It's April Fools' Day, which means you shouldn't believe everything you read today. To test your instincts, here are two truths and a lie.

A) Restricted-view seats for the NFL game at the MCG in September are being sold for $630.

B) A wild brumby named Gringo set a Guinness World Record last month for the most tricks performed by a horse in three minutes, including playing a keyboard with his nose and posing for a selfie.

C) Star cricketer Sam Konstas has lost his Cricket Australia contract just 15 months after making his international debut in the 2024 Boxing Day Test against India.

See if you can spot the fake. The answer is at the bottom.

76
The number of consecutive weeks Aryna Sabalenka has spent as the WTA world No.1, the third-longest streak this century behind Serena Williams (186 weeks) and Ash Barty (114). The Australian Open final is the only match that the Belarusian has lost in 2026. Last month, she swept the Indian Wells and Miami titles to become just the fifth woman to complete the 'Sunshine Double', and now turns her attention to the clay-court season.

"It's probably could be my farewell [game]... I don't know how many more football games I will be going to after this one. I really want to soak in the love from Souths' members and fans, it's going to be a great feeling."
Former South Sydney Rabbitohs winger Nathan Merritt has been diagnosed with stage four oesophageal and liver cancer. In an exclusive interview with the Daily Telegraph, the 42-year-old said doctors have given him approximately 12 months to live. Merritt scored 146 tries in 218 games for the Rabbitohs between 2002 and 2014, making him the club's all-time leading try-scorer until Alex Johnston surpassed his record in 2022. He will ring the Rabbitohs Legacy Bell, a tradition where a club champion welcomes the team onto the field before each home game, before Souths' match against the Bulldogs at Accor Stadium on Friday.

In October last year, Swiss trail runner Rémi Bonnet set the world record for the Vertical Kilometre, a race in which competitors run 1,000 metres straight up a mountainside. Bonnet completed the 1.92km course in Fully, Switzerland in 27 minutes and 21 seconds. The course has an average gradient of over 50%. For reference, that’s roughly double the steepest street in Sydney (Attunga Street in Double Bay, at 25%). Helmets are mandatory, and climbing poles are recommended because, as Bonnet put it, "if you try to stand up straight on the slope, you fall over backwards." 

🏉 Former NRL star Zac Lomax is expected to make his Super Rugby Pacific debut for the Western Force against the Queensland Reds at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday, according to AAP. The 26-year-old signed a two-year deal with the Force and Rugby Australia in March after a NSW Supreme Court ruling barred him from returning to the NRL until 2028. He previously represented NSW and Australia in rugby league. The Force sit 10th on the ladder with one win from seven matches.

🏏 Australian batter Cooper Connolly scored 72 not out from 44 balls on debut for the Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The 22-year-old from Perth held the Kings’ innings together as they lost five wickets for 35 runs during the chase, eventually guiding his side to a three-wicket win over the Gujarat Titans with five balls to spare. He was named Player of the Match. Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer described some of his shots as "surreal". 

⛳️ Tiger Woods has released his first public statement since his DUI arrest last week, saying he is "stepping away for a period of time to seek treatment and focus on my health." The statement all but confirms the 50-year-old will withdraw from next week's Masters, despite his name still appearing on the entry list as of Tuesday. An arrest affidavit released overnight also revealed police found two hydrocodone pills, a prescription opioid, in his pocket at the crash scene. Woods was charged with driving under the influence after his SUV rolled over near his Florida home on 27 March. He has pleaded not guilty and requested a jury trial.

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Teenager Emerson Jones has been named in Australia’s squad for the Billie Jean King Cup (BJK Cup) tie against Great Britain in Melbourne next week. The 17-year-old rising tennis star replaces Maya Joint, who is recovering from a back injury.

Here’s what to know.

Previously called the Federations Cup and Fed Cup,  the BJK Cup is the premier international team competition in women’s tennis. National teams compete in ties throughout the year. 

Australia will host Great Britain in Melbourne on April 10 and 11, with the city staging a BJK Cup tie for the first time in 15 years. The winner advances to the BJK Cup Finals in Shenzhen, China in September.

The last time Australia faced Great Britain was in 2022, winning 2-1 to reach the final. Australia is now chasing its first title since 1974, after finishing runners-up in 2019 and 2022.

Jones is a former junior World No. 1 and has climbed to No.136 in the Women’s Tennis Rankings. She became the first Australian since Jelena Dokic in 1998 to reach the top of the junior rankings. She joins Talia Gibson, Kimberley Birrell, Storm Hunter and Ellen Perez in the squad. 

“I look up to them a lot. I’m excited to train with them and just be in the team with them,” Jones said.

Australian captain Samantha Stosur added: “I have no doubt this will be the first of many times that she (Jones)represents Australia.”

You can watch the tie on Channel 9. 

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Four-time men’s World Cup champions Italy will miss the tournament for a third consecutive time after losing to Bosnia and Herzegovina on penalties in a European playoff final this morning.

It is the first time a former World Cup winner has missed three tournaments in a row.

Playing away in Zenica, Italy took the lead through Moise Kean in the 15th minute. The momentum of the match shifted when Italian defender Alessandro Bastoni was sent off before half-time for a last-ditch slide tackle on a Bosnian attacker who was through on goal, leaving Italy to play the entire second half with ten players.

Bosnia then levelled scores through Haris Tabaković in the 79th minute. After extra time finished 1-1, Italy missed two of their four penalties in the shootout, while Bosnia converted all four of theirs.

Italy has not played at a World Cup since 2014, and has not won a knockout match at one since the 2006 final. They missed the 2018 tournament after losing to Sweden, then missed 2022 after a shock defeat to North Macedonia, despite having won the European Championship just months earlier.

An entire generation of Italian fans, anyone under 15, has no memory of their country at a World Cup.

Italy coach Gennaro Gattuso said: "I want to personally apologise since we didn't make it. Today talking about my future is not important. Today it was important to get to the World Cup."

Bosnia qualified for only their second World Cup, after 2014.

Meanwhile, Türkiye beat Kosovo 1-0 in another European playoff to claim the final spot in Australia's World Cup group. The Socceroos will now face Türkiye, the U.S, and Paraguay in Group D at the tournament, which will be held across the United States, Mexico, and Canada from 11 June to 19 July.

They open against Türkiye in Vancouver on 14 June, before facing the U.S in Seattle on 20 June. Their final group match is against Paraguay in San Francisco on 26 June.

Australia continued their positive build-up for the tournament with a 5-1 friendly win over Curaçao in Melbourne last night. Rising star Nestory Irankunda scored twice as a substitute in a dominant second-half display.

Curaçao, with a population of around 150,000, became the smallest nation ever to qualify for a World Cup earlier this year.

Sweden beat Poland 3-2, Czechia beat Denmark on penalties, and the Democratic Republic of Congo beat Jamaica 1-0 in extra time to also qualify overnight.

Sweden return to the World Cup for the first time since 2018, Czechia for the first time in 20 years, and DR Congo for the first time since 1974, when they competed as Zaire.

The final remaining spot will be decided today when Iraq, coached by former Socceroos boss Graham Arnold, face Bolivia in Monterrey (2pm AEDT). Of the 48 spots at this year's tournament, 47 are now filled.

Answer: April Fools! Whether you like it or not, all the pieces of information in the intro are in fact, true.