As football fever grips fans across the globe, Portuguese soccer star Christiano Ronaldo has emerged as the most searched player on Google in India, with Brazil topping the list among most searched countries.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Barcelona closed to within a point of La Liga leaders Real Madrid when Lionel Messi scored one goal, created two and conceded a penalty in a 3-1 win at home to champions Atletico Madrid on Sunday that eased pressure on under-fire coach Luis Enrique.
Real Madrid returned to the top of La Liga after winning a testing game at Osasuna 3-1 on Saturday.
'Without Cristiano, it would be impossible. But with him nothing is impossible'
The mesmerising moments that made the 2018 FIFA World Cup a blockbuster worldwide.
Brazil will be without captain Thiago Silva for their World Cup semi-final against Germany after FIFA on Monday rejected an appeal against his yellow card, denting home hopes of lifting the trophy for the sixth time.
Champions Barcelona suffered their second defeat in three matches in La Liga on Saturday, with Michael Krohn-Dehli scoring and setting up another goal in a 2-1 victory for Sevilla.
Barca won their fifth European Cup in 2015 and the signs of decline have been evident over the past five years since -- but no-one envisaged a fall as great as this.
IMAGES from the UEFA Champions League quarter-final played between Atletico Madrid and Leipzig on Thursday.
Even smaller players like Bluegape.com have launched T-shirts, cups, wall clocks and other products inspired from the fan community.
'We have to think today about those people who died due to COVID before their time, those many grandparents who took their grandchildren to see Atalanta for the first time and who aren't with us anymore. I am thinking about them above all'
In other matches, super-sub Messi helped Barca romp past Atletico
Barcelona eased into the Champions League quarter-finals with a 4-1 aggregate victory over Manchester City on Wednesday and Paris St Germain joined them after overwhelming Bayer Leverkusen 6-1 over the two legs of their last-16 tie.
King's Cup holders Barcelona beat Real Sociedad 1-0 in their quarter-final first leg to end a nine-and-a-half year barren spell at home of the Basque side while Atletico Madrid crushed Eibar on Thursday.
Real Madrid trimmed Barcelona's lead at the top of La Liga to one point when they recovered from conceding an early goal to secure a stirring 3-1 comeback win in the 'Clasico' on Saturday.
The club could also sell other players to in order to create a new contract for Messi, who is the top scorer in La Liga this season with 13 goals.
Luis Suarez made his first appearance following his biting controversy for new side Barcelona and Neymar scored twice as the Spanish giants beat Mexican side Leon 6-0 in a pre-season friendly on Monday.
In the buildup to the World Cup, the Brazilian football catchphrase of 'Jogo Bonito' -- The Beautiful Game -- was drowned out by the bangs of frantic construction work and the shouts of angry protesters.
World Cup favourites Brazil will be expected to defeat Mexico in the second round of Group A matches in Fortaleza on Tuesday but their Latin neighbours have no reason to feel overawed.
Barcelona's rampant trio of Neymar, Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi all found the net at the weekend and unsung Leicester City found themselves in the record books when their England striker Jamie Vardy scored for the 11th straight game.
Atletico Madrid tamed Lionel Messi and Neymar to send La Liga rivals Barcelona crashing out of the Champions League after Koke's early goal secured a shock 2-1 aggregate success at the Calderon on Wednesday.
As the World Cup nears, expectations of goals, goals and more goals rise. With the likes of Lionel Messi, Neymar, Cristiano Ronaldo in prime form, Brazil could well turn out to be a goal-fest.
Be it an exquisite goal from Neymar that rescued Barcelona or talk about the stunner 35-metre strike from Diego that put Atletico in the driving seat, the goals were the talking points of the Champions League matches on Tuesday night.
Following public comments from La Liga chief Javier Tebas, who said it was "not ideal" for the second El Clasico meeting between Real and Barca last season to be played with the latter having already won the league title, the two sides will face off earlier this campaign.
Paris St Germain are sweating over striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic's fitness as the French champions look fragile ahead of Barcelona's visit in Champions League Group F on Tuesday.
News of all that transpired on and off the football field.
But can Lionel Messi secure a place among the game's greats with a World Cup triumph? But for now on a lighter note we bring Messi's better half, Antonella Roccuzzo.
Brazil will play Germany next week in what the hosts' players are calling the final before the final and manager Luiz Felipe Scolari is facing selection dilemmas four days ahead of the semi-final in Belo Horizonte.
Images from the World Cup quarter-final game between Brazil and Colombia.
Luiz Felipe Scolari is blaming the some of the team's struggles, which include a disappointing performance that nearly led to its elimination by Chile in the second round, on the pressure of needing to succeed in front of the home fans.
Barcelona forward Luis Suarez was included in the starting lineup for Saturday's La Liga 'Clasico' against Real Madrid, a day after his four-month ban for biting an opponent expired.
Here are some of those players who have seized the opportunity in Brazil to put themselves firmly on the radar as transfer targets in the weeks and months ahead.
Lionel Messi netted the 400th goal of his storied career on Saturday as Barcelona trounced Granada 6-0 to maintain the pace at the top of La Liga.
In a game like football, where passion runs deep, love is a binding factor that is obvious everywhere. From the stadiums, to the beaches of Copacaban and even the streets of Mexico, fans were spotted kissing in revelry! Rediff.com brings you a glimpse of some intimate moments.
Now facing Chile in the first game of the tournament's knockout round, Brazil will be encouraged by recent history. They easily knocked out Chile at the same stage in the last two World Cups "La Roja" (The Red) featured in, 1998 and 2010.
Real Madrid on Wednesday denied media reports they have made a bid for Paris Saint-Germain's teenage striker Kylian Mbappe, who is emerging as one of the biggest stars of the Russia World Cup.
Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa produced a heroic performance in a 0-0 draw with Brazil and his Russian counterpart Igor Akinfeev was the villain in a 1-1 draw with South Korea as the World Cup produced more drama on Tuesday.
Brazil striker Fred has denied accusations he cheated to win a crucial penalty in the 3-1 opening World Cup win over Croatia and said contact from a defender was enough to "knock me off the ball and stop me scoring."
Japanese referee Yuichi Nishimura wrongly awarded a soft penalty to Brazil, which brought the hosts back into the match.
