Hong Kong held China to a nil-nil draw in a World Cup qualifying soccer match on Tuesday played amid lingering political tensions between the two sides after last year's massive pro-democracy protests in the financial hub.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Prince Ali is standing against Sepp Baltter in Friday's election and although Blatter is strongly favoured to win.
It will have made uneasy viewing for coach Jorge Sampaoli and emphasised more than ever how reliant his side are on their talisman Messi, who has been struggling with a muscle problem.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Luis Suarez returned for Uruguay for the first time since his infamous World Cup biting incident and scored in a 1-1 friendly draw against Saudi Arabia.
A round-up of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers played on Thursday
Images from the 2018 World Cup qualifiers played in Europe on Monday
An inspired performance from Douglas Costa helped Brazil to a 3-0 win over Peru on Tuesday and lifted them into third place in the South American qualifying group for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Switzerland struck twice in quick succession to stun Euro 2016 champions Portugal 2-0 in a World Cup qualifier on Tuesday and hand them a first competitive defeat in two years under coach Fernando Santos.