NYON, Switzerland: The path to the 2024 Paris Olympics for European women’s soccer teams was made clearer on Tuesday when UEFA made the group-stage draw for the inaugural Women’s Nations League.
Two teams will advance from the top-tier Nations League Finals in February to join Olympic host France in the 12-team lineup in July next year. The Olympic tournament already includes 2019 Women’s World Cup winner the United States, Brazil and Colombia.
The Nations League Finals will involve winners of the four League A groups drawn on Tuesday that will play from September to December.
European champion England was grouped with Netherlands, the 2019 Women’s World Cup beaten finalist, plus their respective neighbors and rivals Scotland and Belgium.
Sweden, the Tokyo Olympics silver medalist, was drawn with Spain, Italy and Switzerland.
Germany will play Denmark, Iceland and Wales.
France’s group includes Norway, Austria and Portugal.
If England advances to the Paris Olympics, the team will represent Britain as it did in Tokyo.
The first Women’s Nations League involves 51 of the 55 UEFA member federations playing in three tiers. Russia is banned because of the country’s military invasion of Ukraine. No entry was submitted by Gibraltar, Liechtenstein or San Marino.
Path to Paris Olympics set for European women’s soccer teams
https://arab.news/v359h
Path to Paris Olympics set for European women’s soccer teams
- Germany will play Denmark, Iceland and Wales
- France’s group includes Norway, Austria and Portugal
Morocco banish any doubts about ability to host World Cup 2030
- Impressive stadiums, easy transportation links and a well-established tourism infrastructure ensured the 24-team tournament went off without any major hitch and will assuage any doubters about the World Cup in four years’ time
RABAT: Morocco’s successful staging of the Africa Cup of Nations means there should be no skepticism about its ability to co-host the World Cup with Portugal and Spain in 2030, even if Sunday’s final was clouded by a walk-off and defeat for the home team.
Impressive stadiums, easy transportation links and a well-established tourism infrastructure ensured the
24-team tournament went off without any major hitch and will assuage any doubters about the World Cup in four years’ time.
Morocco plans to use six venues in 2030 and five of them were used for the Cup of Nations, providing world-class playing surfaces and a spectacular backdrop.
The Grande Stade in Tangier with a 75,000 capacity is an impressive facility in the northern coastal city, less than an hour’s ferry ride from Spain.
Meanwhile, FIFA President Gianni Infantino condemned "some Senegal players" for the "unacceptable scenes" which overshadowed their victory in the final when they left the pitch in protest at a penalty awarded to Morocco.
African football's showpiece event was marred by most of the Senegal team walking off when, deep into injury time of normal play and with the match locked at 0-0, Morocco were awarded a spot-kick following a VAR check by referee Jean-Jacques Ndala for a challenge on Brahim Diaz.
security personnel at the other end of the stadium, Senegal's players eventually returned to the pitch to see Diaz shoot a soft penalty into the arms of their goalkeeper Edouard Mendy.
The match was played at the Stade Moulay Abdellah in the capital Rabat, which has a capacity of 69,500. The attendance for the final was 66,526.
Stadiums in Agadir, Fes and Marrakech were also more than adequate and will now be renovated over the next few years.
But the crowning glory is the proposed 115,000-capacity Stade Hassan II on the outskirts of Casablanca which Morocco hope will be chosen to host the final over Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.
In all, Morocco will spend $1.4 billion on the six stadiums. Also planned is extensive investment in airports, with some 10 Moroccan cities already running direct air links to Europe and many budget airlines offering flights to the country.
An extension of Africa’s only high-speed rail service, which already provides a comfortable three-hour ride from Tangier to Casablanca, further south to Agadir and Marrakech is also planned. Morocco hopes all of this will modernize its cities and boost the economy.
On the field, Morocco will hope to launch a credible challenge for a first African World Cup success, although on Sunday they continued their poor return in the Cup of Nations, where their only triumph came 50 years ago.
They surprised with a thrilling run to the last four at the Qatar 2022 World Cup as the first African nation to get that far and will hope for a similar impact at this year’s finals in North America. They are in Group C with Brazil, Scotland and Haiti.
