South Africa will host the Africa U-20 Cup of Nations in January 2025.

According to SCORENigeria, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) has awarded the hosting right of the competition to South Africa.

South Africa hosted the competition 13 years ago.

Nigeria won the competition then, edging past Senegal in the final.

The Flying Eagles will first have to scale through from the WAFU B qualifying tournament to be hosted by Togo next month to book their flight to South Africa 2025.

Last year, the Flying Eagles finished third at the U20 AFCON in Egypt.

Chelsea boss, Enzo Maresca has confirmed his decision to bring defender, Ben Chilwell back to the Chelsea squad.

The England international is poised to return to the squad to make his first appearance of the season during Tuesday’s Carabao Cup clash with League Two leaders Barrow.

The Englishman looked set to leave Stamford Bridge in the summer after Maresca informed him and publicly declared he had no future at the West London side.

Speaking ahead of Tuesday’s League Cup clash, Maresca announced the situation had changed and now plans to name the left back in his matchday squad for the third-round cup tie after welcoming him back into first-team training.

“Ben Chilwell will be in the squad for tomorrow’s game.

“He is training. Hopefully we can give him some minutes,” he said.

Chelsea manager, Enzo Maresca, has confirmed the positions for some of the players in his squad.

Maresca showed off the wealth of attacking options available to him during the 1-0 win at Bournemouth last weekend.

Noni Madueke, Cole Palmer, Neto and Nicolas Jackson all started the fixture at the Vitality Stadium.

With the scoreline at 0-0, Maresca introduced Christopher Nkunku, Joao Felix and Sancho from the bench.

There has however been debate about Neto being used on the right wing, with the summer signing from Wolves mostly playing from the left wing so far due to the exceptional form of Madueke this season.

But Maresca clarified: “As left wingers, we have Jadon and Misha [Mudryk].

“As right wingers, we have Noni and Pedro. As attacking midfielders, we have Joao Felix and Cole.

“As a No9, we have Nicolas, Christo and Marc. We do not have so many players, we have two players for each position.”

Legendary Manchester United boss, Sir Alex Ferguson, has admitted that he misses life as a football manager.

The 82-year-old stepped away from manager after the 2012/2013 season.

Ferguson retired after leading United to their 13th Premier League title in what was his 27th year at Old Trafford.

United have struggled for success ever since Ferguson’s departure, with Manchester City leading the way for much of the last decade.

Speaking on BBC Breakfast about life post retirement, he said: “Yeah, I miss it sometimes.

“I think the first year after retirement, I went to the European final and I said to Cathy ‘this is what I miss’ – big games, the European games.

“So then I went to most of the European finals because I find something I can relate to, something I would like to have done every day.

“Because these are the big events that United should always be involved in.”

Manchester United legend, David Beckham’s son, Romeo, has shockingly announced his retirement from football.

Romeo is retiring at the age of 22 and is having a change of career.

The former Brentford winger will now dedicate his time in the fashion industry, following in the footsteps of his mother, Victoria Beckham.

Beckham Jr was a product of Arsenal’s youth where he started his football journey in 2015 before joining Inter Miami’s academy in 2021.

He spent two years with the Herons in their reserve team before joining Brentford’s B team in the summer of 2023.

He had a flair for his mother’s business since his childhood.

When he was 10, Romeo featured in a Burberry Kids campaign and was voted Britain’s 26th Best-Dressed Man in 2011.

He signed a whopping £1.2million deal with Puma to be the face of their brand in 2021.

Additionally, Romeo Beckham was the cover model of L’Uomo Vogue in 2021 and has also worked for Yves Saint Laurent as a model.

The Sun reports that Romeo recently signed a lucrative deal with a top fashion agent in Paris Safe Management.

The report further stated that Romeo loved playing for Brentford, but chose to devote his entire time to fashion – a career path he was passionate about.

However, David Beckham’s son still wants to continue working with Brentford Penguins, a team dedicated to players with Down Syndrome.

Real Madrid manager, Carlo Ancelotti, has claimed Thibaut Courtois is the best goalkeeper in the world.

Ancelotti made the remarks after their 3-1 win over Stuttgart in their Champions League opening game on Tuesday.

Although Courtois did not keep a clean sheet against the Bundesliga side, his manager was full of praise for his display.

“Courtois best goalkeeper? Yes, he’s the best in the world right now.

“But I have had great goalkeepers in my career and now Thibaut is the best,” Ancelotti said.

Madrid’s next fixture is at home against Espanyol in LaLiga this weekend.

Super Falcons midfielder, Ngozi Okobi has announced the birth of her first child.

Okobi took to her X account to announce the good news on Tuesday.

She praised God for making her a mother.

“Congratulations to me #godbepraised
#iamamother #newmom I am in my new season #NSPPD,” Okobi tweeted.

Okobi has been combining family duties with football.

Recently, the 30-year-old took a break after former Super Falcons head coach Randy Waldrum dropped her from the team.

Super Falcons defender, Oluwatosin Demehin has announced her departure from French D’Arkema outfit, Stade de Reims.

Demehin joined Reims from Nigerian club, Rivers Angels in 2022.

The 22-year-old caught the eye of the Red and Whites after impressing for Nigeria at the U-20 Women’s World Cup.

The centre-back made 26 appearances for Reims with one goal to her name.

“After amazing years & seasons in Reims, I want to thank everyone for the opportunity to share and be part of those moments with you,” she announced on X.

“I want to thank the President, coaches, club staff, medical teams and especially my teammates who have become family for the belief and hard work that resulted in an unforgettable championship.

“To the fans, thank you for the support through difficult and simple times. Reims is a special place and now I understand what Remoises means.

“I wish everyone another successful and amazing season, ‘Allér Rouge. Merci beaucoup pour tout.’”

Lionel Messi dazzled in his return from injury Saturday, scoring two goals in the space of four minutes and adding an assist in Inter Miami’s 3-1 Major League Soccer victory over the Philadelphia Union.

The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner hadn’t played since injuring his right ankle during the Copa America final on July 14, when he helped Argentina to victory over Colombia.

Since then he had missed eight MLS games for his club and this month’s World Cup qualifiers for his country.

Messi hadn’t played for Inter since June 1, but he didn’t miss a beat as he was inserted into the starting lineup.

“The truth is that I’m a little tired,” he said after the match. “The heat and humidity in Miami don’t help much either, but I really wanted to come back, I had been off of the field for a long time.

“Little by little I was training with the group, feeling good and that’s why we decided that I would start, and I’m very happy — very happy.”

Miami coach Gerardo Martino was delighted to see his star come out “feeling good” after 90 minutes.

Philadelphia seized the advantage in the second minute on Mikael Uhre’s left-footed shot from outside the area.

Messi grabbed the equalizer in the 26th minute, collecting a pass from Luis Suarez and beating defender Kai Wagner before unleashing a right-footed shot to cap a sequence launched by Jordi Alba on the left.

Ecstatic fans were still celebrating when he fired Inter ahead in the 30th, connecting again with Alba and firing a left-footed shot from the center of the area into the bottom right corner.

Inter thought Suarez had made it 3-1 before halftime, but his goal was overturned on a VAR review.

But Suarez added a goal deep in second-half injury time with Messi — who also picked up his first yellow card in MLS for lingering on a corner kick — providing the assist.

Martino said the late goal vindicated his decision to leave both players in the game until the end, saying “both played the whole game because they were fine to finish the game.”

The victory extended Inter Miami’s lead at the top of the MLS standings to 62 points, 10 points clear of their closest Eastern Conference challengers FC Cincinnati with six games remaining in the regular season.

Al Nassr striker, Cristiano Ronaldo, has hit 1 billion followers across all his social media accounts.

Ronaldo confirmed this in a post on Thursday night.

It read: “We’ve made history — 1 BILLION followers! This is more than just a number – it’s a testament to our shared passion, drive, and love for the game and beyond.

“From the streets of Madeira to the biggest stages in the world, I’ve always played for my family and for you, and now 1 billion of us stand together.

“You’ve been with me every step of the way, through all the highs and the lows. This journey is our journey, and together, we’ve shown that there are no limits to what we can achieve.

“Thank you for believing in me, for your support, and for being part of my life. The best is yet to come, and we’ll keep pushing, winning, and making history together.”

This comes a week after Ronaldo hit 900 career goals.

Nigeria midfielder, Innocent Bonke has linked up with Turkish club, Adanaspor on a permanent transfer.

Bonke, who joined the Turkish first division club from French outfit, FC Lorient, signed a one-year contract with the option of an additional year.

The 28-year-old joined Lorient as a free agent in January 2022.

The defensive midfielder suffered a long-term injury which limited his appearance for Lorient last season.

Overall he made 42 appearances for the modest side.

Bonke has previously played in Norway and Sweden.

He has been capped four times by Nigeria.

Arsenal captain, Martin Odegaard, was spotted on crutches boarding a flight back to the UK on Tuesday.

Odegaard sustained an ankle injury while away on international duty with Norway.

The midfielder picked up an injury following a slide tackle from Christoph Baumgartner.

He could be seen in tears as he was taken off 67 minutes into their 2-1 win over Austria on Monday.

Odegaard has now travelled back to London, where he will be assessed by Arsenal club doctors.

Gunners boss, Mikel Arteta, will be hoping for a positive diagnosis ahead of this Sunday’s North London Derby at Tottenham Hotspur.

John Mikel Obi has refused to blame Victor Osimhen for his social media tirade at former Super Eagles head coach, Finidi George.

Osimhen came under scrutiny for lashing out at Finidi, who allegedly questioned his commitment to the national team.

The forward called out the former Ajax winger and expressed his disappointment and loss of respect for him.

Mikel said Osimhen’s frustration was understandable, especially with the Super Eagles poor results against South Africa and Benin Republic.

The former midfielder admitted that while the striker’s reaction may not be ideal, he understands why the player needs to defend himself.

He praised Osimhen’s humility but acknowledged that respect must be mutual.

“Every time I speak to him, he’s very humble, respects people. As I said, respect is reciprocal. I respect you, you respect me. I think this situation with the Nigerian coach, where he blew out, he just felt it wasn’t fair because the manager didn’t protect him, Mikel said on Obionepodcast.

“He said he had a conversation with the manager, everything was recorded, and the manager just threw him under the bus.

“He was really pissed off, so he came out to defend himself. Maybe the way he did it wasn’t the best, but he had the right to speak out. I have nothing against Victor [Osimhen] for that, and knowing your worth isn’t arrogance.”

Real Madrid veteran midfielder, Luka Modric, has revealed that he will retire from the game when he ‘no longer feels the fire in him.’

Modric spoke after leading Croatia to beat Poland 1-0 in the Nations League clash on Sunday.

The 39-year-old scored a free-kick against Poland at the Opus Arena.

Speaking about retirement, Modric said after the game: “With me, you never know.”

He continued, “We have to take it game by game.

“I can’t think about the future. When I no longer feel the fire in me, I’ll retire”.

“Only I can feel that fire and make the decision”.

Bayern Munich winger, Michael Olise is no longer eligible to play for the Super Eagles of Nigeria.

This came after Olise made his competitive debut for France’s senior national team against Italy in the UEFA Nations League encounter.

By starting for France against Italy at the Parc des Princes in Paris, Olise is now cap-tied to Les Bleus.

As a result, the former Crystal Palace star cannot represent Nigeria, England or Algeria in the future.

Olise was born in London to a Nigerian father and a French-Algerian mother.

Before being cap-tied to France, the 22-year-old was eligible to play for Nigeria, France, and Algeria through his parents, and England due to his birth.

Victor Osimhen has asked to wear the no.45 shirt at Galatasaray.

The Nigerian striker is expected to finalize a season-long loan deal from Napoli later today.

And it has been revealed by Nigerian broadcast journalist Onyebuchi Onokala, also known as Buchi Laba, that Osimhen has picked a special number to wear.

Laba wrote on X Wednesday morning: “Excl: Victor Osimhen will be wearing number 45 at Galatasaray

“He personally requested for that jersey number cos that was his good-luck number that he wore back at Belgian club Charleroi.”

Osimhen wore the no.9 shirt at Napoli and at his previous club, Lille.

The 26-year-old also wears the no.9 for the Super Eagles of Nigeria.

Victor Osimhen’s release clause has been reduced to €75million by Napoli.

The Nigerian striker had a €130million release clause inserted in the deal he signed with the Serie A side last year.

However, Osimhen failed to seal a move away from Italy this summer and is now set to join Galatasaray on a season-long deal.

The Turkish club will cover his €9/10m salary, with no option or obligation to buy.

Football transfer expert, Fabrizio Romano, wrote on X:

“Victor Osimhen to Galatasaray, here we go! Deal done and all documents have been approved.

“Osimhen’s release clause will be €75m with Napoli option to extend until 2027.

“Loan move to Gala until June 2025, €9/10m salary covered.

“No buy option, no obligation.”

Al Nassr have terminated the contract of former Manchester United full-back Alex Telles, only 12 months after he arrived.

Telles joined up with Cristiano Ronaldo at the Saudi Arabia Pro League side.

However, just two matches into the new campaign, Telles has agreed to tear up his contract.

This was confirmed by Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano on Monday.

The Portuguese defender only arrived at Al-Nassr last summer in a £4 million move but has reportedly fallen out of favour with manager Luis Castro.

Telles played 38 times in his 14 months, scoring three times in all competitions for the club.

Sokoto United have added five new players to their squad for the new season.

The new players are Ime Clement Stephen, James Igboyi Joseph, Sule Ibrahim Mohammed, Ikechchukwu GodsPower and Okon Otop.

Otop and Mohammed moved from NNL clubs, Inter Lagos and DMD Maiduguri, respectively while Joseph joined from German club Hallbergmoos.

Stephen and Godspower teamed up with Sokoto United from non-league sides.

Sokoto United announced the new players signing on social media.

The players have all teamed up with the rest of their teammates in training for the new season.