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U-20 Women’s World Cup: Tanzanite Queens drawn against Brazil, Canada and England
The Tanzania U-20 women’s national team have discovered their opponents for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Poland 2026 after the official draw placed the Tanzanite Queens in a challenging Group B alongside Brazil, Canada and England.
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The draw for the global tournament was conducted on May 15 in Łódź, Poland, with 24 nations divided into six groups ahead of the competition scheduled to run from September 5 to September 27, 2026.
Tanzania will head into the tournament as one of Africa’s representatives after making history by becoming the first East African nation to qualify for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.
Despite being tournament debutants, Tanzanite Queens now face a major test against some of the strongest teams in women’s football. Brazil are considered among the favorites for the title due to their rich football history and consistent performances at youth level, while England and Canada also arrive with strong international experience.
The draw has already generated excitement among Tanzanian football fans, with many eager to see how the young squad will perform on the world stage against elite opposition.
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Hosts Poland were drawn in Group A together with Argentina, Mexico and Benin. Group C features France, Korea Republic, Ecuador and Ghana. In Group D, Japan will battle New Zealand, the United States and Italy.
Defending champions Korea DPR headline Group E alongside Portugal, Costa Rica and Colombia. Meanwhile, Group F includes former champions Spain, Nigeria, New Caledonia and China PR.
According to the tournament format, the top two teams from each group, together with the four best third-placed teams, will qualify for the knockout stage.
For Tanzanite Queens, the draw marks another important moment in their remarkable journey, as the team prepares to represent Tanzania and East Africa on the biggest stage in youth women’s football.
SA teams set to ditch key competition
Ever since South African rugby made the decision to leave Super Rugby and join northern hemisphere competitions, there have been mixed results and news.
For the most part, the move into the URC has been well received and resulted in some epic matches. However, the Champions Cup – despite being such an elite competition – has not always delivered the contests expected.
Due to the overlapping competitions, intense travel schedule and player workloads, it’s now reported that SA Rugby are likely to withdraw teams from the Champions Cup, as well as the lower tier Challenge Cup.
With South African sides having consistently struggled to make it into the latter stages of the competition, often sending weakened teams into action, it quite simply hasn’t worked out as expected.
Goodbye to Champions Cup action for SA teams
President of SA Rugby, Mark Alexander, addressed the media this week and implied some big changes were coming.
“We had a meeting two months ago, and we’ve had this (global calendar) discussion for the last 14 years,” Alexander said.
“Every time, the same things get put on the table. The problem is, if you go with a blank sheet of paper, and everyone agrees that something must give, and everyone gives something… from there, you can find a common calendar for club rugby and international rugby.
“But that’s not happening. That’s why we now have to take a look at it. We can’t wait for the higher-ups to make that decision because there are too many variables.
“We as an organisation have to decide which (tournaments) we are going to play in and how we are going to create an opportunity for our players to enjoy some downtime.
“The players are our most important asset, but we’re burning them out.”
Other news to note
SA Rugby spent a quarter of its total income directly on the Springboks, Springbok Women, Springboks Sevens, Junior Boks and other national teams in 2025, according to the Annual Financial Statements, which were presented to member unions at Thursday’s Annual General Meeting in Cape Town.
SA Rugby’s group revenues increased by 29% from R1.5bn in 2024 to R2bn in 2025 with R500m spent directly on the Springboks (R281m) and the High-Performance Department (R221m) into which all other national teams fall.
Oberholzer said: “With new competitions in the offing, our conversion to shareholder status of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship and a digital transformation strategy to optimise fan engagement and present new commercial opportunities, we know we are firmly on the right track.
“We have reset the business across event delivery, digitization, commercialization, high performance and participation and development over the last two years to build a business platform into the medium and long term.
“Financial sustainability remains an on-going challenge and focus for the global as well as the South African rugby ecosystem, but we believe we are building strong foundations to meet those challenges.”
Ninjas in Pyjamas notifies all Swedish staff as Abu Dhabi shift deepens
Ninjas in Pyjamas, one of Sweden’s most recognizable esports organizations, may be close to cutting its final major operational ties to the country.
According to Expressen, NIP notified all employees in Sweden during a meeting at the organization’s Stockholm office on Thursday. The report says the Swedish operation is expected to be handled from Abu Dhabi, where NIP already has its global headquarters.
NIP Group CEO Hicham Chahine told Expressen that the company is reviewing parts of its operational structure as part of its wider international business.
“We are currently reviewing parts of our operational structure as part of our broader international operations,” Chahine said in a statement to Expressen. “This review includes planned changes related to certain roles and functions. No final decisions have been made and the relevant process is ongoing.”
Chahine also said the company will continue to maintain existing esports-related facilities and activities as part of its operating structure. He declined to comment on individual employment matters out of respect for employees.
Core operations could move to Abu Dhabi
Expressen also reports that it has seen an email sent to NIP employees after the meeting. In the email, staff are told that the company is considering moving core operations to the global headquarters in Abu Dhabi. The Swedish office would only continue to exist for certain purposes, such as bootcamps before tournaments.
“This means that you are at risk of being made redundant from your role. No final decisions have been made,” the email reportedly says.
Union negotiations are now expected to begin.
The development follows a gradual shift away from Sweden for NIP. According to Expressen, more parts of the organization have been moved to Abu Dhabi over the past two years. The outlet reports that this is linked to a five-year agreement with the Emirati government worth up to SEK 440 million.
Expressen has also reported that NIP previously tried to convince players on its Counter-Strike team to relocate to the United Arab Emirates. The players rejected the proposal, according to the report, due to concerns that Abu Dhabi offered weaker development opportunities than Europe.
The reported notice does not mean that the Swedish staff have already been dismissed. Both Chahine’s statement and the reported employee email say no final decisions have been made. Still, the move marks a major moment for an organization long tied to Swedish esports history.
NIP was founded in Sweden and remains one of the country’s best-known esports names. If the proposed changes go through, the organization’s Swedish presence could be reduced to a limited support role while its central operations continue to move abroad.
Dobbo: Cardiff’s desperation meant more
John Dobson admitted the Stormers were outplayed by a more desperate Cardiff side after Friday night’s 22-16 Vodacom URC defeat at the Arms Park.
The loss is likely to cost the Cape side a top-two finish and the chance to host a potential semi-final.
Dobson cut a frustrated figure after the match and conceded his team failed to match Cardiff’s intensity in a contest the Welsh side simply wanted more.
REPORT: Cardiff outmuscle faltering Stormers, Lions qualify
“A very disappointing performance,” Dobson said.
“We give Cardiff all the credit they deserve – they were desperate – and I’m sorry that their desperation meant more to them than our chance to host a series of playoffs in Cape Town.
“I thought their attack and defence was very good. They put us under pressure defensively, got yards on us, very clever attack, and they were just really desperate.”
The Stormers enjoyed long periods of dominance, particularly in the set-pieces, but again failed to turn pressure into points.
It was a familiar theme after last week’s 38-38 draw against Ulster, where the Stormers also squandered several scoring opportunities.
“We had lots of areas of dominance and lots of opportunities that we probably wasted, very similar to last week,” Dobson said.
“Failure to convert when we were five metres out and the fact that we didn’t get a behaviour change there, is a problem for us.”
REPORT: Pumas hold off Cheetahs to reach SA Cup final
Despite the setback, the Stormers remain in the top four and will host a quarter-final in Cape Town.
Dobson, however, warned that a major improvement will be needed if they are to mount a serious challenge for their second URC title.
“We’re going to have to regroup,” he said. “We know what’s in this group and we’ll regroup quickly.
“We’re a very bruised team who were beaten by the better team on the night and we’ll have to do much better than this in the quarter-final.”
Photo: Kian Abdullah/Gallo Images
The post Dobbo: Cardiff’s desperation meant more appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
“Get a job already”: FGC begs Mew2King to get a job, but he isn’t the only esports pro suffering
The Super Smash Bros. esports scene is notoriously broke. The tournaments are often crowdfunded, with prize pools reaching only a few thousand. This hasn’t stopped players from grinding Melee for hours every single day, which is what makes the scene special… And maybe a bit stupid.
One of the most notorious examples of the Smash scene’s lack of career paths? Jason “Mew2King” Zimmerman. Whether competing, coaching, or streaming, Mew2King can’t seem to make a living in Smash, despite dedicating his entire life to the scene.
The Smash community has been worried about Mew2King for quite some time now. He’s gone through a lot of emotional trauma, bullying, and hardship. Through it all, he has continued to stay focused on Smash, a scene where he has spent the majority of his life deeply analyzing the mechanics more than anyone.
While he was competing, Mew2King was dropped by Echo Fox. He no longer had a sponsor flying him to events or paying him a steady salary. Instead, Mew2King was relying on streaming and coaching, which has never really gone well for him.
In January 2026, it was revealed that he earned only $2 per hour while streaming on Twitch. Even Juan “Hungrybox” DeBiedma urged him to get a part-time job at that point. A job in the real world.
Mew2King had no interest: “I’m just gonna do what I love, which is gaming. I’m just gonna do that forever.”
However, things have gotten even worse going into May 2026.
Mew2King Begs For Smash Community’s Help
StreamElements announced it will be shutting down this month, leaving Mew2King begging his fans for help. For the past two to three years, StreamElements has been 40% of his income, according to a Google Doc the pro released on the urgent matter.
Despite the shutdown, Mew2King said he will be continuing to stream full-time and coach. However, he also told his fans that he is offering free coaching if they will sponsor him in Marvel Strike Force, a mobile game. He also begged fans to subscribe to him on Twitch or even do some Twitch Raids.
Meanwhile, he has cut down on ads on Twitch. The Smash player came under fire earlier this year when he was accused of running a crapton of ads on his streams, making them unbearable. Of course, this was to make a bit more money. The backlash, however, caused him to lose viewers.
“I have limited options now, sadly, for livelihood,” he said.
The desperation brought out the trolls.
One reply said: “Get a f***ing job already. You can’t be a loser for three decades straight. The Melee train is over, you squeezed all you could out of it, and look at how long it lasted. Now it’s time to get back to the real world and live in reality, which is working 8 hours a day every day.”
A nicer reply added: “You really should find a part-time job. You can pursue your passion for gaming while making some money on the side.”
It should be noted that Mew2King is not currently independent. He has Asperger’s Syndrome and has discussed having a caretaker in the past. I’m not sure what his current situation is, but I’m assuming he would have a tough time finding a well-paying job, although a part-time job could maybe be possible depending what it is.
Either way, I think the real topic here isn’t Mew2King’s exact situation, but the state of Smash, and esports in general.
Esports May Not Be a Viable Career Anymore
It feels like esports is dying.
Most scenes are not financially stable. While some appear successful from the outside, with high player salaries and large prize pools, the actual organizations are suffering as a result. And it’s far more common for scenes to not have any money at all, relying on sponsors and Saudi Arabia to survive. Even Street Fighter 6’s massive Capcom Cup only has a $1 million prize pool because the rest of the circuit has almost no money on the line.
The last time I brought up Mew2King’s predicament, I mentioned that Hungrybox had a full-time engineering job even when he was at the height of his pro career. He was traveling to tournaments and winning, but he was also working a “real” job to survive. Now, Hungrybox is part-owner of Team Liquid and has other sources of income. But competing itself didn’t help him financially.
It’s sad. High school esports clubs are still selling the dream that esports is a career path. Colleges have esports programs now. But there is no money or stability once you’re out there in the real world. Very few esports pros are making bank. Most college students in esports programs will likely never become coaches for major organizations or top players in a Tier 1 league.
Not all esports pay well, but the ones that do require you to be in the top 0.1% to get anywhere near a six-figure salary.
But it’s not only because most people suck too much to be in that 0.1%. It’s because there are not that many opportunities. In fact, the opportunities keep dwindling. Organizations are dropping out of titles left and right. Some organizations are packing it up completely. Players and talent are often owed money for months, even years. BLEED Esports currently owes over $300,000 in unpaid salaries.
Seeing someone dedicate their entire life to a competitive scene, including competing at a top level and coaching other top players, and be completely broke as a result is a wake-up call. Other competitors may not be in the same exact boat just yet, but it does shine a light on the fact that competing in esports is still a passion industry. You’re not likely to make much money, if any at all. You’re there for the love of the game.
Unfortunately, many of these top players don’t have time for a full-time job, so they turn to streaming as a side hustle. They are grinding 10-plus hours a day with their team. However, I think Mew2King could spare a few hours. It’s just sad that it has come to this. It’s beyond clear at this point: You won’t make money playing esports unless you’re the top 0.1% of the more popular titles.
And even then, your time is limited. Paying those top player salaries comes at the expense of the organization, which will eventually shut down due to a lack of funding and profit. This leaves players without an org and even fewer options.
On Reddit, one esports fan asked why esports teams have no money. The best answer? “If you spend a lot of money without making any money, you would also have little money.”
The post “Get a job already”: FGC begs Mew2King to get a job, but he isn’t the only esports pro suffering appeared first on Esports Insider.