Test your Ashes knowledge with all of our quizzes

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On November 21, the Ashes will be back, and we’re giving you a chance to test your cricket skills in preparation.

Guess the players

Some former Ashes stars are instantly recognisable, while others are not so much.

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This quiz was enjoyable. Why not challenge similar ones that are there?

Do you have stats?

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Do you want to improve or have that one slammed? Similar quizzes to this one are available here:

Which Ashes hero do you know best?

Do you prefer Pat Cummins or Ben Stokes? You might be Joe Root’s Joe Root’s Joe, or Steve Smith’s as well.

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Know the locations and dates of your previous matches?

The first Test of the 2025-26 series will take place at the famous WACA, or Western Australian Cricket Association Ground, in Perth, at Optus Stadium, which will now serve as Perth’s premier test venue.

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  • England Men’s Cricket Team
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  • The Ashes
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    • August 16
    BBC Sport microphone and phone

FIFA World Cup 2026: All you need to know – qualifying teams, format, draw

With 42 teams now qualified for the 48-team competition, the preparations for FIFA World Cup 2026 are about to come to an end.

During this November international break, some of the best players in the game, including France, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain, were also selected.

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After finishing third in a four-team group in Jamaica on Tuesday, the tiny Caribbean island nation of Curacao will enter the 2026 World Cup as the smallest nation by population ever to qualify for the marquee event in men’s football.

Panama and Haiti, who both signed for the region’s Cup spots on Tuesday, will join Curacao.

Scotland’s wild 4-2 victory over Denmark marks their first World Cup qualification since 1998.

Teams competing in the UEFA playoffs and the Intercontinental will fill the remaining six spots.

The upcoming edition of the world’s biggest football tournament is examined by Al Jazeera Sport.

On November 18, 2025, Jamaica’s national stadium’s players and supporters celebrate qualification following a goalless draw with Jamaica at the National Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica.

The FIFA World Cup in 2026 will take place when and where?

The tournament is taking place in Mexico, Canada, and the United States. The first match will take place on June 11 in Mexico City, and the second match will take place on July 19 in New Jersey, US.

The 39-day event is the longest in its history because of the tournament’s expansion, which saw 32 teams and 48 teams.

When will the FIFA World Cup 2026 teams be known?

The final chance for teams from all over the world to advance to the next year’s competition will be FIFA’s intercontinental playoffs. Less than three months before the World Cup begins, the route’s final destination will be on March 31, 2026.

Most of the remaining confederations will have finished their continental qualification processes much earlier than that since the European qualification process is in effect until March.

The FIFA Intercontinental Playoffs are what?

FIFA offers two final spots to the best-placed team from each of the six continental routes that have not already qualified once the respective confederations have finished their qualification process.

The FIFA World Cup 2026 draw will take place when?

The draw will take place on December 5, 2025, despite not having a full list of competitors until the end of March 2026.

Where will the FIFA World Cup 2026 draw be held?

The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC will host the drawing. While addressing the audience at the White House’s Oval Office, US President Donald Trump confirmed the location while addressing vice president JD Vance and FIFA spokesman Gianni Infantino. He did not exclude having the draw’s own oversight.

What format will the FIFA World Cup 2026 have?

The World Cup will now have 12 four-team teams in addition to the expansion to 48 teams. In contrast to previous editions, that will result in a round 32 knockout round.

Since 1994, when only 24 teams competed, the tournament has grown by a whopping doubling in size.

Trump’s FIFA World Cup 2026 games may be changed.

Trump has stated that he will relocate the games from any cities he deems to be unsafe and has been very open and consistent with how games are staged here.

Trump reacted when asked about moving games on September 26 by saying, “Well, that’s an interesting question, but we’re going to make sure they’re safe. Radical left lunatics who don’t understand what they’re doing run Seattle and San Francisco.

How will the hosts handle the 2026 FIFA World Cup game staging?

Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Jersey/New York (joint host region), Philadelphia, San Francisco Bay Area, and Seattle will be the 11 cities where the US will play games.

Between Toronto and Vancouver, Canada will host 13 games overall. Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey will also host 13 games, all of which will be played there.

Where will the 2026 FIFA World Cup final take place?

The final will take place at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, in the US.

Who are the defending champions of the FIFA World Cup?

In the Qatar 2022 final, Argentina defeated France in the final round of the FIFA World Cup.

Argentina won the penalty shootout 4-2, with the score at 3-3 after extra time.

Will FIFA World Cup 2026 games be affected by the weather?

The US hosted the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, and the heat and the accompanying thunderstorms proved to be a major issue.

Inglewood and Vancouver have fixed roofs, while three stadiums in Arlington, Atlanta, and Houston have retractable roofs that are anticipated to be closed as a result of the summer heat.

Which teams have qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup?

Following the most recent round of qualifying matches, a list of the six regions’ confirmed contenders is provided:

hosts: USA, Mexico, and Canada.

Asia includes Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Jordan, Jordan, Jordan, Jordan, Jordan, and Uzbekistan.

Algeria, Cape Verde, Egypt, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia, and Algeria

Europe includes Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Croatia, Spain, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Scotland, Spain, and Switzerland.

Oceania: New Zealand

Americas: Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, Panama, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Uruguay, and Argentina.

Which teams are still eligible to compete in the 2026 FIFA World Cup?

In Mexico, the playoffs will feature six teams in March, according to the Intercontinental playoffs.

Jamaica and Suriname, who hail from the Caribbean and Central America, Iraq from Asia, Bolivia from South America, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and New Caledonia from Oceania, will qualify as two teams.

16 teams will compete in UEFA’s playoff competition, Europe, which will take place in March. They will need to win their two first-place matches to qualify.

I’m A Celeb’s Vogue Williams admits Spencer Matthews was ‘not for her’ as she opens up on ‘disaster’

Vogue Williams and Spencer Matthews first met while filming Channel 4’s The Jump, but she admits she didn’t really like him when they first started dating.

Vogue Williams decided husband Spencer Matthews “not for her” after they met while filming a reality television show. I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! Vogue was preparing to compete on Channel 4’s The Jump when she met Spencer in 2017.

The Irish podcaster split from Westlife host Brian McFadden shortly afterward. Spencer, a former Made in Chelsea star, was dating at the time and “didn’t seem in very chatty form” when they first met, according to Vogue.

Had Spencer been single, she feared a relationship wouldn’t “have gone very well” anyway because he “was yet to form a serious bone in his body” while Vogue often found herself “getting serious quickly”. Although Vogue says the pair “got on famously” after Spencer arrived wearing tracksuit bottoms, slippers, and “reeking of booze”.

According to Vogue, in her book, “Big Mouth,” we had come to the conclusion that if I continue to fall for guys I felt I needed to fix or help, I was just repeating a pattern that would disastrously result.

Spencer, a man with red flags, was not for me, as I had a choice, and since I didn’t really like him, it was all good. However, I adored his personality.

Vogue claims that Spencer and I “really wanted to sleep with them.” And she insisted that he would join their friendship group permanently despite the fact that she had told them that “it wasn’t on the cards.”

Romance soon blossomed between Spencer and Vogue and they became engaged in January 2018 during a trip to the Lion King in London’s West End. They married in June 2018 at the Glen Affric estate in Scotland, which is owned by Spencer’s family.

Theodore, Gigi, and Otto are the couple’s three children now, all three of whom are together. Vogue has previously acknowledged that if they had met on a dating app, she would have “swipe past” Spencer.

She made this disclosure while addressing a listener who was having trouble finding romance online in a previous Vogue and Amber episode. You’re just judging someone entirely based on their appearance, according to Vogue.

Spencer is obviously gorgeous, but he wouldn’t have been my type when we first met, I always say. On a dating app, I would have swiped past him.

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We then met, and because we only admired one another’s personalities, we became angry. Therefore, I believe that meeting someone in person can be really amazing, despite the difficulty.

Vogue just recently signed to the I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! jungle . It comes nine years after Spencer, who sat for only five days before the contest, abruptly withdrawn.

Married At First Sight UK bride Abi shares ‘plot twist’ after ‘marrying stranger’ John

After marrying a complete stranger on the reality show, MAFS star Abi revealed her “plot twist” birthday and opened up about life since returning to the real world.

Married At First Sight UK bride Abi has opened up on her ‘plot twist’ birthday as she gave her followers a glimpse into her life with husband John Shepherd since leaving the show.

The most recent series of MAFS has delivered a series of explosive episodes packed with shocking revelations -from Julia-Ruth’s bombshell about getting matching ink with another groom and texting someone else, to devastating break-ups – but one couple in particular have hit the jackpot.

Abi and John joined the social experiment later in the series as one of the new couples, but they still felt an immediate spark on their big day, and their relationship seemed to be going smoothly in contrast to some other couples who hit rocky roads early on.

READ MORE: MAFS UK’s Abi issues emotional relationship status updateREAD MORE: Who is still together from MAFS UK after multiple splits announced?

Abbie left a sweet message to her fans to celebrate her birthday after the show’s conclusion. The best birthday plot twist, according to her, was marrying a stranger.

I’m happy to be here on my first birthday, which is honestly the happiest birthday I’ve ever had.

The happy bride also shared some romantic photos with John, including their first selfie together, a screenshot of their first text message, and their first photo together at a beachside barbecue and with their kids.

At the dramatic reunion episode, John and Abi declared their love for one another, and John and Abi reaffirmed their romance.

John also revealed on his Instagram that they’d been enjoying quality time in North Wales, with Abi replying: “Best feeling ever is to step into our new lives together! Wales = Home.”

After an explosive series, only five couples managed to reach the final vows ceremony, with four deciding to continue their romances in the real world.

It comes after Abi raved about how “in love” she was on Instagram. She shared a photo of herself smiling from ear to ear earlier this month, captioning “I’m in love!” Meeting John changed everything for me despite having never fallen in love before. I was immediately aware of the existence of something unique, something real.

The reality star continued, “The more time we spent together, the more assured I became that what I was feeling was real. This was the first time I connected with this. During the partner swap, being separated only strengthened my feelings. I deeply miss him, but more importantly, I felt secure knowing that I’ve found the person I’ve always wanted to be. I was aware of my love for him.

One of my life’s most memorable experiences was telling John I loved him. I needed to wait until the right moment when I said, “I love you, it’s for life,”. I wanted to let him know.

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Everything I had hoped for when I heard him say it as well. The wait was worthwhile to discover this kind of love.

Schools hit girls’ football target three years early

Images courtesy of Getty

Three years prior to schedule, the goal was met by achieving the requirement that 90% of English schools should provide girls with equal access to football in PE lessons.

The Football Association’s plan to offer equal opportunities for women and girls in the sport was originally set for 2028.

20, 202 schools have signed up for the Barclays Girls’ Football in Schools network, which started six years ago with 3, 000 participating schools.

Additionally, according to the FA, 2. 6 million girls now have access to football on an equal level with the PE program, up 31% from the 2020-2020 season.

The Lionesses’ home success at Euro 2022 was crucial in “shaping government discussions and moving forward with policy change,” according to the FA.

The winning party candidate for the Conservative Party, Sarina Wiegman, wrote an open letter to Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss asking that “every young girl” play football in the classroom.

According to the FA, 90% of schools now offer girls equal access to football through PE lessons in Key Stages 2 and 3 (aged 11-14) respectively.

“This was never about girls becoming the next Lionesses; it was about normalizing girls’ football,” he said. Former England and Arsenal striker Ian Wright, who serves as Barclays Football’s ambassador, said it’s about equality.

England won the Women’s World Cup final at Wembley in 2022, but lost to Spain in the following year. However, they defeated Spain in the summer to win the European crown.

No girl should ever have to go through the FA’s head of development, Stacey Mullock, who argued against that.

“That opinion led us to set high expectations and advocate for a cultural shift where girls enjoy equal access and opportunities as boys,” he said.

However, the FA stated that “more work needs to be done” for Key Stage 4 (aged 14 to 16), where “many teenage girls stop participating in team sports because of obstacles like body image, body image, and negative perceptions.”

related subjects

  • Football
  • Women’s Football

Gaza girl orphaned in Israeli strike rebuilds her life with severe burns

Elham Abu Hajjaj’s mother held her and prayed over her Gaza City home, which was the last thing Elham remembers.

According to Abu Hajjaj, she discovered herself in a hospital with a machine on her stomach and “whole body trembling” when she awoke.

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She said, “My body was completely burned when I touched it.” I asked the doctor where my father and mother were when he spoke to me. He didn’t respond to my question.

Both her parents were killed in the Israeli attack in Gaza City’s al-Saffaweh neighborhood, leaving Abu Hajjaj, who is nine years old, with third-degree burns.

Elham Abu Hajjaj, nine, woke up in a hospital with her body “all burned.” [Screen grab/Al Jazeera]

She is not the only victim of Israel’s heinous conflict in Gaza. According to an estimate made in September by the World Health Organization (WHO), nearly 42, 000 people, or about 2 percent of Gaza’s population, have experienced “life-changing” injuries. One-third of them are children, or so.

Major burns are among the most prevalent injuries the WHO has documented involving more than 3, 350 people. The organization continued, “Children are clearly disproportionately affected.” Children, the majority of whom were under five years old, were among the 70% of those who had burn surgery in Gaza, and many of them were victims of bomb blasts.

As I scroll through photos of her neck, arm, and leg with significant scarring, Abu Hajjaj said, “Oh God, look at these wounds, they are very bad wounds,” I say to myself when I look in the mirror. “I have wounds on both my hand and here,” he said.

She still struggled to comprehend the passing of her parents. She kept telling herself that they must be alive even when her grandfather said they were waiting for her in paradise.

She said, “I finally realized they were not when my grandfather moved me to live with him.” When I realized that my parents and mother had passed away, I began crying.

Gaza girl
[Screen grab/Al Jazeera] Abu Hajjaj enters the family home where she lives with her surviving relatives.

The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics reported in April that more than 39, 000 children in Gaza have lost one or both of their parents, with about 17, 000 of those who have lost their parents since Israel started its occupation in Gaza in October 2023.

Abu Hajjaj currently resides with her grandparents and other survivors’ relatives, including her brother.

She claimed that when she realized her brother was still alive, she felt “some joy” inside the family home, which was encircled by rubble from the neighborhood.

My grandmother, my aunt, and my grandfather were also there. They are by my side, she said. I was moved by my brother’s passing, but I also felt sad for my parents and my mother.

Gaza girl
Abu Hajjaj claims she was relieved to learn that her brother was still alive.

The young girl has since switched to drawing to express her grief over the deaths of her parents and her childhood home.

She said, “It helps me forget everything that happened.” The house that was destroyed was the last drawing I did, according to the artist.

However, she chose not to leave her final state.

According to Abu Hajjaj, “I rebuilt it in the picture and planted a swing and a tree.” Because my father had planted a tree, I drew the tree.

Gaza girl
[Screen grab/Al Jazeera] Abu Hajjaj and her brother are squatting in the ruins of Gaza.