Colombia have scored more goals than Argentina and notched as many as the highly-rated Brazilians
Rediff.com takes a look at the footballers who are making an impact recently despite a protective gear.
Two goals from Didier Drogba steered Chelsea to an emphatic 3-0 victory over Valencia and top spot in Group E at Stamford Bridge Tuesday as they moved into the Champions League knockout phase for the ninth consecutive season.
Tunisia will start third-choice goalkeeper Aymen Mathlouthi and have striker Fakhreddine Ben Youssef act as his back-up in their final World Cup game against Panama on Thursday after FIFA rejected their request to add a replacement keeper to the squad.
Since the billionaire from Russia took control of the London club in 2003, Claudio Ranieri, Jose Mourinho, Avram Grant, Luiz Felipe Scolari, Guus Hiddink and Carlo Ancelotti have all left Stamford Bridge after failing to reach the Holy Grail.
Switzerland are unlikely to face the same hostility when they face already-eliminated Costa Rica in Group E of the World Cup on Wednesday.
Two Swiss government ministers have backed national team players Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri after their controversial goal celebrations in Friday's 2-1 World Cup win over Serbia.
The Londoners have lost three of their last four English Premier League matches including two in a row at home against Arsenal and Liverpool.
Costa Rica coach Oscar Ramirez could task two of his players with man-marking Brazil playmaker Neymar when the teams clash in St Petersburg on Friday, but said his side would not try to foul the forward out of the game.
Serbia and Costa Rica begin their World Cup campaigns on Sunday with the teams likely to adopt contrasting approaches to making the most of their limited resources at the tournament.
After Manchester took top billing in the Champions league on Tuesday it was London's turn on Wednesday when Chelsea and Arsenal recorded impressive, though contrasting, victories as the Premier League again flexed its muscles.
Unai Emery's side were heading for a demoralising defeat, three days after losing meekly to Sheffield United in the Premier League, but substitute Pepe's late intervention kept the Gunners top of Group F with a maximum nine points.
India's star striker Sunil Chhetri is in doubt for India's Asian Cup qualifier against Kyrgyzstan as well as the international friendly against Lebanon next month, according to his I-League club Bengaluru FC's chief executive officer.
Chelsea only have themselves to blame if they suffer an early Champions League exit on Tuesday, manager Andre Villas-Boas said on the eve of their final Group E match against Valencia.
Bengaluru FC conceded two late goals in dramatic fashion as they lost 0-2 to 10-man Abahani Limited Dhaka of Bangladesh in their AFC Cup group match in Dhaka.
England and Belgium face a World Cup conundrum ahead of Thursday's crunch in Kaliningrad
If anyone was still wondering why Liverpool spurned Barcelona's bids for Brazilian playmaker Philippe Coutinho, his part in Saturday's 3-2 win over Leicester City provided the answer.
France have asked FIFA to investigate their suspicions that a drone was used to spy on the team's preparations for the World Cup opener against Honduras, coach Didier Deschamps said.
Chelsea striker Fernando Torres will be out for three weeks after suffering a knee injury in the 4-0 Champions League Group E victory over Steaua Bucharest in Romania, the club said on Wednesday.
While it's usually the hooligans who make the headlines, we turn our attention to the peace loving fans of the Euros.
Images from the 2010 Football World Cup in South Africa.
Midfielder James McClean hopes he can cast aside his bitter memories of the Euro 2012 campaign and play a key role for Ireland in this month's European Championship in France.
Italy midfielder Antonio Candreva gave a dazzling performance as he scored a penalty and set up a second goal in a 2-0 win over Finland in their fast-paced final Euro 2016 warm-up in Verona on Monday. The 29-year-old winger coolly converted a 27th-minute spot kick after being brought down and delivered an inch-perfect cross for Daniele De Rossi to head home midway through the second half. Thriving on the right flank in an adventurous 3-4-3 formation, Candreva was a handful for the visitors throughout the evening, showing blistering pace as well as neat footwork. With their coach Antonio Conte fielding a three-pronged attack of Stephan El Shaarawy, Ciro Immobile and Simone Zaza, the Italians pressed high and hard to keep the Finns on the back foot from the start.
Two late goals in two minutes from Sergi Roberto and Luis Suarez gave European champions Barcelona a dramatic 2-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League on Tuesday.
The Indian cueist was unstoppable in the 150-up format, beating Ireland's Wayne Doyle, England's Aaron Davies, Australia's Grant Meadley and Vietnam's Long Nguyen Thanh to take the top position in Group A.
Arsenal hope to complete a full set of English clubs going into the Champions League knockout phase on Wednesday though there could be a few anxious faces at The Emirates when they take on Partizan Belgrade.
In a rare feat, the Indian men's basketball team stunned formidable China in its second-round group E encounter to stay in contention for a quarterfinal berth in the FIBA Asia Challenge in Tehran on Tuesday. The Indians triumphed 70-64 to hand the group-toppers their first loss. This was India's second win in four matches and the team is currently placed third in the group.
Diversified conglomerate Future Group's e-commerce venture, futurebazaar.com, has revamped its online business portfolio and expects an around Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion) revenue over the next 18-24-months, a top company official said.
Netherlands striker Dirk Kuyt will be out for several weeks after injuring his shoulder when he fell awkwardly while attempting a bicycle kick in training, coach Bert van Marwijk said on Monday.
Goal-line technology was used for the first time in a World Cup match to decide if the ball had crossed the line during France's Group E clash with Honduras on Sunday.
England hardly strained a sinew as Kevin Pietersen's sizzling unbeaten 73 powered them to a clinical six-wicket victory over defending champions Pakistan in a Group E Super Stage match of the Twenty20 cricket World Cup at Bridgetown, Barbados, on Thursday.
Captain Paul Pogba produced an outstanding performance garnished by two goals to help Manchester United to a resounding 3-0 win at Swiss debutants Young Boys Bern in their Champions League Group H opener on Wednesday.
He often wastes good attacking chances by choosing to take a tumble instead and, at a crucial stage during the second half, his behaviour had a contagious effect and his team mates became distracted by all the fuss he created.
It was a belated birthday celebration for Japan's makeshift striker Keisuke Honda, who helped Japan beat Cameroon 1-0 on Monday.
Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk's side face two dangers when they start their World Cup Group E campaign at Ellis Park on Monday - opponents Denmark and the possibility of being too confident.
Brazil need solutions after coming unstuck against Swiss
He was a pale shadow of the crowd-pleasing showman widely recognised as the heir to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as the greatest player in the world.
Philippe Coutinho scored a spectacular first-half goal for Brazil in their World Cup Group E opener on Sunday, only for Steven Zuber to cancel it out after the break.
Rediff.com presents a flashback of those moments at Euro 2016 that personify pure ecstasy...
At the last two World Cups, Brazil have veered away from the great, attacking traditions that used to make them the team that everyone wanted to watch.
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