After seeing Cristiano Ronaldo pick up a fifth Ballon d'Or on Thursday, Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane described the Portuguese forward as the greatest player ever.
The AFA thanked 58-year-old Sampaoli and his assistants, who have also left their positions, for their services.
Levante's extraordinary season continued when they thrashed second-division Alcorcon 4-0 on Wednesday to secure a 5-2 aggregate victory and advance to the King's Cup quarter-finals for the first time in more than 70 years.
Poland midfielder Grzegorz Krychowiak has signed a five-year contract with Paris St Germain, the French champions said in a statement on Sunday.
Former Sevilla coach Joaquin Caparros and current Granada manager Paco Jemez both said earlier on Thursday that they were interested in the position if Del Bosque was to leave.
Real Madrid's Jose Callejon scored twice and Nuri Sahin bagged his first goal for the club as the holders crushed third-tier Ponferradina 5-1 in a King's Cup last 32 second leg on Tuesday.
Ten-man Real Madrid slumped to a surprise 1-0 defeat at Levante on Sunday as the tiny Valencia-based club ended the nine-times European champions' perfect start to the season.
France coach Didier Deschamps confirmed his final Euro 2016 squad on Tuesday, including defenders Adil Rami and Samuel Umtiti in place of the injured Raphael Varane and Jeremy Mathieu. Liverpool centre back Mamadou Sakho was not included even though his 30-day provisional suspension for failing a drugs test expired last weekend. Hosts France geared up for the finals with a 3-2 victory over Cameroon in Nantes on Monday. They take on Scotland in Metz on Saturday.
Cristiano Ronaldo netted his fifth La Liga hat-trick of the campaign as Real Madrid brushed off Pepe's 44th-minute dismissal to secure a crushing 6-2 victory at Sevilla and move back above Barcelona to the top of the standings on Saturday.
Barcelona forward Lionel Messi set a La Liga record of 253 goals when he grabbed a hat-trick in Saturday's 5-1 win at home to Sevilla, the latest milestone for the four-times World Player of the Year.
A late header by Imanol Agirretxe gave Real Sociedad, who are without a coach, a 2-1 victory over 10-man Atletico Madrid in La Liga on Sunday.
Real Madrid kept alive their hopes of overhauling La Liga leaders Barcelona when a James Rodriguez stunner set them on their way to a serene 3-0 home victory over struggling Almeria on Wednesday.
Athletic Bilbao's bid for a berth in next season's Europa League stuttered when they lost 2-1 at Espanyol on Monday.
Arsenal teenager Bukayo Saka scored his first goal for the club as they beat 10-man Eintracht Frankfurt 3-0, while Manchester United's 17-year-old Mason Greenwood secured a 1-0 win over FC Astana as the Europa League group stage began on Thursday.
The European champions, who were humbled 3-0 by tiny Eibar last week, took a fortuitous lead when Valencia midfielder Daniel Wass nodded a Dani Carvajal cross into his own net in the eighth minute after former Arsenal defender Gabriel Paulista had failed to clear the danger.
United's schedule contains 13 fixtures, including 11 league matches, but that total could potentially rise to 20 depending on their progress in the cup competitions.
Manchester City humbled their neighbours United by beating them 6-1 and Levante still lead in Spain where European champions Barcelona were held to a 0-0 draw by Sevilla.
Marco Ruben's header put Villarreal up to third in La Liga with a 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao on Sunday, after Valencia fell to a solitary Ivan Rakitic strike in a pulsating encounter with Sevilla.
West Bromwich Albion have bolstered their defensive ranks by signing centre half Jonny Evans from Manchester United on a four-year deal.
Barcelona fell to a first home defeat in any competition for more than two years
Barcelona have been linked to a host of forwards during the winter transfer window as they seek experienced backup options for Luis Suarez.
Photos from the Champions League matches played across Europe on Tuesday
Real Madrid suffered a humiliating 2-1 home defeat by Leganes on Wednesday to exit the King's Cup at the quarter-final stage on away goals.
Everton have signed winger Gerard Deulofeu from Barcelona on a three-year contract for six million euros ($6.7 million), the Premier League club said on Thursday.
Third-placed Inter Milan scored twice in the last six minutes through Stefan De Vrij and Alessandro Bastoni to snatch a 2-1 win at Parma in Serie A on Sunday despite a subdued display. The scarcely-deserved victory left Inter eight points behind leaders Juventus and four adrift of second-placed Lazio with 10 games each to play.
Brazilian defender Filipe Luis scored for the second game running as Atletico Madrid beat Real Sociedad 1-0 on Tuesday to rack up a fifth straight win in La Liga and provisionally consolidate third place in the standings.
Liverpool, Paris St Germain, Besiktas, Dynamo Kiev, Sparta Prague and Villarreal reached the knockout stages of the Europa League on Thursday in contrasting fashions.
Liverpool will feel the weight of increased expectation to deliver silverware this season after making encouraging forays into the transfer market, manager Juergen Klopp said.
'This team is really good and we have invested a lot in it. Now we have to work with that'
Reaching the King's Cup final is of even greater importance than usual for Real Madrid following a demoralising setback in La Liga.
Craig Shakespeare has been appointed as Leicester City's manager for the rest of the season, the Premier League champions announced on Sunday.
Joe Maguire was found guilty of repeated bodily harm, violence against public employees and attempted bribery. Sharman was found guilty of insult, repeated bodily harm and violence against public employees.
In other ties, Serie A champions Juventus face Europa League winners Atletico Madrid and Barcelona take on Olympique Lyonnais.
Real Madrid returned to winning ways after last weekend's drubbing at Atletico but failed to convince and were whistled by their own fans during a drab 2-0 victory at home to Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday.
Villarreal and Espanyol clung to the coat-tails of the La Liga leaders on Sunday with home wins that owed much to their attractive style of attacking football.
Luis Suarez, whose four-month ban for biting an opponent expires on Friday, will make his official Barcelona debut in Saturday's La Liga clasico at Real Madrid, coach Luis Enrique said.
Denmark midfielder Christian Poulsen was reunited with former manager Roy Hodgson on Thursday when he agreed a three-year contract with Liverpool.
Substitute Fredy Guarin gave former European champions Porto a late 2-1 Europa League win at Sevilla on Thursday while their old rivals Benfica beat VfB Stuttgart by the same score.
Underlying tensions mean Luis Enrique will not be remembered with the same reverence as Pep Guardiola, even though he has delivered a similar trophy haul.
Barcelona will ignore attempts by Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho to play mind games, according to Lionel Messi.
