Lens falter in title race after draw at Nice, Marseille hit six
Goalkeeping howlers have been scarce at the World Cup but Fernando Muslera's mistake proved fatal for Uruguay in their 2-0 quarter-final defeat by France on Friday just as much as a brilliant stop from Hugo Lloris kept his side ahead.
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.
Piotr Zielinski converted two penalties for Inter Milan as they played out a thrilling 4-4 draw with Juventus.
France showed the full range of their attacking weapons as they continued their preparations for the World Cup in convincing fashion with a 3-1 win over Italy in a friendly on Friday.
IMAGES from an exciting Europa League semi-final first leg match played at Emirates Stadium on Thursday
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.
Atletico Madrid's faint hopes of chasing down runaway Liga leaders Barcelona suffered a fresh blow on Saturday as they were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Girona, meaning they could fall 11 points behind the Catalans by the end of the weekend.
Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi scored stunning goals to edge Barcelona towards a fourth consecutive King's Cup final with a 2-1 win at Atletico Madrid on Wednesday, although the holders were lucky to survive a late onslaught from the hosts.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi will resume their perennial battle to be crowned the world's best footballer after they headed the shortlist of 30 players for the 2016 Ballon d'Or announced on Monday.
Barcelona sacked coach Ronald Koeman after Wednesday's 1-0 LaLiga defeat at Rayo Vallecano, the Catalan club said on Wednesday.
Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha both scored twice to help Barcelona thrash hosts Villarreal 5-1.
Images from La Liga matches played on Monday.
Hosts France have sealed the last semi-final spot and will meet World Champions Germany in a mouth-watering clash at Marseille. In another showdown, giant-killers' Wales inspired by their hero Gareth Bale will take on Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal at Lyon. Rediff.com takes a closer look at the four semi-finalists as the fight for European glory reaches it's business end.
With the teams having played their second matches in the league stage in Euro 2020, at the conclusion of the Spain-Poland match in Group E on Saturday, here's a look at the best goals from those matches.
Following are comments, quotes and reactions from the French coach, players.
A frustrated Lionel Messi said he is tired of being blamed for problems at Barcelona after he was accused by Antoine Griezmann's former agent of making life difficult for the French striker at the La Liga club.
Holders France failed to qualify for the final four of the Nations League when they slumped to a 1-0 defeat at home to Croatia
In the dying minutes of their Champions League semi-final second leg against Real Madrid, a thunderstorm rolled in and drenched Atletico Madrid's Vicente Calderon stadium.
Real Madrid survived an early Atletico Madrid onslaught to reach the Champions League final 4-2 on aggregate on Wednesday and set up a mouth-watering clash against Juventus.
While he only made one late substitution in the 2-1 victory over England, Deschamps used the bench more against Morocco.
Giroud, who passed Thierry Henry to become France's all-time top goalscorer earlier in the tournament, said Les Bleus had had to be at their best to beat England.
Kylian Mbappe's meteoric rise showed no sign of stopping as the France forward sealed the holders' 2-1 win against Denmark to send them into the last 16 of the World Cup on Saturday.
Atletico Madrid cruised to a 3-0 home win over Real Sociedad on Tuesday to close the gap behind La Liga leaders Barcelona to five points.
A Neymar double, a spectacular volley from Luis Suarez and a goal for Lionel Messi saw top of the table Barcelona's unstoppable strike force sweep aside Real Sociedad 4-0 in La Liga on Saturday.
France's official shirt costs 85 euros, even for a child, according to the French Football Federation (FFF) website.
Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona's Lionel Messi, who have won the award 10 times between them, are included
'Les Bleus' will be inspired by the two-decade anniversary of their only World Cup win in 1998, while double winners Uruguay's modern generation are desperate to recreate the black-and-white-era glories of their 1930 and 1950 trophies.
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...
Images from Saturday's action in La Liga.
A summary of Wednesday's action in the Champions League quarter-finals first leg.
Messi brace leads Barca to within four points of La Liga summit
'I am not going to try and set up any particular tactical plan to counter Kylian'
A summary of Saturday's action in the 2024 UEFA European Football Championship qualifiers.
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.
Amid increasing speculation surrounding his potential move to Real Madrid, Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba believes that Cristiano Ronaldo should win the coveted Ballon d'Or trophy following victories in the Champions League and Euro 2016 finals. Despite being stretched off with a knee injury in the final, the Real Madrid superstar encouraged his teammates, issuing tactical instructions from sidelines to inspire Portugal to their first ever international trophy in Paris.
France overwhelmed Croatia 4-2 in the World Cup final at Moscow's Luzhniki stadium on Sunday to lift the trophy for the second time in 20 years.
IMAGES from the Euro 2024 qualifiers played on Tuesday.
World champions Germany will not be present at the Euro 2016 final in Paris after being knocked out by hosts France 0-2 at Marseille. French football fans painted the town red, white and blue after Antoine Griezmann scored twice to take his country within a striking distance from European glory. The Les Blues will now face Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal in the final at Paris.
It took Giroud, who owed his place in the starting lineup to Benzema's absence, 115 international appearances to score his 51 goals, while Henry needed 123 from 1997-2010.
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