At least two of the eight first-round groups of four produced tough obstacles for their participants to progress to the knockout rounds.
Former Sevilla coach Joaquin Caparros and current Granada manager Paco Jemez both said earlier on Thursday that they were interested in the position if Del Bosque was to leave.
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.
France is slowly but gaining momentum when it mattered most.
England beat Colombia 4-3 on penalties on Tuesday after Eric Dier scored the decisive spot kick to send them through to a World Cup quarter-final against Sweden.
The Netherlands failed to reach the European Championship for the first time since 1984 as they lost 3-2 at home to the 10-man Czech Republic in their final qualifier on Tuesday to miss out on Euro 2016.
Switzerland may get a taste of their own medicine on Saturday when they meet an Albania side featuring several players who benefited from the highly-acclaimed Swiss youth set-up. Loyalties will be divided in a fascinating Group A clash which, for the first time in the European Championship, will have brothers on opposing sides in Granit and Taulant Xhaka. Both are of Albanian heritage and were born in Basel but Granit will line up for Switzerland and older brother Taulant, provided he recovers from a thigh injury, for their opponents. In all, nine members of Albania's 23-man squad had the right to play for Switzerland, and six members of the Swiss squad could have opted for Albania.
Levski Sofia fans force players to remove shirts after derby defeat
Real Madrid defender Raphael Varane made up for the absence of Sergio Ramos by scoring one goal and making another to help his side to a hard-fought 3-0 win at Getafe. La Liga leaders Barcelona were held to a 2-2 draw at struggling Espanyol on Saturday as China striker Wu Lei came off the bench to grab a late equaliser in a pulsating city derby.
The former Wimbledon champion has recovered from shoulder surgery and will represent Croatia in the first round tie in February.
Real Madrid defender Dani Carvajal has announced he will miss next month's Euro 2016 tournament after the 24-year-old Spaniard sustained a muscular injury to his right leg during Saturday's Champions League final.
Valencia sign Kondogbia on loan from Inter
Serbian former world number one Novak Djokovic will be in action at his home club, working under old coach Marian Vajda -- desperately searching for some spark after tumbling down to 13th in the rankings.
News of all that transpired on and off the football field.
Belgium beat England 2-0 in the World Cup third-place play-off on Saturday to secure their best ever finish at a World Cup and send Gareth Southgate's side home with a second straight loss.
France substitute Kylian Mbappe engineered two late goals to rescue a 2-2 draw against Iceland and spare the blushes of the world champions in their friendly.
Iceland failed to use their brains in Sunday's 5-2 defeat to France at Euro 2016, joint coach Lars Lagerback said, though he spoke with pride of the team's achievements in getting to the quarter-finals in their first tournament appearance.
Juventus need to beat Manchester City to reach the Champions League knockout stages on Wednesday and many fans still believe the best way to achieve this is by fielding Alvaro Morata and Paulo Dybala together in attack.
Marin Cilic hit all the right notes in a dominant 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 win over Kei Nishikori in the US Open final on Monday but it remains to be seen if the big Croatian is another one Slam wonder or perennial threat.
The poor show in the men's 10m air rifle event at the World Cup is a setback to the Indian marksman's Olympics qualification.
Melbourne man McNamara won five singles titles and 19 in doubles and teamed up with compatriot Paul McNamee to win the Australian Open doubles in 1979 and Wimbledon twice in 1980 and 1982.
Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone may have played down the significance of Sunday's 2-1 La Liga defeat at Real Sociedad but it has raised further questions about the champions' ability to defend their title.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday
Reigning champions Spain left it late but Gerard Pique's 87th-minute header earned them a deserved 1-0 victory over a dogged Czech Republic in their Euro 2016 Group D opener on Monday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Men's tennis steps into the unknown next week when the young guns expected to follow in the footsteps of the current golden generation contest the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan.
Iceland's run to the quarter-finals of Euro 2016 showed that a Nordic island known for its volcanoes and pioneering geothermal power has the potential to generate plenty of its own talented footballers too.
Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde will be banking on new signing Ousmane Dembele to fill the gap left by Neymar's departure as he looks to overcome off-pitch difficulties when the Catalans take on Espanyol on Saturday.
German fans responded with shock and dismay after the national team suffered their first elimination in the first round of the World Cup for 80 years.
The result continued a dismal streak for Madrid, who have won only two of their last five games in all competitions
Talismanic Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo struggled against Croatia producing just one shot on goal, but coach Fernando Santos defended his "amazing" captain.
Bringing you all the news from the summer transfer window and other snippets from the soccer world...
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti is confident Cristiano Ronaldo's three-match ban will be reduced to two so he can play in Saturday's La Liga game at home to Elche.
Images from Day 3 of the French Open matches played at Roland Garros on Tuesday
The simplicity of football was again emphasised as France secured a place in the World Cup final from a basic set- piece.
When Roger Federer stood on the dusty baseline with the scoreboard showing he was trailing Marin Cilic 6-7 4-6 3-3 0-40, it looked like the man with the dodgy back was about to disappear into a giant Wimbledon sinkhole. When the self-styled "old guy" of tennis stood match point down at 4-5 30-40 in the fourth set, it looked like he would be sucked deeper into the mire. When the 34-year-old stood another match point down two games later, the hole was getting wider.
Brazil scored three superbly-taken goals, including a stunning Neymar effort, to beat feisty Austria 3-0 in sweltering conditions on Sunday and put the finishing touches to their impressive World Cup preparation.
Australia's Alex de Minaur fought back from a set down to beat former world number one Andy Murray
Italy will even be back to four teams in the Champions League group stage this season -- although that is thanks to a controversial re-formulation of the competition by UEFA rather than a significant improvement in performances by Serie A clubs.
