even with 11 games left.

Forest took a sixth-minute lead through Callum Hudson-Odoi but Lewis Miley’s 23rd-minute equalizer sparked a Newcastle flurry as Jacob Murphy completed the comeback two minutes later followed by Alexander Isak’s double, which saw him reach 50 Premier League goals. But Forest threatened a stunning second-half comeback as Nikola Milenkovic pulled one back in the 63rd minute before Ryan Yates hit a 90th-minute goal as Newcastle survived a nervy ending to move up to fifth in the Premier League and level on points with fourth-placed Manchester City.

Forest, who remain third but are now only three points ahead of Newcastle, made a fast start at St James’ Park as Hudson-Odoi capitalized on Murphy’s error to fire in from outside the box. But on his first Premier League start of the season, Miley struck a low leveler before Murphy atoned for his error by bundling home Newcastle’s second two and a half minutes later. The Magpies were then awarded a penalty after VAR sent referee Jarred Gillett to the pitch side monitor following an Ola Aina handball, and Isak converted the 33rd-minute spot-kick.

The Sweden international scored his second 111 seconds later with a cool one-on-one finish seeing him reach 50 Premier League goals in just 76 appearances – only six players in the competition’s history have hit that tally faster – while it was his 19th Premier League goal of the season, with only Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah (24) netting more.

Newcastle, however, took their foot off the gas in the second half as they failed to have a shot on target, allowing Forest to get themselves back into it as Milenkovic hooked home before Yates’ low strike set up a tense finish. But Forest could not find a dramatic stoppage-time equalizer as they lost three straight away league games for the first time since December 2023.

West Ham boss Graham Potter says getting sacked by Chelsea was “maybe the best thing that happened to me”.

The former Brighton boss was dismissed by Chelsea in April 2023, less than seven months after replacing the sacked Thomas Tuchel at Stamford Bridge in September 2022.

However, Potter said he had no “bad feeling” towards Chelsea and wanted to learn from the experience.

“You know in a football life you’re going to get ups and downs,” added the 49-year-old, who won 12 of his 31 games in charge of Chelsea in all competitions.

“I didn’t want to lose my job. But at the same time, I look back now and maybe it’s the best thing that happened to me.

“Maybe the next 10-20 years are going to be great because of the experience I’ve had.

“I just look at it as a learning experience. I’ve got no bad feelings towards Chelsea, I’ve still got a lot of good relationships with the people there.

“But I’m just looking forward to the journey I’m on now with West Ham at this great club and getting that connection with the supporters, working with the team and building something that we’re really excited about and proud about here.” — BBC 

Tiger Woods has paid tribute to his “biggest fan and greatest supporter” after announcing the death of his mother, Kultida.

Former world number one Woods, 49, did not reveal the cause of death of his mother, who attended his TGL match in Florida last week.

Woods said none of his personal achievements would have been possible without his mother, who regularly attended his tournaments and was present when he won his fifth Masters title to end an 11-year wait to claim a 15th major in 2019.

“It is with heartfelt sadness that I want to share that my dear mother, Kultida Woods, passed away early this morning,” Woods, who lost his father Earl in 2006, said on social media.

“My Mom was a force of nature all her own, her spirit was simply undeniable. She was quick with the needle and a laugh. She was my biggest fan, greatest supporter, without her none of my personal achievements would have been possible.

“She was loved by so many, but especially by her two grandchildren, Sam and Charlie. Thank you all for your support, prayers and privacy at this difficult time for me and my family. Love you Mom.”

Newcastle United’s official social media accounts trolled Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta about his comments about the match ball following their Carabao Cup win over Arsenal on Wednesday.

The Magpies moved a giant step closer to ending a 56-year wait to win a major trophy as they secured a place in the Carabao Cup final with a 2-0 victory over Arsenal after an emotional night on Tyneside.

Newcastle’s X and Instagram accounts both posted photos of the yellow Mitre Carabao Cup ball following their 4-0 aggregate win, referencing comments made by Arteta after his side were beaten in the first leg of the semi-final last month.

“I think we kicked a lot of the balls over the bar and it’s tricky that this ball flies a lot,” he said after the Gunners had wasted 23 shots worth 3.09 expected goals at the Emirates Stadium.

Newcastle posted a photo of a ball inside the goal with the caption “The culprit:” around an hour after full-time in Wednesday’s second-leg encounter.

By 8.30am on Thursday, the post had racked up 4m views on X, as well as 118,000 likes.

The Premier League has already this week begun to consider imposing punishments on individual players if they feel goal celebrations are damaging the reputation of the game or could inflame opposition fans or players.

In recent weeks, a spate of celebrations designed to wind up opposition players and fans have drawn national attention after Iliman Ndiaye imitated a seagull in front of the home fans in Everton’s win at Brighton, while Myles Lewis-Skelly mimicked Erling Haaland in his goal celebration in Arsenal’s 5-1 win over Man City on Sunday.

Though Newcastle’s celebrations were confined to social media, it may raise questions over whether governing bodies may at some point also choose to step in if they feel the game is being brought into disrepute.

Speaking after the game to Sky Sports, goalscorer Anthony Gordon also appeared to aim a parting shot at the Gunners, when he said it was important to “stay humble”, a potential reference to Haaland’s message to Arteta after Arsenal’s 2-2 draw at Man City in September.

When asked by Sky Sports’ Natalie Gedra about what the victory showed about Newcastle’s maturity, Gordon replied: “It’s important for us to stay humble now, we went on a really good run and had two results we didn’t see coming.

“This was a good game to put us back on track, but we need to keep our

heads down and focus on what’s in front of us.”