qualify

Yorkshire secured second spot in Group B with a seven-wicket win over Essex to book a home quarter-final at York on Friday.

Captain Dom Bess (3-32) and seamer Ben Coad (3-22) helped bowl out already-eliminated Essex for 151 inside 41 overs.

The Tykes then slipped to 15-2, but a second first-team half-century for England Under-19s man Will Bennison, who hit 60 off 59 balls, helped the visitors to their sixth win in eight group matches with more than 18 overs to spare – and a second quarter-final place in successive seasons.

Durham gained third place in the group but not before some late dramatic twists against the holders Worcestershire at New Road.

Worcestershire won the game by 77 runs on the back of being bowled out for a competitive 291, thanks largely to Tom Taylor’s quickfire 86.

Ben McKinney then plundered 82 from just 70 balls but when he was out with Durham on 141-6, they still needed a further 63 to be sure of finishing above the hosts in the group.

When three more wickets went down in eight balls for the addition of just five runs, at 199-9, Durham still needed five more to reach that initial target of 204. They got them but not long before being bowled out for 214.

Hampshire had their hopes of reaching the knockout stages for a fifth successive year ended by Derbyshire in a thriller at Southampton.

Martin Andersson made 125, his fourth hundred of the summer across all formats, enjoying century stands with Harry Came (62) and Brooke Guest (67) as Derbyshire totalled 317-5.

But former Hertfordshire player Andrew Neal then almost turned the game on its head in Hampshire’s reply.

Coming to the crease at 134-6, with 183 still required, he smashed 10 sixes in a 63-ball 110, his maiden professional century at the age of 26, before being caught on the boundary edge with nine runs still needed as Hants were bowled out for 309, with 10 overs to spare.

James Cracknell shared a third-wicket partnership of 202 with Nathan Fernandes (92) as Middlesex recovered from losing two early wickets to post a formidable 354-8 as they cruised to a 92-run win over Sussex at Radlett.

Half-centuries by former Middlesex man John Simpson (65) and Oli Carter (58) enabled Sussex to mount a respectable reply, but they were dismissed for 262 to finish bottom of Group B with just one win.

Algeria, Morocco, Cameroon and Malawi have all qualified for the 2027 Women’s World Cup in Brazil.

The Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) in Morocco is also acting as a qualifying tournament for next summer’s tournament, with any country that makes the semi-finals earning their places at the World Cup.

Algeria beat 10-player Ivory Coast 2-1, with goals from Ines Khiri and Amira Ould Braham – after N’Sira Oudraogo was sent off when the Ivorians were 1-0 ahead – to reach the Wafcon last four and qualify for a Women’s World Cup for the first time.

Goals from Sakina Ouzraoui Diki and Hanane Ait El Haj helped Morocco defeat South Africa 2-1 to claim their place, with Cameroon securing a 1-0 victory over Nigeria thanks to a spectacular 30-yard free-kick from 19-year-old Myriam Nyadjou.

The fourth spot was taken by Malawi, 153rd in the world rankings, who caused a huge shock by beating Ghana 2-1, coming from behind with goals from Temwa Chawinga and Rose Kadzere.

The Wafcon semi-finals will take place on Wednesday with Morocco taking on Cameroon before Algeria meet Malawi.

The four nations that lost in the Wafcon quarter-finals – Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria and South Africa – still have a chance to qualify for the World Cup.

On Thursday, Ivory Coast play Ghana and Nigeria will face South Africa with the two winners going into the 10-nation intercontinental play-offs in November and December.

Out of those 10 countries in the play-offs, three will qualify for next summer’s World Cup, which begins on 24 June and ends on 25 July.

Losing their final group game to Switzerland on Wednesday means co-hosts Canada will play no further matches in their home country at this year’s World Cup.

Had Canada avoided defeat to finish top of Group B, they would have stayed in Vancouver for their last-32 tie and potentially a last-16 fixture.

However, a 2-1 loss at BC Place meant Canada finished second behind Switzerland and so Jesse Marsch’s side will travel to Los Angeles to play South Africa on Sunday (20:00 BST).

The former Leeds boss, who has guided Canada out of the group stage at a World Cup for the first time, said: “We wanted to be here in Vancouver, but we still have a massive opportunity ahead of us to find a way to push for the next match and find a way to still electrify the nation, even though it’ll be from Los Angeles.

“We came up a little short and that’s unfortunate. But we’re in the knockout round and we’re going to make sure that we’re up for it better.”

After drawing their opening game against Bosnia-Herzegovina in Toronto, Canada thrashed Qatar 6-0 in Vancouver, where they ended the group stage with a first loss of the tournament.

Striker Jonathan David told Sports Illustrated:, external “It was nice to have a pro-Canada crowd that pushed us on every game.

“We’re a bit disappointed and it’s mixed emotions. Obviously, we wanted to stay in Vancouver, so not getting that is a blow for everyone, but we’ll talk about it and get ready for the next one.”