Sport

Key things you need to know about men’s football at Paris Olympics

First up on Wednesday will be Uzbekistan vs Spain. This match will be broadcast live on Ariana Television from 5.30pm Kabul time.

Published

9 months ago

July 24, 2024

Ariana News

(Last Updated On: )

Today, Wednesday July 24, is the day millions of people worldwide have been waiting for. It’s the start of the Paris Olympic Games 2024.

While the Games will officially only start on Friday, July 26, Football group stage matches will kick off Wednesday, and Rugby Sevens group stage matches will take place on Thursday.

First up on Wednesday will be Uzbekistan vs Spain. This match will be broadcast live on Ariana Television from 5.30pm Kabul time.

This match will be followed at 7.30 pm Kabul time by the Guinea vs New Zealand match and then at 9.30pm, Japan will take on Paraguay. At 11.30pm, host nation France will play USA.

These matches will all be broadcast live, and legally, across Afghanistan on Ariana Television.

What you need to know about men’s football at the Games!

Men’s football action at the Olympic Games will take place from 24 July to 9 August.

The 16 best youth teams in the world are boosted by the inclusion of some superstar over-age players, in what’s likely to be an unpredictable event.

Olympic men’s squads must consist of players under the age of 23, with three overage players allowed as part of the 18-man squads.

Back-to-back reigning Olympic champions Brazil did not qualify for Paris but the standout teams involved include Argentina, Spain, and hosts France.

Sixteen teams are divided into four groups of four. Each nation plays against all the other teams in their group, with the top two in each group progressing to the knockout stages.

Group A: France, USA, Guinea, New Zealand
Group B: Argentina, Morocco, Iraq, Ukraine
Group C: Uzbekistan, Spain, Egypt, Dominican Republic
Group D: Japan, Paraguay, Mali, Israel

Stars to watch!

Hosts France will be led by captain Alexandre Lacazette, the former Arsenal man now back at boyhood club Olympique Lyonnais.

Naby Keita, Champions League winner with Liverpool in 2019, will also be captaining his nation of Guinea in Paris.

Argentina can count on four players who won the 2022 FIFA World Cup: Julian Alvarez, Nicolas Otamendi, Geronimo Rulli and Thiago Almada.

The quartet will try to write history as the first male players to win the FIFA World Cup and then Olympic gold, in that order, a unique feat in football.

Two new European champions, Fermin Lopez and Alex Baena, are aiming for more glory with Spain and trying to improve on the nation’s silver medal at Tokyo 2020 (held in 2021).

Achraf Hakimi will be determined to lead Morocco to the gold medal match, as it will be hosted at the PSG star’s home stadium, the Parc des Princes.

Along with Lopez and Baena, Ukraine’s Maksym Taloverov are playing at Paris 2024 having already lined up for Euro 2024 in a busy summer of football.

There are also plenty of big names who will be leading their nations from the sidelines.

France are managed by French football legend and Olympic Torchbearer Thierry Henry, while Argentina’s two-time Olympic champion Javier Mascherano is aiming to become the first man to win the Olympic men’s football tournament as a player and a coach.

Javier Mascherano won two gold medals with Argentina at Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008.

Where are the matches taking place?

Men’s football games will take place in Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Bordeaux, Saint-Etienne, Nice, and Nantes.

The gold medal match will be played at the Parc des Princes in Paris on 9 August.

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Sport

Afghanistan qualify for U19 Cricket World Cup 2026

Published

3 days ago

April 19, 2025

Ariana News

(Last Updated On: )

Afghanistan’s U19 cricket team has officially qualified for the ICC Men’s U19 Cricket World Cup 2026, following the final day washout in the Asia Qualifiers.

After securing three big wins in their first three games, today’s match against Nepal U19s was washed out. Thanks to their superior Net Run Rate, Afghanistan U19s topped the table and book their berth in the ICC Men’s U19 Cricket World Cup 2026, which will take place early next year in Namibia and Zimbabwe.

Sport

Afghanistan U-19 cricket team defeats UAE

Published

6 days ago

April 16, 2025

Ariana News

(Last Updated On: )

Afghanistan’s national under-19 cricket team defeated the United Arab Emirates by 180 runs on Wednesday, maintaining their unbeaten streak in the group stage at the ICC Men’s U19 CWC Asia Qualifiers.

In this match, Afghanistan scored 359 runs for the loss of only 4 wickets at the end of 50 overs.

This marks Afghanistan’s third consecutive victory in the regional group stage.

Previously, they had defeated Hong Kong and Oman by 8 wickets each.

Afghanistan is set to face the host nation, Nepal, on Saturday (April 19) in what will be their final group-stage match.

The winner of that game is likely to secure a spot in the 2026 ICC Men’s U19 World Cup.

Sport

IPL 2025 Orange and Purple Cap leaderboards: Kuldeep moves up to No. 3

Here’s how things look on the run-scorers’ and wicket-takers’ tables after Sunday’s matches

Published

1 week ago

April 14, 2025

Ariana News

(Last Updated On: )

Following Sunday’s double-header in this year’s Indian Premier League, a few batters have gained places in the Purple Cap leaderboard. No change was made in the Orange Cap leaderboard.

Orange Cap leaderboard

There is no change in the top three on the run-scorers’ table but a few batters have gained places. Nicholas Pooran is still the No. 1, having accumulated 349 runs in six innings.

This is followed by Gujarat Titans’ B Sai Sudharsan, who has 329 runs, and Mitchell Marsh, at No. 3 with 265 runs despite missing LSG’s last game.

Beyond the top three, 11 other batters have crossed the 200-mark.

Notably, Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) Virat Kohli who has advanced places to be fifth behind Shreyas Iyer (250 runs) after his 62 not out off 45 balls against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Sunday’s afternoon game.

He is two runs shy of Shreyas.

Meanwhile, Suryakumar Yadav’s 28-ball 40 in Mumbai Indians’ 12-run win over Delhi Capitals (DC) has taken his tally to 239.

Purple Cap leaderboard

Noor Ahmad and Shardul Thakur remain the top two in the list but there’s a new bowler at No. 3: Kuldeep Yadav.

Kuldeep was DC’s best bowler on Sunday, picking up two wickets and leaking just 5.75 an over as MI posted 205 for 5. He now has ten wickets and an overall economy rate of 5.60, better than the other bowlers with same number of wickets in the list.

Hardik Pandya, Prasidh Krishna, R Sai Kishore, Mohammed Siraj and Khaleel Ahmed also stay on ten wickets.

Hardik couldn’t move up after going wicketless for the first time in this IPL, against DC.

Monday’s match

Today’s match, Monday April 14, will see Lucknow Super Giants take on Chennai Super Kings in Lucknow. This match is expected to deliver a thrilling battle for fans as MS Dhoni will lead the Chennai Super Kings team – much to the fans’ pleasure.
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Dhoni is however poised to hit a batting milestone, which could be reached today. Dhoni needs only 39 runs to reach a 4,000 T20 run tally in India. Commentators expect thunderous celebrations by Dhoni’s fans in the stadium if he hits the mark.

For fans across Afghanistan, this exciting match will be broadcast live and exclusively in the country by Ariana Television. Fans can tune in from 5:30 pm.