Morocco finishes World Cup preparations with draw against Norway
The Moroccan national team ended its preparations for the 2026 World Cup finals with a positive draw (1-1) against its Norwegian counterpart, in the friendly match that brought them together on Sunday evening in the US city of New Jersey.
The match came one week before the opening match of the Atlas Lions in Group C against Brazil, as it was an important test for coach Mohamed Wehbe to determine the technical and physical readiness of his players against a Norwegian team that includes prominent names, led by Martin Odegaard and Erling Haaland.
Morocco opened the scoring early through Ibrahim Diaz in the eighth minute, before Norway captain Martin Odegaard succeeded in adjusting the result in the 75th minute.
The Moroccan national team created several opportunities to score, most notably the attempt that was provided to Abdelsamad El Zalzouli in the 38th minute after an elaborate cross from Diaz, while goalkeeper Yassine Bounou brilliantly saved one of the most dangerous Norwegian chances before the end of the first half following Antonio Noosa's shot.
In the second half, Ibrahim Diaz almost added Morocco's second goal in the 57th minute, but goalkeeper Orian Nyland made a brilliant save before Nael El-Ainaoui's header went over the crossbar.
The match witnessed coach Mohamed Wehbe involving a large number of players to test their readiness before the start of the global competition, while Norway continued its preparations for the World Cup that it is playing in Group N alongside France, Iraq and Senegal.
Jordan national team loses to Colombia
The Jordan national football team suffered a 2-0 loss to its Colombian counterpart, in a friendly meeting that brought them together on Monday morning at the Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego, USA, as part of the preparations of the two teams to participate in the 2026 World Cup.
Al-Nashami appeared well for most of the first half, before John Arias succeeded in giving Colombia the lead in the 41st minute with a shot from inside the box, ending the first half with the hosts leading by a goal without reply.
At the start of the second half, coach Jamal Salami made five changes at once to revitalize the ranks of the Jordan team, but Arias came back to find the back of the net in the 55th minute with an elaborate header that strengthened the superiority of the Colombian team. Salami continued to make substitutions during the half, bringing on six other players at different intervals.
In the final minutes of the match, the Jordanian national team completed the match with ten players after substitute Amer Jamous was sent off with a red card, and the two teams had previously met once in 2014 in a friendly match in which Colombia won 3-0.
The Jordanian national team is preparing to play its first participation in the World Cup finals, after the draw placed it in Group X alongside Argentina, Algeria and Austria, and the team started its preparatory matches with a 4-1 loss to Switzerland last week.
While the Colombian national team is preparing to face Uzbekistan, Portugal and the Democratic Republic of Congo, Colombia, which failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup, begins its journey in Group 11 against Uzbekistan on June 17 in Mexico City.
Turkey turns its late deficit into a friendly win over Venezuela before the World Cup
The Turkish national team turned a goal deficit against Venezuela into a 2-1 victory on Sunday morning, in a friendly match held at Chase Stadium as part of the final preparations for the 2026 World Cup.
Venezuela opened the scoring early in the 13th minute through Ricardo Mendoza, who scored from a powerful shot from the left side after a remarkable individual effort.
Turkey intensified its attacking pressure, led by Arda Güler and Paríş Alber Yılmaz, until this pressure resulted in the equalizer in the 44th minute following a corner kick carried out by Güler, which was met by Albert Yılmaz with a header before a Venezuelan defender mistakenly diverted it to his team's goal, ending the first half with a 1-1 draw.
In the second half, the Turkish coach made changes to revitalize the attack, bringing on Merih Demiral and Yunus Akgun, who quickly managed to score the precious winning goal in the 55th minute.
The following minutes witnessed great excitement and an exchange of offensive attempts, amid the brilliance of the Turkish defense and goalkeeper in confronting the dangerous Venezuelan attacks, to end the match with an important moral victory for the Turkish national team before starting its World Cup campaign against Australia on June 13.