France captain Hugo Lloris has announced his retirement from international football at the age of 36, three weeks after his country lost the World Cup final on penalties to Argentina in Doha.
Four years ago, Cristiano Ronaldo produced an emphatic performance as the forward bagged his maiden World Cup hattrick to help Portugal draw 3-3 against Spain in their Group B encounter of the FIFA World Cup 2018 in Sochi.
The World Cup-winning French team returned home to a heroes' welcome yesterday, parading down the Champs-Elysees as hundreds of thousands of cheering fans gave a raucous welcome to the country's newest idols.
Croatia defender Dejan Lovren is scathing of France's style of play following his side's defeat in Sunday's World Cup final.
Once the French have their hands on the coveted golden trophy, Griezmann grasp it and run down to fans behind the goal to show them the World Cup, before skipping back along the side of the pitch holding it aloft.
Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic stated outright what he felt regarding the controversial penalty call following his side’s 4-2 defeat to France in Sunday’s World Cup final, saying : “You don't give a penalty like that in a World Cup final.”
It was the first time that Video Referee Assistant (VAR) technology was used in a World Cup final but controversial refereeing decsions ensured that a spectacle of the calibre of the final might have been marred by inconsistencies.
Energetic, disciplined and clinical, France won the World Cup on Sunday with a 4-2 victory over Croatia that, even in such a moment of achievement, still left the feeling there may be much more to come from Didier Deschamps' outstanding young team.
The World Cup final between France and Croatia was briefly interrupted when three intruders affiliated to anti-Kremlin punk band Pussy Riot ran onto the pitch before being hauled off by stewards.
France needed the help of the first World Cup penalty awarded after a video review and a deflected Paul Pogba goal to get their World Cup campaign underway with a 2-1 win over Australia on Saturday.
You can’t ask for a better start to a World Cup as far as the first couple of days of Russia 2018 is concerned.
Bangladesh has been ranked 20th among the football playing nations of Asia by the global football body, as the FIFA World Cup starts in Russia.
FIFA World Cup FIxtures
The 2026 World Cup will be held in the United States, Mexico and Canada after FIFA's congress voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to back the tri-nation joint bid for the tournament and leave Morocco to miss out for the fifth time.
The flags are out, jerseys ready and excitement is at its peak as the world anxiously awaits the FIFA World Cup to kick off in Russia today. It is the tournament where we have the amazing confluence of football's best players coming together in one spot.
The stage is all set in Russia. Time for all eyes to turn to Moscow as the greatest show on Earth is about to get underway at the Luzhniki Stadium today.
It has been like rainbow after rain in Moscow for the last couple of days as fans from across the world have thronged the Russian capital and other cities in their thousands ahead of the World Cup, which kicks off at the Luzhniki Stadium today.
Nobody would have hand-picked the tournament's two worst teams to launch the 2018 World Cup, but when Russia and Saudi Arabia meet on Thursday form will be irrelevant as the world's biggest sporting festival explodes into life in Moscow.
Over the next month, Russia will serve up a football stroganoff spiced with enthralling matches, a dash of the world's finest players and the biggest prize in the sporting world -- the FIFA World Cup.
