Laxmi Negi/Rediff.com picks five of the best team performances from this round as the tournament heads into its business end.
They came to watch their men turn up the heat on Uruguay, but all that they got was boring football and a ticket back home. Italian WAGS were left dejected by their partners.
Hundreds of blue and white Napoli scarves were tied to railings outside the stadium, and flowers, childrens' pictures, church candles and even a bottle of wine were laid out along the pavement in a rapidly expanding, makeshift shrine.
After weeks of wrangling, with several U-turns on the way, Italy is due to decide on Thursday if and when its top-flight Serie A soccer league can resume after the coronavirus stoppage. Sports Minister Vincenzo Spadafora, who is due to meet the head of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) Gabriele Gravina ahead of the announcement, says the most likely outcome is a restart on June 13 or 20.
Love is in the air this spring, even with the coronavirus pandemic. Countless weddings have been postponed, but people are still getting married; although with adjustments to accommodate social distancing and other restrictions. Here are some ways couples are exchanging their wedding vows.
Spain and Portugal played out an entertaining 0-0 draw on Friday as both sides prepared for this month's European Championship.
Images from the matches played across football leagues in Europe on Sunday.
Salzburg forced Lazio into a second-half capitulation as the Italians crashed out in the Europa League quarter-finals after losing 4-1 but Olympique de Marseille staged a thrilling fightback to see off visitors Leipzig 5-2 on Thursday. Arsenal also reached the semi-finals after recovering from a wobble to draw 2-2 at CSKA Moscow and progress 6-3 on aggregate, while favourites Atletico Madrid reached the last four after losing 1-0 at Sporting to go through 2-1 over the two legs.
Juventus and Inter, who have 42 points each from 17 games, both play on Monday while Lazio, with 39 from 17, have an outstanding fixture at home to Verona to come in early February.
Kenin, Andreescu to be part of team event in Charleston in June
Images from soccer matches played across Europe on Saturday.
Borussia Dortmund bounced back after slumping to their fourth straight Bundesliga defeat against Hanover 96 at the weekend, cruising past second tier St Pauli 3-0 on Tuesday to reach the German Cup third round.
RB Leipzig scored twice in the opening 13 minutes but had to survive a late comeback from Manchester United to cling on to a 3-2 win on Tuesday that sent them into the Champions League knockout stage and eliminated the English side.
Lionel Messi celebrated his sixth Ballon D'Or award with a brilliant hat-trick as Barcelona moved back top of La Liga with an emphatic 5-2 victory over Real Mallorca.
IMAGES from Serie A matches played in Italy on Wednesday.
Cinemas, stadiums, town squares and other public gathering places are devoid of people as the coronavirus spreads to at least 118 countries around the world. As of Thursday, the Johns Hopkins University tracker says 1,26,258 people have contracted the disease and 4,638 have died across the globe. The vast majority of the victims have been in China but the country said on Thursday that it had only 15 new cases. The outbreak also claimed its most high-profile victim so far when Hollywood star Tom Hanks announced he and his wife, Rita Wilson, had tested positive. The couple, who are in Australia where Hanks is making a film about Elvis, said they had felt "a bit tired, like we had colds" before being "found to be positive" Take a look.
Images from Wednesday's action in the Champions League.
Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring as Juventus beat visiting Bologna 2-1 on Saturday to move four points clear at the top of the Serie A table. Ronaldo struck from close range after 19 minutes, but Danilo levelled for the visitors soon afterwards.
Borussia Dortmund's Ciro Immobile struck twice in the second half to secure a 2-0 victory.
Italy returned to winning ways as Nicolo Barella's header just before halftime secured a 1-0 victory away to a below-par Netherlands in their Nations League clash at an empty Johan Cruyff Arena on Monday.
Quaison fires Sweden to extra-time World Cup playoff win over Czechs
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Juventus continued their awful run with a 1-1 Serie A draw at modest Livorno on Saturday, leaving the famous Turin club three points adrift of the fourth Champions League qualifying spot.
Mario Balotelli scored a minute from time to give Inter Milan a 2-1 win over beleaguered Juventus in their Italian Cup quarter-final on Thursday, leaving Juve coach Ciro Ferrara on the brink of the sack.
An 85th-minute equaliser by Naldo gave VfL Wolfsburg a 2-2 draw at Borussia Dortmund, maintaining their hold on second place and leaving the hosts in the Bundesliga relegation zone.
Rafael Nadal overcame a temporary blip on his way to victory at the ATP Cup on Saturday
Juventus ended their poor run with a 3-0 home win over Napoli in the Italian Cup last 16 on Wednesday but Diego's opener caused huge controversy.
Two goals from Ronaldinho helped AC Milan to a 3-0 win at toothless Juventus on Sunday which piled the pressure on Juve's rookie coach Ciro Ferrara.
Images from football action around European leagues played on Sunday
New Juventus signing Diego stole the show in only his second Serie A start with two stunning goals in a 3-1 win at AS Roma on Sunday.
Lazio, having endured a miserable start to the season, had high hopes of victory at Genoa, who were languishing in the relegation zone at the start of the day.
Claudio Ranieri has been sacked as Juventus coach after a poor run of results and youth team boss Ciro Ferrara has taken over, the club said on Monday. The Turin side are a point above fourth-placed Fiorentina with two matches left and are in danger of slipping out of an automatic Champions League berth after a run of seven Serie A games without a win.
A round of Saturday's matches in Series A, La Liga and Bundesliga.
Djokovic may never feel the affections of the crowd savoured by Federer and Spaniard Rafael Nadal but his record of 16 Grand Slam titles is proof that tennis is no popularity contest.
A majestic solo dribble shredded Chelsea's defence before Messi played in Dembele for the second and the Argentine maestro killed the tie off when he smashed a third through the legs of Courtois again in the second half.
Juventus progressed to the Champions League last 16 after a Cristiano Ronaldo goal and a late header from substitute Alvaro Morata gave them a comeback 2-1 home win over Hungarians Ferencvaros on Tuesday.
Images from Sunday's action in La Liga, Serie A and Ligue 1.
A round-up of matches played in the Serie A and French Ligue 1 on Sunday
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Italy midfielder Antonio Candreva gave a dazzling performance as he scored a penalty and set up a second goal in a 2-0 win over Finland in their fast-paced final Euro 2016 warm-up in Verona on Monday. The 29-year-old winger coolly converted a 27th-minute spot kick after being brought down and delivered an inch-perfect cross for Daniele De Rossi to head home midway through the second half. Thriving on the right flank in an adventurous 3-4-3 formation, Candreva was a handful for the visitors throughout the evening, showing blistering pace as well as neat footwork. With their coach Antonio Conte fielding a three-pronged attack of Stephan El Shaarawy, Ciro Immobile and Simone Zaza, the Italians pressed high and hard to keep the Finns on the back foot from the start.
