NORTHERN IRELAND vs. SWITZERLAND
Northern Ireland is within reach of its first World Cup in 32 years after hitting its target of second place in a group won by defending champion Germany. Switzerland, ranked No. 4 in August, finds itself in a tense playoff despite nine straight wins to start qualifying. On Monday, Switzerland coach Vladimir Petkovic was still looking back to the 2-0 loss at Portugal last month, saying he had imagined playing a “nice friendly” game this week. He acknowledged his team was too passive against Portugal, and challenged players he did not identify to take more responsibility now. The Swiss need to forget about that match before the first leg Thursday at Windsor Park, where only Germany has beaten Northern Ireland in a competitive match in the past four years. Switzerland has a nine-game winning streak at home in tournament qualifiers, and hosts the return on Sunday in Basel.
Fixtures
Today: Northern Ireland vs. Switzerland
Sunday: Switzerland vs. Northern Ireland
CROATIA vs. GREECE
Greece is bidding to reach a major tournament again after an embarrassing qualification campaign for the 2016 European Championship. Crucially, it will be without defender Kostas Manolas, who is banned from the first leg. He is out because FIFA suspended him for trying to manipulate his disciplinary record by deliberately earning a yellow card against Cyprus on Oct. 7. The decision compounded problems for coach Michael Skibbe, who is missing midfielder Petros Mantalos and striker Tasos Donis because of injury. Croatia is set to miss defensive midfielder Milan Badelj for both matches against Greece. The Croatians and the Greeks were in the playoffs for the 2014 tournament
in Brazil. Croatia eliminated Iceland 2-0
on aggregate, while Greece beat Romania 4-2
on aggregate.
Fixtures
Today: Croatia vs. Greece
Sunday: Greece vs. Croatia
SWEDEN vs. ITALY
Four-time champion Italy has participated in every World Cup since failing to qualify for the 1958 tournament, which coincidentally was held in Sweden. But Italy has showed poor form recently, ever since a 3-0 loss to Spain in September. After that match, Italy edged Israel 1-0, drew 1-1 with Macedonia and beat Albania 1-0. While Sweden didn’t qualify for the last two World Cups, it impressed in qualifying with a win over France and finished ahead of the Netherlands. “We are winners just by being here,” Sweden coach Janne Andersson said. Sweden went unbeaten at home in qualifying at Friends Arena and striker Marcus Berg scored eight times in nine matches.
Fixtures
Tomorrow: Sweden vs. Italy
Monday: Italy vs. Sweden
DENMARK vs. IRELAND
Being in the playoffs for a major tournament is nothing new for Ireland. This will be the team’s ninth time, and they have lost five of them — including against France ahead of the 2010 World Cup when Thierry Henry clearly handled the ball in the buildup to the crucial goal. Ireland has effectively already won one playoff — by beating Wales 1-0 in its final qualifier — and will most likely rely on the counterattacking tactics that worked so well in Cardiff. While there are no real stars in the Ireland team, Denmark has a standout in Christian Eriksen — one of European soccer’s best playmakers over the past few years at Tottenham. He scored eight times from midfield in qualifying. The Danes’ 4-0 win over Poland in group play highlights their potential and they are also higher in the FIFA rankings, at No. 19 compared with Ireland’s No. 26. The managers — Martin O’Neill and Age Hareide — are former teammates at English club Norwich.
Fixtures
Saturday: Denmark vs. Republic of Ireland
Tuesday: Republic of Ireland vs. Denmark
AUSTRALIA vs. HONDURAS
This is the scenario Australia aimed to avoid when it switched from Oceania to the Asian Football Confederation after the 2006 World Cup: A last-ditch intercontinental playoff in the Americas for a spot at soccer’s marquee event. Australian players traveled from three continents to assemble in Honduras this week to prepare for Friday’s first leg. It was a similar scenario when the Australians played Uruguay for a place at the 2006 tournament. Uruguay won 1-0 in Montevideo, and Australia leveled it up with a 1-0 win in Sydney before advancing 4-2 on penalties. It ended a long drought for the Socceroos, who had failed to advance from the last playoff stage in 1986 (against Scotland), in 1994 (against Argentina), in 1998 (against Iran), and in 2002 (against Uruguay). Tim Cahill, the only player still active from that playoff series in 2005 and now Australia’s all-time leading scorer, is in doubt because of an ankle injury.
Fixtures
Tomorrow: Honduras vs. Australia
Wednesday: Australia vs. Honduras
NEW ZEALAND vs. PERU
New Zealand will return to the scene of one of its greatest triumphs when it hosts Peru on Saturday.
In 2009, New Zealand beat Bahrain 1-0 in front of a crowd of 35,000 at the Wellington Regional Stadium to qualify for the World Cup for the second time. It had previously qualified in 1982, the same year in which Peru made its last World Cup appearance. The return leg will be in Peru on Wednesday. Rory Fallon, who scored New Zealand’s winning goal in that match eight years ago, has been recalled to the All Whites after a one-year absence. He is currently playing for Dorchester in the seventh tier of English soccer. That win over Bahrain briefly put soccer center-stage in a rugby-mad country and Saturday’s match will likely do so again. The match is a sellout. Peru, ranked No. 10, starts as the overwhelming favorite against 122nd-ranked New Zealand but has a significant setback, with striker Paolo Guerrero ruled out after failing a doping test. Guerrero scored six goals in qualifying.
Fixtures
Saturday: New Zealand vs. Peru
Thursday: Peru vs. New Zealand
AFRICA
Africa’s last three World Cup places will be decided on the final group games in qualifying, when Ivory Coast could miss out and Congo could qualify for the first time since 1974. Two of the five groups are settled, with Nigeria and Egypt already through. Tunisia and Congo will tussle for a place from Group A. Tunisia has a three-point advantage, so Congo needs to beat Guinea and hope Tunisia loses at home to Libya. If that happens, the World Cup place will go to the team with the best goal difference. Morocco and Ivory Coast face a straight shootout in Group C when Morocco travels to Abidjan. Ivory Coast must win to sneak through to the World Cup and deny former coach Herve Renard, now with Morocco. Senegal can seal its place on Friday in a contentious qualifier against South Africa, a game ordered by FIFA to be played again because of match-fixing by the referee. Senegal lost the initial game but if it wins on its second chance, it’ll be through to the World Cup. That will lead to serious discontent from the other teams. Burkina Faso, hoping to go to the World Cup for the first time, has already appealed against FIFA’s decision.
Fixtures
Tomorrow: South Africa vs. Senegal
Saturday: Congo vs. Guinea, Tunisia vs. Libya, Ivory Coast vs. Morocco
— AFP
The race to join Saudi Arabia at the FIFA World Cup hots up this week
The race to join Saudi Arabia at the FIFA World Cup hots up this week
Freddy Schott wins maiden title after 3-way Bahrain Championship playoff
- The German beat Calum Hill and Patrick Reed after they all finished on 17-under after 72 holes
BAHRAIN: Freddy Schott won his first DP World Tour title after beating Calum Hill and Patrick Reed in a playoff at the 2026 Bapco Energies Bahrain Championship on Sunday.
The trio were locked together at 17-under par after 72 holes. This was after Reed shot 67 on Sunday to make up a four-shot overnight deficit to Hill, who began day two clear but had to settle for a 71 after a bogey. Schott carded 69 to join the pair.
Reed bogeyed the first playoff hole to drop out of contention and after Hill went out of bounds second time round, before sending his fourth shot into the water, he sportingly conceded without making Schott putt for the win.
Schott, who was presented with the trophy by Bahrain’s Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa, said: “I have no idea. It’s just amazing, I’m just extremely happy, surprised ... I don’t know what’s happening right now. I’m just so happy.
“I could have done it the regular way, that would have also been fine. But to do it this way feels even more special so I’m just glad it happened this way.”
Hill, who equaled the course record of 61 in Friday’s second round, added to his two-shot overnight lead with an opening birdie after a superb approach, with Schott responding at the second before both players birdied the next.
The Scot was four clear after another gain at the fifth but bogeyed the sixth while Schott made birdie, cutting the lead to one before drawing level with a birdie at the next.
Schott bogeyed the eighth but led anyway as Hill made a double, and a birdie at the 10th took the German two ahead, only for a double-bogey of his own at the 11th to leave the pair all square again.
“It was tough, especially towards the end,” said Schott.
“The start was okay, because I was playing alright. It had good flow to it. Obviously, nerves kicked in from the back nine onwards. I was happy that I managed it okay, not perfect, but okay, and you guys saw what happened, so I’m very happy now.
Sergio Garcia had joined the leaders by that point after responding to an opening bogey with three birdies in four holes from the third and another three in succession from the ninth, as had Reed after his fifth gain of the day at the 12th.
Daniel Hillier carded six birdies in a blemish-free 66, his second six-under-par round of the week, to set the clubhouse target at 16-under as the leaders still on the course battled for supremacy.
Schott, Hill and Reed all reached 18-under with back-to-back birdies, Reed at the 13th and 14th with his rivals a hole behind.
Garcia’s challenge was left hanging by a thread after a double-bogey at the par-five 14th, as he eventually finished alongside Hillier on 16-under, and Reed dropped a shot at the 16th.
Schott and Hill missed the 17th green to the left before escaping with good chips, but while Hill holed his par putt, Schott made bogey.
Reed set a new clubhouse target of 17-under but when his birdie putt at the last agonizingly stayed up on the short side, Hill had a one-shot lead down the last.
But he sent his approach to the extreme left of the green, leaving a nasty putt up the slope by the side of the green which he was unable to get close. Schott was in similar territory but closer in, allowing him to save par while Hill made bogey to set up the playoff.
Reed found the bunker with his 73rd tee shot and went from there to the edge of another, with Schott and Hill both hitting the fairway and then the heart of the green.
Schott holed for par and despite a superb effort at his up-and-down, Reed was unable to respond and dropped out of contention. Hill held his nerve as he and Schott went back to the tee.
The Scot sent his next tee-shot out of bounds to the left, with Schott only just avoiding the water in response. He sent his approach right of the green but Hill found the water with his fourth and conceded after Schott chipped on.
Hill and Reed shared second with Garcia and Hillier fourth and France’s Ugo Coussaud a shot further back in sixth.
The championship provided invaluable experience for emerging golfers, with local players gaining exposure competing alongside Major champions and multiple DP World Tour winners.
Ahmed Alzayed, Ali Alkowari and Khalifa Almaraisi all teed it up at Royal Golf Club this week, with former Masters champions Garcia and Reed, and three-time Major winner Padraig Harrington.
While the cut proved elusive, the experience of competing at the highest level of professional golf will prove invaluable.
“The competition comes to an end, but it’s not the end for me, I think it’s just the beginning,” said Alkowari.
“I’m happy with the result this year. I played 20 shots better than last year, so there are improvements. Hopefully, if I’m playing next year, it will be even better. Who knows, maybe even making the cut.”
A record crowd of 13,186, a 30 percent increase on last year’s attendance, watched the action across the four days.
