Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi transported fans back in time to the heyday of their storied rivalry, as both forwards got on the scoresheet in an exhibition match in Riyadh on Thursday.
France will play Argentina, who are also looking to win the World Cup for the third time, in Sunday's final at the Lusail Stadium.
Roundup of Champions League matches played on Wednesday night
IMAGES from the Champions League semi-final played between PSG and Leipzig at Estadio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica in Lisbon on Tuesday.
Following are comments, quotes and reactions from the French coach, players.
Argentina captain Lionel Messi said defending champions France and Brazil are the favourites to win the World Cup in Qatar as they have a core group of players who have played together for a long time.
Qatar no playground for playmakers as defenders clamp down
The winner will be named on August 26, along with UEFA's women's player of the year and Champions League positional award winners, at the Champions League group stage draw in Istanbul.
The focus has very much been on the game between two countries that share a sporting rivalry.
Bayern Munich's Douglas Costa scored a first-half winner as the holders did the bare minimum to beat VfL Wolfsburg 1-0 on Tuesday and move into the German Cup quarter-finals.
The Tunisian captain's goal mobilised the French into action, with Deschamps bringing in stars like Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann to jump-start an attack that had so far been tepid.
Israel debutant Yarden Shua scored an 86th-minute winner as they upset more fancied Belgium 1-0 in Budapest on Sunday.
Second-half strikes by Federico Valverde, Brahim Diaz and Endrick gave feeble Real Madrid an unconvincing 3-0 win over lowly Real Valladolid.
A late Mauro Icardi strike earned Paris St Germain a last-gasp 2-1 home victory against Olympique Lyonnais with Lionel Messi making limited impact on his Parc des Princes debut on Sunday.
IMAGES from UEFA Champions League matches played on Tuesday
France qualified for the quarter-finals of the Nations League despite a lacklustre goalless draw against Israel on Thursday.
Stopping the stars won't be enough to win World Cup
France are looking to beat the Socceroos just like they did to kick off their 2018 journey in Russia.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona's Lionel Messi, who have won the award 10 times between them, are included
Reuters sports writers chose their team of the tournament.
Crowds of cheering French soccer fans began gathering in Paris on Sunday, draped in red, white and blue and singing the Marseillaise, as excitement was building ahead of the France-Croatia showdown at the World Cup final in Moscow.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Images from the football matches played across Europe on Tuesday.
A round-up of Tuesday night's matches in the UEFA Champions League.
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.
A sloppy Real Madrid were held 0-0 at home to Real Betis on Saturday in a further blow to their hopes of retaining the La Liga title.
Images from the Nations League football matches played on Thursday.
Real Madrid have avoided defeat in their last 41 LaLiga games, the second best streak by a team in the competition's history.
'But when I arrived in Barcelona, I was told that it was no longer possible, that I could not stay and that I had to find another club, because Barca could not afford to extend my contract. That changed my plans.'
Greece beat England for the first time as striker Vangelis Pavlidis's double earned the visitors a richly-deserved 2-1 victory.
Not only the senior team but the young Blue Colts also emerged victorious in the SAFF Men's U-19 champions after hammering Pakistan in the final and clinching a vigorous 3-0 victory.
Bayern Munich midfielder Thomas Mueller has tested positive for COVID-19 and will miss the Club World Cup final against Mexico's Tigres UANL on Thursday
Yann Sommer saved France striker Kylian Mbappe's spot kick to give Switzerland a 5-4 penalty shoot-out win, following a thrilling 3-3 draw after extra-time, on Monday as they advanced to the Euro 2020 quarter-finals where they will meet Spain.
Lionel Messi has become the first player to win Europe's Golden Shoe award for three straight years after his nearest challenger Kylian Mbappe failed to score the four goals he needed in Paris St Germain's final league match of the season on Friday.
Saka, Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden -- the three youngest players in the England squad -- have been described as "generational talents", but the Arsenal player said they had learned to tune out the noise, be it compliments or criticism.
The flying wingback is one of the key players in the north African outfit whose last-16 match in the Qatar World Cup against Spain, at the Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan, gives them a chance to reach the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time.
Griezmann thankful for thankless role in France side
More than 50 Africa-born or African-origin players are spread across 11 teams -- excluding sides from the continent -- that are part of the tournament in Qatar.
Hundreds of thousands of Argentines poured into the sunlit streets of Buenos Aires on Sunday
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