The hosts took the lead after just 12 minutes at Alinma Bank Stadium at King Abdullah Sport City, with Kante teeing up Aouar for a volley in the box, and the Algerian made no mistake with his volley on the turn. Al-Okhdood goalkeeper Samuel Portugal was determined to keep the scoreline at 1-0 heading into the break, keeping out a long-range effort from Danilo Pereira before denying Karim Benzema and Mahamadou Doumbia in quick succession.
Leverkusen had lost all three of their games in 2026 so far, but they stayed within touching distance of the Bundesliga top five with their first win since mid-December. Patrik Schick thought he had put Leverkusen ahead, only for his goal to be ruled out for handball in the 12th minute, while Ernest Poku blazed over from very close range. But Vazquez clinically slotted home in the 37th minute after lovely link-up play with Ibrahim Maza set him up just inside the penalty area.
Egypt took the lead just four minutes in after winning possession in midfield, with Emam Ashour threading it through to Omar Marmoush, who stood his ground before drilling a low shot past Yahia Fofana. And they doubled their advantage in the 32nd minute when Rami Rabia headed Salah's right-sided corner back across goal and into the near post. Ivory Coast found a way back into the quarter-final eight minutes later, though,
Amad Diallo grabbed a goal and an assist as Africa Cup of Nations holders Ivory Coast reached the quarter-finals of the competition with a 3-0 win over Burkina Faso. Their progression to a last-eight tie with Egypt was sealed in stunning fashion, with substitute Bazoumana Toure running from his own box before scoring in the 87th minute. Diallo was key to the Ivory Coast's quick start at Stade de Marrakech, following up his blazed free-kick attempt with a left-footed shot that narrowly missed the left-hand post.
The home side did not take long to open the deadlock, with a mistimed header at the back setting Matias Soule through on goal after 14 minutes, and he made no mistake with a curling finish beyond Daniele Sommariva. Roma scored a second just five minutes later, as Manu Kone burst from midfield and found the net with a side-footed effort, after fine play by Evan Ferguson in the build-up.
Napoli sprang to life in the 13th minute to grab an early lead. Cremonese failed to clear their lines from Matteo Politano's cross, and Hojlund was on hand to turn in from close range. Straight down the other end, Matteo Bianchetti almost got an instant reply but fired his half-volley just over the crossbar in Cremonese's best chance. Hojlund spurned a chance for another goal shortly after, failing to control Vanja Milinkovic-Savic's long clearance while one-on-one with Emil Audero.
Kevin Schade scored a perfect hat-trick as Brentford picked up their sixth home league win of the season with a 4-1 win over Bournemouth on Saturday. Brentford needed just six minutes to open the scoring when Schade coolly finished into the bottom-right corner after being set up by a fine pass from striker Igor Thiago. The Bees' dominant start was further rewarded six minutes before half-time when Djordje Petrovic bundled into his own net after Bafode Diakite's attempted clearance rebounded off the Bournemouth goalkeeper.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice as Al-Nassr defeated Al-Okhdood 3-0 to restore their four-point lead at the top of the Saudi Pro League. Ronaldo netted both of his goals before the break, and saw a third strike disallowed, before Joao Felix wrapped up the win in second-half stoppage time as the hosts made it 10 wins from 10 in the league this season.
Boxing Day's real treat was the fantastically entertaining eight-goal thriller in the Championship where Wrexham fought back from 3-1 down to tonk Sheffield United 5-3. The Championship has now reached the halfway point of the season (23 matches out of 46) and Coventry will go into part two with an eight-point lead over Middlesbrough. Frank Lampard's team, who beat Swansea 1-0, are 13 clear of third-placed Ipswich.
Barcelona and Lyon consolidated their places in the Women's Champions League as Chelsea climbed to third to also put themselves in position for a quarter-final place. After the penultimate round of league phase matches, the trio make up the top three, with wins on Wednesday serving as reminders of their title credentials. Barca lead the way on 13 points with a strong goal difference after defeating Benfica 3-1 at home as Alexia Putellas scored one and created another.
"We played some good football in the first half today, but the second half was more of a fight and we didn't manage to play our game. "It's difficult to string two or three passes together on this pitch. Union played a lot of long balls and there were a lot of duels. I think it was not an attractive half to watch for neutrals."
Alexander Isak finally scored for Liverpool in the Premier League as Arne Slot's men earned a comfortable 2-0 win over 10-man West Ham at the London Stadium. The Sweden striker coolly slotted home on the hour mark in his sixth top-flight appearance since joining from Newcastle United. Lucas Paqueta got himself needlessly sent off for West Ham with six minutes remaining, before Cody Gakpo netted in injury time as Liverpool ended a run of three straight losses in all competitions.
Oxford United moved out of the relegation zone in the Championship as they beat Ipswich Town 2-1 at The Kassam Stadium. Goals from Mark Harris and Przemyslaw Placheta, either side of a brilliant volley from Leif Davis, saw Oxford move up to 19th in the standings, while Ipswich have missed the chance to go second and put pressure on the surrounding teams ahead of the weekend's action.
Germany were made to rue their missed chances as they drew 0-0 with Spain in the first leg of their Nations League final. The reigning world champions were second best at Fritz-Walter-Stadion, struggling to cope with the speed of Germany's attacks, but a brilliant performance from goalkeeper Cata Coll means Spain can win the competition with a victory in their home leg next week.
Preston looked the more dangerous side in the opening stages, with Lewis Dobbin and Liam Lindsay both going close before Michael Smith and Odeluga Offiah both saw efforts blocked in quick succession. Andrew Hughes tested Aynsley Pears in the Blackburn goal before Offiah had another chance in the box, though this time his strike failed to hit the target, but a frantic end to the first half followed.
Lithuania were caught playing out from the back in the 16th minute, with Tijjani Reijnders spinning to meet Frenkie de Jong's throughball and rifle his effort into the top-left corner. He arguably should have had a second shortly after; he broke through the defence once more, only to bend his outside-of-the-boot shot off the left post. Lithuania offered very little threat, but a second-half collapse ensured there was no way back into the game after Artemijus Tutyskinas was penalised for a handball.
