A guide to the Croatia starting 11 ahead of the World Cup final against France.
Real Madrid swatted aside Granada 4-1 on Thursday to ensure the La Liga title race will go down to the wire.
A round-up of Tuesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
Thirteen-times European champions Real, who had come through each of their last three Champions League semi-final ties, had been second best for much last week's first leg which ended 1-1.
Croatia's road to Sunday's World Cup final, where they will play France for a chance to lift the trophy for the first time:
The FIFA 2022 World Cup will kick-off in Qatar on Sunday, November 20. Here is a list of the 26-man squads playing in the quadrennial global football extravaganza.
Here is a look at some of the key head-to-head duels which could prove decisive.
Federico Valverde has already made over 100 appearances at senior level - while winning silverware and recognition both with his current side Madrid and country Uruguay, and showing the physical, technical and mental attributes to become one of world football's outstanding midfielders.
Reuters sports writers chose their team of the tournament.
Ivan Rakitic outshone Barcelona team mate Arda Turan as Croatia ran out 1-0 winners against Turkey at Euro 2016 on Sunday, a victory that was more comfortable than the scoreline suggests.
Glimpses from Sunday's Nations League matches.
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.
Croatia were in dreamland on Thursday after advancing to the knockout phase of the World Cup for the first time in 20 years with a 3-0 rout of Argentina that left a subdued Lionel Messi and his team mates facing yet another flop.
Images from Wednesday's Champions League matches, between Real Madrid and Paris St Germain, and Manchester City and Sporting CP
The result continued a dismal streak for Madrid, who have won only two of their last five games in all competitions
Real Madrid's trophy aspirations could well depend on how well they cope with an injury crisis that sees Gareth Bale and Luka Modric in the treatment room.
They can now dream of going one better than their third-place finish in 1998, which marked their first participation in the World Cup finals as an independent nation.
Croatia had shown glimpses of their potential at the last European Championships in France two years ago when they beat Spain but went out in the second round to eventual winners Portugal after conceding in extra time.
Croatia's euphoric media ran out of superlatives as they hailed the Balkan nation's stunning World Cup win over Argentina which propelled them into the competition's knockout stages for the first time since the 1998 tournament when they finished third.
Real Madrid did well to hold Atletico in regulation time and then win the match 4-1 in penalty shootouts.
Atletico Madrid won the La Liga title for the first time since 2014
Both Harry Redknapp and Arsene Wenger have paid the price for leaving it too late, offloading a lot of key players at the EPL transfers, says Manu Shankar.
Real Madrid moved back to the top of La Liga as Vinicius Junior scored both goals in a 2-1 victory at Elche on Saturday.
Karim Benzema and Vinicius Jr both scored a brace to give the LaLiga leaders a 4-1 home win over Valencia
Croatia came back after conceding in the opening minute to defeat Denmark 3-2 in the penalty shoot-out and earn a World Cup quarter-final berth, after the two sides drew 1-1 in the Round of 16 match on Sunday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Turkey coach Fatih Terim was left to rue a missed chance in the first half of their Euro 2016 Group D defeat by Croatia, which he believes would have changed the outcome of Sunday's match.
Karim Benzema scored twice after the interval with a penalty and a header from a corner to give Santiago Solari's side a 3-1 lead, after Raphael Varane struck in the 34th minute to cancel out Anuar Tuhami's goal for Valladolid five minutes earlier.
Real Madrid equalled a Spanish record of 39 games unbeaten in all competitions by crushing struggling Granada 5-0 on Saturday to go six points clear at the top of La Liga.
Ronaldo threw off the captain's armband and headed for the tunnel when his effort was cleared by Serbia defender Stefan Mitrovic after it had crossed the line
Karim Benzema's hat-trick earned Real Madrid a 3-1 win at reigning European champions Chelsea in their Champions League quarter-final first leg on Wednesday. In another quarter-final match, Villarreal stunned six times European Cup winners Bayern Munich 1-0.
France midfielder Paul Pogba said the finals in Russia might be his last World Cup but he hopes he will be fit for more.
A round-up of Wednesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
Cristiano Ronaldo, Luka Modric and Mohamed Salah were named as the three finalists.
The European Championship is well and truly up for grabs as the tournament enters the knockouts after a compelling group stage in which some top nations fell short of expectations while two fallen powers staged a resurgence.
Croatia ruthlessly exposed England's limitations in the second half of the World Cup semi-final on Wednesday as Zlatko Dalic's side fought back to secure a famous 2-1 extra-time victory.
Messi ran amok at Wembley Stadium, slicing Spurs apart with incisive passes from deep, such as the one that allowed Philippe Coutinho to open the scoring, and was as dangerous as ever in front of goal, firing in the Catalan side's final two goals to end their winless run of three games.
Real are third in the league standings with 54 points after 28 games, two behind second-placed Atletico Madrid who visit Athletic Bilbao later on Saturday and nine points behind leaders Barcelona who play at Real Betis on Sunday.
'It's a prize that's called The Best and the guy who is, for us, the best player in the world wasn't there.'
Top-ranked Belgium slammed eight goals against Belarus and the Netherlands crashed seven past Gibraltar
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