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With a 2-1 victory that lifted Inter Miami to the top of Major League Soccer’s Eastern Conference standings on Sunday, Lionel Messi made amends for last year’s playoff defeat to Atlanta United.

In the 89th minute, veteran Haitian international Fafa Picault scored the winning goal to give Miami a priceless victory that extended their unbeaten start to the season.

Despite one of the biggest upsets in MLS history, Miami was shocked to be eliminated from the playoffs by Atlanta in the previous season.

Ronaldo is also interested in winning the maiden Asian crown, but he faces a Japanese test.

After a stellar goalkeeping display from veteran Brad Guzan had kept Miami at bay throughout, the final match at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium looked set to end in a draw in front of 42, 843 spectators.

However, when the 34-year-old Picault was picked out by an endearing cross from former Barcelona star Jordi Alba, Miami won.

Picault leapt high and nodded a downward-facing header past the far post, beating Guzan’s despairing dive.

Atlanta had already returned from their previous defeat last year, sweeping Miami with an 11th-minute goal from Ivory Coast international Emmanuel Latte Lath.

After taking a touch and crossing for Latte Lath, whose header slammed into the net, Brooks Lennon latched onto a powerful pass from Miguel Almiron down the right flank.

However, Messi punished Atlanta’s poor defending to equalize on 20 minutes before the ballon reached Miami without having to wait for the goalkeeper.

Messi spotted Bartosz Silsz in possession on the edge of the area, darting in to nick the ball off the Polish midfielder before jinking past Derrick Williams and dinking a lovely finish over Guzan.

In the second half, Rocco Rios Novo, the Miami goalkeeper, who was born in Paris, saw a rasping long-range effort tipped onto the woodwork by Atlanta’s Paris-born midfielder Tristan Muyumba.

In the 65th minute, Guzan prevented the Miami star with an outstretched leg, which he made from Messi in the end of a string of saves.

Nashville SC defeated second-placed Philadelphia Union 3-1 in other MLS games on Sunday to claim third place in the Eastern Conference.

Los Angeles Galaxy, the defending Western Conference champions, won their first game of the season against Portland to earn a 1-1 draw. With just one point from four games, Galaxy is still at the bottom of the standings.

Al Nassr’s Saudi team, led by Cristiano Ronaldo, faced Japan’s Yokohama F-Marinos in the Asian Champions League quarter-final on Monday.

Ronaldo, a veteran former Real Madrid and Manchester United player, has won the UEFA Champions League five times but has never triumphed in Asia’s elite club competition.

Next month, Steve Holland, formerly Gareth Southgate’s assistant with England, will lead Al Nassr’s efforts against a Yokohama side led by the 40-year-old Portuguese.

READ MORE: Hojlund ends the rain as Man United defeats Leicester 3-0.

The tournament’s quarter-final, semi-final, and final, which have been renamed the Champions League Elite, will all take place over one leg in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The final eight games between Qatar’s Al Sadd and Japan’s Kawasaki Frontale will pit Al Nassr or Yokohama against Al Nassr.

Al Hilal, a four-time Asian champion, will face Gwangju FC from South Korea in the quarter-finals.

In the semi-finals, the winner will face Buriram United from Thailand or Al Ahli from Saudi Arabia, both of whom are from Saudi Arabia.

April 25 through April 27 is the final day of each of the four quarter-finals.

On April 29 and 30, the semi-finals will take place. May 3 will be the final.

Before Wednesday’s two 2026 World Cup qualifying matchdays in Africa, underperforming Nigeria and underprivileged Sudan are in the spotlight.

A Nigerian team with the past two African Footballers of the Year Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman, who are seeded to win Group C and automatically qualify, sits fifth in a six-team division.

The Super Eagles met Lesotho, Zimbabwe, and South Africa in a three-year qualifying match before falling to Benin in search of their seventh World Cup appearance.

Nigeria has three coaches, including local Finidi George, Augustine Eguavoen, and Eric Chelle, since it finished 2024 Africa Cup of Nations runners-up to Ivory Coast.

Ivory Coast-born Chelle, who was fired by Mali after a subpar World Cup campaign, admits that starting with Zimbabwe and Rwanda at home this month, he will face a “huge challenge.”

The coach, who is bolstered by top-notch forwards Osimhen and Lookman, says that “football is about scoring goals, and I favor an attacking style.”

In Benghazi, Sudan, who is seeded fifth in Group B, will face Senegal, who has qualified for the World Cup three times, in a top-of-the-table match for the first time.

Because Sudan has been at war since April 2023, the match is in Libya. More than 12 million people have been displaced as a result of the conflict, which has claimed tens of thousands of lives.

READ MORE: [2026WCQ] Osimhen, Others Arrive Super Eagles Camp Ahead Crunch Rwanda Game

AFRICAN WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS

As the halfway point is reached by the African qualifying schedule, AFP Sport highlights five matchday five matches:

Ethiopia vs. Egypt

Ethiopia must also deal with recent Manchester City signing Omar Marmoush, as if trying to contain Egyptian legends Mohamed Salah and Mahmoud Trezeguet is not enough.

With five goals each, Salah and Trezeguet lead African qualifying by four points, with each scoring all but one of the Pharaohs’ eleven goals.

Ethiopia, which is ranked 113 places below Egypt, will host this game at home because Morocco is not a FIFA-approved stadium.

Senegal vs. Sudan

As they try to retake control of Senegal by two points, Ghana-born coach Kwesi Appiah has instructed his squad to imagine themselves to be world leaders.

“Believe in yourself to be as good as the Senegalese stars are.” You are fighting for your families and your country, he told them, “because war is raging in your homeland.”

Senegal can call on 32-year-old Sadio Mane, who has won the two-time African Footballers of the Year, but will miss out on the return of Chelsea’s Nicolas Jackson due to a hamstring injury.

Nigeria vs. Rwanda

Despite being 80 places above Rwanda, Nigeria shouldn’t underestimate the Wasps in light of what transpired during the Africa Cup of Nations qualifying last year.

Innocent Nshuti and Jimmy Mutsinzi scored within three minutes of each other in the second half of Rwanda’s 0-0 draw in Kigali before blowing it to 2-1 in Uyo.

Not just Chelle, but also a brand-new coach will be present. Instead of signing Algerian Adel Amrouche, Rwanda instead signed German Torsten Spittler’s one-year contract.

Gambia vs. Kenya

Benni McCarthy, a former South African international who was a member of the Manchester United coaching staff under the managership of Erik ten Hag, makes his World Cup debut as Kenya coach.

The 47-year-old says that we can surprise a lot of people by having the right mindset, dedication, and a willingness to learn and give everything the players have,” with the right mindset, dedication, and dedication from the players.

Because Group F champions from Africa, Ivory Coast, are expected to win, Kenya needs victories away from Gambia and Gabon to have a good chance of placing second and making it to the play-offs.

Ghana vs. Chad

Ghana coach Otto Addo can’t afford any more setbacks after failing to qualify for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations and sending the world’s top team to shock Group I leaders Comoros.

Chad are pointless, have only scored once, and some stars are boycotting this game due to “poor organization,” so coach Kevin Nicaise resigned in favor of Qatari Tahir Zakaria Gardia.

So it’s difficult to imagine Ghana, which has been helped by Premier League stars Thomas Partey, Jordan Ayew, and Antoine Semenyo, failing to score three points before a difficult match against Madagascar.

The first players to arrive in Nigeria’s camp for the crucial 2026 World Cup qualifier against Rwanda were super strikers Victor Osimhen, Bruno Onyemaechi, Papa Daniel Mustapha, and Kayode Bankole.

The team’s social media handles for a video post were visible at the Kigali International Airport in the country’s capital.

Before the game’s clash on Friday, team officials Eric Chelle and other coaches welcomed the players for camping.

The caption to the social media post read, “Early arrival of Super Eagles officials and four players: Victor Osimhen, Bruno Onyemaechi, Papa Daniel Mustapha, and Kayode Bankole,” read in the early hours of Monday.

Osimhen, who has been excellent this season, is expected to lead Nigeria’s attack against Rwanda.

Victor Osimhen, Bruno Onyemaechi, Papa Daniel Mustapha, and Kayode Bankole, four Super Eagles officials and players, arrive early in the #SoarSuperEagles #CampUpdate photo. twitter.com/ttvvWrDu73

With just three points from their final four games, Nigeria ranks fourth among its five-team members.

Chelle, the Super Eagles coach’ first game, had listed 23 players for the match along with another Group C World Cup qualifier scheduled for Nigeria on Tuesday for him.

For the clash, more players are expected to storm the team’s training base.

With just three points from four games, the Super Eagles are fourth in the five-team group. They are four points behind Rwanda’s leaders and have yet to win a game, which could mean they lose out on the second World Cup in a row.

With a comfortable victory at a mutely unlikely Leicester, United extended their unbeaten streak to seven games in open play.

United scored their first goal in 28 minutes with Rasmus Hojlund’s end to a 21-game goal drought.

Alejandro Garnacho’s first goal since November was delayed due to an early offside flag for the Argentine.

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However, Mads Hermansen should have prevented her from missing out on a quick shot that ensured Garnacho was not denied.

In the two meetings where United’s current manager Ruud van Nistelrooy was in charge of the Red Devils, United have won all four of their previous matches against Leicester.

The King Power has not yet had the same impact on the Dutchman.

Leicester are now nine points adrift of safety after losing 13 of their previous 14 league games.

Van Nistelrooy’s men also set a disappointing precedent by becoming the first Premier League team to play seven games away from home without scoring.