From the debate-arousing introduction of VAR to maximum number of Penalties to the superb Ronaldo, here are the A to Z of the ongoing 2018 World Cup
Radamel Falcao's hopes of playing at the World Cup finals hung by a thread on Thursday after his Ligue 1 club Monaco announced the Colombia striker required surgery on a left knee injury.
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.
Quaison fires Sweden to extra-time World Cup playoff win over Czechs
Brazil was officially named the only bidder to stage the 2014 World Cup after handing over a bidding agreement form at FIFA's headquarters in Zurich on Friday
Argentina won a record 16th Copa America title by beating Colombia 1-0 thanks to an extra-time goal from substitute Lautaro Martinez.
Brazil remain bitter about the tackle that ended their marquee striker Neymar's World Cup but hope his absence will inspire the rest of the team in Tuesday's semi-final against Germany.
Images and a round-up of all the World Cup qualifiers played across continents on Tuesday.
Reuters sports writers chose their team of the tournament.
The world's most-talented young players gave India a memorable show of high quality football on the field as the country showcased its organizational skills in a near-flawless and record-breaking FIFA Under-17 World Cup across six cities, which culminated with England clinching the title in Kolkata on Saturday.
Ace Indian archer Deepika Kumar shrugged off her poor run of form by clinching gold medal in the women's recurve event at the World Cup (Stage-3) in Salt Lake City.
'So, clearly, getting out of the group and winning a knockout game would be a real sign of progress. And if you win one, you win more'
At least one person died on Thursday when an unfinished overpass collapsed in World Cup host city Belo Horizonte, overshadowing the buildup to the first quarter-finals in which France face Germany and Brazil take on Colombia.
'That's what we're trying to do, by creating a tournament that is much more attractive than the current one, with more quality among participants and more clubs. That will attract more sponsors and television companies from around the world'
Switzerland will be among the eight seeded teams at the World Cup draw in December after they leapt to seventh in the latest FIFA rankings announced on Thursday, while Italy were edged out.
The World Cup group stages games are over and while European heavyweights Spain, Italy, England and Portugal are knocked out of the biggest sporting carnival, there is still plenty to look forward to.
Chile beat Ecuador 2-1 in their closing South American qualifier in Santiago on Tuesday as both went through automatically to the 2014 World Cup finals in Brazil.
'It was a nice experience and I felt on cloud nine when I scored the goal'
Jyothi Surekha Vennam, Parneet Kaur and Aditi Swami stunned defending champions Colombia 220-216 to enter the final of the Archery World Championships
Germany have four players and Argentina three in the 10-man FIFA shortlist for the adidas Golden Ball, which is awarded to the World Cup's most outstanding performer.
There was no place for AC Milan's Ronaldo in the team for the South American World Cup qualifiers next month.
Costa Rica's domination of a group with three former champions and Chile and Colombia's triumphant march through their first two matches highlights the strength of the Latin American challenge at the World Cup.
Colombia's James Rodriguez needed only 45 minutes to dismantle Japan with one of the best individual performances of the World Cup, including a sublime dinked goal that Lionel Messi would have been proud of.
New Zealand are placed in Group B along with Turkey, Paraguay and Mali.
Competing as a team for the first time, India defeated 10th seeded Colombia's Camilo Cardona, Daniel Munoz and Jose Carlos Ospina 226-221 in a one-sided final this morning.
England forward Jamie Vardy is "looking doubtful" for the World Cup quarter-final against Sweden on Saturday after suffering a groin strain having come on as a late substitute in the last-16 win over Colombia, manager Gareth Southgate has said.
Argentine superstar footballer Lionel Messi's touchdown in Kolkata in the early hours of Saturday sent the city into a frenzy.
the countries assured of places in the 32-team field for next year's World Cup finals in Russia after Tuesday's qualifiers.
Portugal charged into the knockout rounds of the under-20 World Cup on Saturday with a 3-1 defeat of Colombia while Serbia also advanced after sending Mexico crashing out of the tournament.
British citizen detained in Russia after incident on World Cup train: Embassy
Former Brazil striker Ronaldo has accused Colombia's Juan Zuniga of an "evil, violent" tackle that has put Neymar out of the World Cup and said on Saturday he favoured tougher sanctions against violent play.
Argentina's injured captain Lionel Messi has been named in a squad missing the suspended Javier Mascherano and Gonzalo Higuain for next month's World Cup qualifier against South America's bottom side Paraguay.
India may be the underdogs in the upcoming FIFA U-17 World Cup but midfield-lynchpin Suresh Singh Wangjam is confident that playing on the home soil would help them do well in the prestigious tournament.
The points table of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Brazil have sacked head coach Dorival Jr, the country's football confederation (CBF) said on Friday, after the five-times World champions were thrashed 4-1 away to fierce rivals Argentina in a humiliating qualifying loss in Buenos Aires.
The AFA thanked 58-year-old Sampaoli and his assistants, who have also left their positions, for their services.
'I am very proud of these Indian players. They have shown that India can compete against the best in the world. They have a fantastic future'
Brazil are the only country bidding to host the tournament following the withdrawal of Colombia in April.
