Images from the World Cup qualifying matches played on Wednesday night.
Gareth Southgate said he is confident that fans will come to be captivated by the "different" squad
Germany's Leon Goretzka scored two expertly-taken early goals to set them on the way to a thumping 4-1 win over Mexico in a dramatic, end-to-end Confederations Cup semi-final on Thursday.
Tens of thousands of fans joined family, friends and team-mates of Robert Enke to pay their last respects to the Germany goalkeeper on Sunday, five days after his suicide shocked the country and soccer fans worldwide.
France forward Kylian Mbappe is continuing to recover from his broken nose even though it is not yet sure whether he will play on Tuesday in his side's last group game
Sunday's World Cup defeat by Mexico should not really be seen as a surprise, defender Mats Hummels
Laxmi Negi/Rediff.com picks five of the best team performances from this round as the tournament heads into its business end.
Neeraj Chopra's broad shoulders will carry a weight of massive expectations
The Indian women's hockey team went down fighting 2-3 to slump to their second consecutive defeat against Germany in the tour to South Africa.
Champions Leverkusen, who set a European record of 51 consecutive games without loss across all competitions last season, kept their unbeaten streak intact with a number of late equalisers.
Real Madrid have avoided defeat in their last 41 LaLiga games, the second best streak by a team in the competition's history.
Leipzig will likely need to find an alternate venue or shift the two-leg tie around and first play in England.
The generation of quality jobs and skill development should be the focal point, cutting across ministries and departments, asserts Nivedita Mookerji.
Germany's World Cup victory on Sunday was not just down to 50 days of good preparation for the tournament but was the culmination of a meticulously-planned long-term project, coach Joachim Loew said.
IMAGES from the UEFA Champions League matches played on Wednesday.
Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski scored twice to set his side on course for a 5-0 Champions League thrashing of Swiss side Young Boys on Tuesday as the Catalan giants bounced back from a 2-1 loss at AS Monaco in their opener.
Ronaldo faces Schick in battle of top marksmen from last Euros
Real Madrid fought back from two goals down as Vinicius Jr grabbed a hat-trick in a thrilling 5-2 win over visitors Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League.
Memphis Depay scored one goal and put in an exhilarating all-round display as the Netherlands outclassed Germany 3-0 in their UEFA Nations League clash.
Title contenders Germany do not have fundamental scoring problems despite a goalless draw against Poland and will top their Euro 2016 Group C with a win over Northern Ireland next week, coach Joachim Loew said on Saturday.
Germany's shock World Cup opening defeat to Mexico on Sunday has left their tournament plans in disarray but coach Joachim Loew sounded confident the world champions would quickly make amends.
Rohan Bopanna and Sumit Nagal have secured their Paris Olympics 2024 quotas for India
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek of Poland faces Irina-Camella Begu of Romania in the opening round of the women's draw with second-seeded American Coco Gauff taking on Australian Ajla Tomljanovic.
"He has been sprinting and the knee is absolutely no issue for the World Cup. We still have a bit of time and it is nothing dramatic."
Harmanpreet Singh will lead a 24-member Indian squad in the Europe leg of the FIH Hockey Pro League starting on May 22.
Indian men's hockey team witnessed a disappointing start to its campaign at the six-nation Invitational tournament, losing 0-4 to Germany in their opening match in Valencia on Monday. In a first quarter blitz, Germany took the lead in the fifth minute via Mats Grambusch. Grambusch doubled Germany's lead minutes later before Moritz Furste scored a third in the 14th minute to take a 3-0 lead into the first break.
Germany's Joachim Loew said he would stay on to lead the World Cup winners to their title defence in Russia in 2018 despite an initial hesitation on whether to continue after a disappointing semi-final defeat to France last week at the Euro 2016.
Six medals from a 117-strong contingent is not ideal but India had its moments of joy, hope, frustration, and heartache.
The 19-year-old fired in from the edge of the box in the 66th minute to break stiff Chinese resistance in the Group B encounter.
Real Madrid had courted Mbappe in the past but failed to land the player, who signed a contract extension with PSG in May 2022 when the Spanish club had a bid rejected.
The medal tally at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
The Indian badminton team returned empty-handed from the Olympics for the first time in over a decade.
Yavarivafa would be jailed three times -- once entirely alone for a day, crying and taken from her mother -- before she made it to Birmingham, England at the end of 2019 and finally found a home.
England, who are gunning for their second World Cup title, have the most valuable squad in Qatar with Jude Bellingham topping a list of over 800 players.
Southgate had some concerning post-game comments, pointing to the players' conditioning after long and gruellingly seasons.
Germany coach Joachim Loew will stay in his post despite his team's group stage elimination at the World Cup in Russia.
India's tennis campaign at the Paris Olympics lasted just a day as Sumit Nagal and the men's doubles pair of Rohan Bopanna and N Sriram Balaji bowed out after losing their respective opening matches to French challengers in Paris Sunday.
India's inspirational para-athletes achieved their stated goal of 25 medals and remained on course for more in Paris on Thursday.
Sweden's preparations may have been hit by illness and injury but team captain Andreas Granqvist still believes that his side can score a first competitive win over Germany since 1958 to send the defending champions home early from the World Cup.
Poland's first-choice goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny will miss Thursdays Euro 2016 clash with Germany but could return for their final Group C game against Ukraine, coach Adam Nawalka said.
