Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa produced a heroic performance in a 0-0 draw with Brazil and his Russian counterpart Igor Akinfeev was the villain in a 1-1 draw with South Korea as the World Cup produced more drama on Tuesday.
Test skipper Shubman Gill was on Thursday named captain of the North Zone squad for the upcoming Duleep Trophy, beginning August 28, less than three weeks after he led a young Indian side to a thrilling 2-2 draw against England in a gruelling five-Test series.
The big hitters of Asian soccer got their 2010 World Cup qualifying campaigns off to a flying start, with Australia, Japan and South Korea securing sizable wins. But there were sluggish starts for the top Gulf teams, with Iran held to a disappointing goalless draw with part-timers Syria and Asian Cup holders Iraq sharing the points in their home Group One match with China.
Japan won the women's World Cup on Sunday for the first time, stunning the heavily favoured United States 3-1 on penalties after a 2-2 draw in extra time.
National champion Surya Shekhar Ganguly crashed through the defenses of United States champion Hikaru Nakamura in the Chess World Cup.
Gongadi Trisha was the player of the ICC women's Under-19 T20 World Cup, scoring 309 runs, including a hundred, while picking up seven wickets.
Spain, on four points, need a draw to guarantee their progress to the last 16 but will be looking to win and outscore Portugal, who face Iran, in case goal difference decides who finishes top.
Grandmaster and National champion S P Sethuraman clicked when it mattered and defeated world number 21 and compatriot P Harikrishna to enter the third round of World Cup of chess in Baku, Azerbaijan.
The women's World Cup final between the United States and Japan on Sunday may not rival the Super Bowl, but soccer fans, wild with excitement.
Father Time finally caught up with poor old Italy on Thursday when they were deposed as world champions after suffering a dramatic and shocking 3-2 defeat at the hands of World Cup debutants Slovakia.
France, World Cup winners in 1998 and finalists in 2006, missed out on a place in the eight top seeds for Friday's draw, announced by FIFA on Wednesday.
While Vantika, Harika and Vaishali have an uphill task in the first set of tie-break games, they can still make it to the round of 16.
The victory lifted Brazil to second in South American qualifying with 21 points, four behind leaders Argentina and one ahead of Uruguay in third, both of whom have a game in hand and will clash on Friday.
Germany and Real Madrid midfielder Sami Khedira's World Cup hopes hang in the balance after he was ruled out for around six months with a torn cruciate ligament suffered in Friday's 1-1 draw against Italy, team doctors said on Saturday.
Portugal charged into the knockout rounds of the under-20 World Cup on Saturday with a 3-1 defeat of Colombia while Serbia also advanced after sending Mexico crashing out of the tournament.
India lead South Africa 2-0 after the first quarter in their opening Pool C match of the 2018 Hockey World Cup at the Kalinga stadium, Bhubaneshwar, on Wednesday.
Indian Grandmaster S P Sethuraman went down to higher ranked Shakhriayar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan in the first game of the third round of World Cup of Chess now underway in Baku.
Substitutes have been lighting up the scoreboards at the World Cup with dazzling performances that have sparked their teams back to life and secured wins or draws that have made their coaches look like geniuses.
Dr Vece Paes, a member of the 1972 Munich Olympic Games bronze-winning Indian men's hockey team and father of legendary tennis player Leander Paes, died in Kolkata on Thursday morning.
The draw for the eight groups for the final round of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, which will be played from June 12 to July 13 in Brazil, was just held in Costa do Saupe near Salvador de Bahia.
FIFA's World Cup Organising Committee will decide on Tuesday the seedings for the 32 finalists involved in next year's tournament in Germany.
The ace midfielder was named in the team for France's final two World Cup qualifiers next month despite a groin injury.
'There is a lot of inspiration we can draw from in the brand of cricket we have played in the last three or four years.'
The coaches of bitter Balkan rivals Serbia and Croatia were confident their teams would reach the 2014 World Cup finals in Brazil after they were drawn together in a tough European qualifying Group A.
Tiny Guam beat Turkmenistan 1-0 to record their first ever World Cup qualifying victory.
Skipper Shubman Gill acknowledged that the choice between a spinner and an extra seamer for the first Test against South Africa is nothing short of a "conflict".
A summary of Tuesday's qualification matches next year's FIFA World Cup.
Roy Hodgson has given himself the option to give England a youthful, fresh edge at the World Cup after including Ross Barkley, Raheem Sterling, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Luke Shaw and Adam Lallana in his provisional squad on Monday. There were no real surprises as the irresistible late-season form of Everton's attacking midfielder Barkley and Liverpool wide man Sterling made their inclusion an easy choice for Hodgson despite having only five caps between them.
Honduras qualified for the 2014 World Cup finals in Brazil on Tuesday by clinching the last of the automatic qualifying spots in North and Central America and the Caribbean, while Mexico stayed in contention by claiming the playoff spot after Panama suffered a heartbreaking loss to the United States.
Tunisia need a new game-plan if they are to avoid their usual fate of falling at the first hurdle of a World Cup.
Croatia clinched a place in next year's World Cup finals on Sunday after holding Greece to a goalless draw at the Georgios Karaiskakis stadium in Athens to complete a 4-1 aggregate victory in their playoff tie.
World champions Germany survived a late scare to see off Saudi Arabia 2-1 on Friday and claim a first victory this year, putting a five-game winless run behind them as they finalised their World Cup preparations.
India bagged a silver and a bronze medal in the men's recurve section at the Indoor Archery World Cup in Singapore on Monday.
Former BCCI president and batting great Sourav Ganguly on Monday side-stepped the debate surrounding Indian players' refusal to shake hands with their Pakistani counterparts after their Asia Cup clash in Dubai but said terrorism must end "all around the world, not just India and Pakistan."
England insist their dire World Cup start is behind them and they can go on to win the tournament having salvaged their campaign with a sprightly 1-0 win over Slovenia on Wednesday. After two dour draws in their opening matches, England progressed in second place in Group C behind the United States, who came top by virtue of goals scored, after a much-improved, at times panicky, performance in Port Elizabeth.
Six-time Russian champion Peter Svidler added another feather to his cap, winning his maiden World Cup title after a draw in the fourth and final game against friend and compatriot Alexander Grischuk in Khanty Mansiysk, Russia. Svidler won the final by 2.5-1.5 margin. The sole decisive game in the mini-match was the first one of the encounter that Svidler won with black pieces. The remaining three ended in draws, giving the Russian a pay-check of US $96,000.
A second-place finish in the group stages could prove to be a blessing in disguise for England who are on the relatively easier side of the draw in the knockout stages.
'Everyone has the right to have an opinion about the culture of that dressing room. And every opinion for me will matter'
Uruguay sealed their spot at the 2014 World Cup finals after a goalless draw at home to Jordan in the second leg of their intercontinental playoff on Wednesday saw them advance 5-0 on aggregate.
Images from the World Cup match between France and Switzerland, on Saturday.
