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Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said their 1-0 victory over Uruguay in Friday's World Cup qualifier in Montevideo showed the depth of their squad after Lautaro Martinez, Lionel Messi and Paulo Dybia all missed out due to injury. The match was headed for a draw until a 67th-minute strike from 23-year-old Thiago Almada. "The national team is a team. When one is missing, another steps up," Scaloni told reporters. "We had some very important absentees but we have great players to go out on the field. The team is always more than just the names." Argentina next host Brazil in Buenos Aires on Tuesday. Salah scores for Egypt as big guns flex muscles Captain Mohamed Salah scored for Egypt as they eased to a 2-0 victory over Ethiopia in their 2026 World Cup qualifier on Friday, but 2022 semi-finalists Morocco needed a late winner from Bilal El Khannouss to defeat unfancied Niger. Zizo bagged Egypt's second goal as they opened up a commanding five point lead in Group A at the halfway point of the qualification campaign. Burkina Faso earlier defeated Djibouti 4-1 to move into second in the pool. The top team in each of the nine groups earns a place at the finals in the United States, Mexico and Canada, while the four best runners-up enter an arduous inter-continental playoff campaign for one further berth. Morocco had the luxury of playing their 'away' clash with Niger at home in Oujda with their opponents having no suitable stadiums to host international matches. But they needed an equaliser on the hour-mark from Ismael Saibari, and then a winner two minutes into stoppage time from El Khannouss to claim victory and lead Group E by six points from second-placed Niger. Relebohile Mofokeng and Jayden Adams both scored their first international goals as South Africa were made to toil for a 2-0 home win over neighbours Lesotho as they went top of Group C. South Africa travel to neutral Abidjan to play second-placed Benin on Tuesday where coach Hugo Broos' side could potentially open up a sizeable lead in the pool. Nigeria claimed a first win of the qualification campaign at the fifth attempt with a 2-0 success over Rwanda in Kigali. Victor Osimhen scored a brace to take Nigeria to six points, four behind South Africa. Ghana, who failed to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco later this year, moved top of their qualification pool with a 5-0 hammering of Chad in Accra. Japan secure 2026 ticket After celebrating qualification for an eighth consecutive World Cup finals with beaming smiles and high fives, Japan shifted focus towards becoming the first Asian side to win football's most coveted trophy. A 2-0 win over Bahrain at Saitama Stadium on Thursday saw Japan become the first nation to book their place at the 2026 finals alongside co-hosts the United States, Canada and Mexico. Despite being drawn in arguably the toughest of Asia's three groups in the third phase of qualifying, alongside fellow World Cup regulars Saudi Arabia and Australia, Japan have coasted through their fixtures with six wins and a draw so far. The performances of Hajime Moriyasu's side, who still have three group matches to play, have underlined how far the current generation of largely overseas-based players are ahead of the rest of the region. For Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, just getting to the finals is no longer enough. "As I said upon being appointed the new captain, our present target has been to win the World Cup," said Endo after qualification was confirmed. "We have players who naturally target winning the World Cup, who think getting a win or making the finals is merely a start. I'm the same." South Korea's run to the semi-finals on home soil in 2002 stands as the best performance by an Asian side at the World Cup while Japan have been unable to get past the Round of 16 in four trips to the knockout rounds. Their qualification run began in 1998 with their debut in France, though they only scraped into the finals via a playoff win over Iran.
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