FIFA announces the participation of the Dominicans instead of America in the Qatar Junior World Cup

The Spanish national team strengthened its lead in Group C of the first level of the European Nations League, after defeating its host, the Czech national team, 2-0.

The Spanish national team raised its score to 15 points in first place, three points behind the second-placed England national team, before their expected meeting on Sunday in the sixth and final round of the group.

On the other hand, the Czech team is at the bottom of the group without a score, ensuring its relegation to the second level in the next season of the tournament.

The Spanish national team scored its first goal in the 39th minute through Alex Baena from a penalty kick, before his teammate Mark Bobel added the second goal in the sixth minute of stoppage time in the second half.

The match witnessed the captain of the Czech national team, Ladislav Krejci, being sent off in the 72nd minute, leaving the team to complete the match with ten players.

The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) announced that the Dominican Republic national team will replace the American national team in the U-17 World Cup, after the American national team announced its withdrawal from the tournament.

FIFA confirmed on Thursday that the United States national team had withdrawn from the U-17 World Cup, scheduled to start in Qatar next week.

The tournament, which will witness the participation of 48 teams, will begin in Doha next Wednesday, and the American team was scheduled to begin its campaign against Montenegro on November 21, before facing Chile and Algeria.

FIFA said in a statement: “FIFA understands that the US Soccer Federation’s decision came in light of the current Level 3 US travel warning,” noting that Qatar hosted other sporting events safely during the current year.

According to the tournament regulations, the US Football Association faces a fine of no less than 20,000 Swiss francs (about 24,000 dollars), by decision of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee, due to withdrawal less than 30 days before the start of the tournament.

Qatar will host five consecutive editions of the U-17 World Cup during the period from 2025 to 2029.

The Italian national team regained its prestige with a wide victory over its guest, the French national team, 3/1, on Thursday, in the fifth round of the group stage of the European Nations League.

Michael Oliset scored the lead goal for France in the tenth minute, and the Italian team, the home team and the fans, came from behind to win with a hat-trick, which came through Francesco Esposito in the 26th minute, Davide Fratesi in the 63rd minute, and then Francesco Esposito again in the 75th minute via a penalty kick, and his brother Sebastiano Esposito had missed a penalty kick in the 60th minute.

With this victory, the Italian team rose to the top of Group A, with 10 points, superior on goal difference to the French team, which fell to second place with the same score.

The competition to qualify for this group is heating up, especially after Belgium won earlier today over Turkey 2-1, raising its score to 9 points in third place.

The Italian team will play the sixth and final round match next Sunday with the Belgium team at the latter's stadium, while the French team will host its Turkish counterpart on the same day.