The Fifa World Cup is done and dusted and with it came to a close a historic eight-team participation from Arab countries.
But while the football action may be over in North America, there is still plenty of sport to follow for the rest of the year, and many Arab performances to look forward to.
This week, Saudi Arabia claimed its first-ever medal at a fencing world championship, thanks to the efforts of Khalifah Alomairi, who took bronze in individual epee at the 2026 World Fencing Championships that wrapped up on Thursday in Hong Kong.
Egypt also made the podium twice, claiming bronze in team epee, courtesy of Olympic medallist Mohamed El Sayed’s medal-clinching victory, after Mohamed Amer took bronze earlier in individual sabre.
Meanwhile in football, Morocco, Algeria and Egypt are all taking part in the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, which kicked off in Rabat last Sunday and will conclude on August 16 (fans in the Mena region can watch the games on Tod or beIN Sports).
Morocco are among the favourites, having reached the final in the two previous editions of the Wafcon, and they started strongly, with an emphatic 4-0 battering of Kenya followed up by a 1-0 win over Algeria.
In athletics, Morocco’s Soufiane El Bakkali continues his quest for the 3,000m steeplechase world record, which is the two-time Olympic champion’s main goal for the year.
El Bakkali has already won all three races he contested in the Diamond League so far, taking gold in the stops in Rabat, Stockholm, and Doha, but his world-leading time of 7:57.25, which he clocked on home soil end of May, is still well off of Lamech Girma’s 7:52.11 world record.
There are still four more Diamond League events scheduled this season, and El Bakkali’s attempt to break the record is far from over. Others to keep an eye on at upcoming meets include Algeria’s Yasser Mohammed Triki in the triple jump, Egypt’s Bassant Hemida in the 400m, and Tunisia’s Marwa Bouzayani in the 3,000m steeplechase.
The Diamond League concludes with a two-day season finale in Brussels on September 4-5 (aired on Al Kass Sports).
In tennis, the US Open (broadcast on Tod and beIN Sports) will wrap up the Grand Slam season with a week of qualifying, followed by two weeks of main draw action, from August 23 to September 13.
Egypt’s Mayar Sherif has been on a roll, rising from 129 to 50 in the world rankings in less than two months, and will be contesting the US Open main draw for a sixth consecutive year.
In men’s qualifying, Tunisia’s Moez Echargui leads the Arab charge and will be hoping to punch his ticket to a Grand Slam main draw for the first time in his career, after coming ever so close at Wimbledon last month.
This weekend in Abu Dhabi, the 2026 Jiu-Jitsu World Championship will commence at Mubadala Arena and will take place from August 1 to 9.
UAE fighters will be among the contenders, including Asian champions Asma Al Hosani and Shamma Al Kalbani, plus world champion Saeed Al Kubaisi.
In October, the Artistic Gymnastics World Championship will take centre stage in Rotterdam, where Algerian Olympic champion Kayla Nemour will seek a second consecutive uneven bars world title.
In December, the World Aquatics Swimming Championships (25m) will take place in Beijing and will offer a total prize pool of at least $2,025,000 to the best-performing swimmers and relay teams.
The entry lists haven’t been released yet but if schedules align, Tunisian world champions Ahmed Jaouadi and Ayoub Hafnaoui – who are both on the swim team of the University of Florida – would be among the top contenders in the distance events.
