Qatar Under-17 World Cup is on despite US pull out
The Under-17 World Cup in Qatar will kick off as scheduled next week despite the United States’ decision to withdraw its team from the tournament. US Soccer pulled out citing safety concerns, but FIFA boss Gianni Infantino says teams and fans will be safe in the host country.
The United States has withdrawn its men’s Under-17 team from the FIFA World Cup in Qatar over safety concerns after a State Department advisory warned Americans to reconsider travel because of the risk of armed conflict. The United States had been due to open against Montenegro on November 21, before facing Chile and Algeria in Group J. FIFA told Reuters it had been informed of the decision and would follow the tournament regulations.
The United States has withdrawn from the upcoming Under-17 soccer World Cup in Qatar due to concerns about security in the Middle East, US media reported Wednesday. Multiple sporting events in the Middle East have been affected, including the tennis WTA Finals which were scheduled to be held in Saudi Arabia — which neighbors Qatar — but are instead now taking place at Indian Wells in the US.
FIFA says its 'security assessments' for the 48-team tournament remain unchanged after US Soccer pulled out.
USSF cites state department advisory about Qatar Competition set to kick off in eight days The US men’s national team have pulled out of the Fifa U-17 World Cup, which is due to kick off in Qatar in just over a week. In a letter sent to players explaining the decision, the US Soccer Federation cited safety concerns for players and staff, referring them to the US state department’s travel advisory for Qatar, which encourages citizens to reconsider travel to the country “due to risk of armed conflict” and asks government employees to obtain special authorization to do so.
Lionel Scaloni on Thursday agreed to stay on as coach of Argentina’s national football team until after the 2030 World Cup, ending the doubts that had been swirling since this year’s World Cup final defeat. Scaloni had cast doubt on his future with the team after Argentina’s 1-0 defeat by Spain in a bad-tempered July 19 World Cup final in New Jersey.
Only three retained in same positions from Australia game ‘We want the very best of these guys,’ says Maro Itoje England’s World Cup hopefuls have been warned not to go off script when auditioning for a place on the plane next year after Steve Borthwick rang the changes to his side to face Japan on Saturday, handing starts to rookies Will Joseph and Max Ojomoh as well as Henry Pollock. Borthwick has made 10 personnel and two positional changes to his team to play Eddie Jones’s side with a glut of injuries, a handful of players in need of a rest and the head coach’s determination to give those…