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Tiny Cape Verde Islands kept up top place in their World Cup qualifying group as they won away on Thursday, while Algeria and Tunisia moved closer to qualifying for next year’s finals with victories of their own, Reuters reported.

But Ghana suffered a setback as they dropped unexpected points after giving up a last-minute equaliser away in Chad.

Cape Verde, who draw most of their side from migrant communities across Europe, scored a goal in either half to beat Mauritius 2-0 away with Jovane Cabral and Diney ensuring they stayed top of Group D with 16 points, one ahead of Cameroon, who had a 3-0 win over tiny Eswatini in Yaoundé, according to Reuters.

Inter Miami forward Luis Suarez issued an apology on Thursday for spitting on a Seattle Sounders staff member four days earlier at the end of the Leagues Cup final, Reuters reported.

As the Sounders concluded a 3-0 victory in Seattle, the teams got in a scuffle that featured the Suarez spitting incident as well as Miami midfielder Sergio Busquets appearing to throw a punch.

Suarez wrote Thursday on Instagram, "First, I want to congratulate the Seattle Sounders for their Leagues Cup triumph. But most of all, I want to apologize for my behavior when the game ended, according to Reuters.

Lionel Messi signed off in style by scoring twice in his final World Cup qualifier on home soil as Argentina beat Venezuela 3-0 on Thursday, while Paraguay and Colombia also secured berths at the 2026 tournament in North America, Reuters reported.

The eight-time Ballon d'Or winner has not given an indication as to when he plans to retire but the 38-year-old has said that the match against Venezuela would be his last World Cup qualifier at home.

The reigning World Cup champions, who have already qualified for the tournament in Canada, Mexico and the U.S., controlled proceedings from the opening whistle, creating chances through Nicolas Tagliafico and Franco Mastantuono only to be thwarted by Venezuela goalkeeper Rafael Romo.

Messi broke the deadlock in the 39th minute, the Argentine captain latching onto a pass from Julian Alvarez on a swift counter-attack and firing home into the top-right corner of Romo's net, according to Reuters.

Felix Auger-Aliassime continued his sublime return to form at the US Open with another demonstration of his growing maturity as he held his nerve in the decisive moments of a messy, nerve-racking four-hour tussle to defeat the eighth seed Alex de Minaur 4-6, 7-6 (7), 7-5, 7-6 (4) and reach the semi-finals in New York, The Guardian reported.

By pulling off one of the most significant victories of his career, Auger‑Aliassime has now reached the US Open semi-finals for a second time in his career, four years after his first semi-final in 2021. “It feels amazing. Four years ago, it feels like more, honestly,” he said. “It was a tough couple of years but it feels even better now to be back in the semi-finals.”