The FIFA World Cup group stage has concluded, with the Netherlands securing first place in Group F and Japan finishing second. According to the knockout stage bracket, the top two teams from Group F will face the top two teams from Group E.

Two more Round of 32 matchups have been confirmed: Brazil vs. Japan and Netherlands vs. Morocco. The first Round of 16 matchup was announced yesterday, featuring South Africa vs. Canada.

Julian Nagelsmann defended question marks surrounding Germany’s commitment during their defeat by Ecuador, telling journalists: “Please stop the nonsense!”

Germany, already guaranteed top spot in Group E, were beaten 2-1 in their final group outing, as their opponents came from behind to snatch all three points at New York New Jersey Stadium.

Nagelsmann’s side saw their 11-match winning streak brought to an end, while they have now failed to register a clean sheet in any of their last nine games at the finals, equalling their longest streak along with their opening nine matches across 1934 and 1954.

And since the start of the 1998 World Cup, this was just the second time Germany had lost a game at the tournament in which they opened the scoring (W25 D2) following a 1-2 loss to Japan in 2022.

While not impressed by his players’ performance, he was quick to reject claims it was due to a lack of commitment, with their place in the knockout phase already secured.

“Please stop the nonsense, honestly!” Nagelsmann told reporters. “Didn’t the boys want to go full throttle?

“Of course, we made different changes than we might have done in moments when we urgently needed another goal.

“But we can’t tell any player that he didn’t step on the gas, that’s far too striking for me.

“We have to learn that after a good start and an early lead, we can play with more composure, instead of suddenly switching positions too much. We just need to be more patient and stay a bit more structured in our positions.

“We deliberately made a lot of changes. You could see that we also had a few tired legs. You can’t blame anyone for the fact that everything is a little slower and takes longer. We trust every player in the squad, and have to give the players the chance to show that.”

Coincidentally, it was in New York that Germany crashed out of the 1994 World Cup after surrendering a lead, losing 2-1 in the quarter-finals against Bulgaria at the Giants Stadium.

Joshua Kimmich, who won his 113th cap to move to joint-eighth with Philipp Lahm on his nation’s all-time list, conceded the four-time world champions were worthy losers against Ecuador.

“We started well, but then we gave the ball away too cheaply and kept inviting them on,” he added.

“We made it easy for them and let them grow into the game. In the second half, the defeat was deserved.”

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it is yet to receive budgetary allocations for the conduct of the 2027 general elections.

The INEC National Commissioner in charge of Voter Education and Publicity, Malam Mohammed Haruna, disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja.

Haruna spoke at a cross-sectorial interactive session organised by the Peering Advocacy and Advancement Centre in Africa (PAACA) in partnership with Legis360.

The “fireside chat”, which brought together political parties, civil society organisations (CSOs), and INEC officials, focused on the just-concluded Ekiti governorship election and INEC’s preparations for the 2027 general elections.

Haruna said although the commission was still awaiting the release of the funds, preparations for the conduct of successful 2027 elections were ongoing.

INEC had proposed a total budget of N873.78 billion for the 2027 general elections, with substantial allocations dedicated to election operations, technology and capital expenditure.

The national commissioner explained that the development was still within the time limit as per the Electoral Act, 2026, which provides that election funds due to the commission for any general election shall be released “not later than six months before the next general election”.

He, however, said that the commission was already making arrangements for the procurement of new election materials, including the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and other machines that were damaged, lost or unrecovered during previous elections.

“Our director of ICT just returned from China regarding procurement because not all the BVAS devices used during the last general elections were recovered. Orders need to be placed, and these things take time,” he said.

Haruna also disclosed that the commission was planning to conduct mock presidential election exercises to test-run its technology deployment.

This, according to him, is part of efforts to avoid a repeat of the technical glitches that affected the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal during the 2023 presidential election.

Responding to concerns over the high cost of conducting elections in Nigeria, Haruna advised citizens to look beyond the total figure and consider the realities of election administration, noting that the cost of elections in Nigeria remained relatively low when compared to other nations.

“This N800 billion plus sounds humongous, but when you calculate the average cost per voter, it is about six dollars, which is reasonable for a country such as Nigeria.

“People forget that virtually everything we use is imported. The BVAS devices and a lot of other election materials are imported. Exchange rate fluctuations also affect these costs,” he said.

On conflicting court judgments and orders, Haruna said that the trend remained a major challenge to the commission’s operations.

He cited how last-minute court orders, received between 24 and 48 hours before the Ekiti governorship election, disrupted administrative workflows and the production of election result sheets.

“When a court gives a last-minute injunction to include parties like the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the African Democratic Congress (ADC), we are forced to reconfigure the software and update physical materials instantly.

“This leaves very little room to test the systems extensively, though we still manage to achieve substantial compliance with the rules,” Haruna said.

He, however, said that the commission was taking steps to engage relevant judicial authorities on the issue, noting that a similar approach was adopted by the immediate past leadership of the commission under Prof. Mahmood Yakubu ahead of the 2023 general elections.

Addressing recent concerns over a viral report of a data breach, the national commissioner assured Nigerians that INEC maintains strict data protection and internal accountability protocols.

He disclosed that an electoral officer who intentionally leaked sensitive data as part of a personal vendetta against a political actor had been suspended.

According to him, the matter has been reported to the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) while waiting for the police and the Department of State Services (DSS) to finalise criminal investigations.

Reviewing the Ekiti governorship election, Haruna described INEC’s field logistics and technology performance as highly successful, noting that the BVAS machines performed optimally with a 98 per cent successful accreditation rate.

He said while there were minor technical hitches, particularly with the biometric capture of elderly voters due to ageing physical features, INEC’s technical support teams resolved them promptly.

He, however, lamented that vote buying remained a worrisome trend, noting that voters were observed openly waiting in lines for financial inducements from politicians before casting their ballots.