Five-times world champions Brazil have returned to what they will consider their rightful place at the top of the FIFA rankings for the first time in seven years.
Manchester United are almost certain to reach the knockout stage of the Champions League after they beat Benfica 2-0 at Old Trafford on Tuesday to make it a perfect four wins in Group A.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Southampton's 15 million pound ($19.19 million) purchase of Lazio centre back Wesley Hoedt brought the overall spend by England's 20 elite clubs to a record 1.184.9 billion pounds.
Reuters sports writers chose their team of the tournament.
France forward Griezmann, 28, rejected a move to Barcelona last year but announced in May he was leaving the Madrid side, where he has spent the last five seasons since signing from Real Sociedad in 2014.
While Africa, Asia and North America will not be represented, dashing any hope of a revolutionary breakthrough in the eventual destination of the trophy, at least one of this year's finalists will not have reached the title decider for half a century, if at all.
Celta Vigo thrashed Barcelona 4-1 on Wednesday with Iago Aspas hitting a double.
World champions France had eight players, one less than former holders Spain, in international players' association FIFPro's 55-name shortlist for its World XI of 2018 award.
A chubby-looking Ronaldo said farewell to soccer in Brazil's lacklustre 1-0 win over Romania in a friendly on Tuesday, missing three chances in the 15 minutes he was on the pitch.
Brazil's stuttering performance stemmed from anxiety at playing their first World Cup game, coach Tite said after their 1-1 draw with Switzerland.
Britain's No 1 tennis player Andy Murray watched Neymar score twice.
Cristiano Ronaldo ensured Atletico Madrid fans will have bitter memories of the last local derby at the Vicente Calderon stadium by scoring a hat-trick in a 3-0 win for La Liga leaders Real Madrid on Saturday. Ronaldo's deflected free kick put Real in charge in the 23rd minute in the first meeting of the teams since the Champions League final in May. The prolific Portuguese killed off Atletico's resistance by winning and converting a penalty in the 71st minute and capped a harrowing night for the home side by tapping in the third in the 77th.
Real have underperformed on the domestic stage, trailing Barcelona by 15 points and knocked out of the King's Cup by Leganes, and many predicted an early elimination from Europe when they drew the runaway Ligue 1 leaders in the last 16.
Neto will sign a four-year deal with Barcelona that will keep him at the club until the end of the 2022-23 season and he will replace Dutch goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen who moved the other way on Wednesday.
Under the new system, half the votes would belong to the players and coaches of the world's 211 national teams and half to the public, who will take part via an online ballot, and selected media representatives.
Lionel Messi has passed a kidney stone which ruled him out of their Club World Cup semi-final and Barcelona will now decide whether he will be fit for the final, the Spanish sports daily AS said on Friday.
Paris St Germain's then sports director Leonardo declared the club were ready for tougher competitions in Europe two years ago but Tuesday's Champions League quarter-final exit suggests PSG need more time to reach the top.
A decision to include Japan and Qatar as the invited sides to this year's Copa has also done little to generate faith in the new leadership, with the tournament usually featuring the 10 South American nations plus two invited teams, although they are generally from elsewhere in the Americas.
Carli Lloyd, captain and hat-trick hero for the United States in their World Cup final triumph, heads the trio of nominees for FIFA Women's World Player of the Year, announced on Monday.
New Brazil coach Mano Menezes made wholesale changes with only four survivors from the World Cup when he named his squad on Monday for next month's friendly against the United States.
Brazil inflicted France's first defeat since the World Cup when a perfectly executed second-half performance earned them a 3-1 win in a friendly game at the Stade de France on Thursday.
India captain Virat Kohli, senior batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni and stylish left-handed batsmen Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina, have found places in this year's ESPN World Fame 100 list that made its debut last year.
Real will ease the pain by retaining their Champions League title, their only hope of salvaging a disappointing season.
Brazil scrapped their way to a flattering 3-0 friendly win over France on Sunday in an ugly, disjointed match against opponents who are even worse off than themselves.
Barcelona's star striker Messi is an alien who plays with us humans, says the Juventus 'keeper
India's Test captain and numero uno batsman Virat Kohli has been named as 'Third Most Marketable Sportsperson' in the world ahead of football superstar Lionel Messi, world No 1 tennis player Novak Djokovic in a latest survey published by magazine 'SportsPro'. Kohli is ranked behind NBA's 'Most Valuable Player' Stephen Curry and Juventus' French international Paul Pogba. Incidentally, Kohli is just ahead of golfer Jordan Spieth. Djokovic is 23rd in the list, followed by Messi at 27th and 'Sprint King' Usain Bolt at 31.
Barcelona followed up last weekend's 3-1 defeat at Real Madrid with another reverse on Saturday, squandering a host of chances to lose 1-0 at home to Celta Vigo and handing the lead in La Liga to their arch rivals.
Daniel Sturridge's Liverpool career seemed to be heading for a premature end last season but the striker showed on Tuesday he may yet have an important role after taking his chance during a rare start in the Champions League win over Paris St Germain.
Clashes between Real Madrid and Barcelona are rarely short on drama and Saturday's La Liga 'Clasico' may have more than its usual share with Luis Suarez poised to return from a biting ban and Barca teammate Lionel Messi on the brink of equalling the top-flight scoring record.
Barcelona's Luis Suarez netted twice for a 2-1 win over 10-man Atletico Madrid in their Champions League quarter-final, first leg on Tuesday after the visitors' Fernando Torres opened the scoring and was later sent off.
Real's Cristiano Ronaldo will be going in search of his third consecutive World Player of the Year award
Football legend Pele has termed Argentine forward Lionel Messi as the "best in last 10 years", but also spoke highly of his fellow Brazilian Neymar and Portugal's Ronaldo.
Next year's Copa America in Chile will give Brazil the chance to bury the ghosts of their miserable World Cup, the president of the country's soccer federation said.
Diego Costa continued his rich vein of form as he helped leaders Chelsea to a 3-0 win over Aston Villa while Louis van Gaal enjoyed only his second Premier League win as Manchester United manager following a 2-1 victory against West Ham.
Barcelona made a brisk start to the season with new coach Luis Enrique at the helm in place of Gerardo Martino and a host of additions to the squad, including midfielder Ivan Rakitic and goalkeeper Claudio Bravo.
After a World Cup where they failed to live up to expectations, the smiles appeared to return to Brazilian faces again on Tuesday after a new-look team beat the United States 2-0 in a friendly.
