Former Brazil striker Ronaldo congratulated Miroslav Klose after the German equalled his record of 15 World Cup goals on Saturday.
As hosts Russia and Saudia Arabia kick off the extravaganza, Harish Kotian and Ashish Narsale assemble a fascinating FIFA World Cup quiz.
IMAGES from the first semi-final of the ICC World Cup played between India and New Zealand at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday.
Portugal midfielder Deco has decided to retire from international football after the World Cup finals in South Africa.
Messi or Suarez should win World Cup if not Spain, says Luis Enrique
"Our team fulfils our dreams!" and "Where is Messi? We beat him!", the green-clad Saudis chanted over and over in the Lusail Stadium, on their feet and greeting every clearance, including one headed off the goal line with a deafening roar.
The Colombian football team returned home to an incredible welcome as thousands of fans turned out to celebrate the South American nation making history for reaching last eight of the FIFA World Cup for the first time.
The chief organizer of the Lionel Messi football event at Salt Lake stadium in Kolkata, where chaos erupted, has been remanded to 14-day police custody. The arrest follows allegations of mismanagement during Messi's appearance, which led to widespread frustration and vandalism among spectators.
Lionel Messi's much-hyped visit to the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata on Saturday lasted 22 minutes, just enough to underline everything that is wrong in Indian football and the state administration's mismanagement.
The answer came in an impressive 2-0 victory over a strong and organised Serbia team who did not make it easy for Brazil and frustrated them in a goalless first half.
Less than 48 hours before the month-long soccer World Cup kicks off in Brazil, President Dilma Rousseff defended the cost of hosting the tournament, vowed to punish corruption and urged her compatriots to give visiting fans a warm welcome.
The collection included the shirt Messi wore during the first half of the final against France in Qatar.
Pakistan is playing a big part in the soccer World Cup by making the balls
The All India Football Federation (AIFF) issued a statement clarifying that Lionel Messi's event in Kolkata was a private event organised by a PR agency and the federation was not involved in the "planning or execution" of the event at Salt Lake Stadium on Saturday.
Teams focused on World Cup, not politics, had easier passage to last 16, says Arsene Wenger
Brazil's poster-boy striker Neymar fulfilled a nation's expectations to score twice in a 4-1 destruction of Cameroon on Monday while the Netherlands again showed their potential to win the World Cup with a third straight win.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Rediff.com's man in South Africa Siddhanta Pinto shares his experiences and the many moods of the Rainbow Nation at the football World Cup.
The ICC's decision to trim the number of contestants at the World Cup to ten says M P Anil Kumar is like a line commentators often spew forth: Brilliant shot, but straight to the fielder.
All 23 of the World cup-winning squad including Jenni Hermoso, as well as 32 other squad members, said they would not play internationals while Luis Rubiales remains head of the Royal Spanish Football Federation.
We asked Mumbaikars a few simple questions about the football World Cup. Here are their - in some cases, rather unexpected - answers :))
England's failure at the first hurdle at the Brazil World Cup caused heartache to captain Steven Gerrard.
Proud Morocco want to build African legacy after World Cup run, says Regragui
What should have been a landmark footballing moment in Kolkata turned into a cautionary tale on Saturday morning, as Lionel Messi's brief appearance at the Salt Lake Stadium was cut short amid crowd mismanagement
Rediff.com's man in South Africa Siddhanta Pinto shares his experiences and the many moods of the Rainbow Nation at the football World Cup. This time World Cup Sid gives us a sneak peek at the beautiful women who make the beautiful game even more beautiful by their presence.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan rated Australia's World Cup triumph as the best in the tournament's history after they upstaged a rampaging India in front of a vociferous crowd.
It may seem like a strange gift to give someone, but a sweaty shirt exchanged with an opponent at the end of a World Cup game has become both a mark of sporting respect and a valuable collector's item.
Dutch delight screamed out from the pages of their newspapers on Saturday as the country basked in the afterglow of a thrilling win over holders Spain at the start of their World Cup campaign.
Football usually plays second fiddle to cricket in India when it comes to the popularity of the two sports. But international football has a huge fan base.
Werder Bremen's Niclas Fuellkrug made his Germany debut at the age of 29 this week, scoring the winner in their warmup match against Oman on Wednesday after coming on as a substitute.
Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira believes hosts Germany rather than his own team are favourites to win the World Cup.
Qatar inaugurated the fourth of eight 2022 World Cup venues, the Al Rayyan Stadium, when the country hosted the Amir Cup final between Al-Sadd and Al-Arabi on Friday.
FIFA has lifted its suspension on the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) after it approved constitutional amendments.
England, who are gunning for their second World Cup title, have the most valuable squad in Qatar with Jude Bellingham topping a list of over 800 players.
The country is slated to host the tournament from October 11 to 30 across three venues -- Bhubaneswar's Kalinga Stadium, Goa's Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium and Navi Mumbai's DY Patil Stadium.
'Many of us hope that India will soon play well enough to be part of truly global sporting tournaments like the football World Cup and the Olympics,' says Aakar Patel.
Gurpreet was in the thick of things when the ball went over the line and out of play.
European football's governing body UEFA has urged FIFA to stop pushing its plan for a two-year World Cup and instead to engage in "genuine consultation" over reform of the international match calendar.
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