Goalkeeper and captain Gianluigi Buffon announced his retirement as the Azzurris unable to qualify for first time since 1958.
Mithali Raj decided to quit T20 Internationals after a career spanning 89 matches
Carlos Tevez holds out no hope of being part of Argentina's World Cup squad and prefers not to watch their matches on television, the Juventus striker said on Friday.
Former India wicketkeeper Kiran More said Mahendra Singh Dhoni's innings against Royal Challengers Bangalore took him back to 2006.
The prize money at next year's World Cup finals will be increased by at least a third from that on offer in South Africa in 2010, FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke said on Tuesday.
No one expects Nigeria to win, but by now everyone knows that shirt...
Franz Beckenbauer, who headed Germany's 2006 World Cup organising committee, said on Monday a transfer of 6.7 million euros to world football's governing body FIFA in 2005 was a mistake but rejected claims it was a return of a loan to buy votes in favour of the country's World Cup bid.
Defending world champions Germany crashed out of the World Cup after a shock 2-0 loss to South Korea on Wednesday, courtesy of two stoppage-time goals.
Penpix on the Ireland team for the 2015 cricket World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
Uruguay sealed their spot at the 2014 World Cup finals after a goalless draw at home to Jordan in the second leg of their intercontinental playoff on Wednesday saw them advance 5-0 on aggregate.
Eriksson, known in Sweden simply as "Svennis", led England to the 2002 and 2006 World Cup quarter-finals, and to the 2004 European Championship, managing a golden generation of players that besides Beckham included stars such as Frank Lampard, Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard.
Chile beat Ecuador 2-1 in their closing South American qualifier in Santiago on Tuesday as both went through automatically to the 2014 World Cup finals in Brazil.
As of early Thursday, 320,000 separate applications had been received for a total of 2.2 million tickets.
The United States beat World Cup winners Germany 2-1 thanks to an 88th-minute goal from Bobby Wood in an entertaining international friendly in Cologne, on Wednesday.
After playing the most soporific game of the World Cup so far, France will feature in a seismic last-16 clash of former champions with a resurgent Argentina on Saturday, and they will have to drastically improve if they are to stop Lionel Messi.
Mathew Ryan asked his family if anyone wanted to come and watch him play in the World Cup in Russia, there was an enthusiastic response - from 27 of them.
Morocco has lodged a last-minute bid to host the 2026 soccer World Cup and will compete against a three-way bid from the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Rediff.com gives you an inside view of the soccer ball factory in Sialkot, in eastern Pakistan, that produces the official match balls for the World Cup...
Clubbed in a veritable group of death for next year's World Cup, Australia believe they can spring a surprise while fellow Asian qualifiers Japan, South Korea and Iran were more cautious with their optimism despite being dealt kinder draws.
England's bid to host the 2018 World Cup is falling off the pace and needs help from David Beckham, CONCACAF president and FIFA executive member Jack Warner said on Wednesday.
When defending champions Australia compete in the Women's Twenty20 World Cup final in Melbourne on Sunday, they will earn the same as their male counterparts would - in stark contrast to their rivals, India. In cricket-mad India, male players are revered as gods, paid handsomely and showered with lucrative endorsement deals, from watches and shoes to snacks, headphones and even toothbrushes. The women barely get a look-in.
Italy's Daniele De Rossi scored a late penalty to earn a 1-1 draw against Spain in their World Cup qualifier on Thursday, sparing home goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon's blushes after he gifted the visitors the lead. Buffon, making his 164th appearance, rushed out of his area as Vitolo broke clear but the 38-year-old completely mistimed his tackle, allowing the Spaniard to go round him and put the ball into an empty net in the 55th minute. Italy, who had been outplayed in the Group G clash, fought back and levelled in the 82nd when Eder was fouled by Sergio Ramos and De Rossi converted the spot kick, their only shot on target in the match.
IMAGES from the FIFA World Cup qualifiers played across Europe on Sunday
Germany should really not be surprised by their earliest World Cup exit in 80 years.
Defending champions Germany will be gunning for a historic hat-trick of titles while Australia will be eyeing their first in 24 years when the two lock horns in the final of the Hero Honda FIH hockey World Cup in New Delhi on Saturday.
Two-time champions Pakistan claimed third position at the ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup 2018 after their third-fourth position play-off match against Afghanistan was washed-out on Thursday without a ball being bowled, in Queenstown.
More than 800,000 tickets will be available and will range from $10 for warm-up matches to $300 for a luxury seat at the final.
Luca Toni, who was part of Italy's World Cup winning side in 2006, has confirmed he will hang up his boots at the end of the Serie A season.
Belgium have scored 14 goals in five matches and were hugely impressive in their 2-1 quarter-final victory over Brazil, with Romelu Lukaku, Eden Hazard and Kevin de Bruyne combining to devastating effect to oust the five-times world champions.
The International Cricket Council has shifted the under-19 World Cup from Kenya to New Zealand after the African nation was found to be underprepared for hosting the event slated for next February. 'The ICC Board concluded that with only eight months to go before the event, which Cricket Kenya was awarded in 2006, it was unrealistic to expect Kenya to be ready to host given the large amount of work still needing to be done,' the ICC said in a statement.
At least two of the eight first-round groups of four produced tough obstacles for their participants to progress to the knockout rounds.
Bhagyashree Jadhav: From Life on a Ventilator to Chasing Gold on Home Soil
Regular captain Pat Cummins, fellow quick Josh Hazlewood and all-rounder Mitch Marsh have been ruled out with injuries, while Marcus Stoinis withdrew himself after his shock decision to quit ODIs on Thursday.
Photos of the quarter-final match between Argentina and Belgium
With a year to go before the World Cup, the big challenge left for organisers is to make the tournament a festival for fans from around the globe.
Images from the 2018 World Cup qualifiers played in Europe on Monday
Broadening the World Cup finals to include 40 teams could come about in 2026, FIFA president Gianni Infantino said during a tour of South America on Tuesday.
