Iraq’s qualification for the FIFA World Cup 2026 has completed the lineup of 48 nations for the tournament hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States.

The Lions of Mesopotamia edged Bolivia 2-1 on Tuesday to win the second final of the FIFA Playoff tournament in Mexico. In the first final earlier, Democratic Republic of the Congo beat Jamaica 1-0.

In the other games, Turkiye, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sweden and Czechia were the final four teams to complete the European quota of World Cup qualification.

Widely considered the most famous sporting event in the world, the 2026 FIFA World Cup will be its biggest ever. Forty-eight nations will play instead of the usual 32, with 104 matches in 16 venues across the three host nations.

Argentina will look to defend the trophy lifted by iconic captain, Lionel Messi at Qatar 2022. Cape Verde, Curacao, Jordan and Uzbekistan will make their debut.

The World Cup’s first game will be a throwback to 2010 when Mexico take on South Africa on June 11 in Mexico City in a replay of the tournament opener then. Football fans will hope the opening goal this year matches the screamer scored by Lawrence Tshabalala from the South African hosts then.

Mexico in group A – which includes South Korea and Czechia – will be one of the toughest of the 12 groups.

Team USA are alongside Australia, Paraguay and Turkiye.

Canada, too, face the challenging task of making it out of a group comprising Switzerland, Qatar and Bosnia.

Here’s a breakdown of the 48 teams in the 12 groups:

Group A:

• Mexico
• South Korea
• South Africa
• Czechia

Group B:

• Canada
• Switzerland
• Qatar
• Bosnia and Herzegovina

Group C:

• Brazil
• Morocco
• Scotland
• Haiti

Group D:

• USA
• Australia
• Paraguay
• Turkiye

Group E:

• Germany
• Ecuador
• Ivory Coast
• Curacao

Group F:

• Netherlands
• Japan
• Tunisia
• Sweden

Group G:

• Belgium
• Iran
• Egypt
• New Zealand

Group H:

• Spain
• Uruguay
• Saudi Arabia
• Cape Verde

Group I:

• France
• Senegal
• Norway
• Iraq

Group J:

• Argentina
• Austria
• Algeria
• Jordan

Group K:

• Portugal
• Colombia
• Uzbekistan
• DRC

Group L:

• England
• Croatia
• Panama
• Ghana

[Aljazeera]

A total of 365 US service members have been wounded in action since the start of the US-Israeli war with Iran, according to figures released by the Pentagon.

They come from the following divisions:

• Army – 247
• Navy – 63
• Marines – 19
• Air Force – 36

The death toll remains at 13, according to the figures.

[BBC]

The head of Italy’s football federation (FIGC) has resigned, falling on his sword after the men’s national team failed to qualify for a World Cup for a third consecutive time.

Gabriele Gravina revealed he would step down as the country’s top football official following a meeting held at the FIGC’s headquarters in Rome on Thursday.

His announcement came a day after Sport Minister Andrea Abodi called on him to resign.

Four-time World Cup winners Italy fell at the playoffs again on Tuesday, this time after a penalty shootout against Bosnia and Herzegovina, and will miss this year’s finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The shock waves of the latest humiliation for one of the world’s most successful football nations forced Gravina, 72, to go back on his initial plans to wait until a FIGC board meeting next week to announce a decision on his future.

The FIGC said in a statement that a vote for a new president would be held on June 22.

Giovanni Malago, the former longtime head of the Italian National Olympic Committee who was president of the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics organisation committee, is reportedly one of the names in the hat.

Before then, head coach Gennaro Gattuso is expected to also step down, while general manager Gianluigi Buffon, the former Italy goalkeeper, announced his resignation on Thursday.

Italy’s failure to reach the first-ever 48-team World Cup – which will feature the likes of Cape Verde and Curacao – led Abodi to release a statement saying: “It’s clear that Italian football needs to be rebuilt from the ground up and that starts with changes at the top of the FIGC.”

[Aljazeera]