IN AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS
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Hosts Morocco has survived a nervy night in Rabat to see off Nigeria four-two on penalties to reach the final of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
Youssef En-Nesyri stroked the winning spot kick into the bottom corner after Yassine Bounou saved from Samuel Chukwueze and Bruno Onyemaechi.
It means the Atlas Lions have reached their first Afcon final since 2004, as they bid to lift the trophy for the first time since 1976.
They face Senegal in Sunday’s final.
Super Eagles head coach, Eric Chelle has admitted that Morocco deserved to go through to the AFCON final after the hosts overcame his side on penalties in Wednesday’s semi-final in Rabat.
Chelle said the team missed a lot of things, the intensity, tactically, the movement.
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Super Eagles goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali has expressed disappointment following the Super Eagles’ defeat to Morocco.
Reflecting on the defeat, Nwabali took to his X handle to express his disappointment.
The Super Eagles will be back in action on Saturday when they will take on Egypt in the third-placed play-off.
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Senegal star Sadio Mane scored the winner as the team beat Egypt one-nil to reach the final of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations and end Mohamed Salah’s hopes of winning his first continental title in Morocco.
Mane struck the only goal of a cagey contest with twelve minutes remaining in Tangier, firing a right-footed shot inside the left-hand upright after the ball broke to him outside the box.
It marks the third occasion that the Senegal forward has got the better of his former Liverpool team-mate in a high-stakes international match.
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Holders Nigeria’s Super Falcons will discover their group opponents at the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations on Thursday.
The draw ceremony will hold at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Sports Complex in Rabat.
The Confederation of African Football, CAF, has expanded the biennial competition to sixteen teams.
The Super Falcons, hosts Morocco, Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde are among the teams that would compete for the title.
Others are Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia.
The sixteen qualified teams would be seeded into four pots based on the FIFA Women’s World Ranking.
The WAFCON 2026 finals will run from 17th March to 3rd April, 2026.
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Burkina Faso has sacked coach Brama Traore and his coaching staff after their last-16 exit at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
The country’s football federation said the decision was taken following results deemed to fall far short of the objectives set for the national team before the finals in Morocco.
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Shooting Stars has thrashed Enyimba three-nil in their Nigeria Premier Football League, NPFL, encounter in Ibadan.
Leaders Rivers United held eight-time champions Rangers to a goalless draw at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, Enugu.
Abia Warriors and Plateau United battled to a thrilling one-all draw, while Kano Pillars defeated Nasarawa United one-nil.
Warri Wolves also recorded an away win, scraping past Wikki Tourists one-nil in Bauchi courtesy of Ezekiel Oroh’s 59th minute strike.
Bendel Insurance defeated Kwara United one-nil and Champions Remo Stars beat Ikorodu City one-nil in the South West derby.
Barau defeated Tornadoes two-one, and
El-Kanemi beat Bayelsa United one-nil
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The Athletics Federation of Nigeria has imposed wide-ranging sanctions on athletes, coaches and two state athletics associations following the conclusion of a special investigation into age falsification involving competitors at the 2025 African U-18 and U-20 Championships held in Abeokuta.
The panel, constituted on 9th December, 2025, was set up to examine allegations of age discrepancies among young Nigerian athletes flagged by the Athletics Integrity Unit of World Athletics on 2nd December, 2025.
The committee submitted its findings ahead of a 16th January deadline issued by the AIU.
IN ENGLAND
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Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez made errors that contributed to two of Arsenal’s three goals in a dramatic Carabao Cup semi-final first leg but Alejandro Garnacho scored twice to keep Chelsea in the tie.
Sanchez failed to claim Declan Rice’s corner, allowing Ben White to head in Arsenal’s seventh-minute opener from close range – and the goalkeeper let a cross squirm through his fingers shortly after half-time for Viktor Gyokeres to make it two-nil.
Chelsea’s hopes of reaching Wembley to face either Newcastle or Manchester City remain alive, but they must overturn a one-goal deficit at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium on 3rd February.
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Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa have been charged with misconduct by the Football Association following a melee at the conclusion of their FA Cup match.
Players from both sides were involved in a confrontation shortly after Villa’s two-one win in the third round at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The clubs are accused of having failed to ensure their players and/or officials did not behave in an improper and/or provocative way after the final whistle.
Both have until Friday to respond.
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Tottenham has confirmed the signing of England midfielder Conor Gallagher from Spanish side Atletico Madrid for thirty-five million pounds.
Spurs beat Aston Villa to the 25-year-old’s signature, with the former Chelsea player joining on a deal running until 2031.
Gallagher left the Blues for Atletico in August 2024 for about thirty-three milion pounds, with Portugal forward Joao Felix – who has since left Chelsea – moving the other way.
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Tottenham sporting director Fabio Paratici will leave the Premier League club after the January transfer window to join Seria A side Fiorentina.
The Italian first joined Spurs in the summer of 2021, but left the club in 2023 after an appeal against a two-and-a-half-year ban for alleged financial irregularities, dating back to his spell at Juventus, was rejected by Italy’s highest sports court.
Paratici received the 30-month ban from world football’s governing body Fifa, but worked as a consultant for Tottenham before he officially rejoined in October.
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Liverpool right-back Conor Bradley says he has had a successful operation on his season-ending knee injury.
The 22-year-old will miss the rest of the campaign after he was injured in Liverpool’s goalless draw at Arsenal last week.
Bradley confirmed the surgery on his Instagram account alongside a picture of him being taken off the Emirates Stadium pitch on a stretcher.
Bradley will miss Northern Ireland’s World Cup 2026 play-off semi-final against Italy on 26 March.
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England women striker, Michelle Agyemang has returned to Arsenal to recover from injury following a loan spell at Brighton.
The 19-year-old was ruled out for the rest of the season in October when she ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament while on England duty.
Brighton women signed Agyemang on loan for a second consecutive campaign in the summer but she will now continue her recovery in north London.
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OTHER LEAGUES
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Real Madrid has been knocked out of the Copa del Rey by second division Albacete in Alvaro Arbeloa’s first game in charge.
Albacete took the lead in the 42nd minute when defender Javi Villar headed Jose Lazo’s corner past Andriy Lunin.
Madrid responded promptly in first-half stoppage time through Franco Mastantuono.
But substitute Jefte Betancor scored twice either side of Gonzalo Garcia’s equaliser, in the final eight minutes of the game to seal the Segunda side’s place in the quarter-finals of the competition with a first victory over the 15-time Champions League winners.
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Bayern Munich’s win against Koln on Wednesday meant the Bavarian giants equalled the record points tally at the halfway stage of a Bundesliga season – while scoring far more goals than any German top-flight side has ever managed after seventeen matches.
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OTHER SPORTS
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In Tennis, Amateur player Jordan Smith would have been happy winning just one point but walked away with one million dollars and bragging rights over world number two Jannik Sinner as he triumphed at the Australian Open’s Million Dollar One Point Slam.
The innovative format offered amateur players the opportunity to win the prize money by playing a sole point against some of the sport’s top talent and other famous faces.
Smith was the star of the show on Rod Laver Arena, also defeating women’s world number four Amanda Anisimova in front of almost fifteen thousand people.
Smith faced women’s world number one hundred and seventeen Joanna Garland in a fitting finale, after the Taiwanese 24-year-old stunned men’s world number three Alexander Zverev and former Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios.
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In Cricket, Daryl Mitchell hit a superb unbeaten century as New Zealand levelled their one-day international series against India with a seven-wicket win in Rajkot.
Mitchell put on a 162-run partnership with Will Young and finished the match with an elaborate scooped four while falling backwards.
The 34-year-old, who hit 84 in the first match of the series, brought up his eighth one-day international hundred from 96 balls.
India reached 284-7 at the end of their 50 overs, thanks in large part to KL Rahul’s 112 not out.
The series concludes with the third ODI in Indore on Sunday, with a five-match T20 series to follow.
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In Rugby, Bath’s star fly-half Finn Russell has warned his team they need to improve quickly if they are to realise his dream of winning the Champions Cup.
Bath won a treble last season, clinching the Premiership, Prem Rugby Cup and European Challenge Cup, but have not been beyond the last sixteen of Europe’s premier club competition in the past decade.
Their domestic title defence has also wobbled in recent weeks, with a 20-point home defeat by Northampton followed by a worrying loss of control in a last-gasp win over Exeter at the Rec.
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TODAY’S FIXTURES
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IN SPANISH COPA DEL REY – LAST SIXTEEN
Burgos vs Valencia
Racing de Santander vs Barcelona
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IN ITALIAN SERIE A
Hellas Verona vs Bologna
Como versus AC Milan
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FOOD FOR THOUGHT.
Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work in hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus….words from Alexander Graham Bell
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