Gareth Southgate's plea for England to play with adventure and style was answered only fitfully as his reign as caretaker manager began with a 2-0 win over Malta in a World Cup Group F qualifier on Saturday.
Paulo Dybala came off the bench to give unbeaten Serie A leaders Juventus a 1-0 win away to a brave Bologna side who had the better of the match and hit the post in stoppage time on Sunday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Cristiano Ronaldo come face-to-face next month when Sweden meet Portugal in a World Cup playoff and they sharpened their claws with six goals between them on a thrilling night of Champions League action on Wednesday.
(Reuters) - Real Madrid, Manchester United and Paris St Germain reached the last 16 of the Champions League on Wednesday on a night when the goals flowed all over Europe with United the highest scorers in a 5-0 win at Bayer Leverkusen.
Ireland stunned world champions Germany 1-0 thanks to Shane Long's 70th-minute strike on Thursday to throw Euro 2016 qualifying Group D game.
Images from the Champions League matches played across Europe on Wednesday.
Mario Mandzukic and Nikola Kalinic grabbed hat-tricks as Croatia achieved a record win as an independent nation by demolishing San Marino 10-0 in their final Euro 2016 warm-up match in Rijeka.
Poland struck twice on the break to stun wasteful World Cup winners Germany 2-0 on Saturday, earning their first ever victory over their illustrious neighbours and taking control of Euro 2016 qualifying Group D.
Toni Kroos struck with a fierce long-range shot a minute from time to give Germany a 1-0 victory over Spain in a friendly between two injury-depleted European heavyweights in Vigo on Tuesday.
Two goals from Thomas Mueller and one from substitute Mario Goetze helped Bayern Munich kick off their Champions League campaign with an impressive 3-0 victory over Olympiakos.
Barcelona forward Lionel Messi equalled the Champions League scoring record of 71 goals when he struck for the second time in the 76th minute of Wednesday's Group F match at Ajax Amsterdam.
With eight teams remaining at Euro 2016, a guide to the form of the quarter-finalists, looking at their strengths and weaknesses.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
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.
A round-up of all the international friendlies played on Tuesday
Ruthless Bayern Munich scored five goals in the first 35 minutes on the way to a 7-1 demolition of AS Roma on Tuesday which bore an uncanny resemblance to Germany's win over Brazil by the same score in the World Cup semi-final.
Swiss qualifier Timea Bacsinszky continued to swipe past the seeds at the Wuhan Open on Wednesday by dumping World No 4 Maria Sharapova from the hard court tournament with a 7-6(3), 7-5 victory.
Roberto Firmino's goal gave Brazil a 1-0 victory over Chile in a feisty friendly at the Emirates Stadium in London on Sunday, their eighth successive win since last year's disappointing World Cup campaign.