LeBron James began his final NBA season with a defeat as the Philadelphia 76ers lost 114-108 to the Brooklyn Nets in a pre-season game.
The 41-year-old American joined the 76ers in July, describing the move as his final contract in the NBA after a remarkable career spanning more than two decades.
James scored 10 points, grabbed four rebounds, recorded five assists and made one steal in 18 minutes of action in the first half.
As reported by BBC Sport on Friday, despite the defeat, James remained optimistic about his new team’s prospects, admitting that the players would need time to build chemistry and understand one another on the court.
“We’re still trying to put each other in the position to be successful and complement each other the best way we can on the floor. But it’s going to take some time,” James said.
“Tonight was a good sample size for us to build on.”
James featured alongside new team-mates Joel Embiid, VJ Edgecombe and Tyrese Maxey, while Jaylen Brown led the scoring with 18 points.
The four-time NBA Most Valuable Player joined Philadelphia after spending eight years with the Los Angeles Lakers, having previously played for the Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat.
James has won NBA championships with all three previous franchises, claiming two titles with Miami, one with Cleveland and another with the Lakers.
The league’s all-time leading scorer is preparing for a record-extending 24th NBA season and has been selected for the NBA All-Star Game in each of the previous 22 seasons.
He will now look to help the 76ers end their 43-year wait for an NBA championship as the team continues to develop its understanding ahead of the new campaign.
The President of the Nigeria Wrestling Federation, Bashir Adeniyi, has congratulated Team Nigeria on the country’s first-ever medal at the Veterans World Wrestling Championships in Amman, Jordan.
Elias Mika, a former national champion, became the first Nigerian veteran wrestler to win a medal at the event, taking bronze in the 70kg Greco-Roman category.
The championships, organised by United World Wrestling, run from October 6 to 11 and feature Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling for athletes aged 35 and above.
In a message on behalf of the federation’s board, Adeniyi also praised veteran coach Babatunde James, popularly known as Tunde King, for guiding Mika.
“I congratulate Mapsin Elias Mika and Tunde King on this historic feat. This historic achievement is a moment of immense pride for Nigeria and the entire wrestling community,” he said.
“Their dedication and passion for wrestling, even after retiring from active competition, demonstrate the enduring commitment of our veterans to the development of the sport.”
Adeniyi said the medal had written Nigeria’s name in the record books of world veterans wrestling and strengthened the country’s growing reputation in the sport.
He added that the experience of former athletes could inspire and mentor younger wrestlers.
He disclosed that the federation had deliberately built veteran wrestling into its strategic blueprint to recognise the contributions of former athletes and keep them connected to the sport. He assured veterans that the current board would continue to support their welfare and involvement.
Ten Nigerian players have caught the eye in the weeks before and around the first international break of the season, from Gift Orban and Kelechi Iheanacho’s scoring run in Turkey and Godwin Obaje’s 100-goal landmark at home, PETER AKINBO writes
Calvin Bassey (Fulham)
Bassey has grown from a dependable defender into a leader at Fulham, which makes him one of the most trusted Nigerians in the Premier League.
New head coach Alvaro Arbeloa gave him the matchday captaincy for the club’s opening three league games. “Being able to captain this club is unbelievable,” he said.
The 26-year-old came through the Leicester City academy and has also played for Rangers and Ajax. He has made 105 appearances for Fulham since joining in July 2023, with four goals and one assist. His driving run and shot in the 1-1 draw with Manchester United on September 20 forced a save that led to Fulham’s opening goal.
File; Calvin Bassey
Victor Osimhen (Galatasaray)
Osimhen has made one of the most productive starts to the season of any Nigerian in Europe, as the Turkish champions again built their attack around him.
He found the net in each of Galatasaray’s opening matches and scored six goals in his first four Süper Lig games, including a brace and an assist in the 4-0 win over Erzurumspor. That put him level with Gift Orban at the top of the Turkish scoring charts.
Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen. Photo: Super Eagles
Tolu Arokodare (Ajax)
Arokodare has revived his career in Amsterdam after a difficult spell at Wolves, who were relegated. He scored six goals in 38 appearances for them last season.
He joined Ajax on loan in July, scored on his debut in a pre-season win over Volendam, and then scored in his first two Eredivisie starts, against Telstar and PSV.
By mid-September he had five goals and two assists in 355 minutes, a goal contribution roughly every 71 minutes. The 25-year-old said that scoring goals is his job, and Ajax have an option to make the move permanent.
File: Tolu Arokodare.
Samuel Chukwueze (AC Milan)
After returning from a loan spell at Fulham, Chukwueze has reinvented himself as a right wing-back under new head coach Ruben Amorim, and he is already one of Milan’s most productive creators. He was Man of The Match in the 2-1 win at Torino on the opening weekend, where he set up Adrien Rabiot’s goal and created four chances, more than any other player in the game. He has three assists in his first four league games.
The 27-year-old had three goals and four assists in 26 appearances for Fulham last season. He has said he wants to be Amorim’s first-choice right wing-back.
Samuel Chukwueze
Rasheedat Ajibade (Paris Saint-Germain)
Ajibade is one of the leading Nigerian women in European football, wearing the number 10 shirt at one of the continent’s top clubs. She scored as PSG thrashed Oud-Heverlee Leuven 5-0 in the Women’s Champions League and in their 3-1 win over FC Fleury 91.
The forward joined the French club from Atlético Madrid on a free transfer in August 2025, on a contract until June 2027.
Rasheedat Ajibade
Ola Aina (Nottingham Forest)
Aina is back at international level after almost a year out of football. He returned to the Super Eagles for the 2-1 win over Madagascar in Uyo and delivered a solid performance.
It was his first appearance for Nigeria since the 1-1 draw with South Africa in September 2025, when he picked up an injury on a poor pitch.
He was an unused substitute in the 3-0 defeat in Bissau to avoid injury at the subpar grounds.
File: Ola Aina
Godwin Obaje (Rangers)
Obaje has joined the most exclusive group in the domestic game, and the milestone puts him among the best Nigerian strikers of his generation. He scored his 100th goal in the Nigeria Premier Football League with an 11th-minute penalty in Rangers’ 1-0 win over Warri Wolves in Ozoro on September 30.
He is the second player in the last decade to reach the mark, and Rangers honoured him before their 3-1 win over Abia Warriors on Sunday.
The 30-year-old has scored 25 goals for Wikki Tourists, where he won the 2016 Golden Boot with 18, 16 for FC Ifeanyi Ubah, one for Plateau United, 23 for Abia Warriors and 35 for Rangers.
“I am very happy to be listed among the great legends in the league,” he told PUNCH Sports Extra.
Rangers International striker Godwin Obaje
Gift Orban (Amedspor)
Orban has revived a career that had stalled and put himself in the Super Eagles conversation, with a start that few forwards in Turkey can match. He scored a hat-trick against Başakşehir to take his tally to six goals in five games, and he now has seven in six league matches.
That put him level with Osimhen at the top of the scoring charts and helped newly promoted Amedspor to the top of the Süper Lig table.
The 24-year-old is on loan from Hoffenheim and scored seven goals for Hellas Verona last season. He has yet to make his Super Eagles debut, and he was left out of Éric Chelle’s squad for the September qualifiers.
Iheanacho has rebuilt his career in Turkey and forced his way back into the Super Eagles with sheer goalscoring. He has 11 goals and two assists in nine appearances since joining Bursaspor as a free agent after his Celtic contract expired, and he has scored in every league match he has played. He equalled a Bursaspor record that had stood for 12 years.
The form earned him a recall to the national team after more than 16 months out, as his last cap was in the Unity Cup final on May 31, 2025. He scored in Nigeria’s 3-3 draw with Russia.
Rafiu Durosinmi (Genk)
Durosinmi’s early goal rate has invited comparison with Arokodare and Paul Onuachu, who both thrived at Genk. He has scored five goals in his first six league games since joining from Pisa for a club-record €10.5m.
He scored in each of his first four games, and the 23-year-old wants at least 20 goals this season, following Onuachu and Arokodare, who both won the Belgian Pro League Golden Boot at Genk.
His scoring run ended in the 3-0 defeat by Club Brugge.
Lionel Messi ended his Argentina international career with a goal and two assists as the world champions defeated Benin 3-0 at the Monumental Stadium in Buenos Aires on Tuesday night.
The match, played on October 6, marked Messi’s final appearance for Argentina after a 21-year international career.
Former Nigeria head coach Gernot Rohr was in charge of Benin for the farewell fixture.
According to Inter Miami, Messi provided the assist for Nicolás Otamendi’s opener from a corner in the 48th minute before setting up Nico Paz for Argentina’s second goal in the 61st minute.
Messi then converted a penalty in the 71st minute to complete the 3-0 victory.
Inter Miami reported the match in a report published on October 6, 2026, saying Messi had been “directly involved in each of Argentina’s goals.”
The club described it as Messi’s “final international appearance” and said he finished the night with “a goal and a pair of assists.”
Reuters reported the match at 02:21 UTC on October 7, 2026, saying Messi had brought the curtain down on his international career in front of more than 85,000 spectators.
Speaking after the game, Messi said, according to Reuters: “It’s hard to talk.”
He added: “There are a lot of emotions, a lot of things going through my head.”
Reflecting on his Argentina career, Messi said: “It was a huge source of pride for me to wear this shirt all this time, more than 20 years.”
He also said: “Playing for Argentina is the most beautiful thing that can happen to you.”
Reuters reported that Messi finished his Argentina career as the country’s most-capped player with 208 appearances and its record goalscorer with 126 goals.
The match had been announced by FIFA as Messi’s farewell appearance for Argentina.
In a September 15, 2026 report, FIFA quoted Argentine Football Association president Claudio Tapia as saying: “We invited the world’s best player, our national-team icon, our captain Lionel Andres Messi, to have a deserved farewell here in Argentina.”
Before the match, Benin goalkeeper Marcel Dandjinou told Spanish newspaper Marca that his team would not simply attend the occasion.
Marca published the interview at 04:33 CDT on October 5, 2026.
Asked about playing Messi in his final Argentina match, Dandjinou said: “This is football: eleven against eleven.”
He added: “We are not here to do tourism in Argentina, we are here to play and compete.”
Dandjinou also rejected the idea that Benin would allow Messi to score as part of the farewell.
In the same Marca interview, he said: “I am a goalkeeper, and my role is to stop shots.”
On whether he would try to save a Messi penalty even in the final minute, Dandjinou said: “If Messi takes it, I will try to stop it.”
He added: “Nobody has told us that we have to give him a goal.”
Benin defender Mohamed Tijani also spoke ahead of the match, telling C5N, according to Goal.com in a report published October 6, 2026: “We won’t be marking Messi.”
Tijani added: “We’ll just enjoy this match.”
Benin coach Rohr also spoke about the significance of facing Messi.
In an interview with Footy-Africa published October 6, 2026, Rohr said: “Yes, it’s a big honor for us and also for me like a coach to play this last game of Leo Messi in his national team.”
Rohr previously coached Nigeria at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, where he led the Super Eagles against Argentina.
The Argentina-Benin friendly therefore brought Rohr back into a match involving Messi eight years after the former Nigeria coach faced the Argentine star at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Argentina’s victory brought Messi’s international career to a close with 208 appearances and 126 goals for the national team.
