PARIS: Robert Lewandowski scored a European qualifying record 16th goal as Poland defeated Montenegro 4-2 on Sunday to reach next year's World Cup, while reigning champions Germany secured a 10th successive win.
Bayern Munich striker Lewandowski struck again in what has been a remarkable qualifying campaign as Poland recovered from throwing away a two-goal lead in Warsaw to secure a first trip to the World Cup finals since 2006.
“I was angry. We were leading 2-0 at home and then let them equalize for 2-all. We had to score that third goal to calm things down,” said Lewandowski, who moved back ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo’s 15-goal tally.
Krzysztof Maczynski and Kamil Grosicki struck early as Poland made a dream start, but Montenegro hit back through goals from Stefan Mugosa and Zarko Tomasevic to pull level with just seven minutes left.
Lewandowski restored Poland’s advantage on 85 minutes before a late own goal from Filip Stojkovic sealed victory, although Denmark’s 1-1 draw at home to Romania ultimately rendered the outcome irrelevant.
“Congratulations to all the players who were able to hold on until the end,” said Poland coach Adam Nawalka. “The players have proved themselves in difficult moments, hence our qualification and it's in very good style.”
The Danes needed to win in Copenhagen while hoping that Montenegro could upset Poland to finish top of Group E, but Ciprian Deac's late equalizer cancelled out a 60th-minute penalty from Christian Eriksen.
However, Denmark are at least assured of a place in next month’s playoffs as one of the eight best runners-up from the nine qualifying groups.
Germany made it 10 wins from 10 in Group C after routing Azerbaijan 5-1 in Kaiserslautern to join Spain as the only nations in history to finish a European World Cup qualifying campaign with a perfect record.
Leon Goretzka’s opening goal was negated by Ramil Sheydaev on 34 minutes, but Sandro Wagner and Antonio Ruediger scored after half-time before Goretzka notched his second and Emre Can completed the victory.
Germany scored a European qualifying record 43 goals on the road to Russia, emulating Spain who achieved perfection in qualifying ahead of their triumph at the 2010 tournament in South Africa.
“It would be a mistake to use this qualifying campaign as a benchmark. Sure it was good, but the World Cup will be a different matter,” said Germany coach Joachim Loew.
“It will be hard to win the World Cup for a second time.”
Northern Ireland slid to a 1-0 defeat to Norway in Oslo after an own goal by Chris Brunt, but Michael O’Neill’s men were already guaranteed a berth in the play-offs after earlier results.
Slovakia face an anxious wait to discover whether they will advance to the two-legged play-offs after finishing second behind England in Group F following a comfortable 3-0 win over Malta.
Adam Nemec grabbed a brace with Ondrej Duda adding a third in Trnava as Slovakia extended Scotland’s 20-year exile from the finals of major tournaments.
Gordon Strachan’s team arrived in Slovenia two points clear of Slovakia going into the final round of matches, but dropped to third after being held to a 2-2 draw in Ljubljana.
Leigh Griffiths stroked the visitors into a first-half lead, but Slovenia equalised and then went ahead as Roman Bezjak netted twice after coming on at the break.
Robert Snodgrass handed Scotland a lifeline with an 87th-minute equaliser, but it wasn’t enough as Scotland finished level on 18 points with Slovakia but behind them on goal difference.
“I have never been in a dressing room as silent as that,” said Strachan, who refused to be drawn on his future as Scotland manager.
“At this moment, I am the last person thinking about that.”
England won 1-0 away to Lithuania to conclude an unbeaten campaign as Harry Kane scored a 27th-minute spot-kick won by Tottenham Hotspur team-mate Dele Alli.
The in-form Kane, whose stoppage-time winner against Slovenia on Thursday secured England’s place in Russia, has now scored nine goals in his last five matches for both club and country.
Poland heads to World Cup, Germany posts perfect 10
Poland heads to World Cup, Germany posts perfect 10
German regulator pushes for more fan control of soccer clubs like Bayer Leverkusen
- Top German soccer clubs including Bayer Leverkusen and Leipzig face the prospect of handing over more control to fans after a regulator intervened
A statement Monday from Germany’s antitrust regulator, the Federal Cartel Office, said it wants to see tighter enforcement of the rule known as 50-plus-1 which requires a soccer club’s membership to have majority voting rights over how the team is run.
The regulator said recent European court rulings suggest permanent exemptions from 50-plus-1 for last year’s champion Leverkusen and fellow top-tier club Wolfsburg seem “no longer possible.”
It said efforts should be made in the future to ensure the club’s professional soccer operations come under the control of membership organizations, but didn’t name any deadline.
Leverkusen and Wolfsburg were founded as workers’ teams at major companies which own the clubs, with pharmaceutical giant Bayer at Leverkusen, and car manufacturer Volkswagen at Wolfsburg. Their long-term involvement led to the clubs getting exemptions from 50-plus-1.
The regulator also said the German men’s soccer league needs to ensure the clubs it oversees “offer their fans the opportunity to become a new full member with voting rights.”
That appears to affect Leipzig and its relationship with drinks giant Red Bull, though they weren’t directly named by the regulator in Tuesday’s statement.
The club was founded by Red Bull in 2009 and is part of its international network of soccer clubs. It grants voting rights to far fewer people than most German clubs. Local media reported that only 23 members had the right to vote at Leipzig as of last year.
Saudi Arabia edges Haiti 1-0 in Gold Cup on penalty kick
Saleh Al-Shehri’s penalty kick in the 21st minute held up as the winner as Saudi Arabia shut out Haiti 1-0 in CONCACAF Gold Cup Group A play on Sunday night in San Diego.
Al-Shehri drew a foul in the penalty area on Frantzdy Pierrot in the 18th minute, then converted a right-footed shot to the bottom left corner to lift Saudi Arabia (1-0-0, 3 points) in the opener for both teams.
Haiti had an opportunity to pull even in the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time, but Saudi Arabia goalkeeper Nawaf Al-Aqidi (four saves) denied Dany Jean in the center of the goal on a right-footed shot from outside the box.
Haiti (0-1-0, 0 points) posted a decisive edge in corner kicks (11-1), but Saudi Arabia finished with more shots on goal (5-4) and shot attempts (13-7).
Haiti goalkeeper Johny Placide finished with three saves.
A penalty shattered Palestinian World Cup dreams for 2026. The squad has inspired hope
- The Palestinian team needed to win its last three Group B games in Asian qualifying to advance to another continental playoff round
AMMAN: An engrossing qualifying journey of 16 games and the obstacles of a war came crashing down in an instant for Oday Dabbagh and his Palestinian team.
Their legacy will long continue.
Players left the field in tears in the immediate aftermath at the King Abdullah II Stadium in Amman, Jordan, last Thursday after their quest for a first appearance at a World Cup evaporated on a contentious penalty awarded deep in extra time. Fans looked on, stunned.
“It’s very hard,” Dabbagh, the team’s star striker, told The Associated Press. “It was massive for us to get to the next stage — we prepared well, we had a positive atmosphere, and we had the fans with us. We gave everything, but it was gone in a moment.”
Needing to win its last three Group B games to reach the playoffs for the last two of Asia’s automatic spots at the World Cup, the No. 101-ranked team in the world beat Iraq in Basra in March, Kuwait in Kuwait City on June 5. Five days later, it was leading 1-0 against Oman in Jordan in the 97th minute.
The Palestinians had never been in a better position in qualifying for a World Cup. Then Oman was awarded, and scored, a penalty to make it 1-1 in the last real act of the game.
Not long after the dejected players had picked themselves up, the Palestine Football Association (PFA) made an official complaint to soccer’s world governing body, FIFA, about the penalty. It didn’t change the fact, however, that the long road trip was over.
“We tried to put smiles on the faces of Palestinians amid their great pain,” head coach Ihab Abujazar said. “The heroic players are our pride and glory, a symbol of all that is beautiful in the Palestinian nation.”
Playing Away
It may have been different if the Palestinian team, admitted into FIFA in 1998, was able to play home games in front of its fans in Gaza or the West Bank in the third round of qualifying. The Israel-Hamas war meant that couldn’t happen. And so the many of the team’s home games have been taking place in the nearby Jordanian capital of Amman, home to a large community of Palestinians.
“It is easier to play in your home,” Dabbagh, who helped Aberdeen win the Scottish Cup last month, said. “But the circumstances there are so difficult so we choose to play in Amman as it is close to Palestine, the people are the same, and we have a lot of fans there.”
There’s been no domestic soccer in the Palestinian territories since the war started in 2023. Hundreds of athletes are among the more than 55,000 Palestinians killed in the conflict and sports facilities have been destroyed.
“Everything that goes on makes us all sad,” Dabbagh said. “As players, we try to focus on football during the games, but we use what is happening as motivation to bring happiness to the people of Palestine.”
All but two of the roster of 27 national squad players are contracted to foreign clubs either in the region or in Europe, a change from the start of the conflict when a number of players weren’t able to leave the West Bank or Gaza to report for international duty.
Over the past year or so, the Palestinian squad has assembled for training camps in Algeria, Qatar and Saudi Arabia to prepare for World Cup qualifying.
The top two teams in each of three Asian groups in the third round earned direct spots for next year’s World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The third- and fourth-place teams in each group advanced to a playoff for two more places. A win would have secured fourth spot in the group for the Palestinians. The last-minute draw meant they finished a point behind Oman in fifth.
What’s next?
Now their focus has to shift to the 2027 Asian Cup, which will take place in Saudi Arabia. The Palestinian team has already qualified for the tournament.
Dabbagh is ready to show that the team is set to remain a force in Asian soccer and continue to be ambassodors for millions of people.
“We will keep using football as a message to show the world that there are other things in Palestine” he said. “We will keep going. The dream is not over, it is just delayed.”
Kubica wins ‘mental battle’ to triumph at Le Mans
- In a thrilling 93rd edition of the race, which saw the top four separated by just over 20 seconds going into the final 15 minutes, Kubica and his AF Corse co-drivers Philip Hanson and Ye Yifei (#83) finished just 14.084sec ahead of Porsche
- Kubica was one of Formula One’s brightest prospects when he won the 2008 Canada Grand Prix but a harrowing accident in a rally in Andorra in 2011 almost cost him his life
LE MANS: Former Formula One driver Robert Kubica has long since tackled the demons of a near-fatal accident 14 years ago but Sunday’s victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans is arguably his greatest achievement yet.
The 40-year-old Pole roared to victory in his bright yellow “privateer” Ferrari to give the Italian marque a third consecutive win in the most famous endurance race in the world.
In a thrilling 93rd edition of the race, which saw the top four separated by just over 20 seconds going into the final 15 minutes, Kubica and his AF Corse co-drivers Philip Hanson and Ye Yifei (#83) finished just 14.084sec ahead of a Porsche (#6) driven by Kevin Estre, Matt Campbell and Laurens Vanthoor.
In so doing they knocked the two factory Ferraris, who started the race as favorites, into third and fourth.
“It’s been a long 24 hours but an enjoyable one. Grazie mille, grazie a tutti,” said Kubica over the team radio as he took the chequered flag.
Kubica was one of Formula One’s brightest prospects when he won the 2008 Canada Grand Prix but a harrowing accident in a rally in Andorra in 2011 almost cost him his life.
Trapped upside down in his car before being freed and whisked to hospital, Kubica suffered several serious injuries and underwent a partial amputation of his right forearm.
“What happened was very unfortunate, but I was very lucky,” he said after Sunday’s victory.
“It took me quite a few years, not only to recover physically but also mentally.
“What happened happened and I have to accept it. One of the worst periods of my life was when my mind wouldn’t accept the fact that my arm was failing.”
He returned to racing cars, however, winning the WRC2 championship and taking part in sports car races. In 2017 he moved back into Formula One, testing for Renault before racing for Williams in 2019.
But Sunday’s win which made him the first Pole ever to win Le Mans tops any of his other achievements behind the wheel.
“It was quite difficult to live with, but I’m happy to have achieved my personal goals,” he said.
“The best thing I’ve achieved in my life — it’s nothing to do with racing — it’s more the battle I won with my mind.”
Both of Kubica’s co-drivers were also first-time winners with Ye the first Chinese driver to triumph.
“I’m at a loss for words,” said Ye who arrived in Le Mans at the age of 14 on an exchange program to try and become a professional driver.
“It’s going to take me some time to realize everything that’s happened today. Right now I feel like I’m dreaming. Maybe in two seconds I’ll wake up and none of this will exist.
“In China, the car industry has come a long way. When my father was my age, there were no cars on the roads, and we’re talking about the 1990s. Becoming a professional driver was impossible.”
With three of the top four, it was certainly a good day for Ferrari but there will undoubtedly be some at headquarters in Maranello who might not be so happy.
As the winning car was not entered directly by the manufacturer, but by the AF Corse team, Ferrari will not take the points for victory in the World Endurance Championship.
Cadillac locked out the front row of the grid but #12 of Will Stephens, who had taken pole, had to settle for fifth with the second car (#38), featuring former Formula One world champion Jensen Button, coming home in eighth.
J.J. Spaun weathers the worst of wet Oakmont to win US Open
- “I never thought I would be here holding this trophy,” said Spaun, who finished last year at No. 119 in the world with only one PGA Tour title in his career
OAKMONT, Pennsylvania: J.J. Spaun turned a sloppy mess of a US Open at wet and nasty Oakmont into a thing of beauty at the end Sunday with two stunning shots that carried him to his first major championship.
First came his driver on the 314-yard 17th hole onto the green for a birdie that gave him the lead. Needing two putts from 65 feet on the 18th to win, he finished his storybook Open by holing the longest putt all week at Oakmont for birdie and a 2-over 72.
That made him the only player to finish under par at 1-under 279. It gave him a two-shot victory over Robert MacIntire of Scotland.
And it made Spaun, the 36-year-old Californian who resembles the late Pittsburgh Steelers great Franco Harris, a major champion in only his second US Open.
“I never thought I would be here holding this trophy,” said Spaun, who finished last year at No. 119 in the world with only one PGA Tour title in his career. “I always had aspirations and dreams. I never knew what my ceiling was. I’m just trying to be the best golfer I can be.”
It was calamity for so many others.
Sam Burns had a two-shot lead going to the 11th tee, made a double bogey from a divot in the first cut and from a lie in the fairway so wet he thought he deserved relief. He shot 78.
Adam Scott, trying to become the first player to go more than 11 years between major titles, was tied for the lead with five holes to play. One of the best drivers could no longer find the fairway. He played them in 5 over and shot 79.
“I missed the fairway. I hadn’t done that all week really. Then I did, and I paid the price and lost a lot of shots out there,” Scott said.
Carlos Ortiz and Tyrrell Hatton also slashed away in slushy lies, all making mistakes that cost them a chance to survive this beast of day.
The rain that put Oakmont on the edge of being unplayable might have saved Spaun.
One shot behind at the start of the day, he opened with five bogeys in six holes with some horrific breaks, none worse than hitting the pin on the second hole and seeing it spin back to the fairway. And then came a rain delay of 1 hour, 37 minutes.
“The weather delay changed the whole vibe of the day,” Spaun said.
Remarkably, he made only one bogey the rest of the way.
But oh, that finish.
MacIntyre, the 28-year-old from Oban toughened by the Scottish game of Shinty, became the new target. He also struggled at the start and fell nine shots behind at one point. But he birdied the 17th and split the fairway on the 18th for a key par, a 68 and the clubhouse lead.
Three groups later, Spaun delivered what looked like the winner, a powerful fade that rolled onto the green like a putt and settled 18 feet behind the cup.
And then the final putt — no one made a longer one all week. He was helped by Viktor Hovland being on the same line and going first. Spaun rapped it through the soaked turf, walked to the left to watch it break right toward the hole and watched it dropped as thousands of rain-soaked spectators erupted.
He raised both arms and tossed his putter, jumping into the arms of caddie Mark Carens.
The celebration carried into those who lost the battle.
MacIntyre, so close to becoming Scotland’s first major champion since Paul Lawrie in 1999, sat in scoring in front of a TV and applauded.
Hatton was talking with reporters, bemoaning a bad break on the 17th ended his chances of winning. He watched the Spaun’s putt and it brightened his mood.
“Unbelievable. What a putt to win. That’s incredible,” he said. “I’m sad about how I finished, but I’m very happy for J.J. To win a major in that fashion is amazing.”
Hovland, who shot 73 to finish third, saw it all — the putt at the end, the bogeys at the start.
“After his start, it just looked like he was out of it immediately,” Hovland said. “Everyone came back to the pack. I wasn’t expecting that really. I thought I had to shoot maybe 3-under par today to have a good chance, but obviously the conditions got really, really tough, and this golf course is just a beast.”
Hatton (72) and Ortiz (73), both part of LIV Golf and in serious contention at a major for the first time, tied for fourth along with Cameron Young (70). The consolation for Ortiz was getting into the Masters next year.
Scottie Scheffler, 10 shots behind early in the final round, was somehow still part of the conversation on the back nine. But he missed far too many birdie chances even three-putting from 12 feet no the 11th hole. The world’s No. 1 player finished with a 70 to tie for seventh with Jon Rahm (67) and Burns, his best friend who will feel the sting.
He had a double bogey by missing the green into a bad lie on the slope of a bunker. He missed a pair of 6-foot birdie putts to seize control. And when he made a mess of the 15th for another double bogey.
Through it all, Spaun emerged as a US Open champion hardly anyone saw coming — not at the start of the year, not at the start of the round.
