Charleston has hired Akron‘s John Groce as its next men’s basketball coach, the school announced Monday.

“John Groce is one of the most decorated Head Coaches in the country. He and his staff made a tremendous impact on the Akron community during their nine seasons at the helm. The winning speaks for itself but his leadership of men and his passion for people is what impresses us the most,” athletic director Matt Roberts said in a statement. “We are excited to welcome John, his wife Allison and their three children Conner, Camden and Cate to the Charleston community. It’s a great day to be a Cougar!”

Groce, who informed his Akron team about his departure Monday, has been one of the most successful mid-major coaches over the past five years, leading the Zips to four NCAA tournament berths. He has won one Mid-American Conference regular-season title in those five years but is a remarkable 13-1 in conference tournament games with four championships.

Over that span, Groce went 127-45, including 57 wins and a 34-2 record against MAC opponents over the past two seasons. He has been at Akron for nine seasons, also winning a regular-season title in 2020 before the conference tournament was canceled because of the pandemic.

Before taking over for Keith Dambrot in 2017, Groce was the coach at Illinois for five seasons. He won 20 games three times, advancing to the second round of the NCAA tournament in 2013, his first season at the helm.

Groce also spent four seasons as coach at Ohio from 2008 to 2012, bringing the Bobcats to a pair of NCAA tournaments. He began his coaching career on staffs at NC State, Butler, Xavier and Ohio State, the latter three schools under Thad Matta.

At Charleston, Groce replaces Chris Mack, who left last week for the vacancy at South Florida. The school said Groce’s contract is for five years.

Poland enter Tuesday’s World Cup playoff final against Sweden seeking to end a winless run on Swedish soil that stretches back ‌nearly a century.
The match at the sold-out Strawberry Arena in Solna is a winner-takes-all clash for a place in the tournament finals in North America and for Poland, it offers a chance to end a dismal sequence of results, having not won in Sweden since a 3-0 friendly victory in Stockholm in 1930.
Since then, Poland have endured eight losses and two draws in Sweden.
“It depends on whether ⁠we look at the statistics,” Poland coach Jan Urban told reporters earlier in the week when asked if the winless streak would have an impact on Tuesday’s match. “Apparently, it has been nearly 100 years since we won a match in Sweden. This will be a completely different encounter.”
While Sweden hold the historical edge, Poland can draw confidence from more recent events.
The two nations met in the 2022 World Cup playoffs, with Poland earning a 2-0 victory at home in Chorzow to secure their spot in Qatar.
SWEDEN HIT FORM
After a disappointing qualifying campaign, Sweden are showing signs of improvement under new coach Graham Potter, beating Ukraine 3-1 in their playoff semi-final ‌while ⁠Poland fought to a 2-1 win over Albania.
“On paper, Sweden are the strongest team in this bracket,” Urban told reporters on Monday. “Potter’s team confirmed their quality against Ukraine, but many unknowns remain. We don’t yet know how they will behave in a more difficult scenario – for example, if they are trailing.”
The match could mark the end of an era for Poland’s ⁠experienced core.
Captain Robert Lewandowski, 37, has indicated he is approaching the final stage of his career, while midfielder Piotr Zielinski, 31, remains a key figure.
“I’m not afraid to end my career because I’m starting to prepare for it, to prepare ⁠things I can do after football,” Lewandowski said in January. “I know it’s a very important part of my life, but it’s not everything.”
Failure to qualify would likely trigger an immediate overhaul of the national side, signalling ⁠the end for a generation that made Poland a fixture at major tournaments.
“The World Cup is the most important tournament in every footballer’s career. Tomorrow we’ll play a decisive match to fulfil our dreams and write more history,” winger Jakub Kaminski said. 

The 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup kicks off on June 11 when co-hosts Mexico play South Africa in Mexico City, but six qualification places are still up for grabs in the European and intercontinental playoffs.

The final qualified teams will be confirmed Tuesday with four European nations and the winners of the two intercontinental playoff finals sealing their spot in the Canada, Mexico and the United America this summer.

Kosovo will host Türkiye attempting to reach their first World Cup, and four-time world champions Italy must win at Bosnia and Herzegovina to avoid missing out on the finals for the third successive tournament.

Iraq (1986), Congo DR (as Zaire in 1974), Bolivia (1994) and Türkiye (2002) are all looking to end lengthy absences from the World Cup, but who will be victorious in the six qualification finals?

– World Cup: Who has qualified, and how the rest can make it
– USMNT handed reality check by Belgium ahead of World Cup
– Cost of the World Cup: The price tag to follow your team to glory

EUROPE

PATH A
Winner enters World Cup Group B (Canada, Qatar, Switzerland)

Bosnia and Herzegovina vs. Italy (Zenica, Bosnia): Edin Dzeko‘s 86th-minute goal against Wales in Cardiff was the lifeline Bosnia needed to stay in the semifinal and take the game to penalties, which ended with a 4-2 shootout win for Sergej Barbarez’s team. At 40 years old, former Manchester City, AS Roma and Inter Milan striker Dzeko will become one of the oldest outfield players to appear at a World Cup if he can inspire Bosnia again in the final, but Italy will go into the game as strong favorites.

Gennaro Gattuso’s team overcame a nervous start to beat Northern Ireland 2-0 on Bergamo in Thursday’s semifinal and that victory has boosted morale in Italy following playoff heartbreak in 2018 and 2022. Bosnia have home advantage in Zenica at the hostile Stadium Bilino Polje, but Italy have the pedigree of Gianluigi Donnarumma, Sandro Tonali and Manuel Locatelli, so they will have no excuses for another playoff failure.

Winners: Italy

play

Laurens: Italy face tougher test against Bosnia and Herzegovina

Julien Laurens breaks down Bosnia and Herzegovina’s dramatic penalty win over Wales ahead of their World Cup showdown with Italy.

PATH B
Winner enters World Cup Group F (Netherlands, Japan, Tunisia)

Sweden vs. Poland (Stockholm, Sweden): Viktor Gyökeres almost single-handedly sealed Sweden’s place in the final with a hat trick in Thursday’s 3-1 semifinal win against Ukraine in Valencia. Sweden, now coached by former Chelsea and West Ham United boss Graham Potter, seriously underperformed during the qualifiers witha winless group campaign, but they now have a home game against Poland to book a place at the World Cup.

The Poles had to fight back from going a goal down against Albania in Warsaw before winning 2-1 with goals from Robert Lewandowski and Piotr Zielinski and they go into the Sweden game having run Netherlands close in their qualifying group. Recent form suggests that Poland will be favorites, but Sweden are at home and the confidence of a big win against Ukraine. It will be close, but Sweden will shade it — maybe even on penalties.

Winners: Sweden

PATH C
Winner enters World Cup Group D (United States, Paraguay, Australia)

Kosovo vs. Türkiye (Pristina, Kosovo): Though Türkiye’s semifinal against Romania went as expected with Vincenzo Montella’s team winning 1-0 through Ferdi Kadioglu‘s goal, Kosovo upset the odds with a 4-3 win away to Slovakia. Kosovo went into the playoffs as the lowest-ranked European nation still alive in the competition, sitting in 78th position between Israel and Oman in the FIFA World Ranking, but they dominated in Bratislava to seal a deserved victory.

Franco Foda’s team is young, bold and full of pace and energy, and they have the ability to shock a Türkiye team stacked with top talent including Arda Güler, Hakan Çalhanoglu and Kenan Yildiz. Türkiye have won the two previous meetings between the teams and will be favorites, but Stadiumi Fadil Vokrri will be rocking in Pristina on Tuesday, and a passionate atmosphere could tip the balance in Kosovo’s favor.

Winners: Kosovo

PATH D
Winner enters World Cup Group A (Mexico, South Korea, South Africa)

Czechia vs. Denmark (Prague, Czechia): Czechia looked dead and buried against the Republic of Ireland after finding themselves 2-0 down in Prague after 23 minutes, but Miroslav Koubek’s team fought back to take the game to penalties before winning 4-3 from the spot kicks.

But the Czechs will face a Denmark side that showed its quality with a 4-0 win against North Macedonia in Copenhagen, so the Danes will be strong favorites heading into the final. The questions about Denmark have nothing to do with their quality — coach Brian Riemer has Christian Eriksen, Rasmus Højlund and Christian Norgaard on his roster — but whether they can handle the pressure of being favorites. A draw against Belarus and defeat against Scotland saw them blow their hopes of automatic qualification, so will they feel the heat against the Czechs? That’s the danger for Denmark, but perhaps beating North Macedonia has proved their mettle.

Winners: Denmark

INTERCONTINENTAL PLAYOFFS

PATHWAY 1
Winner enters World Cup Group K (Portugal, Uzbekistan, Colombia)

Congo DR vs. Jamaica (Zapopan, Mexico): Jamaica toiled to a 1-0 win against rank outsiders New Caledonia in the semifinal, so they will have to step up several levels to have any hope of beating Congo DR.

Congo, nicknamed the “Warriors of the Equator,” have top-level European experience in their squad with Aaron Wan-Bissaka (West Ham United), Arthur Masuaku (Lens), Yoane Wissa (Newcastle United) and captain Chancel Mbemba (Lille), so they should be too strong for a Jamaica side led by interim coach Rudolph Speid. Wrexham’s Bailey Cadamarteri scored the match winner for Jamaica against New Caledonia, but repeating that effort will be tough against one of the strongest African teams.

Winners: Congo DR

PATHWAY 2
Winner enters World Cup Group I (France, Senegal, Norway)

Iraq vs. Bolivia (Guadalupe, Mexico): Iraq’s preparations for their playoff have been thrown into disarray by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, forcing coach Graham Arnold to ask FIFA for the game to postponed due to the difficulties of his squad being about to travel from the region. But Tuesday’s match will go ahead and the Lions of Mesopotamia will have a full squad due to call on after being given the use of a private jet to travel to Mexico. Whether the disruption to their plans will affect Iraq’s chances remains to be seen, but Bolivia’s 2-1 semifinal win over Suriname, when they overturned a 1-0 deficit to claim victory, showed that the South American nation is match ready — the same cannot be said for Iraq. Having had no competitive games since December, Iraq might struggle to win this game and end a 40-year wait for a World Cup appearance.

Winners: Bolivia