Spot the pol!

This elected authoritarian welcomed home his national-team captain — a goal-scoring winger currently without a club — after the team’s winningest-ever World Cup performance. That’s Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi on the right, welcoming captain Mohamed Salah to a reception honoring the team’s efforts. Egypt reached the Round of 16 in this year’s World Cup — before getting eliminated by Argentina on July…

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How to keep a soccer team alive in exile

Farkhunda Muhtaj has spent years fighting to keep the Afghanistan women’s national soccer team alive after the Taliban banned women from sport following President Joe Biden’s chaotic withdrawal of American forces from the country. That campaign reached a breakthrough this year when FIFA agreed to establish an official Afghan women’s national team. The 28-year-old Afghan-Canadian,…

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