PARIS - From poppies and black armbands in a moving remembrance of millions of war dead to brutally graphic nightmares caused by terrorist carnage, Friday's World Cup qualifiers will be sobering as well as raucous. Both countries' football associations will defy a FIFA ban by wearing black armbands with red poppy emblems. Flanker Matt Todd said wearing the special shirts for Tests around the November 11 anniversary of the World War I armistice was "a great honour that means a hell of a lot to the team". The bloodshed of November 13, 2015, started outside the Stade de France where France were playing a friendly against world champions Germany. Israel said this week that the Islamic State group had been planning attacks "in the Balkans" and specifically warned its citizens not to attend Saturday's World Cup match against Albania.

Source: Bangkok Post November 11, 2016 02:50 UTC