The Argentina captain turns 31 in a few days and may be playing his last World Cup. He would need to win it to rival fellow great Diego Maradona for the eternal love of his compatriots.
Croatia defender Domagoj Vida apologised after his team's World Cup semi-final victory over England on Wednesday after speaking out in support of Russia's neighbour and adversary Ukraine.
A summary of Wednesday's action in the UEFA Champions League Knock-out phase play-offs.
Five singles matches were cancelled as persistent rain washed out a large chunk of play on the opening day of the Australian Open on Sunday, disappointing the large crowds that flocked to Melbourne Park.
For Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic the final is a chance to settle the score 20 years after the bitter defeat
Bhambri, Nedunchezhiyan-Prashanth reach ATP 250 doubles finals in China
The 12 winners of the Qualifiers on March 6-7 next year will compete alongside the six nations that have automatically qualified for the 2020 Finals.
Final positions in the six groups are still up for grabs which determine potential opponents in the knockout stage.
Croatia's road to Sunday's World Cup final, where they will play France for a chance to lift the trophy for the first time:
World Cup: When wingers gave Croatia flight
England fought back to qualify for the semi-finals of the UEFA Nations League as Harry Kane and Jesse Lingard scored late goals in a pulsating 2-1 victory over Croatia, who were relegated from Group A4 after defeat at Wembley on Sunday.
'I have calmly accepted that, and since I need my players fit and ready to play, I have made this decision'
England, appearing in their first semi-final since 1990, had looked on course for their first final since 1966 as they led through Kieran Trippier's fifth-minute free kick and totally dominated the opening half.
Germany overcame an early red card to Emre Can and eventually eased to a 3-0 victory away to Estonia on Sunday in a Euro 2020 qualifier to go joint-top of Group C.
Spain showed their remarkable potential under new coach Luis Enrique by destroying World Cup runners-up Croatia 6-0 on Tuesday to hand the visitors their biggest ever defeat and take control of their Nations League group.
Modric and Co will face England in Moscow on Wednesday!
Croatia's elated coach Zlatko Dalic lauded his captain Luka Modric who missed a penalty in extra time but then scored another in a shootout victory over Denmark on Sunday that put them in the World Cup quarter-finals.
The European Championship 2024 begins on June 15. Find everything to know about Euro Cup 2024 here
Russia's World Cup dream ended within agonising sight of the semi-finals as they went down 4-3 on penalties to Croatia on Saturday after another gallant performance in front of their fanatical fans which again belied their lowly ranking.
With a population of just over four million, Croatia punched considerably above their weight to reach the final, going down gallantly to France at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium.
When Croatia take on France at Moscow's Luzhniki stadium later on Sunday, the team hopes to settle an old score with the French dating back to the 1998 World Cup.
Europe's soccer governing body UEFA said on Saturday it had opened disciplinary proceedings against the soccer federations of Croatia and Turkey for crowd trouble during the Euro 2016 tournament in France.
Croatia are to face a disciplinary hearing over their Euro 2016 qualifier at home to Italy during which a swastika cross was imprinted on to the pitch.
Chhetri will make his final appearance for India on the international stage when he takes the field in the FIFA World Cup Qualifying clash against Kuwait
'This is more than just a number -- it's a testament to our shared passion, drive, and love for the game and beyond,' Ronaldo said on X.
The powerful World No 7 was relentless as he snuffed out any hope of a famous French fightback -- giving Pouille little chance of sending the showpiece into a fifth rubber.
"Since 2008 we have never gone beyond this first knockout game and it was very important for us to get that monkey off our back," Modric said.
France overwhelmed Croatia 4-2 in the World Cup final at Moscow's Luzhniki stadium on Sunday to lift the trophy for the second time in 20 years.
Rohit Rajpal will continue as India's non-playing captain. He took over as captain last year after the country's top players and then captain Mahesh Bhupathi refused to travel to Pakistan in November. India is scheduled to travel to Croatia for their next tie on March 6 and 7.
Iceland's first World Cup adventure came to a valiant end on Tuesday as they were beaten 2-1 by Group D winners Croatia due to a late strike from Ivan Perisic, with Argentina qualifying as runners-up instead.
Brothers Elias and Mikael Ymer comfortably won their singles rubbers against Canada as seven-times champions Sweden made a roaring start in the Davis Cup Finals in Madrid on Thursday.
Letexier will be joined at Sunday's final by French assistants Cyril Mugnier and Mehdi Rahmouni, while Szymon Marciniak (Poland) will be fourth official.
Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, a conservative challenger, made history in Croatia.
A round-up of Saturday's qualifying matches for the Euro 2020 Finals.
They can now dream of going one better than their third-place finish in 1998, which marked their first participation in the World Cup finals as an independent nation.
Indian centre-back Sandesh Jhingan feels he will be "tested to the limit" while enhancing his game outside his comfort zone at Croatian league Prva HNL.
Former World champion Viswanathan Anand started with a fluent win over Dutch Grandmaster Jorden van Foreest before faltering against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the second round of the rapid event in the Croatia Grand Chess Tour tournament, in Zagreb, on Wednesday.
Croatia achieved their best-ever result in the tournament in losing Sunday's match to France, surpassing the third place finish of 1998.
Turkey coach Fatih Terim was left to rue a missed chance in the first half of their Euro 2016 Group D defeat by Croatia, which he believes would have changed the outcome of Sunday's match.
