France have found a new hero in Antoine Griezmann and the striker has his eyes firmly set on lifting the Euro 2016 trophy after his two goals fired Les Bleus past Germany on Thursday and into the final.
France will play Argentina, who are also looking to win the World Cup for the third time, in Sunday's final at the Lusail Stadium.
Harry Kane headed in a last-gasp equaliser to earn Tottenham Hotspur a barely-deserved 2-2 draw in a feisty Premier League derby at Chelsea that ended with both managers being shown red cards after the final whistle on Sunday.
Everton's Premier League relegation fears deepened considerably as they collapsed to a 5-0 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur with Harry Kane scoring twice for the rampant hosts on Monday.
As England tightened their grip on Euro 2024 qualifying and France maintained their perfect run, hosts Germany's troubles deepened.
'If you are a big player, and paid like a big player, you must play like a big player and behave like a big player'
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
"It feels like a missed chance because I felt the performances were really good and the focus and the hunger was good every single day," said England midfielder Jordan Henderson.
Arsene Wenger remained defiant on Sunday after Arsenal's 3-2 capitulation at Manchester United prompted much criticism, with one distinguished former international suggesting their performance bordered on 'a joke'.
As the Premier League resumes following the international break all eyes will be on Cristiano Ronaldo's homecoming party at Old Trafford on Saturday, with the Portuguese international set to resume his Manchester United career after 12 years away.
Uruguay will seek to summon up all their famous defensive spirit in Friday's quarter-final against France to shackle the Europeans' lighting-fast teenage top-scorer Kylian Mbappe.
Brazil are pre-tournament favourites to win a record-extending sixth title.
Dutch soccer star Robin van Persie returned to his home ground on Monday as he signed with Feyenoord Rotterdam hoping for a positive ending to his dwindling career.
The central defender has been without a club since leaving Championship (second-tier) side Aston Villa following their playoff defeat by Fulham at Wembley Stadium last season.
The 28-year-old Argentine has scored seven goals from direct free-kicks in this year's La Liga, the latest in Sunday's 5-0 triumph over Espanyol.
The 2024 European Championship will be held in Germany from June 14-July 14. Following are the teams who have qualified for the tournament:
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.
They say never go back, but United fans had been longing for Ronaldo to rejoin their side for many years, more in forlorn hope than anything else.
A downbeat Arsene Wenger said he has decided on his Arsenal future and would reveal all soon after his side slumped to a dismal 3-1 defeat at West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.
Lionel Messi passed up the chance to net his 300th La Liga goal and instead put a hat-trick on a plate for team mate Luis Suarez with an outrageous penalty routine.
Sergio Aguero and Kevin De Bruyne put on an attacking masterclass to help City rout Leicester City 5-1.
Real Madrid have defied injuries to keep the pressure on leaders Barcelona and notched up over 100 La Liga goals but they now face arguably the toughest test of their title charge in an away match to Sevilla on Saturday.
Luis Aragones, the coach of Spain's 2008 European Championship-winning side, has died at the age of 75, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) announced on Saturday.
Manchester United's winless run continued but they gave under-fire coach Louis van Gaal crumbs of cheer with a committed display in an entertaining 0-0 draw with Chelsea while Arsenal went top of the table on Monday.
Arsenal can win the Premier League title this season if they can continue playing the type of game they did during Monday night's 2-1 win over Manchester City, midfielder Mesut Ozil has said.
Former France defender Mikael Silvestre, who played for Indian Super League side Chennaiyin FC in the inaugural edition in 2014, feels that football is growing fast in India.
Chelsea's terrible start to the season plumbed new depths on Saturday when the Premier League champions lost 2-1 at West Ham United.
A Ciaran Clark own goal earned Sweden a fortunate 1-1 draw against a spirited Ireland side in their Euro 2016 Group E opener at the Stade de France on Monday.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic says he is ready to win silverware with Los Angeles Galaxy after a full-page advert in Friday's LA Times confirmed his move to the MLS club from Manchester United.
Be it the jam-packed stadiums at the UEFA Champions League, the intense trans-Tasman rivalry in cricket, there are certain events that enthralls fans. Brendon McCullum blasting into history with the fastest Test hundred in his farewell Test; but that wasn't enough as Australia completed a 2-0 clean sweep of the Kiwis. Rohit Sharma, yet again showing why is considered to be a special talent in limited-overs cricket as India thrashed host Bangladesh in the Asia Cup opener. In Champions League football, Lionel Messi's Barcelona proving too hot for old-rivals Arsenal. Be ready to be amazed as Rediff.com encapsulates all the sporting action from the past week in this super photo feature.
Arsenal's Aubameyang compared to Henry after his derby double
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Images from the Premier League matches played on Saturday.
The South American trio of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez reached a scorching 108 goals for the season following the La Liga leaders' 8-0 destruction of Cordoba on Saturday but the team's defence is yet to dispel doubts
Cristiano Ronaldo is a colossal figure in club football having completed a hat-trick of Champions League (1 Manchester United, 2 Real Madrid) victories. The three-time Ballon d'Or winner, Ronaldo has won several league titles. But the Portuguese magician tasted success for the first time with the national team as Portugal defeated hosts France to lift the 2016 Euro title.
Here is a look at what happened in their previous Euro semis...
Germany's players hailed their first victory against Italy in a major tournament as an exceptional moment in their history as they reached the Euro 2016 semi-finals by beating their old rivals 6-5 on penalties.
Spurs' triumph at the Etihad Stadium moved them within two points of Premier League leaders Leicester City and kept them in second place above Arsenal on goal difference with 12 matches to play
The FIFA World Cup knock-out phase kicks-off on Saturday in Qatar. Here's an overview of the teams advancing to the last 16.
