Our national junior team lost 1-0 to Italy in the match that took place between them yesterday evening at Aspire Stadiums at the opening of the Qatar 2025 World Cup in Group A, and Samuel Inacio scored the only goal for Italy and the match in the tenth minute.
Al-Anabi proved that it is capable of being a competitor in the group with its good performance, both in defense and attack, and it only needed some experience and courage to compete with the Italian team. If Al-Anabi presents the same performance as it did in the next two matches, it will be a candidate to qualify for the round of 32.
The match was good and the Italian team excelled in it and was the best, had the most possession and was closest to the goal in the first half. Despite the loss, Al-Annabi played a good match, especially in the second half, where they tried a lot and approached the Italian goal and were close to equalizing, especially in the 87th minute from a missile shot by Issa Walid that went directly over the crossbar. Experience played an important role in the victory of the Italian team, especially in the first half, in which Al-Anabi and its Spanish coach, Alvaro Mejia, resorted to securing the defense in the first place, so superiority and control were for Italy, which took advantage of the opportunity and scored its only goal early from a through pass that reached Inacio, who snatched it into the net.
Al-Anabi retreated more and more to the defense and committed itself greatly to a disciplined performance to limit the danger of the Italian team, so its attacking presence was much less despite the attempts that appeared during the first half.
Al-Anabi’s performance changed in the second half after it switched to attacking, abandoned its defensive efforts and approached the penalty area very close, but the small number of its players compared to the players and defenders of the Italian team prevented it from reaching a draw. At the same time, the Italian team felt the danger of Al-Anabi and its approach to its goal, so it tried to reach the net again, but its attempt was not successful due to defensive discipline and the alertness of goalkeeper Ahmed Saber, who blocked many balls.
In the last minutes, Al-Anabi became better and came closer. Issa Walid started from the middle and fired a very powerful shot that went directly over the crossbar, and it was the closest Al-Anabi balls came to reaching the Italian net.
Morocco loses to Japan by two goals
The Moroccan national team lost to its Japanese counterpart with two unanswered goals, at the beginning of the two teams’ journey in the 2025 FIFA Junior World Cup yesterday evening, and the “Atlas Cubs” lost the first 3 points early, and the Japanese team scored a double from Taiga Seguchi and Hirashima Daigo in the 57th and 90th + 8 minutes of the match, within the second group competitions of the first round of the World Cup, which includes both Portugal and New Caledonia, and the team will compete in The Moroccan’s next match is against Portugal the day after tomorrow, just 3 days before its last matches during the group stage, when it faces New Caledonia on its way to passing to the next round, and with this loss, the Moroccan team seeks to achieve victory in the next two matches to qualify.
South Africa hits Bolivia with a hat-trick
The South African national team began its campaign in the Junior World Cup with a huge 3-1 victory over Bolivia, in the first group competitions.
The first half of the match ended with the “Boys” team leading with an unanswered goal, scored by Emil Witbooi in the 38th minute of the match, before his teammate New Bohloko scored in the 50th minute.
In the 72nd minute, the Bolivia national team reduced the gap with a goal from a penalty kick scored by player Jesus Jesus, before the African team decided the match completely in their favor with a third goal, scored by Sean Els, in the 90th minute + 5.
The South African national team completed the match with only 10 players, starting in the 36th minute, after its player Saif Bama was sent off, but it fought its way to victory and grabbed its first 3 points in the Qatar Junior World Cup.
UAE and Costa Rica tied
A positive draw was decided with a goal for each team to face the UAE national team and its counterpart Costa Rica in the first round of the third group of the U-17 World Cup finals, which started yesterday at the Aspire stadiums. The UAE national team opened the scoring in the 59th minute, through Maid Adel, and the Costa Rica national team equalized in the 62nd minute, via Nick Bennett, in the match that took place at Mahmoud Sufi Stadium. The draw is considered a losing result for the Emirati team, after its opponent played with ten players since the 31st minute, after the expulsion of its most prominent player, Isaac Padilla, when he received a red card after obstructing Emirati striker Faisal Mohammed before he was alone with the Costa Rican goal. With that result, each team earned a point at the beginning of the campaign.
World Cup postage stamp
Qatar Post announced the issuance of a new postage stamp to celebrate the State of Qatar’s hosting of the FIFA U-17 World Cup Qatar 2025™, the competitions of which kicked off yesterday with the participation of an elite group of young international teams.
This edition comes within the framework of Qatar Post’s keenness to document major sporting events hosted by the country, and to highlight Qatar’s position as a global destination for sports and professional organisation, as the stamp embodies the spirit of the tournament and its official logo, in addition to design touches inspired by the identity of the global event.
Qatar Post called on all interested people and stamp collectors to purchase the new issue, which is a distinctive addition to the series of national postal issues, stressing that the stamp is currently available through the Qatar Post electronic market, under the slogan:
“Get your stamp now from Qatar Postal Market.”
This publication is a continuation of Qatar Post’s approach to immortalizing historical moments that reflect the country’s pride in its achievements and hosting of the largest global events, confirming Qatar’s leading position in organizing international tournaments.
Negative between Senegal and Croatia
The confrontation between Senegal and Croatia ended in a goalless draw, in the match that brought them together yesterday, in the first round competitions, with each team earning the first point for each of them. With that result, the two teams tied with Costa Rica and the Emirates, who also tied in the opening match of the third group. So that the competition remains open for qualifying cards for the next round.