Men's National Teams

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's superb 1-0 victory over more heralded neighbors Croatia in World Cup qualifying showed they are more than just a nation of Alpine skiers, defender Petar Stojanović said on Thursday.

The Slovenians outplayed the 2018 World Cup runners-up on Wednesday at the start of Group H qualifying for next year's tournament in Qatar and Stojanović, who plays his club football for Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb, was delighted.

ISTANBUL - Veteran captain Burak Yılmaz netted a hat-trick as Turkey saw off a late rally from the Netherlands to secure a 4-2 home victory on Wednesday at the start of their World Cup qualifying campaign.

Yılmaz opened the scoring in the 14th minute of the Group G match with a deflected shot followed by a penalty 20 minutes later at Istanbul's Atatürk Olympic Stadium to put the Turks 2-0 up at halftime.

The dispute over dual nationality players escalated to a new magnitude before the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Championship as five players chose the USMNT over Mexico, although the Mexican federation was able to get Efraín Álvarez to play with Tata Martino's senior side.

CARDIFF - Gareth Bale intends to return to Real Madrid for the final 12 months of his contract next season, he said on Tuesday.

Bale has been at Tottenham Hotspur on loan this season, initially struggling with fitness but playing regularly in recent weeks, but said ahead of the start of World Cup qualification with Wales this week that he plans to head back to Spain next season.

“The main reason I came to Spurs this season was that I wanted to play football, first and foremost, but going into the Euros I wanted to be match fit too.”

AMSTERDAM - The Netherlands team hope that this week’s start of the World Cup qualifiers in Europe will highlight the plight of migrant workers in Qatar and help to improve their working conditions.

"A lot of attention is now focused on whether we should go there if we qualify," coach Frank de Boer told a news conference on the eve of his team’s opening Group G match against Turkey in Istanbul, amid growing controversy at home over Qatar’s hosting of the 2022 finals. 

STOCKHOLM - AC Milan's Zlatan Ibrahimović shed a few tears of pride as he returned to Sweden's national team after a four-year absence for their World Cup qualifiers and recounted how his son did not want him to leave home to join up with Janne Andersson's squad.

The 39-year-old, who quit international football after Euro 2016, choked up when he was asked what his boys, Maximilian, 14, and 12-year-old Vincent, thought of his decision to answer his country's call again and return to the world stage.