Images from the World Cup match between France and Switzerland, on Saturday.
France, Japan and United States recorded solid victories on Tuesday as the finalists continued their preparations with the start of the World Cup just over two weeks away.
Arsenal's resurgent Alexis Sanchez scored twice to help ease their top-four jitters in a 2-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion in the Premier League at a less than full Emirates Stadium on Thursday.
Images from the English Premier League match between Arsenal and West Ham United on Tuesday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Arsenal survived a late scare to regain top spot in the Premier League with a 2-1 victory at Aston Villa on Monday, both their goals arriving in the space of a minute in the first half.
Holders Arsenal won the FA Cup for a record 12th time on Saturday, outclassing Aston Villa 4-0 at Wembley with stunning goals from Theo Walcott and Alexis Sanchez setting up their one-sided victory.
Arsenal, long accused of being too weak during an eight year spell without a trophy, showed their growing resilience in Sunday's narrow win at Newcastle United that sent them back to the top of the table, manager Arsene Wenger said.
Manchester United and Chelsea secured places in the Champions League with wins on the final day of the Premier League season while Watford and Bournemouth were relegated along with bottom club Norwich City.
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday.
Arsenal put to bed talk of an early-season crisis with a fluent 3-1 win at Fulham to register their first Premier League points of the season on Saturday.
An opening-day Premier League defeat, a growing injury list and the weight of an unspent transfer kitty hang heavily over Arsenal as they head into Wednesday's Champions League playoff clash with Fenerbahce.
Chelsea made light of striker Diego Costa's absence to extend their lead at the top of the Premier League to seven points with a 3-0 win at champions Leicester City.
Hosts France were made to work hard by Albania but two late goals sealed the Group A match in their favour. Antoine Griezmann and Dimitri Payet scored late to earn the nervous hosts the result they sought.
There were, however, no eye-catching major deals in the final 24 hours of transfer activity for European clubs which continues the trend of recent January windows.
Manchester United stretched their unbeaten run to 11 games in all competitions after Daley Blind, in-form striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic and substitute Henrik Mkhitaryan gave them a 3-1 home win over Sunderland on Monday. Left back Blind fired United ahead with a crisp 39th-minute shot after Ibrahimovic teed him up perfectly. The towering Swede doubled the lead with a clinical 82nd-minute finish for his 17th goal of the season. Fit-again Mkhitaryan put the icing on the cake with a spectacular backheel effort after a sharp Ibrahimovic cross from the right, although television replays suggested the Armenian was marginally offside. Striker Fabio Borini gave Sunderland fans something to cheer with a dipping late volley.
A clinical second-half display earned Arsenal a 3-0 win at Swansea City on Saturday and proved they are ready to mount a sustained Premier League title challenge.
Alexandre Lacazette's free-kick sent Arsenal into the Europa League semi-finals with a comfortable 1-0 win away over Napoli, while Chelsea beat Slavia Prague 4-3 in a roller-coaster game, helped by a Pedro brace.
Chelsea's youthful new-look squad reminds Juergen Klopp of his Bundesliga-winning former Borussia Dortmund team, the Liverpool manager said on Friday.
Rediff.com encapsulates all the sporting action from the past week in this eye-catching photo feature.
Manchester City's hopes of closing the gap on the Premier League pacesetters were frustrated as they were held to a 1-1 draw at home to lowly West Bromwich Albion on Tuesday.
Images from the English Premier League matches played at Old Trafford on Saturday
Oliver Giroud netted a double, Lukas Podolski scored and set up three more as rampant Arsenal closed the gap on the Champions League positions by thumping West Ham United 5-1 in their rearranged Premier League match on Wednesday.
Arsenal scored three goals in the last five minutes to beat NorwichCity 3-1 and move third in the Premier League on Saturday while Everton won 2-0 at home to Queens Park Rangers to maintain their faint top-four aspirations.
Nervy Bayern were beaten 2-0 at home by Arsenal but progressed thanks to their 3-1 success in London in the first leg.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has rebuilt successful teams time and again but fans fear he has been found wanting in all departments of late, a feeling which can only have intensified after Saturday's 3-3 draw with Fulham.
German national football team manager Joachim Low has admitted his side were 'scared' ahead of Friday night's friendly with France due to an earlier bomb threat in the capital.
Manchester United suffered a double blow on Thursday with Daley Blind ruled out for a 'long' spell due to a knee problem and Radamel Falcao receiving a "new injury" that will keep him out for at least two more weeks.
Arsenal's eight-match winning streak in the Premier League has taken even manager Arsene Wenger by surprise.
Arsenal's topsy-turvy season took another turn for the worse when they let slip a two-goal lead and missed a late penalty to draw 3-3 at home to a Dimitar Berbatov-inspired Fulham on Saturday.
IMAGES from the FIFA World Cup first semi-final played between France and Belgium on Tuesday
Images from Wednesday's football friendlies across Europe.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
Vibrant Chelsea made it a torrid few days for Liverpool as goals by Willian and Ross Barkley sealed a 2-0 victory to send them through to the FA Cup quarter-finals on Tuesday. Liverpool's 44-match unbeaten streak in the Premier League ended in stunning fashion with a 3-0 defeat at Watford on Saturday and they were rocked again at Stamford Bridge.
Stoke City and Arsenal fought out a largely sterile 0-0 draw at the Britannia Stadium on Sunday leaving both still looking for their first wins of the season.
Arsenal started the season strongly with a six-game winning streak that lifted them to second position in the league but have since faded and are seven points behind fourth-placed City with just two wins in their last six league games.
France kick off their Euro 2016 campaign against Romania on Friday with the host nation desperate for a ray of sunshine after being hit by strikes, floods and scandals in the build-up. Protests against a labour law and torrential rain that has caused the Seine river to rise to levels not seen in decades have created a bleak backdrop to the tournament where France will start as favourites. A state of emergency is also still in force after last November's Islamist attacks killed 130 people in Paris at several sites including the Stade de France, the venue for Friday's opening game.
IMAGES from the English Premier League matches played on Wednesday
Arsenal can win the Premier League title this season if they can continue playing the type of game they did during Monday night's 2-1 win over Manchester City, midfielder Mesut Ozil has said.
Images from Saturday's action in the Premier League.
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