News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Brazil forward Robinho ended his third spell at Santos on Tuesday with local media reporting he was set to join up with former Selecao coach Luiz Felipe Scolari at Chinese champions Guangzhou Evergrande.
Brazil coach Tite has recalled veteran central defender Thiago Silva to his squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Bolivia and Venezuela.
Lionel Messi's triumphant Argentina comeback has been tempered by a hint he may not be fit to play in Tuesday's World Cup qualifier in Venezuela. Messi, who had gone back on his decision to quit the team following their Copa America final defeat in June, scored the only goal in a 1-0 home win over Uruguay on Thursday that sent Argentina to the top of the South American group. However, the Argentina captain said he had a groin pain and had to think about his fitness at the start of a busy season for his national side and his club Barcelona.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Luis Suarez scored his first Uruguay goals since the World Cup finals and his biting bran in a 3-0 friendly win over Oman on Monday.
Barcelona have launched a campaign in support of Lionel Messi and his father Jorge after the Argentine pair were sentenced to prison terms this week over tax fraud.
In the week of his 31st birthday, Messi was again a largely anonymous figure as they lost 4-3 to France in a thrilling last-16 match in Kazan.
'There are many myths about the team and about this generation'
Brazil have shown all the signs they can rule the world yet again in Russia but they must make their excellent preparations count in their World Cup Group E opener against a resilient Switzerland side on Sunday in Rostov.
Argentina had a scare when Lionel Messi had to be substituted after incurring a back injury during a 1-0 win over rugged Honduras in a Copa America Centenario warm-up friendly on Friday. Messi walked off in pain in the 64th minute in San Juan after a clash with Honduras substitute Oliver Morazan 10 days before Argentina's opening Group D match against Chile. The team later dispelled fears of a serious injury, saying on their Twitter account that Messi had "suffered bruising on the left of his lower back and ribs." Gonzalo Higuain scored the only goal for Argentina. In other warm-up matches for the June 3-26 tournament in the United States, Edinson Cavani struck twice as Uruguay overcame Trinidad and Tobago 3-1 and title holders Chile were upset 2-1 by Jamaica.
Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal "does not know why" Angel Di Maria has not joined the Premier League club's pre-season tour of the U.S following media reports the winger is close to signing for Paris St-Germain.
Lionel Messi assumed the rare role of fan on Thursday conveying his best wishes to his idol and Argentina great Pablo Aimar who retired on Wednesday.
The improvement since Tite took over as coach in June 2016 has been remarkable and Brazil are now joint favourites to win a record sixth World Cup.
Atletico Madrid have moved to strengthen their forward line for next season following the exit of Mario Mandzukic by agreeing to buy Colombia striker Jackson Martinez from Porto.
Argentina got their World Cup qualifying campaign off to the perfect start on Thursday when Lionel Messi's early penalty gave them a 1-0 win over Ecuador in a lacklustre match in Buenos Aires.
Liverpool's Champions League winning trio of Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Sadio Mane joined regulars Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi on the shortlist for The Best FIFA Men's player award
Barcelona have been very active in the transfer market in recent years, completing three of the top six most expensive transfers ever.
France forward Griezmann, 28, rejected a move to Barcelona last year but announced in May he was leaving the Madrid side, where he has spent the last five seasons since signing from Real Sociedad in 2014.
Manchester Utd's Fred receives racist abuse after defeat by Liverpool.
Little more than a year has gone by since Tite took over as coach of a Brazil side still reeling from embarrassing exits in the World Cup and Copa America but in that short time he has transformed the team into favourites for Russia 2018.
Pragmatic, difficult to beat, spearheaded by talismanic forwards and led by veteran, battle-hardened coaches -- few teams have as much in common with each other as Uruguay and Portugal who meet in a World Cup round of 16 tie on Saturday.
Here is a terrific quote that is doing the rounds from Chile's coach, Jorge Sampaoli.
'This award is not just mine.' 'It is my team mates' from Real Madrid and Croatia.' 'Without my coaches, I would not have won this and without my family I would not be the player I am today.'
Neymar will be selected as one of Brazil's three over-age players for the 2016 Olympics, the team's manager Alexandre Gallo said on Thursday.
Higuain had a disappointing Copa America tournament in July, scoring two goals during the competition and missing his spot kick as Argentina lost on penalties to Chile in the final.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
'When I signed, I only knew that East Bengal are a big club with great history. I have no idea about ISL or any other tournament. I came here because East Bengal are a big club'.
The Euro 2020 soccer Championship, trumpeted as a continent-wide feast of football from Dublin to Baku to mark UEFA's 60th anniversary, was postponed for a year on Tuesday as the coronavirus pandemic claimed its biggest sporting casualty yet. Europe's flagship tournament, staged every four years and second only to FIFA's World Cup in terms of prestige in soccer, will now be staged from June 11 to July 12, 2021.
Sepp Blatter in Russia on first foreign visit since crisis.
A little under two weeks ago Neymar netted the goal that wrapped up Barcelona's UEFA Champions League triumph against Juventus but his needless sending off at the Copa America on Wednesday means the Brazil forward may have played his last game at the tournament.
The Argentina captain turns 31 in a few days and may be playing his last World Cup. He would need to win it to rival fellow great Diego Maradona for the eternal love of his compatriots.
All the action that transpired on and off the football field
Images from the FIFA World Cup qualifiers matches.
The 'wounds' of 2014 will probably never heal, concedes Lionel Messi but the Argentine superstar is hopeful that 2018 will bring with it the World Cup that football 'owes' him.
Carlos Tevez holds out no hope of being part of Argentina's World Cup squad and prefers not to watch their matches on television, the Juventus striker said on Friday.
Chelsea have signed Germany's highly-rated attacking midfielder Kai Havertz from Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen on a five-year contract, the Premier League club announced on Friday.
Summary of World Cup qualifiers played across the world on Thursday
Relentless will to improve drives City to greatness
Neymar and Lionel Messi grabbed a goal each in the first half as Barcelona rolled over Roma 3-0 in the traditional Gamper Trophy pre-season match on Wednesday.
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