��������

Morocco trounced 10-man Niger 5-0 in Rabat on Friday to win Group E and become the first African qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.
Ismael Saibari scored twice in the first half after Abdul-Latif Goumey was sent off and second-half goals from Ayoub el Kaabi, Hamza Igamane and Azzedine Ounahi completed the rout.
A sixth straight victory lifted Morocco to an unassailable lead with 18 points -- eight more than Tanzania -- and sealed a seventh appearance at the global showpiece with two matches to spare.
Morocco were shock semi-finalists at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, topping a group including Croatia and Belgium and eliminating Spain and Portugal in the knockout phase.
The stunning run came to an end in the semi-finals as they lost 2-0 to France.
Only Ounahi of the scorers against Niger was in the 2022 World Cup squad with coach Walid Regragui introducing new faces since, including Saibari from Dutch club PSV Eindhoven.
In Group A, Egypt beat Ethiopia 2-0 in Cairo with Premier League stars Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush converting late first-half penalties.
Egypt can join Morocco at the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico if they win away to second-placed Burkina Faso on Tuesday.
Newcastle United signing Yoane Wissa was among the goals as the Democratic Republic of Congo hammered South Sudan 4-1 in Juba to stay top of Group B.
Wissa moved from Brentford in a £50 million ($67 mn) deal after Sweden striker Alexander Isak left Newcastle for Liverpool in a British record move.
The Congolese are hoping to return to the World Cup for the first time since 1974, when the central African country was called Zaire.
- South Africa triumph -
Cedric Bakambu scored twice to help the visitors build a three-goal half-time advantage and Wissa added a fourth before Keer Majak claimed a consolation goal.
Senegal trail DR Congo by one point ahead of a top-of-the-table showdown in Kinshasa on Tuesday after beating Sudan 2-0 in Diamniadio through goals from Kalidou Koulibaly and Pape Matar Sarr.
South Africa maintained a five-point lead in Group C thanks to a comfortable 3-0 'away' victory over neighbours Lesotho in Bloemfontein.
The home fixture for Lesotho was moved to the central South African city, 145 kilometres by road from the border, because the mountain kingdom does not have a FIFA-approved stadium.
Mohau Nkota, who quit famed Soweto club Orlando Pirates last month to join Saudi Pro League outfit Al Ettifaq, scored his first international goal for Bafana Bafana (the Boys) on 15 minutes.
Lyle Foster from Premier League returnees Burnley and Oswin Appollis netted within four minutes midway through the second half.
Victory did come at a cost for South Africa, though, with defenders Nyiko Mobbie and Thabo Moloisane retiring injured ahead of a key clash with Nigeria at the same venue on Tuesday.
South Africa have 16 points, five more than Benin, who edged Zimbabwe 1-0 in Abidjan through a Steve Mounie goal. Nigeria, nine points behind the leaders, host Rwanda on Saturday.
Clinical first-half finishing earned Gambia a surprise 3-1 win over Kenya in Nairobi with Brighton winger Yankuba Minteh scoring the second.
However, the result had no impact on the top of Group F, with reigning African champions the Ivory Coast away to Gabon on Tuesday in a match likely to decide who finishes first.
Serhou Guirassy, a prolific scorer for Borussia Dortmund with 38 goals in all competitions last season, bagged his first for Guinea in World Cup qualifying to set up a 3-0 win over Somalia.
But a disappointing campaign by Guinea -- they lie fourth eight points behind Group G leaders Algeria -- means Guirassy will almost certainly miss the World Cup.

NEW YORK: Inter Miami star Luis Suarez has been handed a six-match suspension for his actions following last weekend’s stormy Leagues Cup final defeat to the Seattle Sounders, tournament disciplinary chiefs said on Friday.
The 38-year-old former Uruguay, Liverpool and Barcelona star was sanctioned for spitting at a Sounders official after becoming embroiled in a melee following Miami’s 3-0 loss.
A statement from the Leagues Cup Disciplinary Committee said Suarez’s suspension would only apply to next year’s edition of the tournament, although Major League Soccer “reserves the right” to impose additional punishment.
Suarez’s Inter Miami teammate Sergio Busquets has also been given a two-match ban. Another Inter player, Tomas Aviles, has been barred from three games.
Seattle coaching staff member Steven Lenhart has been suspended for five games.
The range of punishments followed chaotic scenes at the end of Miami’s defeat in Sunday’s final at Seattle in the joint competition for teams from MLS and Mexico’s Liga-MX.
Immediately after the final whistle, Suarez rushed at 20-year-old Sounders midfielder Obed Vargas and put him in a headlock, sparking a melee involving multiple players and staff from both sides.
Officials scrambled to restore order, but cameras later caught Suarez spitting at a Seattle security staff member as he walked away from Vargas.
Suarez — who has previously been hit with suspensions for biting and racially abusing opponents in separate incidents earlier in his career — issued an apology for his behavior in a statement on Thursday.
“It was a moment of great tension and frustration, where right after the match things happened that shouldn’t have happened, but that doesn’t justify the reaction I had,” Suarez wrote on Instagram.
“I was wrong and I sincerely regret it... I feel bad about what happened, and I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to acknowledge it and apologize to everyone who felt hurt by what I did,” Suarez added.
It marked the latest episode in Suarez’s chequered disciplinary career.
He was infamously kicked out of the 2014 World Cup after being handed a four-month ban for biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini.
He has also been sanctioned for biting incidents in club play and in 2011 he was handed an eight-game ban by authorities in England for allegedly racially abusing Manchester United’s France star Patrice Evra.
He was also one of the villains of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, when his cynical handball on the goal-line denied Ghana what would have been a late winner in the quarter-finals.