Fancied France kicked off their campaign on a rousing note, inflicting a 7-1 humiliation on debutants New Caledonia in a Group E match of the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Guwahati.
Mexico got just rewards for their attacking intent when Oribe Peralta's 61st minute strike gave them a 1-0 win over Cameroon in their World Cup opener at a rain-saturated Dunas arena on Friday.
Wildcard Harriet Dart was probably surprised, therefore, when she looked up to see the Duchess of Cambridge sat in the front row of seats on Court 14 on Tuesday.
James Rodriguez scored one goal and set up two more as Colombia thoroughly dismantled Panama in a 5-0 win at the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on Saturday to march into the Copa America semi-finals.
The American-made robot housed in Moscow's Robo Station predicted a few hours before kickoff that France would beat Belgium in Tuesday's semi-final in St Petersburg.
England beat Nigeria 2-1 in a friendly on Saturday that provided some clues as to how coach Gareth Southgate will line up his still experimental side when the World Cup gets underway in two weeks' time.
'I've been here before, whether with the South African or IPL teams, so I'm excited. A new role for me, a coaching role which I'm really excited about. It's a whole new role looking at the players, which is fantastic. I'm looking forward to hitting the ground running.'
Lionel Messi marked his retirement about face with a goal to give 10-man Argentina a 1-0 win over Uruguay on Thursday that lifted them to the top of the South American qualifying group for the 2018 World Cup finals in Russia.
'Mission XI Million is the most ambitious football engagement programme to date in India.'
A delicate stoppage time winner from Wang Lisi lifted China to a 1-0 victory.
Manchester City midfielder Phil Foden struck twice as England came from behind to thrash European champions Spain 5-2 and clinch their maiden Under-17 World Cup title, in Kolkata, on Saturday.
Aura of iconic Eden Gardens clinched it for us: CAB president
'I will I be keeping wickets and batting in the middle-order and after that I would be happy to keep wickets in Test matches.'
Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan is set to make his commentary debut in the much-awaited India-Pakistan cricket World Cup game in Adelaide as part of a promotional activity for his upcoming film Shamitabh.
"It is important to simultaneously monitor the other game because you can adapt your strategy a bit accordingly," said Mueller.
Rediff.com takes you back to the five own goals scored at the ongoing FIFA World Cup...
Sukanya Verma recaps everything we learned this year in showbiz.
France captain Amandine Henry came to the rescue as the hosts scraped into the women's World Cup quarter-finals with a 2-1 win against Brazil after extra time.
Images from the FIFA Women's World Cup matches played on Tuesday.
Fara Williams struck an extra-time winner from the penalty spot as England defeated Germany 1-0 to claim third place in the Women's World Cup.
Chile conceded an own goal through substitute Diego Valencia in the 81st minute.
In other India-related news, Manish Kaurav (KL3 men 200m) and Manjeet Singh (VL2 men 200m) made it to the finals of their respective events for the first time in the history of the tournament.
And to think that the 24-year-old forward had nearly missed the World Cup bus.
'An important dimension that shone through was the enormous pride in India, a general belief that as Indians we are starting to count globally and we are at the forefront of the world.'
As members of the Argentina team and support squad took turns to hug Lionel Messi, his eyes were fixed on the stands.
Former Romanian world number one Ilie Nastase called Wimbledon organisers "small-minded" after they announced he would not be invited to the Royal Box at this year's championships.
With seven points from eight matches, India finished third in Group E behind toppers Qatar and Oman, and ahead of Afghanistan (4th in group with six points from eight matches).
An impressive India thrashed Canada 5-1 to top Pool C and seal a direct berth in the quarter-finals of the men's hockey World Cup.
Brazil were knocked out of the Women's World Cup on Sunday after a surprise 1-0 defeat by Australia in the round of 16.
Ellyse Perry put up a sizzling display with both bat and ball to power Royal Challengers Bangalore into the Women's Premier League knockouts.
Brazil inflicted France's first defeat since the World Cup when a perfectly executed second-half performance earned them a 3-1 win in a friendly game at the Stade de France on Thursday.
Shami was there to receive the honours. He took 24 wickets in seven World Cup games last year.
Four-time Asian medallist Shiva Thapa became India's first gold-medallist at the President's Cup boxing tournament after getting a walkover in the final.
Trade analyst Vinod Mirani gives the box office verdict for the week.
A clinical India outclassed West Indies by a whopping 200 runs in the third ODI to win the series 2-1.
Six-time World Championships gold medallist Mary Kom and former World Championships bronze medallist Gaurav Bidhuri staved off tough challenges in their respective weight categories to make the finals, at the 23rd President's Cup.
'It didn't seem like ICC event, it seemed like BCCI event'
Just as the umpire's decision is no longer final, what is disdainfully rejected is the age-old dictum that the game should be played and watched in the spirit of the game, sighs Uddalok Bhattacharya.
Olympic champion shooter Abhinav Bindra appealed to AIBA to help clean up the administrative mess in Indian boxing and pave the way for the country's pugilists to participate at the Rio Olympics under the national flag. Ever willing to boost the confidence of fellow athletes, Bindra visited the Indian boxing squad competing at the AIBA World Olympic Qualification tournament here and interacted with them individually.
