The Player of the Tournament at the last e d ition of the Africa Cup of Nations looks back on the fi n al and how close he came to becoming a champion w ith Nigeria

SATURDAY 3—FRIDAY 9 JANUARY 2026

Whether it was the formation of the Premier League in 1992 or the World Cup expanding to 48 teams this year, a competition rebrand always seems to ruffle a few feathers. That was certainly the case 10

Two points: that’s how close Max Verstappen came to equalling Michael Schumacher’s feat of winning five consecutive Formula 1 world championships, despite having fallen more than 100 points behind in

A KIND SCHEDULE AND POST-LIONS FATIGUE SWINGS THE BALL INTO FRANCE’S COURT. WILL ALLDRITT AND CO TAKE ADVANTAGE BY RETAINING THEIR TITLE?

Football: Aston Villa’s “remarkable turnaround” When Aston Villa ...