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Wild World Cup qualifiers, the Heineken Cup's humble start and Las Vegas heroes | Classic YouTube

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Clockwise: the midweek World Cup qualifiers featuring Iceland, Egypt, Panama and Argentina sparked wild celebrations. Composite: AFP/Getty Images/AP

1) The climax of the World Cup qualifiers were as good as they have been in around two decades. Mo Salah single-handedly hauled Egypt to Russia 2018, opening the scoring and then holding his nerve to hammer home a 95th-minute penalty to beat Congo 2-1. It sparked wild celebrations on the streets of Cairo and it was all too much for this fan in his living room. Panama City witnessed a similar explosion of joy when Roman Torres lashed home a late winner to seal a 2-1 win over Costa Rica and turn the Estadio Rommel Fernández into a giant bouncy castle. Meanwhile, Lionel Messi scaled the heights in Ecuador with a sublime hat-trick to ensure Argentina will indeed go to the ball. And how do you celebrate becoming the smallest nation to qualify for the World Cup? If you’re Iceland, like this, of course.

2) Just some wingsuit madness.

3) The European Champions Cup kicks off this weekend with an elite matchup between Ulster and Wasps. It wasn’t always thus. Here’s the story of the first ever Heineken Cup match, between the eventual champions, Toulouse, and Farul Constanta in front of a handful of people in the backwaters of Romania.

4) The Las Vegas Golden Knights take to the ice with some heroes.

5) An open-goal miss for the ages from Harkemase Boys’s Dennis van Duinen. To add to his pain, his team’s 2-0 lead was turned into a 3-2 defeat.

6) The BYU Cougars may be 1-5 on the field; better call Cosmo? Meanwhile, in this post-truth world a commentator on Eastern Michigan v Toledo decides that a failed kick was far more dramatic – and successful – than it actually was.

Our favourites from last week’s blog

1) John Aldridge enters a talent contest, wins and sings ‘Lily the Pink’. Obviously.

2) Trobriand cricket: a 1976 film on how the game became a substitution for violent and destructive tribal battles.

3) Over-eagerness in the Kontinental Hockey League.

4) Meanwhile in Tanzania

5) Meanwhile in Chile

6) Demetrious Johnson remains the greatest MMA fighter out there, retaining his UFC title for a record 12th time last weekend. Here he dispatches Ray Borg in stunning fashion.

Spotters’ badges: StuartRG, whobroughtoranges, TheCedarRoom, BlackCaesar.

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