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Injuries after Football 'Ultras' Ambush Rivals' Train in Italy

Udinese's Lorenzo Lucca celebrates after scoring a goal during the Italian soccer Serie A match between Udinese Calcio and Venezia FC at the Bluenergy stadium in Udine, Italy, 01 February 2025. (EPA)
Udinese's Lorenzo Lucca celebrates after scoring a goal during the Italian soccer Serie A match between Udinese Calcio and Venezia FC at the Bluenergy stadium in Udine, Italy, 01 February 2025. (EPA)
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Injuries after Football 'Ultras' Ambush Rivals' Train in Italy

Udinese's Lorenzo Lucca celebrates after scoring a goal during the Italian soccer Serie A match between Udinese Calcio and Venezia FC at the Bluenergy stadium in Udine, Italy, 01 February 2025. (EPA)
Udinese's Lorenzo Lucca celebrates after scoring a goal during the Italian soccer Serie A match between Udinese Calcio and Venezia FC at the Bluenergy stadium in Udine, Italy, 01 February 2025. (EPA)

Hard-core Udinese fans stopped a train carrying rivals from Venice on Saturday in an ambush that caused several injuries after a match between the two Italian clubs, reports said Sunday.

The AGI news agency reported that six people were injured and 11 arrested after the Saturday evening clashes near Basiliano station, not far from Udine, while La Gazetta dello Sport daily put the injured at 11, with eight arrests.

Udine police were unable to confirm any details when contacted by AFP.

According the reports, around 50 masked Udinese "ultras" went onto the track and launched smoke bombs to stop the train carrying Venice supporters back home after the Serie A match, which Udinese won 3-2.

They threw stones at the train, carrying 300 Venezia supporters as well as other passengers, and then hit rivals who descended onto the platform with sticks and batons.

Police intervened, including with a helicopter, and quickly put an end to the fighting.

Among the injured, two were hospitalized, but they are not in a life-threatening condition, the reports said.

The match had been highlighted as high risk after violence erupted when the teams met in Venice on October 30, when Udinese fans were attacked near the train station before they returned home.

According to the Italian press, the Udinese hooligans this weekend were backed by ultras from the Austrian club Salzburg, with whom they have links.

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White Deserves Another Chance with England, Says Tuchel

England's German head coach Thomas Tuchel attends a press conference at Wembley Stadium, west London, on March 26, 2026, ahead of their international friendly football matches against Uruguay and Japan. (AFP)
England's German head coach Thomas Tuchel attends a press conference at Wembley Stadium, west London, on March 26, 2026, ahead of their international friendly football matches against Uruguay and Japan. (AFP)
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White Deserves Another Chance with England, Says Tuchel

England's German head coach Thomas Tuchel attends a press conference at Wembley Stadium, west London, on March 26, 2026, ahead of their international friendly football matches against Uruguay and Japan. (AFP)
England's German head coach Thomas Tuchel attends a press conference at Wembley Stadium, west London, on March 26, 2026, ahead of their international friendly football matches against Uruguay and Japan. (AFP)

England manager Thomas Tuchel ‌said Ben White deserves another chance with the national team after the Arsenal defender returned to the squad for the first time in more than three years for World Cup warm-ups against Uruguay and Japan.

White left the 2022 World Cup camp in Qatar early for personal reasons and later made himself unavailable for the remainder of Gareth Southgate’s tenure, which ended after Euro 2024.

"First of ‌all, I ‌think everyone deserves a second chance," ‌Tuchel ⁠told reporters on ⁠Thursday ahead of the Uruguay match.

"Second, I don't know exactly what happened. I was also not 100% interested because I wanted to open a new page and a new book and a new opportunity.

"Once I asked Ben if he would be ⁠ready to play for me and ‌for England, he straightaway, ‌without hesitation, said he would love to come back ‌and was desperate to come back."

Tuchel said he ‌expects White to be supported by the crowd but noted the defender may still need to smooth things over inside the dressing room.

"I think it's necessary he ‌clears the air with his teammates and I think he will with ⁠players who ⁠come back who were in the World Cup together with him," the German said.

"Then we go from there. Let's see how it goes and let's see how he feels, if he feels as comfortable and as confident as he thought he would."

England host Uruguay at Wembley later on Friday before facing Japan at the same venue four days later as part of their preparations for the June 11 to July 19 World Cup in North America.

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Jordan Dream of Morocco-Style Run as World Cup Debut Nears

Football - International Friendly - Jordan Training - Regnum Carya Golf & Spa Resort, Antalya, Türkiye - March 26, 2026 Jordan head coach Jamal Sellami speaks to the media during training. (Reuters)
Football - International Friendly - Jordan Training - Regnum Carya Golf & Spa Resort, Antalya, Türkiye - March 26, 2026 Jordan head coach Jamal Sellami speaks to the media during training. (Reuters)
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Jordan Dream of Morocco-Style Run as World Cup Debut Nears

Football - International Friendly - Jordan Training - Regnum Carya Golf & Spa Resort, Antalya, Türkiye - March 26, 2026 Jordan head coach Jamal Sellami speaks to the media during training. (Reuters)
Football - International Friendly - Jordan Training - Regnum Carya Golf & Spa Resort, Antalya, Türkiye - March 26, 2026 Jordan head coach Jamal Sellami speaks to the media during training. (Reuters)

Jordan head coach Jamal Sellami has called on his players to emulate Morocco's shock run to the World Cup semi-finals four years ago as they prepare for their first appearance at the global football showpiece in North America.

Jordan will face Austria, Algeria and Argentina in Group J at the June 11 to July 19 World Cup and are holding their final training camp in Antalya this week.

Media access to training sessions has been tightly restricted as the team fine-tuned tactics.

Some players say they can barely sleep in anticipation of the tournament, but Sellami wants them ‌to draw confidence ‌from Morocco's achievement at the last World Cup, where ‌they ⁠lost 2-0 to ⁠France in the last four.

"In big competitions, many teams can surprise. My country Morocco reached the semi-finals in the last World Cup," he said. "That gives us belief."

Jordan will play Costa Rica later on Friday and Nigeria on Tuesday as part of a four-team regional tournament that also includes Iran and was relocated from Jordan to Türkiye due to the war in the Middle ⁠East.

"Of course we feel sad about what is happening. ‌I hope there will be peace," midfielder ‌Noor Al-Rawabdeh said at the camp.

"But this is football — we moved here and ‌we need to adapt. In the World Cup you face the unknown, ‌so we must be ready for everything."

Despite their underdog status, the players say they are not going to the World Cup just to make up the numbers. "For us, we are not going just for participation," Al-Rawabdeh added. "We are aiming to go ‌as far as we can in the tournament.

"To be honest, sometimes we don't sleep when we think about ⁠it," he ⁠added. "It’s a dream come true for us."

Jordan secured an automatic berth at the World Cup after finishing second behind South Korea in their Asian qualifying group. Defender Mohammad Abu Alnadi said the squad were relishing the opportunity to compete on football's biggest stage.

"It's truly amazing. All of us are excited. It's one of the highest levels any player can play," he said.

"We want to go as far as possible — like any other team — and make history again."

Sellami said the Antalya camp was a key stage in building experience ahead of facing elite opposition.

"We are preparing step by step. We've played against different football cultures," he said.

"We are collecting experience and, Inshallah (God Willing), we will surprise many people."

Sports

Kosovo One Game Away from Fairy Tale World Cup Qualification

Soccer Football - FIFA World Cup - UEFA Qualifiers - Semi-final - Slovakia v Kosovo - National Football Stadium, Bratislava, Slovakia - March 26, 2026 Kosovo's Florent Muslija celebrates scoring their third goal with teammates (Reuters)
Soccer Football - FIFA World Cup - UEFA Qualifiers - Semi-final - Slovakia v Kosovo - National Football Stadium, Bratislava, Slovakia - March 26, 2026 Kosovo's Florent Muslija celebrates scoring their third goal with teammates (Reuters)
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Kosovo One Game Away from Fairy Tale World Cup Qualification

Soccer Football - FIFA World Cup - UEFA Qualifiers - Semi-final - Slovakia v Kosovo - National Football Stadium, Bratislava, Slovakia - March 26, 2026 Kosovo's Florent Muslija celebrates scoring their third goal with teammates (Reuters)
Soccer Football - FIFA World Cup - UEFA Qualifiers - Semi-final - Slovakia v Kosovo - National Football Stadium, Bratislava, Slovakia - March 26, 2026 Kosovo's Florent Muslija celebrates scoring their third goal with teammates (Reuters)

It is less than a decade since Kosovo first played a World Cup qualifier, but they stand a single match away from a place at this year's finals in North America.

The small western Balkan republic declared its independence from Serbia in 2008 but was only admitted to the ranks of world football's governing body FIFA in 2016, playing a first competitive international in September of that year.

But if they win Tuesday's playoff at home to Türkiye in Pristina, they will qualify for a first appearance at a major tournament, after ‌a thrilling 4-3 ‌away win at Slovakia in Thursday's playoff semi-final.

It was Kosovo's ‌100th ⁠international and their ⁠most important since home and away success over Sweden in their qualifying group last year saw them finish second behind Switzerland and book a berth in the playoffs.

"I always believe in the team and, despite twice being behind, they all believed in themselves to fight," Kosovo's German coach Franco Foda said after the match.

"I'm very proud of this team and I think after 90 minutes it was a deserved victory," he ⁠added.

Kosovo managed only one point in their first World Cup ‌qualifying campaign, losing nine of 10 games, as ‌they began to build a team which included players who were allowed to switch allegiance after ‌previously playing for other countries, like striker Valon Berisha, formerly a Norwegian international, ‌and Albania goalkeeper Samir Ujkani.

KOSOVO TURNED TO DIASPORA TO STRENGTHEN SQUAD

They then sought to strengthen their squad with players from the extensive diaspora in Germany and Switzerland, and it is on the back of their performances that Kosovo steadily became more competitive.

Thursday's goalscorers were the ‌German-born pair of Fisnik Asllani and Florent Muslija, Swiss-born Kreshnik Hajrizi and Veldin Hodza, born and raised in Croatia, who ⁠only last year changed ⁠his footballing nationality.

But they only broke into the top 100 of the FIFA rankings for the first time in late 2024 and qualifying would be a stunning achievement.

Home advantage on Tuesday could be a decisive factor. At first, Kosovo had to play home matches in neighboring Albania during the 2018 World Cup qualifiers before being allowed to host games at Pristina's small 14,000-capacity Stadiumi Fadil Vokrri.

"We could probably sell 100,000 tickets for Tuesday's game, but with all this euphoria, we must keep our heads about us. The Turks have a very good team with excellent individual quality," Foda said.

The winner of Tuesday's playoff will complete in Group D at the World Cup, playing against Australia in Vancouver on June 13, Paraguay in San Francisco on June 19 and co-hosts United States in Los Angeles six days after that.