France coach Didier Deschamps was relieved to come through his side's 2-0 quarter-final win over Uruguay without losing any of his players to an unnecessary suspension, he said after Friday's match in Nizhny Novgorod.
Three South American sides have accounted for almost half of all World Cup titles but their worst overall performance since 2002 has raised the question: Is South American football on the wane?
The two lowest-ranked teams will kick off the World Cup at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on June 14.
Tite admitted he had been complaining to the referee during the first half and said the two men exchanged words.
Diego Maradona hit out at critics of his coaching after his Argentina team qualified for the World Cup on Wednesday and said he has issues to discuss with his boss. Argentina secured their berth at the 2010 finals in South Africa with a 1-0 away win over arch-rivals Uruguay at the Centenario, scene of the first World Cup final in 1930.
Lionel Messi won his 100th Argentina cap when he started the Copa America Group B match against Jamaica on Saturday.
Images and a round-up of all the World Cup qualifiers played across continents on Tuesday.
Rohan Bopanna and his partner Pablo Cuevas knocked out fifth seeds Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram after a three-set battle to progress to the quarterfinals of the ATP Monte Carlo Masters.
Ajax Amsterdam's Uruguay forward Luis Suarez hit six goals in a 14-1 thrashing of amateurs WHC Wezep in the Dutch Cup fourth round on Wednesday.
France is slowly but gaining momentum when it mattered most.
India's leading doubles players Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza began their US Open campaigns with victories in their respective events.
The 25-year-old ended a breakthrough season for Liverpool in disappointing fashion when he was withdrawn injured in the first half of the Champions League final defeat by Real Madrid in Kiev on May 26.
Belgium edged ahead of France to take outright top spot in FIFA's world rankings released on Thursday while tiny Gibraltar were the biggest risers.
Rediff.com's Norma Godinho captures classic moments from the planet's greatest sports competition: The FIFA World Cup.
Earlier in the day, Bolivia beat Venezuela 3-1 at home and Uruguay and Paraguay drew 0-0 in Montevideo.
The Indian women's hockey team went down against Canada 1-3 in their second match ahead of the Women 's Hockey World League Round 2 in West Vancouver, Canada.
Marriages are are bound to happen pandemic or not.
News of all that transpired on and off the football field
FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke has dismissed allegations of gender discrimination over the decision to play the women's World Cup on artificial turf, saying the surface could also be used for the men's tournament in the future.
The incident, the first reported death of a World Cup visitor to Russia, was blamed by police on the driver, although Russian roads are notorious and claimed over 19,000 lives in 2017.
Hosts Brazil aim to become the first team to reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup on Saturday by maintaining their superb recent record against opponents Chile.
Injured Lionel Messi will miss Argentina's 2018 World Cup qualifier away to Venezuela on Tuesday with a groin problem.
Uruguay and Barcelona striker Luis Suarez has revealed the reason why he bites others and how his wife begged him to get help for the same.
News of all that transpired on and off the football field.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Unstoppable Juventus maintained their perfect start to the season after 10 matches when first-half goals from Rodrigo Bentancur and Cristiano Ronaldo gave them a 2-0 win at Udinese in Serie A on Saturday.
Diego Maradona blasted FIFA's ban on Uruguay striker Luis Suarez as "criminal" and said world soccer's governing body might as well handcuff the striker and lock him up in Guantanamo prison.
Get the latest from the World of football news and more on Rediff.com.
Uruguay forward Luis Suarez's four-month playing ban for biting Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini has been upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) although he will be allowed train with his new club Barcelona.
Barcelona forward Luis Suarez was an "accident waiting to happen" at former club Liverpool and the Premier League will be a better place without him, according to league chief Richard Scudamore.
Images from Sunday's English Premier League matches.
Argentina, still reeling from the shock resignations of captain Lionel Messi and coach Gerardo Martino, have chosen Edgardo Bauza as their new coach, the Argentine FA said on Monday.
Leander Paes and his Swiss partner Martina Hingis entered the mixed doubles final at the Australian Open. Sania Mirza and Brazil's Bruno Soares were was beaten in the other semi-final.
Alexis Sanchez shrugged off an ankle injury and continued his resurgent form at the Copa America. The Chile striker fired his side to a 2-1 victory over Ecuador on Friday which took the holders into the quarter-finals of the competition.
India's Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador T S Tirumurti, said on Tuesday that India condemns all forms of anti-semitism and all forms of discrimination on religious grounds anywhere in the world.
The draw for the eight groups for the final round of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, which will be played from June 12 to July 13 in Brazil, was just held in Costa do Saupe near Salvador de Bahia.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
FIFA has rejected Luis Suarez's appeal against his lengthy ban for biting an opponent in a World Cup match. Football's international governing body said on Thursday its appeals committee rejected the appeal by Suarez and the Uruguay football federation in its entirety.
Peru's Claudio Pizarro scored a late equaliser to salvage a 2-2 draw against Bolivia at the Copa America.
From match-winner to vilified sinner, the World Cup has again provided the stage for Luis Suarez's polarising career to unfurl in microcosm.
