Author: Steven Sahiounie

CNN — The World Cup match between Portugal and Uruguay was briefly interrupted by a pitch invader waving a rainbow flag on the field at the Lusail Iconic Stadium on Monday.The FIFA global television feed avoided showing the pitch invader, but the individual could be seen running on the field trailing the flag as they were pursued by security officials. Portugal won the match 2-0 thanks to two Bruno Fernandes second-half goals, a victory that ensured the European team’s qualification for the knockout stages. The incident involving the pitch invader happened in the 51st minute of the game. Iranian referee…

CNN — Senegal and Netherlands both qualified for the World Cup knockout stages from Group A on Tuesday at Qatar 2022.For the Netherlands, a comfortable 2-0 win against host nation Qatar ensured its progression to the last 16, while Senegal overcame Ecuador 2-1 with a hard-earned victory.In a tense, must-win game for Senegal, the Lions of Teranga went ahead through Ismaïla Sarr’s penalty before Moisés Caicedo leveled for Ecuador in the second half.But the Africa Cup of Nations champion responded immediately as captain Kalidou Koulibaly struck home from a free-kick into the box.Ecuador pushed for an equalizer, which would have…

Sports Iran faces USMNT after days of jibes and bad blood in winner-takes-all World Cup match After days of political tension and fiery off-pitch jibes between the countries, the knockout stage has already arrived for the United States Men’s National Team (USMNT) at the World Cup – nothing less than a win on Tuesday will suffice when it takes on Iran in a winner-takes-all match. Whichever team wins will reach the round-of-16 at Qatar 2022, and for the USMNT, even a draw would see it eliminated from the tournament. It will be a match charged with political tension as the two countries have had no…

CNN — As he sprinted away to the corner flag with his arms spread wide on Monday, Cristiano Ronaldo thought he’d leveled Portugal great Eusebio’s record as the nation’s all-time World Cup scorer.His teammates bundled onto him as they celebrated with the 37-year-old, while commentators and pundits praised him for getting the slightest of touches on Bruno Fernandes’ cross to divert the ball past the Uruguayan goalkeeper.Ronaldo had his second goal in as many games at the 2022 World Cup and his ninth for Portugal at World Cups. Or so we thought. As the party atmosphere in the Lusail Iconic…

The families of Iran’s World Cup soccer team have been threatened with imprisonment and torture if the players fail to “behave” ahead of the match against the USA on Tuesday, a source involved in the security of the games said. Following the refusal of Iranian players to sing the nation’s national anthem in their opening match against England on November 21, the source said that the players were called to a meeting with members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The source said that they were told that their families would face “violence and and torture” if they did not sing the…

CNN — World Cup chief Hassan Al-Thawadi said that between 400 and 500 migrant workers have died as a result of work done on projects connected to the tournament – a greater figure than Qatari officials have cited previously. In an interview with Piers Morgan which aired on TalkTV on Monday, Al-Thawadi was asked about the number of fatalities to migrant workers as a result of the work done in the tournament and said: “The estimate is around 400, between 400 and 500. “I don’t have the exact number, that’s something that’s been discussed. One death is too many, it’s as simple as that.”…

Inflation across the bloc likely hasn’t peaked, according to the European Central Bank. Inflation in the euro area has not peaked and is likely to surge even higher than currently expected, European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde warned on Monday. According to Lagarde, it’s hard to tell whether inflation, which hit a record 10.6% in annual terms last month, would come down soon in the bloc of 19 countries that use the euro currency. “I would like to see inflation having peaked in October, but I’m afraid that I would not go as far as that,” she told EU lawmakers…

An alliance is needed to coordinate supplies, and may benefit the countries’ energy exports, officials say. Russia is discussing the creation of a “gas union” with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, allowing the three countries to coordinate their supplies and make gas flows more efficient, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday. The plan was first announced earlier this week by Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who said the initiative came from his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. Peskov confirmed this, saying the scheme envisages greater coordination between the three countries, along with the developments of gas consumption and transportation infrastructure for their domestic…

New Delhi became the biggest Urals grade crude buyer in November. India has bought about 40% of all seaborne Russian Urals grade oil capacity in November, Reuters reported on Monday citing its calculations based on Refinitiv figures and data from traders. According to the figures, this made New Delhi the largest buyer of Urals oil this month. India has been boosting imports of Russian oil for several months. In October, Russia overtook Saudi Arabia and Iraq to become the South Asian country’s largest oil supplier with a 22% share in India’s total crude imports, according to data from the energy…

Automakers plan to supply vehicles to Moscow after the exodus of foreign brands. Moscow and Tehran have signed a memorandum of understanding for Iranian car exports to Russia valued at $300 million, the head of the country’s association of auto parts manufacturers, Mohammadreza Najafi-Manesh, said on Monday. Iran Khodro, the largest carmaker in the Middle East, is eyeing the Russian market following the exodus of European, American, and Japanese brands. Many foreign car manufacturers found it difficult to continue operations in the country after deliveries of cars and spare parts to Russia were stopped due to Western sanctions. The Iranian…