Holders Zambia face a tough defence of their Africa Cup of Nations crown next year after being grouped with continental heavyweights Nigeria.
Zambia, who won the title for the first time this year with victory over Ivory Coast in the final, will also take on Burkina Faso and Ethiopia in Group C.
Hosts South Africa will play Cape Verde, who qualified after beating Cameroon, in the tournament s opening game after the pair were drawn together in Group A.
They will also face neighbours Angola, as well as Morocco.
Ivory Coast will take on north African giants Tunisia and Algeria in Group D, along with a Togo side making their first appearance at the competition since the shootings at the Angolan edition in 2010.
Ghana, four-time winners and one of th…
Hosts South Africa were finding it hard on Monday to get their heads around the reality that they are just one game away from the Confederations Cup final.
And that it is Brazil who are waiting for them in Thursday s semi-final makes it all the sweeter.
This is unknown territory for a side that was knocked out of the African Nations Cup in 2008 and hasn t even qualified for the next edition in January.
Coach Joel Santana gave his first XI the afternoon off aside from a spot of light training with the reserves getting the chance to state their case for inclusion.
The training session at Rand stadium in the Johannesburg suburbs came 48 hours after the Confed Cup hosts went down 2-0 to Spain, but rarely can defeat, have been so eagerly received as they stil…
Where will Lionel Messi land?
Barcelona s shock announcement of his departure set rumours flying.
Will it be Paris, Manchester or somewhere else?
TOP STORY MESSI ON THE MARKET
Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City are rumoured to be the top suitors for Lionel Messi.
The French giants have already made contact with Messi s representatives, according to Fabrizio Romano, and are seen in many quarters as the favourites to land the Argentine forward.
It remains to be seen wherher PSG can take on Messi after making several major moves during the transfer window, while City may be in a similarly difficult situation after finalising their £100million deal for Jack Grealish on Thursday.
A reunion with Pep Guardiola may stil…
Former champions France s hopes of making the 2010 World Cup finals suffered another blow here on Saturday when the 1998 winners were held to a 1-1 draw by Romania in their Group Seven qualifier.
France, who travel to a must-win qualifier with group leaders Serbia, who they trail by four points on Wednesday, took the lead through veteran captain Thierry Henry early in the second-half only for Julien Escude to put through his own net a few minutes later.
The hosts had several opportunities in the first-half but with no positive results and in fact it was the visitors who had the clearest opportunity to break the deadlock when Ciprian Marica outstripped Escude on the left flank and his pass inside was seized upon by Romeo Sudu.
However, with France goalkeeper Hugo…
Everton manager Roberto Martinez hopes John Stones can retain his focus in the club s Premier League opener against Watford amid constant links to Chelsea.
Jose Mourinho has made no secret of his desire to bring Stones to the Premier League champions as he seeks out a potential long-term successor to Chelsea captain John Terry.
Talk of a £30million-plus move has been raised, but Martinez has remained steadfast in his determination to keep the England international – signed from Barnsley in January 2013 – on Merseyside.
The 21-year-old emerged as first choice alongside Phil Jagielka in the heart of Martinez s defence last season and the Spaniard will be keen to see Stones development continue apace.
But, when asked if Chelsea s interest was affectin…
The Congolese defender Chancel Mbemba is one of the first-team players Newcastle United have made available at the end of the 2017/18 season and there seems to be no lack of interest for the former Anderlecht man.
Mbemba largely struggled to break into the first team under Rafa Benitez who blamed the Congolese defender for lack of tactical discipline and inability to learn the language and communicate with the coach and teammates the way Benites would have wanted it.
Rafa Benitez barely used Mbemba last season who was pushed down the pecking order by Florian Lejeune, Ciaran Clark and Jamal Lascelles.
Anderlecht were keen on a reunion with Chancel Mbemba but were eventually priced out of any potential deal for the defender. He will not lack interest, however, …
Avram Grant took the reins at Portsmouth on Friday and admitted he faces a huge battle in trying to keep the club, currently propping up the Premier League, among the top flight.
It s a big challenge, Grant told his first press conference since being named as the successor to Paul Hart.
I think we deserve to stay in the Premier League and that s my main concern.
Technically, the former Chelsea boss will continue to operate in his current role as director of football, pending a change in his UK work permit.
He s not the manager yet but will become it, which we hope will be next week, said Chief Executive Peter Storrie.
Whatever his title, Grant will be in the Fratton Park dugout for Saturday s visit of champions Manchester United and he believ…
David Beckham s return to Major League Soccer was a low-key affair, the star midfielder barely factoring into the Los Angeles Galaxy s 3-1 victory over the New York Red Bulls.
Playing in a stadium nearly three-quarters empty, Beckham looked sluggish, making no significant crosses, taking no free-kick opportunities near the goal and not even taking all of the Galaxy s corner kicks.
It was Beckham s first MLS match since the finish of the Italian League season on May 31.
The 34-year-old former England captain had been loaned by the Galaxy to AC Milan with the proviso that he return for the entire 2009 MLS season, but he got his stay in Europe extended.
Some fans clearly still felt the lure of his fame, angling for pictures when he did take a corner kick, b…
Bournemouth captain Simon Francis has had his three-match ban upheld after the Football Association rejected an appeal against what he claimed was a wrongful dismissal in Tuesday s 3-3 draw with Arsenal.
Francis was shown a straight red card eight minutes from time with Bournemouth 3-2 up against Arsene Wenger s men, as he produced a strong tackle on Aaron Ramsey.
Manager Eddie Howe defended Francis after the match, insisting the full-back s feet were not raised enough on contact to warrant a red card and felt as though Bournemouth had been harshly treated.
But the FA confirmed on Thursday the appeal has been dismissed, with Francis set to serve a three-match ban for serious foul play .
Francis will miss the FA Cup tie with Millwall, plus Premier League e…
In previous years the so called big four have nominated the FA Cup. Portsmouth won the competition in 2008 with a 1-0 victory over Cardiff at Wembley. However that final was a rare occasion that saw two teams not out of the big four appear in the final.
Important
The FA Cup may have lost some of its glamour in recent years but the big teams still want to win the trophy. That’s why they have dominated the competition in recent years.
Holders Chelsea have taken the competition more seriously than most, as the celebrations from last season’s FA Cup final victory over Everton proved.
Out
Liverpool and Manchester United made shock exits at the third round stage of the cup this season. They were both victims of lower league giantkillers. Both club…