World Cup hosts Russia turned in another unconvincing display as Austria extended their winless run stretching back to October with a 1-0 victory in a friendly on Wednesday.
Russia's penalty shootout hero, goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev, thanked God, luck and the Luzhniki Stadium crowd for bringing the hosts home safely against Spain on Sunday to reach their first World Cup quarter-final since 1970.
Images from the Round of 16 match between Russia and Spain, in Moscow, on Sunday.
Despite Saturday's defeat, Russians have been celebrating, proud of a campaign which saw their players reach the last eight after starting out as the lowest-ranked team in the tournament.
Photos of the World Cup match being played between Russia and Korea Republic
Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa produced a heroic performance in a 0-0 draw with Brazil and his Russian counterpart Igor Akinfeev was the villain in a 1-1 draw with South Korea as the World Cup produced more drama on Tuesday.
The result continued a dismal streak for Madrid, who have won only two of their last five games in all competitions
Algeria reached the World Cup last 16 for the first time after fighting back for a 1-1 draw against Russia to clinch second place in Group H.
UEFA has opened disciplinary proceedings against Montenegro and Russia after Saturday's Euro 2016 qualifier in Podgorica was abandoned in the second half following crowd trouble and a scuffle among the players.
Fedor Smolov's 20th-minute goal gave Russia their first win under new coach Stanislav Cherchesov as the 2018 World Cup hosts overcame Ghana 1-0 in a friendly in Moscow on Tuesday.
Wales outplayed Russia 3-0, scoring twice in the opening 20 minutes, as they moved into the round of 16 at Euro 2016 by winning Group B on Monday.
England manager Roy Hodgson has hit out at critics who have questioned his team's patriotism and desire ahead of their European Championship clash against Wales in Lens on Thursday. Wales striker Gareth Bale last week said his team had "more passion and pride" than England, who "big themselves up before they've done anything". Russian goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev also labelled Hodgson's men the weakest seeded team in the Euro 2016 prior to Saturday's draw with England. "I've been in the game sufficiently long to know every opponent has got an opinion," Hodgson told reporters.
Russia forward Denis Cheryshev said he got quite emotional after his team upset the odds to eliminate highly fancied Spain at the World Cup and move unexpectedly to the last eight, sending football fever to sky high levels in the host country.
Hosts Russia virtually sealed a place in the second round of the FIFA World Cup after a 3-1 victory over Egypt on Tuesday. The victory took them to top the of Group A with six points from two games.
Vasili Berezutski struck in added time as Russia, second best for long periods, rescued a draw from their UEFA EURO 2016 opener against England in a Group B clash at Stade Velodrome in Marseille.
Modric and Co will face England in Moscow on Wednesday!
The Barcelona striker's clever, low free kick helped Uruguay to beat hosts Russia 3-0 on Monday and to clinch top spot in Group A with three straight wins.
Russia face Egypt in their second match in St Petersburg on Tuesday after a resounding 5-0 victory over the Saudis that has catapulted them to the top of Group A, ahead of Uruguay on goal difference.
Russia's Alexander Kerzhakov came to the rescue, scoring three minutes after coming on as a substitute to secure a 1-1 World Cup draw with South Korea after his goalkeeper had gifted the Asians the lead in their Group H match on Tuesday.
Croatia will be ready for both versions of Russia, says Perisic
Spain arrived at the World Cup convinced they were ready to rule world football again but Sunday's defeat to Russia in the last 16 has set the 2010 champions back a decade and brought an end to a glorious generation.
The FIFA World Cup at Russia saw a variety of celebrations -- from the weird to some fancy dance moves -- Rediff.com has got it all covered here...
Hosts Russia have exceeded expectations after advancing to the World Cup quarter-finals with a win on penalties over Spain but they will need more firepower if they are to give Croatia a run for their money on Saturday.
roaring Luzhniki Stadium crowd, dogged defending and a dose of Russian luck saw the World Cup hosts to a penalty shootout victory over Spain on Sunday, though for some it also took divine intervention.
IMAGES from the Group A match played between Russia and Uruguay in Samara on Monday
Heavyweights Arsenal, Atletico Madrid and Lazio took big steps towards reaching the Europa League semi-finals after convincing home first-leg victories and RB Leipzig also stayed on course with a 1-0 win over Olympique de Marseille on Thursday.
Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet saved an early penalty and James Milner's shot was deflected into his own net by Havard Nordtveit for the English Premier League side's second goal in an end-to-end match.
Spain fell victim to own patience and Russian resistance
Cristiano Ronaldo headed an early winner as Portugal beat hosts Russia 1-0 in the Confederations Cup on Wednesday to go top of Group A and spoil Russian goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev's 100th cap.
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.
Euro 2016's round of 16 gets under way on Saturday after the completion of the group stages. With shocks aplenty, we saw some major upsets and heartbreaks in the preliminary round. Aruneel Sadadekar/Rediff.com takes a look at the top five disappointments of Euro 2016 so far...
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.
Silva struck twice in the second half to further stretch the 2010 World Cup winners' lead after Barcelona's Jordi Alba had fired them into the lead in the sixth minute and Alvaro Morata had doubled their advantage midway through the first half.
Real Madrid failed to win their Champions League group for the first time in four years when a late goal by substitute Marco Reus allowed Borussia Dortmund to equalise and clinch a 2-2 draw.
European champions Portugal comfortably dispatched New Zealand 4-0 to reach the Confederations Cup semi-finals on Saturday after Cristiano Ronaldo set them on their way with a penalty.
IMAGES from the UEFA Champions League last 16 first leg matches played across Europe on Tuesday
Images from Champions League matches played across Europe on Tuesday
Mateo Kovacic's late strike avoided embarrassment for Real Madrid as the European champions surrendered a two-goal lead before drawing 3-3 with Legia Warsaw in an enthralling Champions League game played amid an empty stadium on Wednesday.
Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrated his Madeira homecoming with an early strike but Sweden wrecked the party by hitting back from two down to win 3-2.
Images from the Champions League matches played across Europe on Wednesday.
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