ISLAMABAD: Renowned climber Salman Ateeque on Thursday successfully scaled Mount Everest, becoming the 13th Pakistani to reach the world’s highest peak.

Ateeque reached the 8,849-metre summit at approximately 11:39am during the ongoing 2026 Himalayan climbing season, which has drawn hundreds of climbers from across the world.

Around 464 climbing permits were issued this season to mountaineers from 80 countries, with the largest contingents coming from China and India, said sources privy to the matter.

Ateeque was reportedly the only Pakistani climber to obtain an Everest permit this year.

The climber, who has a professional background in electrical engineering and over two decades of experience in the telecommunications sector, previously summited Mount Manaslu — the world’s eighth-highest mountain — in Nepal last year.

Officials familiar with the expedition said Ateeque successfully navigated the hazardous Khumbu Icefall and made his summit push during a favourable weather window.

His ascent adds another chapter to Pakistan’s growing presence in high-altitude mountaineering.

It is pertinent to mention here that Nazir Sabir became the first Pakistani to summit Everest in 2000, while Samina Baig made history in 2013 as the first Pakistani woman to reach the top of the mountain.

Other notable Pakistani Everest summiteers include Hassan Sadpara, Mirza Ali Baig, Abdul Jabbar Bhatti, Shehroze Kashif, Sirbaz Khan, Sajid Ali Sadpara, Naila Kiani, Wajidullah Nagri, Abdul Joshi and Saad Bin Munawar.

Sirbaz Khan is recognised as the first Pakistani to scale all 14 peaks above 8,000 metres, while Sajid Ali Sadpara became the first Pakistani to summit Everest without supplemental oxygen.

The Pakistani mountaineering community and sports enthusiasts are now awaiting Ateeque’s safe descent to Everest Base Camp following the successful summit.

Veteran goalkeeper Manuel Neuer was handed a surprise recall to Germany’s 26-man World Cup squad on Thursday, coming out of international retirement to play in the tournament for a fifth time.

The 40-year-old retired from international duty in 2024 but coach Julian Nagelsmann confirmed the World Cup winner will be the number one option ahead of Oliver Baumann at this summer’s tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

“Everyone knows the aura and quality Manu has, what he brings to a team,” Nagelsmann said at a squad announcement in Frankfurt.

“We’re planning with him as our number one.”

Joshua Kimmich will retain the captaincy despite the long-time skipper’s return.

Former Manchester City and Bayern winger Leroy Sane, now at Galatasaray, has retained his spot.

Bayern Munich’s Neuer is the only remaining member of the squad that won the World Cup in 2014.

Matthias Ginter, another 2014 World Cup winner who was instrumental in Freiburg’s run to the Europa League final, failed to make the cut, with Newcastle’s Malick Thiaw preferred in central defence.

Bayern goalkeeper Jonas Urbig was dropped from the squad after being called up for the March friendlies, but will travel with the side to help in training during the tournament.

Munich’s Jamal Musiala returns to the squad after missing Germany’s March friendlies as he recovered from a broken ankle.

Nagelsmann named a Premier League-heavy attacking contingent, which includes freshly minted English Premier League champion Kai Havertz of Arsenal, Liverpool’s Florian Wirtz and Newcastle’s Nick Woltemade.

Bayern youngster Lennart Karl, 18, was also called up to a major tournament for the first time.

Germany’s World Cup struggles

As expected, Bayern forward Serge Gnabry misses out with a thigh injury, as does Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen. Recent regulars Niclas Fuellkrug and Robert Andrich were not called up.

The German FA (DFB) began sharing video snippets announcing the squad player by player on social media early on Thursday, with Kimmich the first confirmed.

Neuer was the standout player as Germany won their fourth World Cup in 2014, but since then the team’s form has plummeted.

Germany crashed out at the World Cup group stage in 2018 for the first time since 1938 and repeated the feat four years later in Qatar.

The Germans have not fared much better in other international tournaments. Since making the semi-finals of Euro 2016, Germany have won just one knockout game in the tournament— a 2-0 success against Denmark on home soil at Euro 2024.

Neuer has impressed this season for Bayern, winning man-of-the-match honours in the quarter-final victory over Real Madrid, but comes into the tournament under an injury cloud due to a recurring calf complaint.

He is in doubt for Saturday’s German Cup final against Stuttgart in Berlin.

The Germans will have one final match on home soil, against Finland on May 31, before facing World Cup co-hosts the United States in Chicago on June 6.

Germany will be based in North Carolina during the tournament.

They are in Group C alongside debutants Curacao, the Ivory Coast and Ecuador.

Germany squad:

Goalkeepers: Oliver Baumann (Hoffenheim), Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Alexander Nuebel (Stuttgart)

Defenders: Waldemar Anton (Borussia Dortmund), Nathaniel Brown (Eintracht Frankfurt), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), David Raum (RB Leipzig), Antonio Rudiger (Real Madrid), Nico Schlotterbeck (Borussia Dortmund), Jonathan Tah (Bayern Munich), Malick Thiaw (Newcastle/ENG)

Midfielders: Nadiem Amiri (Mainz), Leon Goretzka (Bayern Munich), Pascal Gross (Brighton and Hove Albion/ENG), Jamie Leweling (Stuttgart), Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich), Felix Nmecha (Borussia Dortmund), Aleksandar Pavlovic (Bayern Munich), Angelo Stiller (Stuttgart), Florian Wirtz (Liverpool/ENG)

Forwards: Maximilian Beier (Borussia Dortmund), Kai Havertz (Arsenal/ENG), Lennart Karl (Bayern Munich), Leroy Sane (Galatasaray/TUR), Deniz Undav (Stuttgart), Nick Woltemade

Juventus’ season is at risk of turning into a disaster ahead of Sunday’s fraught Turin derby which could end with their absence from next season’s Champions League.

In one of Europe’s most one-sided derbies Juve have not lost to Torino in 11 years but the pressure is on for a victory over their local rivals whose mid-table position in Italy’s top flight does not reflect their ability to make things difficult for the big guns.

Juve had looked set for a top-four finish but a damaging 2-0 home defeat to Fiorentina has left Luciano Spalletti’s team sixth and needing a helping hand to reach the Champions League even with a win over Torino.

Spalletti was hired in October with Juve in seventh to ensure the club’s objective for the season, and missing out on Champions League money will have a big impact on movements in the close season.

Two points separate Juve from fourth-placed Roma, who head to relegated Verona, and AC Milan who sit third ahead of their match with Cagliari at the San Siro.

Also in Juve’s way are fifth-placed Como, who host Cremonese in a match which will have a say in both the Champions League race and who will go down down to Serie B with Pisa and Verona.

Jamie Vardy’s Cremonese sit just inside the drop zone, one point behind Lecce who welcome Genoa.

Milan were deep in crisis before last weekend’s key win at Genoa put the seven-time European champions in pole position to return to Europe’s top club competition, with Cagliari having ensured safety last weekend.

Over 70,000 fans are set to pack the San Siro and generate a radically different atmosphere to the last time their team played at home, when the stands emptied in protest at going three goals down against Atalanta.

That defeat caused Milan’s owner Gerry Cardinale to publicly defend himself from fan criticism of him being more interested in profits than on-field results, hinting big changes are expected this summer.

Antonio Conte is set to take charge of his last Napoli match on Sunday in one of the weekend’s five dead rubbers, with Udinese rolling south to Naples with nothing to play for.

Napoli secured Champions League football last weekend and Conte is widely expected to leave southern Italy’s biggest club for a second spell in charge of the country’s beleaguered national team.

The name of the new Italy coach will only be made public after the election of a new football federation president on June 22, a couple of weeks after friendlies with Luxembourg and Greece.

Player to watch: Luka Modric

Star midfielder Modric was expected to miss the rest of the Serie A season after suffering a fractured cheekbone in a clash of heads with Juve midfielder Manuel Locatelli last month.

But less than a month after surgery on the injury, which at the time AFP was told would keep him out of action until this summer’s World Cup, Modric is near-certain to start at the San Siro.

The Croatia captain has been training this week with a face mask and, save for any accidents, he will be in Allegri’s starting XI against Cagliari.
Modric has an option to stay on at Milan for one more season after what will be the 40-year-old’s last World Cup.