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Faltan menos de siete meses para que Norteamérica sea sede de la fiebre mundialista, pero aún está prácticamente todo por definirse en esa parte del mapa. Canadá, Estados Unidos y México tienen su boleto asegurado por ser organizadores, pero aún falta conocer a los otros tres clasificados directos de la Concacaf y a los dos que la confederación enviará al repechaje intercontinental. De los 12 seleccionados que llegaron a la última etapa de las Eliminatorias, solo uno, Bermuda, ya no tiene nada por lo que jugar. Para el resto, cada uno de los seis puntos todavía en juego cotizan como oro. De esos 11 combinados nacionales, Jamaica y Honduras son los únicos que podrían asegurar su boleto directo este jueves, pero para eso deben ganar y que sus inmediatos perseguidores tropiecen. Suriname vs. El Salvador (Grupo A) La pequeña excolonia neerlandesa sueña con dar el gran golpe de la Concacaf. Por ahora está en puestos de clasificación directa, pero no puede descuidarse, ya que solo la separa un gol a favor de Panamá y un punto de Guatemala. Tiene una jornada ideal: juega contra la última de la zona y sus dos rivales más cercanos se enfrentan entre sí. 5 p.m. de Miami. 7 p.m. de Buenos Aires. 5 p.m. de Bogotá. 4 p.m. de Ciudad de México. 11 p.m. de Madrid Cómo ver: Concacaf GO y Concacaf YouTube (España, Colombia y Argentina), Azteca Deportes (México) y Paramount+, fuboTV, UNIVERSO NOW, Telemundo Deportes En Vivo, CBS Sports Network y UNIVERSO (Estados Unidos). Trinidad y Tobago vs. Jamaica (Grupo B) Los trinitenses se juegan sus últimas cartas. Están a tres puntos del repechaje y a cuatro del líder, los Reggae Boyz, que si ganan podrían abrochar su pasaje al Mundial, siempre y cuando la sorprendente Curazao no sume de a tres ante Bermuda, algo que parece poco probable. Todo apunta a que habrá una “final” mano a mano en Kingston el próximo martes. 7 p.m. de Miami. 9 p.m. de Buenos Aires. 7 p.m. de Bogotá. 6 p.m. de Ciudad de México. 1 a.m. de Madrid (ya viernes). Cómo ver: Concacaf YouTube (Argentina, Colombia y España), Azteca Deportes (México) y Paramount+ (Estados Unidos). Bermuda vs. Curazao (Grupo B) La “Cenicienta” no quiere despertar de su sueño. Está siendo una eliminatoria más que histórica la de Curazao, pero necesita sí o sí los tres puntos ante la ya eliminada Bermuda para tener una oportunidad frente a Jamaica en la última jornada. Tiene la complicación de que jugará ambos partidos como visitante. 7 p.m. de Miami. 9 p.m. de Buenos Aires. 7 p.m. de Bogotá. 6 p.m. de Ciudad de México. 1 a.m. de Madrid (ya viernes). Cómo ver: Concacaf YouTube (Argentina, Colombia y España), CBS Sports, Paramount+ y Golazo (Estados Unidos), Azteca Deportes (México). Nicaragua vs. Honduras (Grupo C) Los catrachos están ante lo más difícil: dar el golpe definitivo que los deposite en el próximo Mundial. Tienen una chance inmejorable este jueves, cuando visiten a la selección más floja del grupo al mismo tiempo que sus dos perseguidores se miden entre sí. Llegar por delante de Costa Rica al duelo del próximo martes es imperioso para los hondureños. Nicaragua solo puede aspirar a llegar al repechaje, pero para eso necesitará un milagro. 9 p.m. de Miami. 11 p.m. de Buenos Aires. 9 p.m. de Bogotá. 8 p.m. de Ciudad de México. 3 a.m. de Madrid (ya viernes). Cómo ver: Concacaf GO y Concacaf YouTube (Argentina, Colombia, México y España), Paramount+ y Amazon Prime Video (Estados Unidos). Haití vs. Costa Rica (Grupo C) Los haitianos dieron un gran paso atrás con la goleada recibida en Honduras, pero ahora están ante la mejor revancha posible. Jugarán dos partidos seguidos de local, uno ante la segunda del grupo, Costa Rica, y otro ante Nicaragua. La gran desventaja es que su localía se mudó a Curazao, por la violencia que domina a la nación desde hace meses. Los ticos saben que dependen de sí mismos: si vencen a Haití y luego a Honduras, volverán a decir presente en el Mundial. 9 p.m. de Miami. 11 p.m. de Buenos Aires. 9 p.m. de Bogotá. 8 p.m. de…

DALLAS (AP) — Devin Booker had 26 points and nine assists, Grayson Allen scored four of his 23 points in a key late stretch and the Phoenix Suns held off the Dallas Mavericks 123-114 on Wednesday night for their fourth straight victory. Dallas played for the first time since the Tuesday morning firing of general manager Nico Harrison, embattled since making the controversial Feb. 2 trade that sent superstar Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers. Dallas cut an 18-point second-half deficit to three with 1:48 left. Allen took a scoop shot down the lane with Daniel Gafford called for goaltending with 1:25 to go and made two free throws with 24.3 seconds left for a seven-point lead. The Suns are 7-5. They have won six of seven after opening 1-4. Klay Thompson scored 19 points in his fourth straight game off the bench, including a season-high six 3-pointers, for the Mavericks. At 3-9, they are off to their worst start through 12 games since opening 2-10 in 2017-18. Brandon Williams scored 17 points, and Cooper Flagg had 16 for the Mavericks. Dallas led 28-18 late in the first period before Phoenix ran off the final 12 points of the quarter Mavericks forward P.J. Washington Jr. left midway through the first period with a left shoulder strain after scoring six points in five minutes. Dallas was without Anthony Davis, who missed his seventh consecutive game with a strained left calf, and Dereck Lively II, who missed his ninth straight game with a sprained right knee. Up next Suns: Host Indiana on Thursday night. Mavericks: Host the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday night. ___ AP NBA: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NBA Source

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Hannah Hidalgo turned in an epic performance with an NCAA-record 16 steals and a Notre Dame-record 44 points in the No. 18 Fighting Irish’s 85-58 victory over Akron on Wednesday night. The 5-foot-6 junior made 16 of 25 shots, 3 of 6 3-pointers and 9 of 11 free throws in 28 minutes on the court. She had nine rebounds and four assists. Hidalgo’s 16 steals broke the NCAA record held previously by several players, most recently Ticha Penicheiro of Old Dominion in 1998. Notre Dame had 30 steals among Akron’s 38 turnovers, resulting in 41 points. Notre Dame’s 20 turnovers led to 13 points for Akron. Cassandre Prosper scored 14 points for Notre Dame (3-0). Ni’Rah Clark scored 13 points, Shaena Brew 12 and Corinne Reed 11 for the Zips (0-3). Notre Dame led 48-34 at halftime after Hidalgo scored 28 points on 12-for-18 shooting. She scored the first 12 points in a 14-0 run that gave Notre Dame a 41-22 lead midway through the second quarter. She also scored five points in a 9-0 run for a 70-44 lead in the third. NO. 1 UCONN 85, LOYOLA CHICAGO 31 STORRS, Conn. (AP) — KK Arnold and Sarah Strong had 11 points each as UConn rolled past Loyola Chicago. Serah Williams had 10 points, Azzi Fudd had nine points and five of the season-high 25 steals for the Huskies (3-0). Allie Ziebell also scored nine points. Alexa Kinas and Alex-Anne Bessette had seven points for Loyola (1-2). Nine UConn players made a field goal in the first half as the Huskies led 41-14 at halftime. It only got worse for Loyola after halftime. The Ramblers didn’t score for the final 9:46 of the third quarter, after opening the quarter with a 3-pointer by Kinas, and went 11:35 without hitting a field goal. Loyola is the 184th program that UConn has defeated since Geno Auriemma took over as the coach in 1985. Freshmen Blanca Quinonez and Gandy Malou-Mamel made their UConn debuts after missing the first two games of the season. Quinonez had five points, three rebounds and two steals in 14 minutes. Malou-Mamel played the final 1:47, but did not score. NO. 5 LSU 117, CHARLOTTE 59 BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — South Carolina transfer MiLaysia Fulwiley scored 22 points to lead seven Tigers in double figures and LSU surpassed 100 points for the fourth straight game in a victory over Charlotte. The Tigers (4-0), who are averaging 114.5 points with a victory margin of 59.5 per game, are one shy of the school record of consecutive 100-point games. The 2022-23 national championship squad opened the season with five straight 100-point performances. Mikaylah Williams had 18 points, Flau’Jae Johnson 16 and Amiya Joiner 15. Kate Koval, Grace Knox and ZaKiyah Johnson contributed 10 each. Charlotte (2-2) was led by Princess Anderson, who scored 27 points. The 49ers were relatively competitive in the game’s first five minutes, trailing 17-10. But when LSU coach Kim Mulkey replaced her entire starting five during a media timeout with 4:41 left in the first quarter, Fulwiley came off the bench and immediately got busy. NO. 6 OKLAHOMA 89 KANSAS CITY 61 NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Freshman Aaliyah Chavez made 7 of 10 from 3-point range and scored a career high 29 points, and Oklahoma pulled away in the second half to beat Kansas City. Chavez, a consensus five-star recruit, was feeling it early. She scored 15 points on 4-for-5 shooting in the first half, which included two 3-pointers, then kept it going after the break by making 5 of 8 shots from beyond the arc. Payton Verhulst scored 13 points and Sahara Williams added 12 points and eight rebounds for the Sooners (2-1), who were coming off a 73-59 road loss to No. 3 UCLA on Monday night. Elauni Bennett scored 19 points on 7-for-10 shooting with eight rebounds, and Kelby Bannerman and Tierra Trotter added 11 points each for Kansas City (1-2). NO. 13 MISSISSIPPI 94, SOUTHERN 44 OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Christeen Iwuala and Cotie McMahon posted double-doubles and Mississippi routed Southern. Iwuala scored 22 points on 10-for-14 shooting and…

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision that the United States government boycott the Group of 20 summit next weekend in South Africa is “their loss,” South Africa’s leader said Wednesday. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa added that “the United States needs to think again whether boycott politics actually works, because in my experience it doesn’t work.” Trump announced last week on social media that no U.S. government official would attend the Nov. 22-23 meeting of leaders from 19 of the world’s richest and leading developing economies in Johannesburg, citing his widely rejected claims that members of a white minority group in South Africa are being violently persecuted and having their land taken from them because of their race. The U.S. president has for months targeted South Africa’s Black-led government for criticism over that and a range of other issues, including its decision to accuse U.S. ally Israel of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza in an ongoing and highly contentious case at the United Nations’ top court. “It is unfortunate that the United States decided not to attend the G20,” Ramaphosa told reporters outside the South African Parliament. “The United States by not being at the G20, one must never think that we are not going to go on with the G20. The G20 will go on, all other heads of state will be here. In the end we will take fundamental decisions and their absence is their loss.” Ramaphosa added that the U.S. is “giving up the very important role that they should be playing as the biggest economy in the world.” Trump previously confronted Ramaphosa with his baseless claims that the Afrikaner white minority in South Africa were being killed in widespread attacks when the leaders met at the White House in May. At that meeting, Ramaphosa lobbied for Trump to attend this month’s G20 summit, the first to be held in Africa. The G20 was formed in 1999 to bring rich and developing countries together to address issues affecting the global economy and international development. The U.S., China, Russia, India, Japan, France, Germany, the U.K. and the European Union are all members. The U.S. is due to take over the rotating presidency of the G20 from South Africa at the end of the year. Trump said on Truth Social last week that it was “a total disgrace that the G20 will be held in South Africa” and claimed Afrikaners “are being killed and slaughtered, and their land and farms are being illegally confiscated.” Trump had already said he would not attend the summit, but Vice President JD Vance was expected to represent the U.S. Trump’s claims about anti-white violence and persecution in South Africa have reflected those made previously by conservative media commentators in the U.S. as far back as 2018. Trump and others, including South African-born Elon Musk, have also accused South Africa’s government of being racist against whites because of its affirmative action laws that aim to advance opportunities for the Black majority who were oppressed under the former apartheid system of racial segregation. Ramaphosa’s government has said the comments are the result of misinformation and a lack of understanding of South Africa. Relations between the U.S. and its biggest trading partner in Africa are at their lowest since the end of apartheid in 1994, and Washington expelled the South African ambassador to the U.S. in March over comments he made regarding Trump. The Trump administration has criticized South Africa’s hosting of the G20 from the outset, with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio skipping a G20 foreign ministers meeting in South Africa in February while calling the host’s policies “anti-Americanism” and deriding its focus on issues like climate change and global inequality. ___ AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa Source