Livre party calls on Portugal to exclude Morocco from the 2030 World Cup organization due to migration crisis in Ceuta

The Banyana Banyana team managed to advance to the Women's Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) quarter-finals after a tense 1-0 victory over Burkina Faso. The goal scored by Thembi Kgatlana was decisive in the match, which took place during the final round of Group B at Prince Moulay Rashid Stadium in Casablanca on Tuesday evening.

Thanks to this win, the South Africans secured second place in the group, accumulating four points. Their progression was made possible by Costa Rica defeating Tanzania in their parallel match, which benefited Banyana because any other result against Tanzania could have worked against them according to the head-to-head rule, considering their loss to Twiga Stars in the first match.

Banyana was aware that their performance in the group stage was not the best. Therefore, they needed to demonstrate a higher level of play against the host team Morocco in the quarter-finals on Saturday to contend for a spot in the Wafcon semi-finals and, consequently, in the 2027 World Cup in Brazil.

Although a defeat to Morocco would not mean the end of hopes for the World Cup, the team would have had to qualify through difficult continental and intercontinental playoffs.

It has been ten years since Banyana last reached the final round of the Wafcon group stage needing a win to advance. At that time, they achieved this by securing a convincing 5-0 victory over Egypt, which boosted their confidence in repeating success in Casablanca.

Banyana did its part by beating Burkina Faso 1-0. Costa Rica also succeeded by defeating Tanzania 2-1 in the simultaneous start, allowing them to take first place in the group ahead of South Africa's second place.

An early exit for Banyana would have been painful. They were in such a precarious position due to their own mistakes: careless defense led to a loss to Tanzania, and then they drew with Costa Rica.

Despite these shortcomings, coach Desiré Ellis maintained high confidence in the team, expecting the players to give their all against Burkina Faso, while hoping for a favorable outcome in the other match.

This is exactly what happened. Kaylin Swart prevented an early threat to Banyana by intercepting a dangerous cross. This calmed the team's nerves, allowing them to control the game and advance into the final third of the field.

Captain and Player of the Day Refilo Jane, who is 34 years old, set the pace of the match, giving Isabelle Ludwig—one of the two substitutes playing against Costa Rica—enough freedom for maneuvers.

Banyana's persistence paid off when the Burkina Faso defenders could not handle the attack, allowing Thembi Kgatlana to capitalize on a pass from Fikile Magama and send the ball past goalkeeper Nina Dabilgu.

Kgatlana could have put Banyana in a dominant position with a second goal in the match, but she missed from close range after Jane organized a free kick with a well-thought-out combination.

Banyana held onto the lead until halftime. Then Ellis made substitutions in the half, bringing on Amogelang Motau and Lebokhanga Ramalephe instead of Linda Motlhalho and Noksolo Sesane, respectively.

Ellis's side almost lost control of the advantage shortly after this when referee Alin Eton awarded Burkina Faso a penalty, believing that Antonia Maponya had fouled the opponent in the box. However, after reviewing the incident on the VAR monitor, she overturned her decision.

After overcoming this danger, Banyana increased the pressure, pushing more players forward, with Kgatlana leading the attack. However, Kgatlana's hard work went unnoticed as her teammates failed to finish the attacks in the penalty area.

Ellis added even more attacking players, including Gabriela Mudali-Salgado, to support Kgatlana up front. Although Banyana could not establish a two-goal lead, it ultimately did not matter—Kgatlana's goal and Costa Rica's victory secured Banyana's place in the quarter-finals.

The Indian team has faced serious problems since arriving in Sri Lanka. A practice match against Sri Lanka was planned to take place starting Friday, August 7, and was considered an important stage of preparation for the two upcoming matches.

However, this three-day practice test match is under threat due to forecasts of rainy weather. According to AccuWeather data, there is a probability of heavy rainfall throughout all three days. These circumstances could create significant difficulties for the Indian team led by Shubman Gill.

According to AccuWeather forecasts, prolonged rains are expected in Colombo from August 7 to 9. Specifically, on the first day, Friday, the probability of rain is estimated at up to 91%, with cloud cover at 99%. Heavy and continuous rains were also observed on the route from Kandy to Colombo earlier, foreshadowing field flooding on the very first day.

This tour is of great importance to India in the context of the Test World Cup. India was supposed to start its campaign with this three-day practice match on August 7, but there is a high risk that the game will be cancelled or severely disrupted.

Since the series is extremely important for India, which currently ranks fifth in the table, the team sought to use this warm-up match to adapt to local conditions before the first official match scheduled for August 15 in Galle. If the match is cancelled due to rain, the young squad under Shubman Gill will be forced to take the field without sufficient preparation.

Furthermore, facing this weather problem, many players of the Indian national team are already battling injuries.

Due to knee problems, star fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah is absent from the series. He has been replaced in the squad by Jammu and Kashmir fast bowler Akib Nabi, who received his first chance in the Test team. On the other hand, the availability of young batsman Sai Sudarshan also depends on receiving clearance to participate, given the leg injury he sustained during his visit to India.

The Indian Test team squad includes: Shubman Gill (captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Dhruv Jurel (wicketkeeper), Sai Sudarshan (subject to fitness concerns), Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Manav Chatur, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Gunnor Bard, Devdutt Padikkal, Saransh Jain, and Akib Nabi.

The Indian cricket team has suffered a major blow ahead of the trip to Sri Lanka. Jasprit Bumrah, who is considered one of the world's best Test bowlers, has been excluded from the two-match series against Sri Lanka scheduled for August 15th. Although he was included in the squad announced on July 28th, a medical examination revealed that he is not fully fit.

Akib Nabi Dar, a fast bowler from Jammu and Kashmir, has been included in his place. Bumrah's absence represents a significant loss for India, as he was expected to be responsible for aggressive bowling attacks in the series matches against Sri Lanka. However, this is not the first instance where an injury has kept Bumrah away from the Indian national team.

Since his debut in international cricket in Sydney against Australia in January 2016, he has been unable to participate in many important ICC series and tournaments due to health issues.

In July 2022, during a three-match ODI series against England, Bumrah sustained a back injury. Due to this injury, he could not participate in the Asia Cup held in the United Arab Emirates from August 27 to September 11, 2022. His absence weakened India's attacking potential, leading to consecutive defeats against Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the Super Four stage, and the team failed to reach the final.

After the Asia Cup in September 2022, Bumrah returned for the home T20 series against Australia, but his back injury flared up again. This forced him to miss the ICC T20 World Cup 2022, which was held in Australia. Mohammed Shami, an experienced fast bowler, was included in the Indian team in his place. This was a serious setback for India, as Bumrah was then the most reliable specialist for finishing overs in the team.

Recovery from the back injury sustained in September 2022 took Bumrah about eleven months. Because of this, he could not play in the home Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia in 2023. Furthermore, he missed the IPL 2023 for Mumbai Indians. Despite his absence, Mumbai Indians qualified for the playoffs and finished the season in third place.

Due to his back injury, Bumrah also could not take the field in the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia at The Oval stadium in England from June 7 to 11, 2023. In this match, the Australian team, led by Pat Cummins, won by 209 runs, and the Indian team became the second consecutive runner-up of the WTC.

During the fifth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2024-25, Bumrah sustained another injury while bowling. Following this, he was selected in the starting lineup for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, but was dropped from the tournament on February 12th due to a lower back injury. Harshit Rana was included in the Indian team in his place.

In July 2026, Bumrah was once again unable to fully recover due to an injury sustained during the India-England ODI series. For this reason, he was once again left out of the squad for the two-match series against Sri Lanka.