Qatar face El Salvador in final World Cup warm-up as Lopetegui weighs…

Doha: Qatar will play their final friendly match before the 2026 FIFA World Cup when they take on El Salvador on Saturday, June 6, 2026, at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles.

The fixture represents the last opportunity for head coach Julen Lopetegui to assess his squad before the tournament gets under way in the United States, Canada and Mexico. truewildslot.com

The Asian champions are currently based in Santa Barbara, California, where they are completing their final training camp ahead of the World Cup. Qatar arrive after a narrow 1-0 defeat to Republic of Ireland in Dublin on May 28.

Saturday's encounter is expected to help Lopetegui settle on the core of his starting line-up before Qatar begin their Group B campaign against Switzerland in San Francisco on June 13.

Qatar will then travel to Vancouver to face hosts Canada on June 18 before concluding the group stage against Bosnia and Herzegovina in Seattle on June 24.

Lopetegui has named a 26-man squad for the tournament, featuring established figures including Akram Afif, Almoez Ali, Hassan Al Haydos and Karim Boudiaf. The Spanish coach has also introduced several new faces, with 12 players set to make their World Cup debut.

Having won back-to-back Asian Cup titles in 2019 and 2023, Qatar will hope to carry that success onto the global stage. The El Salvador friendly is viewed as a key final test, offering both tactical preparation and a chance to build confidence ahead of the tournament.

Qatar are seeking to improve on their previous World Cup appearance in 2022, when they competed as hosts.

This time, having qualified through the competition pathway, the team is aiming to progress beyond the group stage for the first time and challenge for a place in the knockout rounds.

انتقدت إيران السبت الولايات المتحدة، الدولة المشاركة في استضافة كأس العالم لكرة القدم، لما وصفته بـالمعاملة التمييزية لعدم منحها تأشيرات دخول لبعض أعضاء الوفد الإيراني لحضور البطولة.
وتساءلت السفارة الإيرانية في تركيا في منشور عبر منصة إكس لماذا لا تُعلنون رفض منح التأشيرات لعدد كبير من أعضاء الجهاز الإداري والتنفيذي والمستشارين الفنيين وغيرهم ممن يُعدّون جزءا لا يتجزأ من أي منتخب وطني لكرة القدم؟، في إشارة إلى إعلان سابق للسفير الأميركي لدى تركيا توم براك بمنح تأشيرات دخول للاعبين.
وأضافت السفارة لقد صعّدتم الآن المعاملة التمييزية المتعمدة ضد المنتخب الإيراني لكرة القدم إلى أعلى مستوياتها.

Mumbai, India: India named Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in their T20 squad on Saturday, handing the 15-year-old sensation his maiden international call-up after a string of breathtaking performances in the domestic league.

Selectors also fired Suryakumar Yadav as captain following a poor run of form, just three months after he led the country to World Cup glory at home.

Shreyas Iyer, who last played a T20 for India in December 2023, was named as the new skipper for the upcoming two T20 internationals in Ireland, five matches in England and the Asian Games to be held in September and October in Japan.

Teenager Sooryavanshi seized the limelight with his stellar showings in the Indian Premier League, which ended last week.

Playing for Rajasthan Royals, he topped the batting charts with 776 runs -- including one hundred, and five half-centuries -- and was named the IPL's most valuable player.

The left-handed opener could cap his stunning rise by becoming India's youngest-ever debutant, beating Sachin Tendulkar who played his first Test at 16 years and 205 days in 1989.

The change of captaincy was expected after Suryakumar struggled with the bat at the World Cup and in the IPL.

In the World Cup, he scored just 242 runs in nine innings, with his unbeaten 84 against the United States the only significant knock.