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African Champions Pyramids Hit Back to Draw in Morocco

An aerial view shows Cairo's traffic with buildings and houses, through the window of a Turkish Airlines plane, in Cairo, Egypt March 12, 2026. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
An aerial view shows Cairo's traffic with buildings and houses, through the window of a Turkish Airlines plane, in Cairo, Egypt March 12, 2026. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
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African Champions Pyramids Hit Back to Draw in Morocco

An aerial view shows Cairo's traffic with buildings and houses, through the window of a Turkish Airlines plane, in Cairo, Egypt March 12, 2026. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
An aerial view shows Cairo's traffic with buildings and houses, through the window of a Turkish Airlines plane, in Cairo, Egypt March 12, 2026. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

Pyramids of Egypt preserved an unbeaten record in defense of the CAF Champions League title by coming from behind to draw 1-1 at FAR Rabat of Morocco late on Friday.

The home team were ahead after just eight minutes of the quarter-final first leg when Ahmed Hammoudan scored his first goal of the campaign.

Mahmoud Zalaka equalized in the seventh minute of the second half in a match staged behind closed doors due to crowd trouble during an earlier FAR match.

The second leg is set for March 21 in Cairo and the overall winners will face another Moroccan club, Renaissance Berkane, or Al Hilal of Sudan in the semi-finals during April.

Pyramids and FAR also clashed in the quarter-finals last season with the Cairo club winning 4-3 on aggregate.

Surprise winners of the premier African club competition last season, Pyramids have won eight matches and drawn three in pursuit of back-to-back titles.

They pocketed four million dollars (3.5 mn euros) after defeating Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa in the 2024/25 final.

This week, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced that first prize had been increased by 50% to six million dollars. The runners-up prize is unchanged at two million dollars.

FAR rattled Pyramids by taking an early lead amid the silence of the Olympic Stadium in the Moroccan capital, AFP reported.

A pass into space behind the Pyramids defense found Hammoudan, who raced in from the left flank and beat veteran goalkeeper Ahmed El Shenawy with an angled shot into the far corner.

Both sides had spells of territorial dominance in the opening half, but there were no further goals before half-time with few clearcut chances.

Pyramids pressed for an equalizer from the restart and were rewarded on 52 minutes when Zalaka claimed his second goal of the African campaign.

FAR goalkeeper Ahmed Tagnaouti parried a close-range shot from Ahmed Atef after a corner and Zalaka reacted quickest to poke the loose ball into the net.

Mahmoud Mayele, the Democratic Republic of Congo striker and leading scorer in the Champions League last season with nine goals, was substituted after 83 minutes.

After scoring three goals in qualifiers this season, the 31-year-old has gone eight matches without adding to his tally.

The quarter-final in Rabat kicked off only at 2200 local time due to the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

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Sports

Liverpool Settles for 1-1 Draw with Chelsea amid Boos at Anfield

Chelsea's Enzo Fernandez (top) celebrates with team-mate Wesley Fofana after scoring their side's first goal of the game during the Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Chelsea in Liverpool, England, Saturday, May 9, 2026. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)
Chelsea's Enzo Fernandez (top) celebrates with team-mate Wesley Fofana after scoring their side's first goal of the game during the Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Chelsea in Liverpool, England, Saturday, May 9, 2026. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)
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Liverpool Settles for 1-1 Draw with Chelsea amid Boos at Anfield

Chelsea's Enzo Fernandez (top) celebrates with team-mate Wesley Fofana after scoring their side's first goal of the game during the Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Chelsea in Liverpool, England, Saturday, May 9, 2026. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)
Chelsea's Enzo Fernandez (top) celebrates with team-mate Wesley Fofana after scoring their side's first goal of the game during the Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Chelsea in Liverpool, England, Saturday, May 9, 2026. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)

Liverpool stumbled to a 1-1 draw with Chelsea at Anfield to merely inch toward Champions League qualification on Saturday as the visitors snapped their six-game Premier League losing streak.

Enzo Fernandez's bouncing free kick found its way into the net in the 36th minute to equalize for Chelsea after Ryan Gravenberch's early goal, The AP news reported.

Arne Slot's team heard boos at the final whistle after another inconsistent performance — the type that has marked their season as defending Premier League champions.

Fourth-place Liverpool is still on course to secure Champions League qualification, which it can achieve with a victory in its next game — at Aston Villa next Friday.

Gravenberch opened the scoring by curling a shot into the top right corner from just outside the area in the sixth minute.

Fernandez equalized with a long-range free kick in the 36th. He curled a bouncing strike into the area, off the far post and into the net. Liverpool goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili stood frozen in anticipation of Wesley Fofana's attempt to redirect the ball but the Chelsea defender missed it. The ball then bounced, hit the post, and went in.

Liverpool went close in the 79th minute when Virgil van Dijk's header hit the bar. Eight minutes earlier, Dominik Szoboszlai hit the post with a shot from outside the area.

Sports

Lens Secure Champions League Spot and Send Nantes Down

Lens' Portuguese midfielder #04 Mezian Mesloub Soares (C-L) celebrates with teammates after scoring his team's first goal during the French L1 football match between RC Lens and FC Nantes at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis stadium in Lens on May 8, 2026. (Photo by Francois LO PRESTI / AFP)
Lens' Portuguese midfielder #04 Mezian Mesloub Soares (C-L) celebrates with teammates after scoring his team's first goal during the French L1 football match between RC Lens and FC Nantes at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis stadium in Lens on May 8, 2026. (Photo by Francois LO PRESTI / AFP)
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Lens Secure Champions League Spot and Send Nantes Down

Lens' Portuguese midfielder #04 Mezian Mesloub Soares (C-L) celebrates with teammates after scoring his team's first goal during the French L1 football match between RC Lens and FC Nantes at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis stadium in Lens on May 8, 2026. (Photo by Francois LO PRESTI / AFP)
Lens' Portuguese midfielder #04 Mezian Mesloub Soares (C-L) celebrates with teammates after scoring his team's first goal during the French L1 football match between RC Lens and FC Nantes at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis stadium in Lens on May 8, 2026. (Photo by Francois LO PRESTI / AFP)

Teenage substitute Mezian Mesloub gave Lens a 1-0 win over Nantes in Ligue 1 on Friday to clinch his side qualification for next season's Champions League, while relegating Nantes to the second tier.

The result also keeps the Ligue 1 title race alive with second-placed Lens the only team that can still pip Paris Saint-Germain to the trophy.

The 16-year-old substitute Mesloub picked up a loose ball in the box with his first touch in the 79th minute and fired home with his second to break the deadlock on his Ligue 1 debut, AFP reported.

Lens are now guaranteed a top-three finish in Ligue 1 after moving nine points clear of fourth-placed Lille, with both teams having two matches remaining.

The top three teams in Ligue 1 qualify automatically for the Champions League phase, while the fourth-placed side heads into the qualifying rounds.

Lens, whose budget is not even a 10th of Champions League finalists PSG, are still to play the Parisians who lead them by three points and have a game in hand.

Following the win, the sell-out 38,000 crowd at Lens' Stade Bollaert stayed behind for extravagant celebrations, with the players heralded one at a time on a spotlit center-circle with fireworks flaming.

Stopping PSG remains an outside chance, but Lens are also eyeing silverware in the French Cup, with the final against Nice on May 22.

Lens, the 1998 French champions, were the surprise package earlier in the season as they reached the winter break top of the table.

Lens had three goals ruled out for offside or handball Friday as Nantes held them at bay largely thanks to goalkeeper Anthony Lopes.

Nantes are now guaranteed to finish in the bottom two and will be relegated from Ligue 1.

Club great Vahid Halilhodzic took over as the third coach of their season in March but could not save the Canaries.

PSG play Brest at home on Sunday but the Lens win has prevented them from mathematically wrapping up a fifth straight title this weekend.

However, their far superior goal difference means victory would all but wrap up top spot.

Luis Enrique's men will face Arsenal in the Champions League final on May 30 after beating Bayern Munich 6-5 on aggregate in the semi-finals.

Sports

Messi Says Argentina Up Against 'Other Favorites' in World Cup Repeat Bid

Soccer player Gianfranco Alegre, 8, poses for the picture prior to a match at the Grandoli club, where soccer star Lionel Messi played as a child in Rosario, Argentina, Saturday, May 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Soccer player Gianfranco Alegre, 8, poses for the picture prior to a match at the Grandoli club, where soccer star Lionel Messi played as a child in Rosario, Argentina, Saturday, May 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
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Messi Says Argentina Up Against 'Other Favorites' in World Cup Repeat Bid

Soccer player Gianfranco Alegre, 8, poses for the picture prior to a match at the Grandoli club, where soccer star Lionel Messi played as a child in Rosario, Argentina, Saturday, May 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Soccer player Gianfranco Alegre, 8, poses for the picture prior to a match at the Grandoli club, where soccer star Lionel Messi played as a child in Rosario, Argentina, Saturday, May 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

Lionel Messi says Argentina fans are right to dream of a second straight World Cup crown, but warns other contenders, including France and Spain, "are in better shape.”

"There are a lot of guys who are dealing with injuries or a lack of match fitness, but the truth is that when the group is together it has been proven that it competes and always wants to win," Messi said of Argentina in an interview with host Pollo Alvarez published on YouTube.

However, the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner, who has made Inter Miami the must-see team in Major League Soccer, said the competition will be stiff, AFP reported.

"As of today, France are in great shape again. They have a ton of top-level players," he said of the team that Argentina beat in the 2022 final in Qatar.

He also tipped Spain and Brazil, called Portugal "very competitive" and noted that traditional European powers Germany and England are always dangerous.

Messi, who will turn 39 in June, has yet to officially confirm his participation in the tournament, which will be held from June 11-July 19 in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

Nevertheless, the former Barcelona star stressed that he has not set any time limits on his career as his competitive hunger remains.

"I love playing football, and I'm going to do it until I can't anymore," said Messi, who earned MLS Most Valuable Player honors last season as he sparked Miami to the title and led the league in goals.

"I'm competitive," he said. "I like to win at everything ... I don't even let my son win at video games."