World champions France had eight players, one less than former holders Spain, in international players' association FIFPro's 55-name shortlist for its World XI of 2018 award.
News of all that transpired on and off the football field.
Russian made amends for their opening loss to Belgium as the group remains wide open.
Real Madrid have started the season flying with three wins from three games.
Madrid won only two of their seven pre-season games
Cristiano Ronaldo answered his critics with a hat-trick as Real Madid came from behind to win 4-1 at Alaves and provisionally go three points clear at the top of La Liga.
Holders Real Madrid breezed into the last 16 of the Champions League with two games to spare when a Karim Benzema strike secured a 1-0 win in their Group B match at home to a toothless Liverpool on Tuesday.
Gareth Bale said Real Madrid are determined to wrest back the Spanish league title from Barcelona this season after going four years without tasting La Liga success. Bale has won the Champions League twice and the King's Cup since joining the Bernabeu club in 2013, but the league title has proved elusive. Real missed out on the league to Barcelona on the final day of last season by a point and have not won the title since 2012, when they collected a record 100 points under Jose Mourinho.
Chelsea moved into the Premier League's top four as Mason Mount's superb first-half goal earned them a 1-0 win at champions Liverpool who suffered a club-record fifth straight home league defeat on Thursday.
Gareth Bale scored his 25th goal for Wales but Georgia fought back strongly to earn a deserved 1-1 draw in a World Cup Group D qualifier in Cardiff on Sunday. It left Wales, surprise semi-finalists at Euro 2016, with five points from three games and at risk of losing the group leadership after the day's later matches. Georgia took their first point, following narrow defeats by Austria and Ireland.
Juventus clinched a place in the Champions League knockout stages when a brilliant Cristiano Ronaldo assist set up Mario Mandzukic to give them a 1-0 win over Valencia on Tuesday.
After being named this year's UEFA's Best Player in Europe, Portugal and Real Madrid star striker Cristiano Ronaldo has insisted that Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann deserved the coveted trophy more than him.
The Frenchman, who won nine trophies in two-and-a-half years, suggested it is events off the pitch, rather than on it, that made him leave.
Aymeric Laporte's late header sealed a deserved 1-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur
Real Madrid's quest to land Tottenham Hotspur winger Gareth Bale for a world record fee looks to be nearing its conclusion with Spanish media reporting on Thursday a deal is all but secured.
Brazilian Douglas Costa was in fine form as Bayern Munich beat Real Madrid 1-0 in a pre-season tournament.
The result continued a dismal streak for Madrid, who have won only two of their last five games in all competitions
James Rodriguez curled home a superb free kick to cap Real Madrid's 3-0 win over Inter Milan in a friendly in Guangzhou on Monday.
Real Madrid overcame an early howler from Sergio Ramos to beat Real Sociedad 3-1 at home on an eventful Saturday at the Santiago Bernabeu, where Gareth Bale was loudly booed by his own supporters and Luka Modric returned to his very best form.
The Danish international scored the winner as Spurs beat Bournemouth 1-0 in the Premier League on Saturday and Eriksen has set his sights on another good showing against the European champions at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Real Madrid suffered a shock 1-0 home defeat to Real Betis on Wednesday as an inspired performance from their former goalkeeper Antonio Adan and a stoppage-time winner from Antonio Sanabria stunned the Liga champions.
Midfielder Santi Cazorla gave the home side the lead in the fourth minute of the game, which was rescheduled due to Real's participation in last month's Club World Cup, by bending a wonderful shot into the bottom corner.
Belgian league leaders Antwerp secured a shock 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur and AC Milan extended their unbeaten run to 23 games as they won 3-0 against Sparta Prague in the Europa League on Thursday, while Arsenal cruised to a 3-0 win over Dundalk.
Rediff.com brings these and other big news from the sporting world, encapsulated in this photo feature...
Round-up of World Cup qualifiers played on Friday
Real Madrid have launched an internal inquiry after their Argentina winger Angel Di Maria was seen to grab his crotch while he was being substituted in Monday's 3-0 La Liga win at home to Celta Vigo.
Each Round of 16 game was entertaining. Laxmi Negi/Rediff.com picks the games to remember.
Neymar stole the show from the likes of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale when the Brazilian's strike set Barcelona on the way to a 2-1 win over Real Madrid in Saturday's 'Clasico' at the Nou Camp.
Images from the football matches played across Europe on Wednesday.
Cristiano Ronaldo continued his rich vein of form by scoring twice in Real Madrid's 2-1 home win over struggling Sporting Gijon on Saturday, although the La Liga leaders got a lucky break when the visitors squandered a second-half penalty.
Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez are both back for domestic duties as second-placed Barcelona resume their chase of La Liga leader Real Madrid with a tricky trip to red-hot Real Sociedad on Sunday. Barcelona, into the Champions League last 16 as Group C winners with a 2-0 win at Celtic on Wednesday, are four points behind Real Madrid who will host Sporting Gijon on Saturday without the injured Gareth Bale. "We have achieved our aim, which was to qualify as first of our group and now we need to turn our focus to La Liga," Barcelona centre back Javier Mascherano told www.fcbarcelona.com.
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Sunday.
The Real Madrid forward apologises after Real Madrid dumped out of King's Cup by Atletico Madrid.
Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said there was nothing wrong with talisman Cristiano Ronaldo as the Portuguese marked his longest run without scoring at the Santiago Bernabeu with a near anonymous display in a 3-0 win over Leganes on Sunday. A Gareth Bale double and a second half strike from Alvaro Morata sealed the win that kept Real top of La Liga but Zidane faced further questions about the form of Ronaldo, who has not scored in five home games, his longest run without a goal in front of Real's fans since joining the club in 2009. Ronaldo's last goal at the Bernabeu came against Sporting Lisbon on Sept. 14. His only goal there in the league was against Osasuna on Sept. 10.
La Liga leaders Barcelona beat Real Madrid 1-0 to all but knock their rivals out of the title race on Saturday, while second-placed Atletico Madrid stayed seven points behind the Catalans with a 2-0 win at Real Sociedad on Sunday.
Real Madrid's Spanish record 22-match winning streak ended in a 2-1 La Liga defeat at Valencia on Sunday with Nicolas Otamendi heading in the second-half winner.
Barcelona forward Luis Suarez scored a hat-trick as his side thrashed arch-rivals Real Madrid 5-1 on Sunday in a highly entertaining 'Clasico' which surely will signal the end of hapless coach Julen Lopetegui's spell in charge of Real.
Get set to be amazed as Rediff.com has all that and more sporting action from the past week encapsulated in this super photo feature.
Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius accepted the blame for his team's 3-1 defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League final in which he made two dreadful errors that both led to goals. The German gifted Real their opening goal in the 51st minute when, hurrying to start an attack, he threw the ball out in front of Real striker Karim Benzema, who stuck his leg out and turned the ball into the net.
A Gareth Bale header and a Cristiano Ronaldo penalty gave Real Madrid a much-needed 2-0 victory over Eibar in La Liga on Sunday, following their hammering by leaders Barcelona last weekend, and put them six points off the top of the standings.
