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Morocco to Start Africa Cup of Nations as Host in a Group with Mali, Zambia and Comoros

Manchester United's Moroccan defender #03 Noussair Mazraoui prepares to take a throw in during the English Premier League football match between Fulham and Manchester United at Craven Cottage in London on January 26, 2025. (AFP)
Manchester United's Moroccan defender #03 Noussair Mazraoui prepares to take a throw in during the English Premier League football match between Fulham and Manchester United at Craven Cottage in London on January 26, 2025. (AFP)
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Morocco to Start Africa Cup of Nations as Host in a Group with Mali, Zambia and Comoros

Manchester United's Moroccan defender #03 Noussair Mazraoui prepares to take a throw in during the English Premier League football match between Fulham and Manchester United at Craven Cottage in London on January 26, 2025. (AFP)
Manchester United's Moroccan defender #03 Noussair Mazraoui prepares to take a throw in during the English Premier League football match between Fulham and Manchester United at Craven Cottage in London on January 26, 2025. (AFP)

World Cup semifinalist Morocco was drawn in a group with Mali, Zambia and Comoros on Monday for the men’s 2025 Africa Cup of Nations it will host.

The Dec. 21-Jan. 18 tournament will be the biggest football event in Morocco before co-hosting the 2030 World Cup with Spain and Portugal — the teams it eliminated at the 2022 World Cup to become the first African nation ever to reach the semifinals. Morocco then lost to France.

At the last Africa Cup, one year ago, Morocco was surprisingly ousted in the round of 16 by South Africa.

Ivory Coast won that Africa Cup as the host nation and will begin the defense of its title in a group with Cameroon, Gabon and Mozambique.

Nigeria, the beaten finalist last year with star strikers Ademola Lookman and Victor Osimhen, is in a group with Tunisia, Uganda and Tanzania.

Egypt, with Mohamed Salah still seeking a first Africa Cup title at age 33 when games start in December, was drawn into a group with South Africa, Angola and Zimbabwe.

Senegal, the 2021 champion, will face Congo, Benin and Botswana.

Algeria, which won the 2019 title, was drawn with Burkina Faso, Equatorial Guinea and Sudan.

Games will be played in six cities: Agadir, Casablanca, Fez, Marrakesh, Rabat and Tangier.

The tournament has an earlier scheduled start in mid-December and will finish in time for players with European clubs to return for the Champions League resuming in late January. Less than six months later, many of those players will be at the 2026 World Cup co-hosted in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Africa will have nine direct entries at the first 48-team World Cup.

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Sports

Messi Brace Lifts Inter Miami to 3-1 Win in Atlanta

Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi (10) celebrates his second goal against Atlanta United during the second half of an MLS soccer match Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)
Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi (10) celebrates his second goal against Atlanta United during the second half of an MLS soccer match Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)
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Messi Brace Lifts Inter Miami to 3-1 Win in Atlanta

Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi (10) celebrates his second goal against Atlanta United during the second half of an MLS soccer match Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)
Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi (10) celebrates his second goal against Atlanta United during the second half of an MLS soccer match Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)

Lionel Messi scored twice in the space of four minutes to lift Inter Miami to a 3-1 victory at Atlanta United on Saturday as the Herons' MLS title defense continued to gain steam with the playoffs approaching.

The 39-year-old superstar tops the Major League Soccer scoring chart with 25 goals, six ahead of Croatian striker Petar Musa of FC Dallas and Philadelphia's Milan Iloski.

At the same Atlanta stadium where Messi helped Argentina beat England in the World Cup semi-finals in July, Messi delivered two scintillating goals to secure Miami's third straight victory, AFP reported.

German Berterame, who put Miami up 1-0 in the 45th minute, turned provider, finding Messi who weaved through the Atlanta defense to unleash a left footed shot from the center of the box and make it 2-0 in the 56th minute.

Four minutes later Messi struck again, breaking away on a pass from Luis Suarez and getting the better of hapless Junior Alonso to fire past Atlanta keeper Lucas Hoyos.

Messi had helped put Miami on top shortly before halftime, heading the ball to Suarez who shook off his defender in the box and lofted a pass that Berterame nodded home to make it 1-0.

Messi was credited with an assist, that saw him pull level with LAFC's Son Heung-min atop the assists table. Messi is the first player in MLS history to record at least 15 assists in three straight seasons.

Messi now has four goals in three matches since his emotional Argentina send-off. Miami, who clinched a playoff berth on Wednesday, won their third straight game under Cristian "Kily" Gonzalez, who took over as coach last month.

Fafa Picault converted a penalty in the 89th minute to pull a goal back for Atlanta, but at second-from-bottom in the Eastern Conference Gerardo Martino's team are running out of time to turn things around in time to reach the playoffs.

Elsewhere, St. Louis City's MLS record-tying 19-match unbeaten streak ended with a 3-2 loss at Minnesota as Philadelphia's undefeated run reached 15 matches with a 2-2 draw with Charlotte.

Canadian Marcus Caldeira scored the game winner for Minnesota in the 86th minute after United fell behind early on St. Louis goals by Brazilian forward Rafael Navarro and South Korean winger Jeong Sang-bin.

Aziel Jackson answered for Minnesota in the 49th minute and Kelvin Yeboah netted the equalizer in the 68th.

St. Louis City, already headed to the playoffs for the first time since 2023, missed the chance to break the MLS unbeaten streak mark it now shares with Columbus, Dallas and Inter Miami.

City also saw their MLS-record 21-match unbeaten streak across all competitions snapped.

City had not lost an MLS match since falling 2-0 at Austin on May 3, with 13 victories and six drawn in the run.

Philadelphia had won eight MLS matches in a row before the fightback home draw with Charlotte.

Philadelphia lost 6-4 at Miami on May 24 but since then the Union have won 12 times and drawn three, taking 39 of a possible 45 points since Ryan Richter took over as interim head coach during the league's World Cup break.

Sports

I'd Have Left Real Madrid If I Were Vinicius, Says Mourinho

Real Madird coach Jose Mourinho said he would have left the club this summer if he were Vinicius Junior. JOSE JORDAN / AFP
Real Madird coach Jose Mourinho said he would have left the club this summer if he were Vinicius Junior. JOSE JORDAN / AFP
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I'd Have Left Real Madrid If I Were Vinicius, Says Mourinho

Real Madird coach Jose Mourinho said he would have left the club this summer if he were Vinicius Junior. JOSE JORDAN / AFP
Real Madird coach Jose Mourinho said he would have left the club this summer if he were Vinicius Junior. JOSE JORDAN / AFP

Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho said Saturday if he were winger Vinicius Junior he would have left the club this summer.

The Brazilian was sent off during Madrid's win over Villarreal last weekend for hair pulling and was banned for four matches, meaning he will miss the Clasico clash against Barcelona on October 25, said AFP.

Vinicius, 26, has also been targeted regularly by opposition fans and been racially abused on many occasions since joining Madrid in 2018.

"He's a spectacular kid who it's easy to have a good relationship with," Mourinho told reporters.

"He's a fantastic boy, tremendous credit to him for the fact that he keeps living and surviving and still having a smile...

"If it were me in his place, probably I wouldn't be here. In this last summer I would have forced an exit to a league, a country, to somewhere there are rival clubs and stadiums that respect him."

In the summer Vinicius signed a new contract with Real Madrid until 2032.

Question marks remain over whether Madrid can line up with attacking superstars Vinicius, Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham together, without losing balance.

"Because he loves Real Madrid, for loving the club and the city, for believing that things can always improve, he renewed and he keeps on smiling," continued Mourinho.

"No one or nobody can... well, influence him negatively yes, because he's human... but take away his joy of living and working and being with his team-mates, no, no one can do that."

Mourinho took Vinicius off during the 4-3 Champions League win at Roma on Wednesday, with the winger still struggling to return to the form that helped him win the competition twice under Carlo Ancelotti.

Mourinho said he was happy that Vinicius's ban was four matches, saying he thought some hidden figures at the Spanish football federation's disciplinary committee "would give him one or two more".

- 'There are limits' -

Madrid face Sevilla on Sunday aiming not to fall further behind league leaders Barcelona, who visit Real Betis later on Saturday.

Hansi Flick's Barcelona have won every single match this season and are six points ahead of fourth-placed Real Madrid.

Los Blancos and Mourinho have blamed referees for some of their results, including the 2-1 derby defeat by Atletico Madrid in September.

On Friday Real Madrid called for La Liga president Javier Tebas to resign after he compared the club's efforts to discredit referees to the techniques of propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels.

Tebas later attempted to clarify that he was drawing comparisons with "those propaganda techniques" and not with the ideology of the Nazis.

"I don't want to talk about this, there are limits and there are limits. You can only excuse it if it's a clinical case -- otherwise there's no excuse," said Mourinho.

"I don't want to go down that road. Madrid and its fans understands what it is up against.

"For the prestige that the league has abroad, for being the current world champions, it's better if we try to keep this here and not let it get out (to the world)."

Sports

Kompany: Bayern Are Close to their Best Despite Consecutive Draws coach

Bayern Munich coach Vincent Kompany gives a press conference after the UEFA Champions League football match between Viking FK and FC Bayern Munich in Stavanger, Norway on October 13, 2026. (Photo by Carina Johansen / NTB / AFP)
Bayern Munich coach Vincent Kompany gives a press conference after the UEFA Champions League football match between Viking FK and FC Bayern Munich in Stavanger, Norway on October 13, 2026. (Photo by Carina Johansen / NTB / AFP)
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Kompany: Bayern Are Close to their Best Despite Consecutive Draws coach

Bayern Munich coach Vincent Kompany gives a press conference after the UEFA Champions League football match between Viking FK and FC Bayern Munich in Stavanger, Norway on October 13, 2026. (Photo by Carina Johansen / NTB / AFP)
Bayern Munich coach Vincent Kompany gives a press conference after the UEFA Champions League football match between Viking FK and FC Bayern Munich in Stavanger, Norway on October 13, 2026. (Photo by Carina Johansen / NTB / AFP)

Bayern Munich are edging closer to their very best despite drawing their last two matches, coach Vincent Kompany said on Friday.

The German champions, who take on visitors RB Leipzig on Saturday, have drawn their last two matches in all competitions – a 2-2 against Augsburg that included conceding the fastest goal in Bundesliga history, followed by a 3-3 at rank outsiders Viking in the Champions League on Tuesday.

They looked far from convincing in both matches, missing chances and looking shaky at the back, and having ⁠to come from ⁠behind both times to rescue draws.

They are currently in third spot in the Bundesliga, two points behind leaders Freiburg and Borussia Dortmund.

"We want to attack," Kompany told a press conference. "We have the feeling that there are a lot of things behind the perception of ⁠these two results. I have the feeling it is just before we show our very best version.

"In the last two matches we shot 50 times on goal. If we do a few things better then we are not too far from our very best version."

Bayern have busy weeks coming up and after Leipzig – they face Arsenal in the Champions League before taking on leaders Freiburg in the Bundesliga. They then host Dortmund in ⁠Der ⁠Klassiker on October 31 after a German Cup second-round match against Magdeburg.

"These moments that some people think might be difficult we say these are the best moments you can have in your career. If you win these matches then you have created some moments," Reuters quoted Kompany as saying.

"We are sharp and motivated... we look forward to these matches to measure ourselves against the best.

"The lads reach the limit in every training session and it is fun to watch. They know it is now best to talk on the pitch."