The Super Eagles of Nigeria have failed to qualify for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations after falling to a 1-0 defeat in Egypt in their Group G match on Tuesday. With just one game remaining and only the group winners to qualify, Nigeria cannot make up their five-point deficit to table-toppers Egypt. Ramadan Sobhy’s 65th-minute winner puts Egypt on the verge of qualification. Egypt face Tanzania in June and will book their place in Gabon with any result better than a 3-0 defeat. Tuesday’s match in Alexandria became a virtually all-or-nothing tie after Chad withdrew from the group on Sunday, citing financial difficulties, and all results from their matches them were erased. That left only three teams in Group G and in accordance with the rules of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) only the winner would qualify for the finals.

Serena Williams is out of Miami Open after losing 6-7 (3-7) 6-1 6-2 to Russian 15th seed Svetlana Kuznetsov in the fourth round. It was the 34-year-old American’s joint earliest exit from the tournament, which she has won eight times. “The players come out and play me like they’ve never played before in their lives,” said Williams, who had not lost in Miami since 2012. She has now not won a tournament since August, when she claimed the 69th title of her career, in Cincinnati.

Bayern Munich will continue to reap the benefits of manager Pep Guardiola’s coaching even after the Spaniard leaves the club at the end of the season to take charge of Manchester City, midfielder Xabi Alonso says. “Pep is ahead of his time. He is very demanding of himself and his players, but once you get to know [his style], then it is the way we like to play,” Alonso told Sky Sports. “During his time here he has built something, a style of play, I think many players will have learnt a lot and improved and for sure those fundamentals will be very useful in the future as well.” The Spaniard, who will be replaced at Bayern by Italian Carlo Ancelotti, looks set to lift his third successive Bundesliga in his final season – Bayern hold a five-point lead over Borussia Dortmund with seven games remaining.

Togo forward Emmanuel Adebayor has joined up with the national squad for their African Nations Cup qualifier against Tunisia, ending his exile from international football. The 32-year-old last played for Togo in June 2015 and has not been picked since failing to turn up for an African Nations Cup qualifier against Djibouti in September. Adebayor, who has a stormy relationship with Togo coach Tom Saintfiet, took to Facebook this month to turn down the chance to play for his country after he was named in the squad for Tuesday’s game against Tunisia. But it appears he has had a change of heart after meeting officials from his country’s football federation. ‘Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress and working together brings success,’ Adebayor posted on Facebook on Tuesday. ‘Let’s go get this win together boys! May God be with us today.’ Secretary general for the Togolese Football Federation Pierre Lamadokou added: ‘Adebayor joined the national team after negotiations with FTF officials. He trained just like his team mates.’

Sunday 27th March, 2016:

Sunshine Stars 2 – 1 Shooting stars

Ikorodu United 2 – 3 Rivers United

Heartland 2 – 0 Giwa

Enugu Rangers 2 – 0 Enyimba

Wikki Tourists 0 – 0 Akwa United

El-Kanemi Warriors 3 – 0 Nasarawa United

Kano Pillars 2 – 0 Ifeanyi Ubah

Plateau United 1 – 1 MFM

Warri Wolves 0 – 0 Lobi Stars

Abia Warriors 1 – 0 Niger Tornadoes

England hosted and won the world cup in 1966. Less than four months before the tournament was due to begin, the English FA was left panicking over the theft of the World Cup trophy. The Jules Rimet trophy was on display at a stamp exhibition in central London but on Sunday, 20 March – just the second day it was on show – it was taken from its case in Westminster’s Central Hall. With the security guards absent on a break, the exact circumstances of how the cup was taken remain a mystery. “The idea there were people by the display case all the time is just not true,” said Doctor Martin Atherton, author of the book ‘The Theft of the Jules Rimet Trophy’. “The whole thing was amateurish – the fact the FA let the trophy out, the security arrangements and the whole recovery of the trophy. “It came out one of the security guards was 74 years old or something. The security was quite inadequate. “We think two people broke in through an emergency exit, took the trophy and walked out again.”

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An EgyptAir airliner has been hijacked and forced to divert to Larnaca airport on the south coast of Cyprus. Flight MS181, an Airbus A320 carrying 81 passengers from Alexandria to Cairo, was taken over after a passenger said he was wearing an explosives belt. EgyptAir said negotiations had resulted in the release of all those on board apart from the crew and four passengers. No demands have been made by those in control of the plane. Larnaca airport has been closed and scheduled flights diverted elsewhere.

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