Jackson Martinez scored twice as Colombia beat Japan 4-1 to top World Cup Group C with maximum points on Tuesday. The victory earned them a second-round meeting with Uruguay in Rio de Janeiro and ended Japan's interest in the tournament.
They will meet Costa Rica in the semi-finals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
The FIFA 2022 World Cup will kick-off in Qatar on Sunday, November 20. Here is a list of the 26-man squads playing in the quadrennial global football extravaganza.
Real Madrid's decision to sell midfielders Xabi Alonso and Angel Di Maria left many scratching their heads and consecutive La Liga defeats as well as a reverse to Atletico Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup set alarm bells ringing at the Bernabeu.
News of all that transpired on and off the football field
Briton Chris Froome stunned his passive rivals to snatch the overall leader's yellow jersey in the Tour de France when he won the eighth stage with a lightning attack on the final descent on Saturday.
A stoppage-time goal helped Ecuador rescue a 2-2 draw at home to Paraguay in World Cup qualifying on Thursday, preserving their record as South America's only unbeaten side and keeping them top of the 10-team standings in the race to Russia.
Holders Real Madrid chased away some of their early-season blues when Gareth Bale scored the pick of the goals in a 5-1 rout of FC Basel in their Champions League Group B opener on Tuesday.
Prolific Cristiano Ronaldo hit a 35th hat-trick for Real Madrid who swept aside Espanyol 6-0 in a ruthless attacking display in La Liga on Sunday.
Chris Froome showed again he will attack his rivals on every terrain as the Briton extended his overall lead in the Tour de France with a surprising move in Wednesday's 11th stage, which was won with panache by world champion Peter Sagan.
Real Madrid have defied injuries to keep the pressure on leaders Barcelona and notched up over 100 La Liga goals but they now face arguably the toughest test of their title charge in an away match to Sevilla on Saturday.
Gareth Bale again came to Real Madrid's rescue by heading home the winner in a 1-0 win at Real Sociedad on Saturday that keeps their title hopes alive.
Colombia's James Rodriquez is once again looking to showcase his skills at the showpiece event and remind the world of his talent.
Chile beat Colombia 2-0 in the Copa America semi-final on Wednesday and will face Argentina in Sunday's final after surviving a tumultuous match in Chicago.
After defeating Mali 3-2 and New Zealand 4-2, the South American team, one of the favourites to lift the title, will be looking to dominate Turkey.
Second-placed VfL Wolfsburg breathed new life into the Bundesliga title race with a 4-1 win over leaders Bayern Munich, who lost their unbeaten record in a dramatic restart to the league after the winter break on Friday.
Cristiano Ronaldo hit a late double as La Liga leaders Real Madrid thumped Almeria 4-1 to extend their Spanish record for consecutive victories in all competitions to 20.
A Lionel Messi masterclass, netting a brilliant free kick before laying on two more goals, put Argentina's World Cup qualifying campaign back on track with a resounding 3-0 win over Colombia in San Juan on Tuesday.
Barcelona's Lionel Messi was at the heart of another devastating attacking show.
Spain goalkeeper David de Gea made a rare error which led to his side drawing 1-1 at home to Switzerland in a World Cup warm-up friendly on Sunday which the hosts dominated but failed to make their superior possession count.
Thiago Silva and Roberto Firmino scored either side of halftime to fire Brazil to a 2-1 win over Venezuela at the Copa America.
'I'm so grateful for everyone who helped me be here, to raise the bar and lift the cup'
Cristiano Ronaldo netted his 27th career hat-trick and Gareth Bale struck twice as Real Madrid bounced back in style from consecutive defeats with a thumping 8-2 La Liga win at Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday.
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Zlatan Ibrahimovic has once again made the shortlist of for FIFA's goal of the year award, giving him a chance to retain the trophy he won last year.
Pepe has blasted the Liga club's fans as "unenthusiastic", contrasting the hushed atmosphere of the Santiago Bernabeu stadium with the cauldron of noise he is now exposed to with Turkish champions Besiktas.
Carlos Bacca's first-half goal was enough to give Colombia a 1-0 victory over the United States in the third-place playoff at the Centenary Copa America in Arizona on Saturday.
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Colombia have scored more goals than Argentina and notched as many as the highly-rated Brazilians
The Jose Pekerman-coached team closed ranks on Friday, undertaking a private training session at their ski resort base outside of Kazan and declining to comment on the Colombian police probe and their preparations for Poland, who were upset 1-0 by Senegal in their opener.
Substitute Costa slipped the ball past the keeper from close range in the 48th minute of the second half to break the deadlock and extend Brazil's winning run to 11 matches.
Colombian soccer supporters brought a wave of tropical exuberance to the stolid citizens of Saransk
Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo gave a ringing endorsement of new coach Zinedine Zidane and handed a rebuke to his sacked predecessor Rafa Benitez after Sunday's 5-1 La Liga victory at home to Sporting Gijon. Real have comfortably won both their matches since Zidane took over this month, a 5-0 thrashing of Deportivo La Coruna and Sunday's demolition of lowly Gijon, and Ronaldo said the players had a better relationship with the former Real and France great, who is known as 'Zizou', than with the unpopular Benitez. The former Valencia, Liverpool, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Napoli manager was discarded after less than half a season in the job after an indifferent run of results left Real trailing city rivals Atletico Madrid and champions Barcelona in La Liga. "To be honest, with some coaches you have more empathy than with others," Ronaldo told reporters after netting a double at the Bernabeu. "The truth is, don't ask me why, that the players have more empathy with Zizou," the Portugal forward added.
La Liga leaders Real Madrid suffered a surprise 1-0 defeat at mid-table Athletic Bilbao on Saturday after a bullet header from Aritz Aduriz in the first half secured the points.
England beat Colombia 4-3 on penalties on Tuesday after Eric Dier scored the decisive spot kick to send them through to a World Cup quarter-final against Sweden.
Barcelona won the La Liga title with a comfortable 3-0 victory at Granada thanks to a Luis Suarez hat-trick in the season finale on Saturday.
Bravo stopped Portugal's first three spot kicks from Ricardo Quaresma, Joao Moutinho and Nani while Chile converted their first three to win the clash of South American and European champions.
Real Madrid left back Marcelo admitted he was fortunate not to concede a penalty during their 2-2 draw with Bayern Munich at the Bernabeu, a let-off that helped the holders reach the Champions League final 4-3 on aggregate on Tuesday.
Indian Grandmaster P Harikrishna started his campaign by outclassing Eric De Haan of Holland in the first round of the Masters' section of Tradewise Gibraltar Chess festival at the Caleta in Gibraltar.
