Lionel Messi kept his dream of winning his first World Cup alive by rifling in the opening goal in Saturday's 2-0 victory over Mexico in World Cup Group C, proving he was far from done in the tournament.
Saudi Arabia, FIFA's 51st ranked team and who have suffered 5-0 and 8-0 World Cup defeats down the years, roared back to claim an astonishing 2-1 victory that will go down as one of the greatest shocks in any sport ever.
Images from the international friendly and Euro qualifying football matches played on Tuesday.
Riyad Mahrez struck twice as Manchester City reached the Champions League final for the first time thanks to a 2-0 victory over Paris St Germain at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday that secured a 4-1 aggregate win.
A round-up of Wednesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
Argentina shrugged off the injury absence of Lionel Messi to launch their Copa America Centenario campaign with a 2-1 defeat of defending champions Chile in Santa Clara, United States on Monday. Goals from Angel Di Maria and Ever Banega secured a deserved three points for Argentina, who exacted sweet revenge for their defeat to the Chileans in last year's Copa America final. Chile substitute Jose Fuenzalida scored an injury time consolation for the holders. The Argentines will now be firm favorites to progress to the quarter-finals as Group D winners with games against Panama and Bolivia to come. Injured Argentina captain Messi watched from the substitutes' bench at Levi's Stadium after failing to recover in time from a sore back suffered in a friendly win over Honduras last month. But the Barcelona superstar's absence was barely noticeable, with Nicolas Gaitan slotting into Argentina's attack and making an instant impression, hitting the woodwork with a header after only two minutes.
A late Mauro Icardi strike earned Paris St Germain a last-gasp 2-1 home victory against Olympique Lyonnais with Lionel Messi making limited impact on his Parc des Princes debut on Sunday.
Brazil scored twice in the last four minutes, the second a first international goal from Real Madrid striker Rodrygo, to cap a comfortable 4-0 win over Paraguay in Tuesday's World Cup qualifier in Belo Horizonte.
Angel Di Maria, with all the abundant gifts that make him at nearly 60 million pounds the most expensive signing in English football, may have found a club where he could again become the king, not some undervalued courtier.
Argentina marked the revival of the Cup of Champions in style as an inspired Lionel Messi helped them outclass Italy 3-0 in a heavyweight clash billed as the 'Finalissima' at a raucous Wembley Stadium in London on Wednesday.
Messi and his Argentina teammates are currently participating the Copa America in Brazil where he is hoping to lead his team to the title, having finished runners-up in the 2016 edition.
Zhang Jiao, after realising her dream of witnessing Argentina soccer great Lionel Messi lift the World Cup every match he plays from now on is "precious".
Argentina and Australia have only two full days to rest, a factor Argentine manager Lionel Scaloni called 'madness'.
Argentina produced their best performance of the Copa America so far to crush Paraguay 6-1 and set up a classic final against hosts Chile.
PSG's big buy has been left out squad for the Ligue 1 match against Brest.
Manchester United bounced back from their defeat with a 4-1 win over Real Betis in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie.
Holders Paris St Germain reached their third consecutive League Cup final when goals by Argentina's Ezequiel Lavezzi and Angel Di Maria gave the French champions a 2-0 victory over Toulouse.
Argentina captain Lionel Messi said defending champions France and Brazil are the favourites to win the World Cup in Qatar as they have a core group of players who have played together for a long time.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai hailed Lionel Messi as the 'best ever'
Manchester United will sell goalkeeper Victor Valdes after the Spaniard refused to play in the reserves, manager Louis van Gaal said.
Leaders Barcelona played out a second straight 0-0 draw in LaLiga after mid-table Getafe battled for a home point in a hard-fought game on Sunday.
What a difference an international break makes. Before Europe's top domestic leagues were interrupted by players jetting off around the world to play for their countries, Manchester United's supposed new dawn under Louis van Gaal was obscured by dark clouds.
Angel Di Maria unleashed a stunning long-range strike in the 41st minute to draw Argentina level at 1-1 against France at halftime of their round of 16 World Cup clash on Saturday.
Messi's World Cup chase takes centre stage in quarter-final clash
Paris St Germain completed a domestic treble as they beat Olympique Lyonnais 6-5 on penalties to lift the French League Cup on Friday with the match ending in a 0-0 stalemate after regular and extra time. Second-half substitute Pablo Sarabia scored PSG's final penalty in the shootout after goalkeeper Keylor Navas had saved Bertrand Traore's spot kick to give the Ligue 1 champions and French Cup winners their ninth League Cup trophy.
IMAGES from the FIFA World Cup Group C match played between Argentina and Poland on Wednesday.
Argentina are on a 36-match unbeaten run with top scorer and captain Messi playing his fifth and last World Cup in search of the elusive honour
The Louis van Gaal era finally got lift off as Manchester United demolished Queens Park Rangers 4-0 on Sunday for their first win since the Dutchman took charge at Old Trafford.
Angel Di Maria delivered a near-perfect performance, scoring two and setting up another as runaway leaders Paris St Germain beat 10-man Olympique de Marseille 3-1 at home on Sunday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Croatia were not the favourites to reach the last four again but they came through two penalty shootouts in a repeat of their 2018 exploits.
The comparison with Maradona for the title of the greatest Argentine player of all time cannot be complete without a world title, which the late Maradona won almost single-handedly 36 years ago.
Argentina captain Lionel Messi and coach Lionel Scaloni predicted a tough but beautiful encounter with the Netherlands when the sides meet in Friday's World Cup quarter-final.
The stadium erupted in cheers once more with Fernandez's late strike which sealed Argentina's first win in the tournament and rekindled Messi's hopes of a first-ever World Cup title.
The 34-year-old Argentine joined PSG on a two-year contract with the option of extending it by another year after Barcelona made it clear they could not afford to keep him because of LaLiga's financial fair play rules.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Several thousand Argentinians are expected to descend on Qatar for the tournament starting next month but not all are having an easy ride.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Thursday.
Rediff.com brings you a wrap of big stories in pictures with the Best Sports Photos of the Week.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
