African Football Discussion Thread Current Topic: 👉 FIFA WorldCup 2026.

[KingsDen]

This is the news coming up this morning that FIFA would pay Omar Arthan his entitlement as a referee in the world cup tournament.  Although it is not his fault though that he was denied entry into the US but we expected that FIFA could have intervened in this matter but but it was captured in the news that he was interviewed for straight 11 hours and was still denied entry and from what I read online, the interview has to do with something related to a terrorist group affiliations which he said he doesn't have idea what they are talking about and I believe that was the reason behind his entry denial hence the possibility of FIFA not being able to interfer but to resolve in paying him his benefits as a referee for the tournament. We will keep our hands crossed and watch how it goes after the world cup tournament and see if FIFA would honour their promises as they have said in paying him his benefits.

Source

This is definitely not supposed to be surprising. If there's any referee that should even get an extra pay as far as this edition of the FIFA World Cup is concerned, it should be Omar Arthan. He was subjected to global embarrassment for doing absolutely no wrong other being a Somalia citizen. FIFA who invited him to the World Cup failed to intervene in the matter because it's the United States that's involved.
I hope the disappointment from football fans, players and officials in this competition will not be repeated again. I hope that FIFA will consider the immigration laws of future host nations before granting them the right to host the biggest football competition.

[Davidvictorson]

Hey everyone, is it just me because looking at the World Cup schedule for this week, the results looks very easy to predict who the winner would be. It is almost as if they paired a strong team with average team.
Has any other person observed this yet and what are your thoughts ?

[MorganaX]

This is the news coming up this morning that FIFA would pay Omar Arthan his entitlement as a referee in the world cup tournament.  Although it is not his fault though that he was denied entry into the US but we expected that FIFA could have intervened in this matter but but it was captured in the news that he was interviewed for straight 11 hours and was still denied entry and from what I read online, the interview has to do with something related to a terrorist group affiliations which he said he doesn't have idea what they are talking about and I believe that was the reason behind his entry denial hence the possibility of FIFA not being able to interfer but to resolve in paying him his benefits as a referee for the tournament. We will keep our hands crossed and watch how it goes after the world cup tournament and see if FIFA would honour their promises as they have said in paying him his benefits.

Source

This is definitely not supposed to be surprising. If there's any referee that should even get an extra pay as far as this edition of the FIFA World Cup is concerned, it should be Omar Arthan. He was subjected to global embarrassment for doing absolutely no wrong other being a Somalia citizen. FIFA who invited him to the World Cup failed to intervene in the matter because it's the United States that's involved.
I hope the disappointment from football fans, players and officials in this competition will not be repeated again. I hope that FIFA will consider the immigration laws of future host nations before granting them the right to host the biggest football competition.

All these rubbish that happened showed that FIFA and the United States actually little or no time for preparing at all because most of the issues and case that I have seen could have been handled so easily and effectively if there was actually a time used for preparation because it would have been much easier if FIFA had checked and verified all those that are with them and for some reason though I don't actually know what transpired that led to the referee been denied the access to partake in the competition.

[Ronsbit]

snip
Source

This is definitely not supposed to be surprising. If there's any referee that should even get an extra pay as far as this edition of the FIFA World Cup is concerned, it should be Omar Arthan. He was subjected to global embarrassment for doing absolutely no wrong other being a Somalia citizen. FIFA who invited him to the World Cup failed to intervene in the matter because it's the United States that's involved.
I hope the disappointment from football fans, players and officials in this competition will not be repeated again. I hope that FIFA will consider the immigration laws of future host nations before granting them the right to host the biggest football competition.

All these rubbish that happened showed that FIFA and the United States actually little or no time for preparing at all because most of the issues and case that I have seen could have been handled so easily and effectively if there was actually a time used for preparation because it would have been much easier if FIFA had checked and verified all those that are with them and for some reason though I don't actually know what transpired that led to the referee been denied the access to partake in the competition.

FIFA betrayed the camaraderie spirit in sports by not intervening in this matter; they kept mute over it, thinking that giving him his match benefits would solve the matter, and this exposed their flaws and lapses because this was what they should have long done before commencing this World Cup tournament to avoid all this embarrassment athletes are facing because of their carelessness.
Ordinarily, they should have been able to have an in-depth conversation with the US government to know their stand as regards their immigration policies and also to be able to verify players' eligibility in entering their country so that they can before hand preinform those nations to be aware of the players they field so they do not have issues when the time for the world cup approaches or should I say this was a strategy by the US to disorganise nations from having a good football outing or what?

[M47AK16]

FIFA World Cup 2026   matches are going smoothly and Brazil national football team played match against Morocco national football team and that was two sided match because both teams effort was at top in this match and they did not gave up in this match. Saibari was a person who did first goal of the match and he did this goal at 21 minutes of the match and he did this goal at the start of the match when it was need of the team and in the second half there was also goal in this match which was did by opponent team . Júnior was a second person who did goal at 32 minutes of the match and Score was equal at that moment and both teams required to do one another goal to win this match and  both teams got 1,1 point in this match because defense system of both teams was very strong in this match abe both teams tried to do goal in this match but no team was successful to do any goal in the second half of the match when there was do or die situation.

Well, with this draw, my bet was lost because I had bet on Brazil to win. Many news channels and their sports commentators are criticizing the Brazilian coach for the choices he made, particularly in the starting lineup. They wanted the Brazilian coach to put Endrick in right at the beginning of the game, and everyone is wondering why the Brazilian coach didn't put Endrick in from the start. I believe that the next games for the Brazilian national team will be very high-pressure for the Brazilian coach.

Still early rounds with many teams to go for their start of this World Cup, but bookies already have good amounts in their wallets because a few big teams lost their matches, which hurt punters who always love to stay with favourites and put good amounts. Brazil was the favourite to win, but Morocco did an impressive job while Australia also did a good job and shocked Turkey. This is surely going to be a problem for them in the coming 4 games.

The first is Netherlands vs. Japan; the other three have African countries that all have no good chances, but Morocco gives them good motivation for having good performance and staying strong.

[Slow death]

Tomorrow, in my country's time zone, we'll have four games involving African teams. Ivory Coast will play against Ecuador. This is a game where Ivory Coast might have a chance of winning, but in my opinion, I see Ecuador winning or drawing. Although I'm rooting for Ivory Coast, I see Ecuador as slightly superior. Another game will be Tunisia against Sweden. For this game, I see Sweden winning, although I'm rooting for Tunisia; Sweden is stronger than Tunisia in my opinion.

Egypt will play against Belgium. It will be a difficult game for Egypt, and I'm rooting for Egypt to win. I see Belgium as stronger than Egypt, so I wouldn't be surprised if Belgium wins. Finally, Spain will play against Cape Verde. Honestly, I see Spain winning, but I'll be rooting for Cape Verde.

[Stable090]

Don't know who Morocco think they are did they think if they don't apply to host African tournaments other African countries won't be able to host African tournaments, if they like they shouldn't apply to host African tournaments, African Cup of Nations will surely take place as at when due.

Nobody is forcing them to Host the African cup of nations, if they don’t host it, other countries will do that. African cup of nations competition have been taking place for years, and different countries are being used to host the competition, so if they don’t want to host the competition again, it’s going to be hosted by other countries. Just because you hosted a competition doesn’t mean you should be favored.

This is the news coming up this morning that FIFA would pay Omar Arthan his entitlement as a referee in the world cup tournament.

Instead of FIFA to intervene, they are trying to compensate him after he was humiliated. They should know that everything is not just about money, he was humiliated at the United state, and from the interview which I saw, he said he will never set his foot on United state soil again, you should know how bad he felt.

[SatoPrincess]

I was disappointed with Brazil’s performance last night. I was expecting a comfortable victory against Morocco, this Brazil team is a shadow of what they used to be in the past. The football quality has dropped drastically, not sure what happened to this team but I see even more reason why it’s important that Neymar be in this squad.

[Supreme Donvic]

This is the news coming up this morning that FIFA would pay Omar Arthan his entitlement as a referee in the world cup tournament.  Although it is not his fault though that he was denied entry into the US but we expected that FIFA could have intervened in this matter but but it was captured in the news that he was interviewed for straight 11 hours and was still denied entry and from what I read online, the interview has to do with something related to a terrorist group affiliations which he said he doesn't have idea what they are talking about and I believe that was the reason behind his entry denial hence the possibility of FIFA not being able to interfer but to resolve in paying him his benefits as a referee for the tournament. We will keep our hands crossed and watch how it goes after the world cup tournament and see if FIFA would honour their promises as they have said in paying him his benefits.

Source

I'm very sure that FIFA will keep to their promise by paying him all the money he would have gotten in the world cup and this is a good one from them, I'm sure they will not also fail in their promise because it is a small thing for them to do, is not that big so they can actually fulfill their promise by paying him all the money that he would have gotten as a referee in this world cup tournament.
Yes they said the reason why they did give him access to the United States is because of belonging or an association to a terrorist group, i don't even understand why such a thing should be coming up and I don't believe the US I think they just don't want him to come because of the country his coming from this is a big mockery to the reason why world cup was set up.
This should be the last time FIFA will allow US to host world cup.

[Wakate]

This is the news coming up this morning that FIFA would pay Omar Arthan his entitlement as a referee in the world cup tournament.  Although it is not his fault though that he was denied entry into the US but we expected that FIFA could have intervened in this matter but but it was captured in the news that he was interviewed for straight 11 hours and was still denied entry and from what I read online, the interview has to do with something related to a terrorist group affiliations which he said he doesn't have idea what they are talking about and I believe that was the reason behind his entry denial hence the possibility of FIFA not being able to interfer but to resolve in paying him his benefits as a referee for the tournament. We will keep our hands crossed and watch how it goes after the world cup tournament and see if FIFA would honour their promises as they have said in paying him his benefits.

Source

This is the right way to do things andi like the idea of FIFA agreeing to pay the Somalia referee his fee for been unable to attend the world cup after the United States had placed a ban on the referee. There are something I don't really like especially in this case where the United States government are restricting people from getting a visa to come to their country and attend the world cup ceremony.

[Rgram]

This is the news coming up this morning that FIFA would pay Omar Arthan his entitlement as a referee in the world cup tournament.

Source

Money has never being the issue with FIFA, they’ve got that in abundance from Sponsorship and other streams of income that the game attracts. The issue here still remains the political landscape that tends to surround the game. What happens when other host nations decides to draw this card and are very aggressive at it. I mean, America have got there reasons but, let’s not forget that known faces to have associated themselves with the Sport such as the referee should have had their names sent to the immigration prior to the World Cup kick off to avoid instances such as this. He’s a FIFA official and his being refused to officiate in a game America applied to FIFA to host, that’s not okay.

[SatoPrincess]

This is the news coming up this morning that FIFA would pay Omar Arthan his entitlement as a referee in the world cup tournament.  Although it is not his fault though that he was denied entry into the US but we expected that FIFA could have intervened in this matter but but it was captured in the news that he was interviewed for straight 11 hours and was still denied entry and from what I read online, the interview has to do with something related to a terrorist group affiliations which he said he doesn't have idea what they are talking about and I believe that was the reason behind his entry denial hence the possibility of FIFA not being able to interfer but to resolve in paying him his benefits as a referee for the tournament. We will keep our hands crossed and watch how it goes after the world cup tournament and see if FIFA would honour their promises as they have said in paying him his benefits.

Source

I'm very sure that FIFA will keep to their promise by paying him all the money he would have gotten in the world cup and this is a good one from them, I'm sure they will not also fail in their promise because it is a small thing for them to do, is not that big so they can actually fulfill their promise by paying him all the money that he would have gotten as a referee in this world cup tournament.

He deserves to get paid. I think he received money from wealthy people in his country, the salary from FIFA at this point is just compensation because I’m pretty sure Omar Artan wanted to officiate in the World Cup as it is a big career boost. So sad that he missed out on that opportunity.

[GiftedMAN]

Hey everyone, is it just me because looking at the World Cup schedule for this week, the results looks very easy to predict who the winner would be. It is almost as if they paired a strong team with average team.
Has any other person observed this yet and what are your thoughts ?

Do not be deceived by the odds no game is easy to predict until you see the final outcome. Yesterday it was Qatar and Switzerland nobody expected the game to end in a draw because of the high odd that was given to Qatar but it ended in a 1:1 draw. Brazil and Morocco too same thing happened, most people expected Brazil to defeat Morocco but Brazil ended up looking for the ball on the pitch because the Moroccans didn't give them any chance to run them down.

From the games you see as easy predictions don't be surprised to see unexpected outcomes cause odds don't win the game.

[Iamgoat]

Tomorrow, in my country's time zone, we'll have four games involving African teams. Ivory Coast will play against Ecuador. This is a game where Ivory Coast might have a chance of winning, but in my opinion, I see Ecuador winning or drawing. Although I'm rooting for Ivory Coast, I see Ecuador as slightly superior. Another game will be Tunisia against Sweden. For this game, I see Sweden winning, although I'm rooting for Tunisia; Sweden is stronger than Tunisia in my opinion.

Egypt will play against Belgium. It will be a difficult game for Egypt, and I'm rooting for Egypt to win. I see Belgium as stronger than Egypt, so I wouldn't be surprised if Belgium wins. Finally, Spain will play against Cape Verde. Honestly, I see Spain winning, but I'll be rooting for Cape Verde.

I like the honesty in your analysis and it showed  me despite having a favorite team you want to win, which are the African teams, you didn't not favour them unrealistically and looked at things from your perceived judgements about their performance abilities. For me, out of the four fixtures, the ones I see with the toughest challenges is the match between Egypt and Belgium. I see Egypt as the favorites here but Belgium going but their quality of players can still resist such from happening despite not being as dominant as they used to be couple of years ago but if Egypt team can organize themselves properly, they can get to a win. The second game is between Tunisia and Sweden. When it comes to you predicting who wins or not, Sweden looks like a better candidate but on paper while Tunisia on the other hand has been known for their strong defense and how hard it can get to get to break them down and win nonetheless if Sweden can be more clinical, they may also be able to win.

[Marvelockg]

snip
Source

This is definitely not supposed to be surprising. If there's any referee that should even get an extra pay as far as this edition of the FIFA World Cup is concerned, it should be Omar Arthan. He was subjected to global embarrassment for doing absolutely no wrong other being a Somalia citizen. FIFA who invited him to the World Cup failed to intervene in the matter because it's the United States that's involved.
I hope the disappointment from football fans, players and officials in this competition will not be repeated again. I hope that FIFA will consider the immigration laws of future host nations before granting them the right to host the biggest football competition.

All these rubbish that happened showed that FIFA and the United States actually little or no time for preparing at all because most of the issues and case that I have seen could have been handled so easily and effectively if there was actually a time used for preparation because it would have been much easier if FIFA had checked and verified all those that are with them and for some reason though I don't actually know what transpired that led to the referee been denied the access to partake in the competition.

FIFA betrayed the camaraderie spirit in sports by not intervening in this matter; they kept mute over it, thinking that giving him his match benefits would solve the matter, and this exposed their flaws and lapses because this was what they should have long done before commencing this World Cup tournament to avoid all this embarrassment athletes are facing because of their carelessness.

for a world class referee that has officiated up to this standard, denying him the opportunity of officiating in the world cup with a promise of paying him his dues is a total nonsense and it would never replace whatever hurt he probably his facing as a result of that global embarrassment. FIFA has always shown their bias in cases like this and especially because we have the united states as the ones that it directly affects, it is no strange that they will keep mute through it all.

The world cup is supposed to be well organized to the point that whatever difference a country has with another should be kept aside at least for ones for the sake of all that the world cup represents. again, the united states have always shown that they are a people of their words and the more we bend to their stand, the more powerful they continue to see themselves.

[SatoPrincess]

for a world class referee that has officiated up to this standard, denying him the opportunity of officiating in the world cup with a promise of paying him his dues is a total nonsense and it would never replace whatever hurt he probably his facing as a result of that global embarrassment. FIFA has always shown their bias in cases like this and especially because we have the united states as the ones that it directly affects, it is no strange that they will keep mute through it all.

The world cup is supposed to be well organized to the point that whatever difference a country has with another should be kept aside at least for ones for the sake of all that the world cup represents. again, the united states have always shown that they are a people of their words and the more we bend to their stand, the more powerful they continue to see themselves.

FIFA is well aware that this doesn’t cover for what has happened, however, I think it’s good that the referee get his salary and bonuses that’s due to him. As for the World Cup not being well organised, I feel like this year’s World Cup is like Russia’s and Qatar’s, maybe even worse. Asides the immigration issues (banning of fans and players from entering the host country), the time zone difference is also a reason why this tournament feels off.

[Mayor of ogba]

Hey everyone, is it just me because looking at the World Cup schedule for this week, the results looks very easy to predict who the winner would be. It is almost as if they paired a strong team with average team.
Has any other person observed this yet and what are your thoughts ?

In my opinion, the World Cup schedule for this week looks somewhat difficult to predict because there has been a lot of unexpected results, we only have few matches that was easy to predict and the odds for those matches was small and that will make gamblers not to bet on those matches.

[yixichloro2xx]

This is the news coming up this morning that FIFA would pay Omar Arthan his entitlement as a referee in the world cup tournament.  Although it is not his fault though that he was denied entry into the US but we expected that FIFA could have intervened in this matter but but it was captured in the news that he was interviewed for straight 11 hours and was still denied entry and from what I read online, the interview has to do with something related to a terrorist group affiliations which he said he doesn't have idea what they are talking about and I believe that was the reason behind his entry denial hence the possibility of FIFA not being able to interfer but to resolve in paying him his benefits as a referee for the tournament. We will keep our hands crossed and watch how it goes after the world cup tournament and see if FIFA would honour their promises as they have said in paying him his benefits.

Source

I'm very sure that FIFA will keep to their promise by paying him all the money he would have gotten in the world cup and this is a good one from them, I'm sure they will not also fail in their promise because it is a small thing for them to do, is not that big so they can actually fulfill their promise by paying him all the money that he would have gotten as a referee in this world cup tournament.

He deserves to get paid. I think he received money from wealthy people in his country, the salary from FIFA at this point is just compensation because I’m pretty sure Omar Artan wanted to officiate in the World Cup as it is a big career boost. So sad that he missed out on that opportunity.

You are right officiating the world cup would have given him a lot of boost in his career. I dont know whats wrong with Trump and his policies on immigration. If he hate immigration why did he allow USA to host the competition, because the world cup opens door for other fans around the world to come and explore your county and you are supposed to treat them properly.  Imagine denying Moroccan and Senegal supporters from entering the country.

FIFA should see this as a lesson, so that they won't allow any countries that can't tolerate other people into their country to host the world cup again. It's a good thing that he gets paid especially for the stress of going to and fro From the USA back to his country.

[Oluwa-btc]

There's a certain Arsenal fan critical of Manchester United youngin and player Amad Diallo. I'll take it that he is keeping a blind eye and refusing to give Amad his props.
He's just had few minutes on the pitch for Ivorian national team and he was fortunate enough to get them the necessary three points against Ecuadorian side and score his debut world cup goal.
More than impressed and he's also recorded more successful take ons more than anyone in this tournament. As a Manchester United fan, I'm already gassed up about this already. Good to see another African side put out a great show and most importantly, grabbing the win.

[Ronsbit]

snip
Source

FIFA betrayed the camaraderie spirit in sports by not intervening in this matter; they kept mute over it, thinking that giving him his match benefits would solve the matter, and this exposed their flaws and lapses because this was what they should have long done before commencing this World Cup tournament to avoid all this embarrassment athletes are facing because of their carelessness.

for a world class referee that has officiated up to this standard, denying him the opportunity of officiating in the world cup with a promise of paying him his dues is a total nonsense and it would never replace whatever hurt he probably his facing as a result of that global embarrassment. FIFA has always shown their bias in cases like this and especially because we have the united states as the ones that it directly affects, it is no strange that they will keep mute through it all.

The world cup is supposed to be well organized to the point that whatever difference a country has with another should be kept aside at least for ones for the sake of all that the world cup represents. again, the united states have always shown that they are a people of their words and the more we bend to their stand, the more powerful they continue to see themselves.

Any referee that was scheduled to officiate in the World Cup tournament is already a recognised referee, for that matter, and should be given the maximum respect and recognition whatsoever that is due to them, and this should have been the point and basis on which FIFA should have stood in defending Omar Arthan, but unfortunately, FIFA became a toothless barking dog during the situation and allowed America made a mess of their official which has never happened in the history of a World cup tournament.

That act alone was a global embarrassment, and if not for the fact that it happened this way and the world saw and understood what happened, it would have been the end of Omar Artan's career as a professional referee because he would have been tagged and flagged by the same country as a result of this entry denial. But now the reverse is the case as he is celebrated and applauded for his achievement. In fact, these actions alone made him more popular, with more appointments for him to make a choice from.