World Cup Qualifying in Africa Starts with 7 Teams at ‘Home’ in Morocco During Stadium Upgrade Push 

Confederation of African Football (CAF) President Patrice Motsepe speaks during a news conference in Johannesburg, South Africa, Tuesday, March 16, 2021. (AP)
Confederation of African Football (CAF) President Patrice Motsepe speaks during a news conference in Johannesburg, South Africa, Tuesday, March 16, 2021. (AP)
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World Cup Qualifying in Africa Starts with 7 Teams at ‘Home’ in Morocco During Stadium Upgrade Push 

Confederation of African Football (CAF) President Patrice Motsepe speaks during a news conference in Johannesburg, South Africa, Tuesday, March 16, 2021. (AP)
Confederation of African Football (CAF) President Patrice Motsepe speaks during a news conference in Johannesburg, South Africa, Tuesday, March 16, 2021. (AP)

When World Cup qualifying starts in Africa on Wednesday, Morocco will be a hub of soccer action a year after the national team's historic run to becoming the continent’s first semifinalist.

Seven teams will play “home” games in Morocco over the next week, but Africa’s standout team will not be among them. Morocco’s first home game in qualifying for the 2026 tournament is in June.

Morocco has several stadiums of international standard — as befits a country preparing to co-host the 2030 World Cup — when much of the rest of Africa has none and needs a temporary home.

A strict policy by the Confederation of African Football since 2021 to drive construction and renovation of higher quality national stadiums has left 17 of 53 teams in action over the next week hosting games on neutral ground, far away from their fans at home.

It is “totally unacceptable,” CAF president Patrice Motsepe has said, that some members do not have a stadium that complies with standards to host international games for national and club teams.

So, Ethiopia opens Wednesday in the western Morocco port city of El Jadida hosting Burkina Faso about 5,500 kilometers (3,400 miles) from Addis Ababa.

Niger’s team will be about 2,200 kilometers (1,360 miles) from fans back home in Niamey — where it has not played since 2021 — when facing Tanzania at the 45,000-seat Stade de Marrakech on Saturday.

Also welcoming visiting teams in the next week are Egypt, Ivory Coast, Libya, Liberia, South Africa and Tanzania for games that do not involve the host country.

The Gambia team will travel about 6,000 kilometers (3,700 miles) to go to Tanzania for back-to-back games, first facing Burundi then staying for its own “home” game four days later against Ivory Coast.

“We are committed to ensuring that at least one quality national stadium in every country is built, where none currently exists,” CAF said in its annual report last year, adding the goal of “ensuring that our matches and competition are safe and healthy.”

Even at one of the best new stadiums in Africa — Olembe Stadium in Yaounde, Cameroon — eight fans died in a crowd crush in January 2022 arriving for an African Cup of Nations game.

The CAF push for improved stadiums also aims to raise standards for players, with better playing and training surfaces, plus fans, sponsors and media.

Such a goal is typically achieved with state support and money in Africa where close ties often bind sports and political influence.

Motsepe, a South African mining magnate, has urged governments and heads of state to invest on visits to more than 30 of CAF's member federations.

“It is not a football problem but an infrastructure issue,” CAF said in a statement Wednesday. “That is why we need governments to partner with football to ensure that countries can play at home.”

Stadium building in Africa often means partnering with China, like the $500 million venue built in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, to host the 2015 African Games.

In Niger, a delegation from the Chinese government met soccer and government officials in April about renovating the state-owned General Seyni Kountche Stadium. Niger has since had a military coup.

In Ethiopia, building a new national stadium in a project with a Chinese state construction firm has reportedly been delayed by rising costs.

FIFA pointed to success stories with its funding programs helping member federations in Liberia and Mauritania develop their stadiums, which are modestly sized rather than a 60,000-capacity project as in other countries.

Liberia’s president is soccer great George Weah, the former AC Milan forward who won the 1995 Ballon d’Or award. Weah is contesting a runoff election this week.

The aim is for more African teams to play true home games when the nine World Cup qualifying groups resume in June. Each group winner will advance to the 2026 tournament being hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.

“Already, progress has been made here — a number of countries are now playing at home,” CAF said. “Admittedly, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done.”



Verstappen Captures 4th F1 Championship after Mercedes Sweep of Las Vegas Grand Prix

Formula One F1 - Las Vegas Grand Prix - Las Vegas Strip Circuit, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States - November 23, 2024 Red Bull's Max Verstappen celebrates after winning the 2024 F1 world championship title REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
Formula One F1 - Las Vegas Grand Prix - Las Vegas Strip Circuit, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States - November 23, 2024 Red Bull's Max Verstappen celebrates after winning the 2024 F1 world championship title REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
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Verstappen Captures 4th F1 Championship after Mercedes Sweep of Las Vegas Grand Prix

Formula One F1 - Las Vegas Grand Prix - Las Vegas Strip Circuit, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States - November 23, 2024 Red Bull's Max Verstappen celebrates after winning the 2024 F1 world championship title REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
Formula One F1 - Las Vegas Grand Prix - Las Vegas Strip Circuit, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States - November 23, 2024 Red Bull's Max Verstappen celebrates after winning the 2024 F1 world championship title REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

Max Verstappen cruised to a fourth consecutive Formula 1 championship on Saturday night by finishing fifth in the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Verstappen needed only to finish ahead of Lando Norris of McLaren to give Red Bull a fourth straight driver championship. The Dutchman started fifth but was already up to second by the 10th lap around the street circuit that includes the famed Las Vegas Strip.
Norris, who had to score at least three points more than Verstappen to extend the championship fight, finished sixth. Verstappen needed only to finish higher than Norris to win the title, which he did with two races remaining on the season.
He ended the race up 63 points over Norris with two events remaining this season.
“Max Verstappen you are a four-time world champion," team principal Christian Horner said on the radio. "That is a phenomenal, phenomenal achievement. You can be incredibly proud of yourself as we are."
Verstappen, only the sixth driver in F1 history to win at least four titles, sounded unusually emotional on the radio.
“Oh My God, what a season. Four times. Thank you, thank you guys,” he said. “We gave it all.”
The race was won, meanwhile, by George Russell who was followed by Lewis Hamilton in the first 1-2 sweep for the Mercedes drivers since 2022. Hamilton came from 10th on the grid — two weeks after a demoralizing race in Brazil — to capture his podium finish.
The duo crossed the finish line under a checkered flag waved by actor Sylvester Stallone.
Carlos Sainz Jr. finished third for Ferrari as the constructor championship remains a tight battle between leader McLaren and Ferrari. Charles Leclerc, his teammate, was fourth. Red Bull had won the title that pays roughly $150 million in prize money the last two seasons but has slipped to third in the standings.
But that championship battle appears headed to next month's season finale in Abu Dhabi. McLaren has a 24-point lead over Ferrari headed into this weekend's race in Qatar after Norris and Oscar Piastri finished sixth and seventh in Las Vegas.
“Max deserved to win it. He drove a better season than I did, he deserved it more than anyone else,” Norris said. “Max just doesn't have a weakness. When he's got the best car, he dominates and when he's not got the best car, he's still just there always.”
Verstappen, meanwhile, made easy work of Norris after a season where the McLaren driver pushed him harder than he'd been challenged since Verstappen's first title in 2021.
“To stand here as a four-time world champion is something I never thought would be possible,” Verstappen told actor Terry Crews, who moderated the podium news conference held in front of the Bellagio's famed fountains.
“It was a very challenging season and I had to be calm. I think this season taught me a lot of lessons and we handled it well as a team, so that of course makes it a very special and beautiful season.”
Verstappen, who is 27, won 19 races last year. He opened this season on a tear but a long winless streak from June until Brazil two weeks ago has him with only eight wins, his fewest since 2020.
Verstappen asked at the Bellagio what time it was, noting he was in Las Vegas and “I'm very thirsty.” He had a champagne celebration awaiting him.
Race-winner Russell, meanwhile, said he’d be skipping his scheduled flight home to celebrate the victory with actor Crews. He also twice had to sit down on the podium to wipe champagne out of his eyes.
Verstappen was cruising in third with about 20 laps remaining and not overly pushing when Red Bull urged Verstappen to be patient over the team radio.
“Max, just don't lose sight of our aim today, yeah?” he was told.
Verstappen wasn't interested in receiving any instructions.
“Yeah, yeah. I'm doing my race,” he replied.
When he later saw the Ferrari drivers behind him, he asked for instructions because of the constructor championship implications.
"Do you want me to try to keep them behind or what?" Verstappen asked of Sainz and Leclerc.
"I think you should, yeah," Red Bull told Verstappen.
He couldn't hold them off but it made no difference as his season was dominant enough to match former Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel as four-time champions for the organization.
This was the second year of the race after last year's debut was a bit of a disaster in that locals were livid for months over ongoing construction, as well as traffic detours and delays, the inability to access many local businesses, outrageous price gouging by the tourism industry as well as LVGP ticketing, and then a loose valve cover that nearly destroyed Sainz's Ferrari minutes into the first practice.
It caused an hours-long delay for repairs, fans were kicked out of the circuit, and F1 ran practice until 4 a.m. — when it legally had to reopen the streets to the public.
This year has been far less hectic, in part because all of the infrastructure headaches were a year ago, but also that last year's race was spectacular. Despite all its speed bumps, the actual running of the race was one of the best of the F1 season.
Russell started on the pole ahead of Sainz, who wanted redemption after the valve-cover fiasco last year. He had to serve a penalty because his car was damaged in the incident.
“I was hoping Vegas had something to offer me after last year, but I will take a podium," Sainz said. "I was looking at every manhole, avoiding them this time.”
The race is the final stop in the United States for F1, which has exploded in American popularity the last five years. The trio of races in Miami; Austin, Texas; and Las Vegas are more than any other country.
After the race completion, F1 next week is expected to announce it will expand the grid to 11 teams to make room for an American team backed by General Motors' Cadillac brand. The team was initially started by Michael Andretti, who could not receive approval from F1 on his expansion application.
Andretti has since turned over his ownership stake to Indiana-businessman Dan Towriss and Mark Walter, the controlling owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers. They would run the Cadillac F1 team that would likely join the grid in 2026.
The announcement of the American team did not come during the weekend to not derail from the Las Vegas Grand Prix, which is the showpiece of the Liberty Media portfolio.
The race drew 306,000 fans over three days.