South Africa missed a penalty and conceded an own goal as top-ranked Algeria came from behind to win 3-1 in their African Nations Cup Group C game on Monday.
Stand-in defender Vlad Chiriches atoned for an early blunder by scoring his first Serie A goal to help Napoli come from behind and beat Chievo 3-1 in Serie A on Saturday, putting them level at the top with Juventus.
Much-fancied Belgium fought back from a goal down to score twice in the final 20 minutes and earn a hard-fought 2-1 victory over gutsy Algeria in their World Cup Group H opener on Tuesday.
Gonzalo Higuain scored his 30th league goal of the season but was later sent off and had to be restrained by his team mates as Napoli lost 3-1 at Udinese on Sunday, severely denting their Serie A title hopes.
Jose Callejon took advantage of Napoli's numerical advantage in the 48th minute of the playoff round second leg tie, handing them an away goal which, added to their 2-0 win from the first leg, effectively ended Nice's challenge as it left the French side needing to score four goals.
Lazio survived a storming Napoli fight back, including a missed penalty, as they won 4-2 on Sunday to finish third in Serie A and qualify for the Champions League playoff round after both teams finished with 10 men.
AS Roma's lingering hopes of catching Serie A leaders Juventus were virtually extinguished after two stunning Pepe Reina saves kept them at bay and Jose Callejon's late goal handed third-placed Napoli a 1-0 home win on Sunday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
A round-up of the top-flight football matches played across Italy and Germany on Sunday
An inspired performance from Douglas Costa helped Brazil to a 3-0 win over Peru on Tuesday and lifted them into third place in the South American qualifying group for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.