Sri Lanka need to win their final two games, and hope for favourable outcomes in England and Pakistan's next fixtures.
Whether the stellar line-up of champions, Ferrari's first such pairing for 50 years, blazes a trail to title glory or derails itself in a shower of sparks along the way remains to be seen.
Sri Lanka - who shocked England so spectacularly in Leeds last week - must now beat West Indies and India in their final two games if they are to stand any chance of making the final four.
Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel won the Italian Grand Prix at a canter on Sunday to move 53 points clear of Ferrari's Fernando Alonso in the Formula One championship after six victories from 12 races.
World champion Sebastian Vettel was pushed all the way but finally tasted Formula One victory on home soil on Sunday in a German Grand Prix that sent him 34 points clear of Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.
Former champions Sri Lanka are all but out of the tournament after the Islanders produced a dismal batting show to manage a modest 203, a target which the Proteas overhauled with 76 balls in hand.
Portugal coach Fernando Santos hauled off Ricardo Quaresma after the winger failed to follow his tactical instructions as they struggled to make their domination count in a 0-0 draw with Austria at Euro 2016 on Saturday.
Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic's girlfriends provide the players much needed inspiration the Wimbledon quarters on Wednesday.
Spain's 3-0 reverse to Brazil in the Confederations Cup final was a mere "blip" and they will be back in Brazil next year confidently chasing a second straight World Cup triumph, according to forward Fernando Torres.
Arsenal teenager Bukayo Saka scored his first goal for the club as they beat 10-man Eintracht Frankfurt 3-0, while Manchester United's 17-year-old Mason Greenwood secured a 1-0 win over FC Astana as the Europa League group stage began on Thursday.
Chelsea are in the last chance saloon as far as a trophy goes and Fernando Torres, complete with his 'Mask of Zorro', must continue his recent improvement in swashbuckling style in Thursday's Europa League semi-finals.
Germany's Nico Rosberg took Mercedes' second successive pole position in qualifying for the Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix on Saturday.
Spain won by a landslide as expected but tiny Tahiti emerged with their reputations enhanced and their dignity intact despite their 10-0 loss to the world and European champions in the Confederations Cup on Thursday.
Chelsea striker Fernando Torres has expressed his desperation to finally prove himself at Stamford Bridge under new boss Jose Mourinho, and hopes to persuade him that he is still the man to fire the Blues to glory.
The Indians had a disappointing outing at the US Open with both Leander Paes and Sania Mirza losing their doubles and mixed doubles matches respectively, in New York, on Friday.
But despite some early close attempts from Uruguay, Japan began to impose themselves on the game and Koji Miyoshi gave them the lead in the 25th minute with a confident finish following a counterattack.
Chelsea, galvanised by the second-half introduction of Fernando Torres, capped a successful week by coming from behind to beat Sunderland 2-1 to leapfrog Tottenham Hotspur into third place in the Premier League on Sunday.
Substitute Fernando Torres scored his 100th Atletico Madrid goal as they rallied from 1-0 down to beat visiting Eibar 3-1 and go level with Barcelona at the top of La Liga on Saturday. Two headed goals from corner kicks seven minutes apart by central defenders Jose Maria Gimenez and Saul put Atletico on track after Keko had given Eibar the lead in the 46th. Coach Diego Simeone will be glad his side ended a run of four matches without a win in La Liga and the King's Cup while Torres, who netted in added time, had been waiting since a victory at Eibar in September to reach his century for the club. Atletico are unlikely to stay joint top on 51 points beyond Sunday as rampant Barcelona, who have a better goal difference and two matches in hand, visit bottom team Levante. Real Madrid, away to Granada on Sunday, are in third place, four points off the pace.
Red Bull's triple world champion Sebastian Vettel won the Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday to capture his first Formula One victory on North American soil and extend his overall lead to 36 points.
Sahara Force India had a remarkable outing at the Circuit de Monaco as comeback man Adrian Sutil and teammate Paul di Resta finished a creditable fifth and ninth respectively in the crash-strewn Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday, earning the team 12 World Championship points.
Michael Schumacher's son Mick is '100 percent' certain to make it to Formula One and when he does it will be great for the sport, world champion Lewis Hamilton said.
Guedes, 22, nutmegged Matthijs de Ligt, exchanged passes with Bernando Silva and then beat goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen with a shot from the edge of the area on the hour for his fourth international goal in 17 appearances.
Summary of World Cup qualifiers played across the world on Thursday
Ramkumar, who ended a runner-up at the Newport event last week, lost 4-6, 4-6 to American Taylor Fritz.
New Zealand beat Sri Lanka by five wickets in the first T20I of the three-match series in Pallekele.
Angel Correa saw La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid snatch a 2-1 victory away to Granada on Saturday
Andy Murray put the home fans through the wringer as he came back from two sets down to book a place in the Wimbledon semi-finals with an edgy 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-5 win over unseeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco on Wednesday.
Evergreen Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-trick, including two late goals, to give Portugal a 3-1 win over Switzerland in a Nations League semi-final featuring an extraordinary VAR incident on Wednesday.
Fernando Alonso reiterated his long-term love and loyalty to Ferrari on Friday after McLaren, the Formula One team he left in acrimonious circumstances in 2007, said they would be keen to sign him.
Gianluigi Buffon saved three kicks in a shootout as Italy beat Uruguay 3-2 on penalties to take third place in the 2014 Confederations Cup on Sunday following a 2-2 draw.
The Catalonian side put up a good fight to stay level in the first half at a half-empty Wanda Metropolitano stadium, with Lucas Hernandez hitting the post and Diego Costa denied when one-on-one with the visiting keeper.
