The French in 2002, Italy in 2010, Spain in 2014 and Germany in 2018 all followed their stuttering starts as champions by bombing out in the group stage.
Manchester United crushed Newcastle United's hopes of a claiming a first domestic trophy for nearly 70 years with a clinical 2-0 victory in the League Cup final at Wembley on Sunday.
Les Bleus, who face Poland in the last 16 on Sunday, underperformed at the Education City stadium and only after Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann and Ousmane Dembele came off the bench did they pose any threat.
Football's law-making body the International FA Board (IFAB) will meet on Saturday and discuss VAR and the off-side law, although no proposal has been tabled for a concrete law change.
Boufal and Sabiri score to give Morocco 2-1 win over Brazil
Manchester City needed a second-half penalty from striker Erling Haaland to break the resistance of a dogged Crystal Palace.
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel and his Tottenham Hotspur counterpart Antonio Conte have been charged by the Football Association (FA) following their confrontation after Sunday's heated Premier League draw at Stamford Bridge.
News of all that transpired on and off the football field.
IMAGES from the English Premier League matches played on Sunday.
The Tunisian captain's goal mobilised the French into action, with Deschamps bringing in stars like Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann to jump-start an attack that had so far been tepid.
Images from the FIFA World Cup Group H match between Portugal and Uruguay on Monday.
Images from the FIFA World Cup Group G match between Brazil and Switzerland on Monday.
IMAGES from the English Premier League matches played on Sunday
Images from the FIFA World Cup Group F match between Belgium and Morocco on Sunday.
Robert Lewandowski struck the goal that sealed Poland's victory over Saudi Arabia on Saturday.
Images from Wednesday's action in the English Premier League.
IMAGES from the FIFA World Cup Group C match played between Poland and Saudi Arabia at Education City Stadium on Saturday.
A round-up of Tuesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
IMAGES from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday.
Rayo Vallecano came from behind to beat Real Madrid 3-2 on Monday with the champions failing to reclaim top spot in the standings after two consecutive games without a win.
Images from the FIFA World Cup Group E match between Germany and Japan on Wednesday.
Erling Haaland set another scoring record as Manchester City beat Bayern Munich
LaLiga leaders Barcelona's pursuit of a 27th Spanish title gained momentum after a 2-1 comeback win over Real Madrid.
A summary of Saturday's action in the Premier League.
League Two (fourth tier) side Stevenage pulled off the shock of the weekend by winning 2-1 at Premier League Aston Villa.
IMAGES from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday
Brentford pulled off their latest English Premier League shock by beating Liverpool 3-1 at home.
Real Madrid dug deep in a 3-0 home win against lowly Alaves in the La Liga, but Ligue 1 leaders Paris St Germain their second Ligue 1 loss of the season.
Southampton clinched a thrilling comeback draw against Tottenham Hotspurs in their Premier League encounter on Saturday.
It's the first yellow card issued by a lady referee in the men's World Cup -- Stephanie Frappart is the umpire; Costa Rica's Oscar Duarte is the player -- and it all happened in the 76th minute of the match against Germany.
A summary of the concluding day's action in the Bundesliga, Serie A, Ligue 1 and Saudi Pro League.
A ninth successive win in all competitions for United was celebrated with real vigour, as they moved to within a point of City in second, giving Arsenal the chance to go eight points clear at the top of the standings with a win over Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.
IMAGES from the FIFA World Cup Group H match played between Ghana and South Korea on Monday.
With both Serbia and Cameroon desperate for points after their opening defeats, they played out one of the most entertaining games of the tournament
A round-up of Saturday's action in the Nations League.
Images from the Europa League semi-final first leg matches on Thursday.
We haven't played the best coming into the tournament. There was a lot of talk and speculation about our form but we showed everyone how much quality we have and what we can do," said Saka, whose last major tournament ended with him missing a penalty in the Euro 2020 final shootout.
Valencia, who was taken off for the last 15 minutes of Sunday's Group A game, has had a decade-long career in the Ecuador side, starting off as a winger but being converted to a striker in the qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup.
Erling Haaland became the third player in Champions League history to score five goals in a game as he led Manchester City to an unrelenting 7-0 rout of RB Leipzig in the second leg of their last-16 tie.
Images from the FIFA World Cup Quarter-final match between Croatia and Brazil on Friday.
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