Paraguay will look to a trio of sharpshooters to see them into the World Cup second round while New Zealand, surprise contenders for a place in the last 16, are hoping luck favours them at last, when the teams meet in their final group game on Thursday.
World champions Italy need a win against Slovakia on Thursday to ensure they stumble into the World Cup second round and all eyes will be on captain Fabio Cannavaro after mistakes in the first two matches led to goals.
Brazil dented more African hopes in the World Cup on Sunday by outclassing Ivory Coast to sweep into the second round.
World number two and top seed Caroline Wozniacki, runner-up at the south coast event last year, cruised into the semi-finals with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Australia's Ashleigh Barty.
Defending champions Italy relied on a penalty conversion to save themselves from a famous upset as they were held to a remarkable 1-1 draw by rank outsiders New Zealand in a FIFA World Cup Group F match.
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American No 1 John Isner wants injured players to be compensated with first round prize money at Grand Slam to lower the number of early withdrawals.
The Welsh, who reached the Euro 2016 semi-finals, finished runners-up on 14 points from eight games, three behind Croatia who sealed their berth on Saturday with a 3-1 win over Slovakia.
New Zealand defender Winston Reid, who almost chose Denmark before agreeing to play for the All Whites, headed a last-gasp goal to secure a 1-1 draw against Slovakia on Tuesday and secure their first ever World Cup point.
Former world number four and Australian Open runner-up Dominika Cibulkova announced her retirement on Tuesday.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
Provoking England midfielder Dele Alli could end up being a plan that backfires, Wales defender and Tottenham Hotspur teammate Ben Davies has said ahead of their Euro 2016 Group B encounter in Lens on Thursday.
The Chennai facility will continue to service Indian and non-European markets. In July 2009, Hyundai India's managing director H S Lheem had said the company was planning to move production to Turkey, the Czech Republic or Slovakia.
Spain, chasing an unprecedented third successive European Championship title and looking forward to facing Germany or Slovakia in the next round, have the upper hand in recent history, having not lost a competitive match against Italy since the 1994 World Cup.
Indian Davis Cupper Rohan Bopanna and doubles partner Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi are in line for their second ATP Tour title of the season after making the final of the clay court event in Casablanca, Morocco.
Rohan Bopanna and his partner Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi have advanced to the semi-finals of the ATP Tour event in Casablanca, Morocco after scoring an easy straight-set win over Simon Greul and Peter Luczak.
Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul Haq Qureshi advanced to the semi-finals of the ATP Tour event in Casablanca, Morocco, after a straight sets win over Simon Greul and Peter Luczak. The Indo-Pak pair beat the German-Australian pair 6-3, 6-2 in the quarter-finals of the euro 450,000 clay-court tournament.
Former World No 1 Ana Ivanovic has pulled out of Serbia's Fed Cup World Group playoff tie with Slovakia next month over poor form.
Last week, Court wrote an open letter to Qantas Airlines opposing their support of same-sex marriage and her beliefs were condemned by several current and former players, including Australia's Samantha Stosur, Nick Kyrgios and Jaimee Fourlis.
Australia eased ahead of Bosnia 2-0 as John Millman thumped Damir Dzumhur 6-3, 6-2 while Alex de Minaur overcame Mirza Basic 6-3, 7-6(0), before Millman revealed the team's larger goal under captain Lleyton Hewitt.
Interacting with state chief ministers, Modi underscored the enormity of what he described as the world's biggest vaccination exercise, which begins from January 16, saying over 30 crore citizens will get the jabs in the next few months in India against only 2.5 crore people vaccinated so far in over 50 countries in around a month.
Photos from the Euro 2016 qualifying matches played across Europe on Saturday
The president said the European Union has "failed to take the same precautions" as his administration had implemented to contain the coronavirus outbreak.
Flavia Pennetta reached her first grand slam semi-final after beating Roberta Vinci 6-4, 6-1 in their all-Italian quarter-final at the US Open on Wednesday.
An all-conquering Spain side were on the crest of a wave last time they faced Germany on the way to winning the 2010 World Cup but they now meet on Tuesday in what will be a stern test for a new fledgling team.
Rafa Nadal dispelled any concerns over his fitness and form at the Australian Open with an impressive second-round win over Slovakia's Lukas Lacko on Wednesday.
World champions Italy could lead a procession of as many as seven European countries into next year's World Cup in South Africa over the next few days.
England coach Fabio Capello said striker Peter Crouch would start Wednesday's 2010 World Cup qualifier against Ukraine after recovering from a knock in the weekend friendly win over Slovakia.
Former European champions Red Star Belgrade, Ajax Amsterdam and Celtic all made it comfortably through to the third qualifying round of the Champions League on Wednesday after surviving away legs.
Top seed Rafa Nadal, who has won the tournament 10 times, also reached the last eight after dispatching compatriot Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-1, 6-3 and claiming a record-extending 40th consecutive set on clay.
The 15-year-old from Aizwal, who is also a world youth silver-medallist, lifted a total of 274 kg (124 kg +150 kg) to finish on top.
The Indian men's recurve archery team of Jayanta Talukdar, Rahul Banerjee and Mangal Singh Champia on Friday downed Italy to reach the final and put India in line for yet another gold medal in the World Cup Stage 2 at Porec, in Croatia. India will face Russian Federation in the gold medal match on Saturday.
Injured Arsenal midfielder Santi Cazorla has suffered an Achilles problem in training which will delay his return to first-team action, manager Arsene Wenger has said.
Sania Mirza and doubles partner Cara Black got off to a bad start in the New Year with a shock first round defeat against wild cards Jarmila Gajdosova and Ajlaat Tomljanovic at the WTA Apia International, in Sydney on Monday.
Swiss seventh seed Belinda Bencic was stunned by Slovakia's Magdalena Rybarikova while former champion Ana Ivanovic was also sent packing in third-round action at the BNP Paribas Open in California.
Wales winger Gareth Bale has enough firepower to terrorise opponents in this month's European Championship in France, midfielder Joe Allen has said.
A pumped up Maria Sharapova overcame Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 6-7, 6-4, 6-2 to advance to the third round of the LA Championships on Wednesday.
India's Amit Kumar Saroha missed the bronze medal by a whisker in the men's F51 club throw competition at the Rio Paralympic Games on Friday.
Maria Sharapova got off to a flying start at the LA Championships on Monday, beating Slovakia's Jarmila Groth 6-0, 6-4 in the first round despite losing her way at times in a competitive second set.
World number three and defending champion Roger Federer suffered a surprise defeat in the second round of the Shangahi Masters on Tuesday, losing 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-3 to Spain's Albert Ramos-Vinolas.
Former Wimbledon runner-up Eugenie Bouchard successfully negotiated the qualifying draw on Thursday, beating Colombian Mariana Duque-Marino 6-3, 6-2 to secure a spot in next week's main draw.
