Your latest World Cup headlines on Friday, November 18.
Alcohol banned at World Cup stadiums
FIFA have announced the sale of alcohol to fans at the World Cup will be banned at stadiums in Qatar - just 48 hours before the tournament begins.
Fans will no longer be able to buy Budweiser, which would have been the only alcoholic beverage available to fans inside the stadium perimeter due to its sponsorship of FIFA.
Alcohol is widely unavailable in the nation, although exceptions were being made to ensure fans could drink booze in the tournament. It was expected that Budweiser - who are the tournament's official alcohol sponsor - would be available to purchase at each of the venues hosting matches.
FIFA released the following statement on Friday morning: "Following discussions between host country authorities and FIFA, a decision has been made to focus the sale of alcoholic beverages on the FIFA Fan Festival, other fan destinations and licensed venues, removing sales points of beer from Qatar’s FIFA World Cup 2022 stadium perimeters.
“There is no impact to the sale of Bud Zero which will remain available at all Qatar’s World Cup stadiums. Host country authorities and FIFA will continue to ensure that the stadiums and surrounding areas provide an enjoyable, respectful and pleasant experience for all fans.
“The tournament organisers appreciate AB InBev’s understanding and continuous support to our joint commitment to cater for everyone during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™️.”
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Allen latest as Ampadu discusses card concerns
Joe Allen trained alone during Wales' first open session in Qatar.
The midfielder has been sidelined with a hamstring injury for two months and is facing a race against time to be fit for his country's World Cup opener against the United States of America on Monday.
Every member of Rob Page's 26-man squad - along with Birmingham City's Jordan James and Swansea City's Ollie Cooper who are both on standby - trained in the session at the Al Sadd Sports Club facility.
However, having started out with his team-mates, midfielder Allen went through a range of drills - which included fitness and ball work - on his own with medical chief Sean Connelly during the session. Despite the concern, Allen has been training for several weeks with Swansea, although he has been on an individual programme as he carefully managed his workload.
Prior to being put through his paces, Ethan Ampadu admitted he is more than capable of slotting into a midfield role should Allen be unavailable.
“Every player will be prepared to play anywhere," said the Chelsea man, who is currently on loan with Spezia. “If anyone is given the opportunity they need to play as well as they can."
Ampadu was sent off in Wales' Euro 2020 group stage loss to Italy last year, the first of three red cards he received in the space of a year for club and country.
And while admitting his dismissal in Rome left him devastated, Ampadu stated that he will never be able to take the aggression out of his game.
“I feel I am adapting well," he said. “Last year I built some good momentum and have carried it on, especially going into these games.
“Cards-wise, I picked up a few - maybe some were deserved and some weren’t deserved. I don’t think I can take that aggression out of my game, it is just trying to be a bit more clever with it.
“If the refs like to give more yellow cards out there, I have to find ways of not picking them up which sometimes late in the game you can’t be as aggressive as you like. It is dealing with that and adapting."
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Ex-Wales star backs Page's men to reach last eight
Clayton Blackmore believes can reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup providing that Gareth Bale is in top form.
Rob Page's side will battle it out with the United States of America, Iran and England for a top two spot in the group stages.
Should they progress to the knockout phase of the tournament, they would come up against either Netherlands, Senegal, Ecuador or Qatar in the last-16, and former Wales star Blackmore - who won 39 caps for his country - is confident that an on song Bale could prove the difference in the competition.
“I think they’ll get to the quarter-finals," he told BETDAQ. "The first two games are really important against USA and Iran, they’ve got to get something out of both of them.
"I think they’ll get through the group stage and turn somebody over, but then they’ll come up against somebody really big, and it might be a bridge too far. But it wouldn’t surprise me if they got to the semi-final, because we’ve got the talent in the team, with both the young lads and the senior lads.
“But Bale needs to be in form, and he will be in form. He’s very experienced now – he put the ball in for the own goal against Ukraine to help us get through to the finals. He just needs to be fit so he’s on the pitch, then he can produce something special at any time. You need players like that in your team.
“He’s got plenty of young lads who can run for fun around him, so you don’t need him to be able to run. As long as he’s fit and on the pitch, he can do something at any time. You could even have him on the bench and bring him on when it’s 0-0 against tired teams.”
Eriksson: 'Wales is the big enemy'
Sven-Göran Eriksson described Wales as England's "big enemy" ahead of the World Cup meeting between the sides later this month.
The pair meet in their final Group B fixture on Tuesday, November 29 and will hope to have a significant haul of points in the bag from their respective contests against the USA and Iran prior to the crunch encounter at Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium.
And former England boss Eriksson admits the Three Lions cannot underestimate their group opponents - despite being expected to finish at the summit of the standings.
“There are three group games in a week, very important games,” the 74-year-old told PA. “On paper it might look easy but if you don’t win the first game, against Iran, the pressure will be enormous.
“Then it’s the United States. Again, on paper it looks easy but they will fight. They are born fighters. And then you have Wales. Wales is the big enemy.
“So I can understand you take it easy a little bit. You don’t want to risk anything, you are playing a little bit safe, and it’s probably right.”
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Mane to miss World Cup
Sadio Mane will miss the World Cup due to injury, it has been confirmed.
The Bayern Munich forward sustained the problem during his side's 6-1 Bundesliga triumph over Werder Bremen in the penultimate fixture before the World Cup break. It was feared that he would be unavailable for the Qatar tournament, although he was included in Senegal's squad.
However, just days before the Lions of Teranga clash with Netherlands, it was confirmed that Mane will not feature at the global showpiece having undergone surgery in London.
A Bayern Munich statement read: "Sadio Mané underwent successful surgery in Innsbruck by Prof Christian Fink and Dr Andy Williams from London on Thursday evening. During the operation, a tendon was reattached to the head of his right fibula.
"The FC Bayern forward will therefore no longer be available to play for Senegal at the World Cup and will begin his rehab in Munich in the next few days. Africa's Player of the Year suffered the injury during the German record champions' 6-1 win over Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga on 8 November."
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