Arsenal, Everton and Stoke City have all agreed to play in this year's Asia Trophy in Singapore in preparation for the 2015-16 Premier League season.
Argentine referee Nestor Pitana will take charge of Thursday's opening World Cup match between hosts Russia and Saudi Arabia in Moscow, FIFA said on Tuesday.
Belgium hammered the final nail into Egypt's halting World Cup warm-up campaign with an assured 3-0 win in Brussels on Wednesday that settled some nerves among the fancied hosts.
A summary of Sunday's action in the English Premier League.
Bitter defeat for Belgium in the World Cup semi-final is tempered by the fact that influential squad members will likely still be around in two years' time for the European Championship where they will have another realistic chance at a major title.
France meet Belgium in a World Cup semi-final on Tuesday. Here is a look at some of the key head-to-head duels which could prove decisive.
Robin van Persie could return from injury for Manchester United's Premier League game with Everton on Wednesday, manager David Moyes said on Tuesday.
The simplicity of football was again emphasised as France secured a place in the World Cup final from a basic set- piece.
Holders France got their World Cup qualifying campaign off to a disappointing start with a 1-1 draw at home to Ukraine
Chelsea's commanding start to the Premier League season continued with a 3-0 victory over Aston Villa on Saturday as their rivals for the title continued to look vulnerable.
It was not a day for FA Cup romantics as Manchester United scrambled past Sheffield United and minor league Eastleigh came within a whisker of causing the third round's only genuine shock.
Belgium struck early and held off a late Brazil fightback to send the five-time champions tumbling out of the World Cup with a 2-1 victory in an end-to-end thriller on Friday that earned them a semi-final against France.
Out-of-sorts Chelsea have a golden opportunity to restore battered self-confidence when they face Maccabi Tel Aviv in their opening Champions League Group G match.
Argentina got their World Cup qualifying campaign off to the perfect start on Thursday when Lionel Messi's early penalty gave them a 1-0 win over Ecuador in a lacklustre match in Buenos Aires.
Jose Mourinho believes football is only about winning and that managers who favour a possession-dominated beautiful game and neglect steely defence and lethal counter-attacking are "stupid".
Hull City edged towards Premier League safety while Wigan Athletic, will play in the third tier of English football.
Anthony Martial snatched a late winner to send Louis van Gaal's Manchester United into a potentially season-redeeming FA Cup final as the favourites following a 2-1 victory over Everton at Wembley on Saturday.
"Sergio Aguero will be assessed by Club doctors today after being involved in a road accident on Thursday," City said of the Argentina striker in a statement on their website. (www.mancity.com)
Keeper Simon Mignolet proved the shootout hero as Liverpool reached the League Cup final on penalties after a gripping last-four second leg tie at Anfield ended 1-1 on aggregate on Tuesday.
Manchester United maintained their push for a top-four Premier League finish when they beat Everton 1-0 with a second-half goal by French striker Anthony Martial at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo will be looking to rekindle some of the magic they once served up under Carlo Ancelotti on Wednesday when they face their old coach in the latest edition of Real Madrid's rivalry with Bayern Munich.
Cristiano Ronaldo continued his record-breaking form for Portugal as he grabbed two more goals in his country's 6-0 thrashing of Luxembourg in a Euro 2024 qualifier on Sunday.
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers enjoyed a first ever victory over Everton with a thumping 4-0 triumph in the Merseyside derby on Tuesday but the former Swansea boss maintained the pursuit of a top-four finish meant more to him than regional superiority.
Argentina marked the revival of the Cup of Champions in style as an inspired Lionel Messi helped them outclass Italy 3-0 in a heavyweight clash billed as the 'Finalissima' at a raucous Wembley Stadium in London on Wednesday.
France is slowly but gaining momentum when it mattered most.
Belgium's Eden Hazard is making the strongest bid for that crown.
Zoo director Vladimir Gerasimov believes Cleopatra might have a little better understanding of soccer than other animals.
Chelsea scrambled a stoppage-time winner to snatch a 1-0 victory over Everton on Saturday, showing their Premier League title mettle by claiming three points when they looked on course to suffer another damaging blow.
As Chelsea's season suffered a final sorry implosion with an FA Cup defeat at Everton on Saturday, it was fitting that it should end with another display of fury from their angry young man, Diego Costa. While the inquest into the Premier League champions' dismal campaign will continue long after their 2-0 quarter-final reverse at Everton, the immediate topic consuming social media centred on the combustible Spain striker's sending-off, surprisingly his first for Chelsea. Alan Shearer, one of England's greatest strikers, joined the debate by telling BBC viewers the Brazilian-born forward had become "tiresome". Much of the attention focused on whether Costa, who became embroiled in a late face-to-face brouhaha with Everton's Gareth Barry, had gone as far as biting his opponent, Luis Suarez-style. Another question was whether he spat at the feet of referee Michael Oliver after being booked earlier for an altercation with Barry. "It's tiresome from him now. He spends too much time abusing and fighting and scrapping," Shearer said. "You can't do that every game because you turn the ref against you."
Lorenzo Insigne curled a quite wonderful shot beyond the reach of Belgium goal-keeper Thibaut Courtois after jinking in from the left flank.
Each Round of 16 game was entertaining. Laxmi Negi/Rediff.com picks the games to remember.
Romelu Lukaku scored two goals for Everton, one demonstrating rare strength and skill, to knock his old side Chelsea out of the FA Cup 2-0 in a dramatic quarter-final featuring two red cards on Saturday. All the frantic action happened in the final 13 minutes with Chelsea striker Diego Costa and Everton midfielder Gareth Barry sent off but their dismissals only came after Lukaku's brilliance had put the tie beyond doubt. The powerful Belgium striker, who never fitted in at Stamford Bridge and was sold to the Merseysiders for 28 million pounds ($40.28 million) two years ago, proved irresistible with his late five-minute double, especially with a first goal destined to go down in Goodison Park folklore. As the game meandered towards a replay, Lukaku conjured a 77th-minute goal from nowhere, muscling past two defenders on the left, powering into the box and, after some nifty footwork to bamboozle Gary Cahill, firing in a left-foot effort. Everton manager Roberto Martinez hailed it "one of the great goals we will see in the FA Cup".
Manchester City produced a blistering first-half performance to win 4-1 at Sunderland in the League Cup third round on Tuesday, inflicting more misery on Dick Advocaat's struggling side.
Lopetegui blends youth and experience in Spain World Cup squad
US Open champion Carlos Alcaraz crashed to defeat on his debut as world number one, losing to Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime in their Davis Cup Finals group-stage clash on Friday.
Roberto Firmino scored twice as Liverpool boosted their hopes of Champions League football next season
Burnley's seemingly doomed attempt to avoid relegation from the Premier League.
News of all that transpired on and off the football field.
Belgium beat England 2-0 in the World Cup third-place play-off on Saturday to secure their best ever finish at a World Cup and send Gareth Southgate's side home with a second straight loss.
IMAGES from the FIFA World Cup first semi-final played between France and Belgium on Tuesday
