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Turkey celebrated their return to the World Cup on Wednesday after ending a 24-year wait, with players and fans voicing pride and cautious ambition following their playoff victory over Kosovo, Reuters reported. 

Fans took to the streets across the country late on Tuesday, waving flags from cars and gathering on main avenues as Turkey secured qualification for only the third time in their history, reviving memories of their run to the semi-finals in 2002.

Captain Hakan Calhanoglu, speaking after arriving in Istanbul with his team after their 1-0 win in Kosovo, said the immediate focus would be on progressing from the group stage.

Chelsea on April 1 reported a pre-tax loss of £262.4 million (S$450 million) during the 2024-25 season, the biggest annual loss in English soccer, surpassing the previous record loss of £194.9 million posted by Manchester City in 2010-11, Reuters reported. 

The London-based club made a loss despite their revenue rising to £490.9 million for the year ending in June 2025, as they finished fourth in the Premier League and won the Europa Conference League.

Chelsea FC Holdings had reported a profit of £128.4 million for the 2023-24 season, after they sold their women’s team to their parent company BlueCo, bringing in an overall revenue of £468.5 million.

Italy’s agonising World Cup exile continues after they fell to a 4-1 penalty shootout defeat by Bosnia and Herzegovina in their playoff final on Tuesday following a 1-1 draw, Reuters reported. 

Four-time champions Italy had lost out at the playoff stage to miss the last two World Cups, and their last qualification in 2014 coincided with Bosnia’s only previous appearance. Since lifting the trophy in 2006, Italy have won one game at the finals.

Bosnia will play in Group B at the World Cup, joining co-hosts Canada, Qatar and Switzerland, while Italy will be left with some serious soul-searching to do after yet another failure, according to Reuters. 

The Czech Republic clinched a place at ​this year's World Cup by beating a battling Denmark side 3-1 on penalties in their playoff final after an absorbing encounter in which they led in both normal time and extra time on Tuesday, Reuters reported. 

The hosts were pegged back to 1-1 at the end of 90 minutes and 2-2 after the extra period before Michal Sadilek sent Denmark's Mads Hermansen the wrong way to win the shootout, sending the Czechs to their ​first World Cup since 2006. 

"The story is so beautiful — we’ve made it after 20 years," Sadilek told Czech ​television. "I’ve lost my voice, and I hope to find it soon because I’ll need it for ⁠the celebrations."