Moscow (AFP) – AFP Sport looks at the best quotes from the third day of the World Cup on Saturday, which saw Argentina held by Iceland and VAR help France past Australia: "I did some homework because I knew this was a situation that could come up. It was a long shot but it happened." […]

Moscow (AFP) – Cristiano Ronaldo has emphatically won the first round of his World Cup duel with eternal rival Lionel Messi — revelling in the adulation after his dramatic hat-trick while the Argentine flopped against Iceland. Messi knew he had to find something special to match the Portuguese on Saturday but ended up squandering a golden […]

Moscow (AFP) – Iceland goalkeeper Hannes Halldorsson revealed Saturday how he worked on psyching out Argentine superstar Lionel Messi to make a penalty save that sealed a 1-1 draw with the footballing superpower. Halldorsson was the hero when he palmed away Messi's spot kick in the 63rd minute, correctly gambling that the Barcelona talisman would […]

Moscow (AFP) – Argentina were held to a draw by World Cup debutants Iceland Saturday, with Lionel Messi blowing a gilt-edged opportunity for victory when he missed a penalty. Sergio Aguero scored an eye-catching opener for the two-time world champions in the 19th minute but it was almost immediately cancelled out by Alfred Finnbogason, whose […]

Kazan (Russia) (AFP) – Didier Deschamps has told France they "must do better" after escaping a humiliating draw with Australia in a 2-1 World Cup opener decided by VAR and goalline technology. The tournament's second-youngest team arrived in Russia with lofty ambitions 20 years after Deschamps captained Les Bleus to the 1998 World Cup title […]

Moscow (AFP) – Lionel Messi fluffed his World Cup lines on Saturday, missing a penalty as tiny Iceland held Argentina to a 1-1 draw after France benefited from the first use of the Video Assistant Referee system in the tournament's history. Just a day after his eternal rival Cristiano Ronaldo scored a sensational hat-trick to […]

Moscow (AFP) – Argentina were held to a draw by World Cup debutants Iceland Saturday, with Lionel Messi blowing a gilt-edged opportunity for victory when he missed a penalty. Sergio Aguero scored an eye-catching opener for the two-time world champions in the 19th minute but it was almost immediately cancelled out by Alfred Finnbogason, whose […]

Yekaterinburg (Russia) (AFP) – Mohamed Salah is expected to return from his shoulder injury for Egypt's World Cup clash against hosts Russia on Tuesday after he sat out the 1-0 opening defeat to Uruguay. But before the north African country's 100 million people celebrate the Liverpool striker as their World Cup saviour, they may want […]

Saint Petersburg (AFP) – England's players have a clear idea of who will play against Tunisia on Monday and midfielder Fabian Delph believes they are ready to find another gear at this World Cup. Gareth Southgate's team will go through a final training session on Sunday morning before flying to Volgograd, where they hope they […]

Nizhniy Novgorod (Russia) (AFP) – Nizhny Novgorod Stadium, a beautiful, gleaming $290 million (250 million euros) venue, makes its World Cup bow on Monday, playing host to South Korea and Sweden in a Group F clash. Perched close to where the mighty Volga converges with the smaller River Oka, the enormous blue and white structure […]

Kazan Arena (Russia) (AFP) – Australia coach Bert van Marwijk hit out at Uruguayan referee Andres Cunha following the 2-1 World Cup defeat to France on Saturday that saw VAR used for the first time. Antoine Griezmann scored from the first VAR-assisted penalty awarded in the history of the World Cup in Kazan to give […]

Berlin (AFP) – Germany's Ilkay Gundogan had his car vandalised in the wake of him controversially posing for a picture with Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, German media reported on Saturday. Gundogan, born in Germany to Turkish parents, filed a complaint with police after his car was damaged on the evening of June 7, the […]

Moscow (AFP) – France launched their World Cup campaign with victory against Australia on Saturday as the Video Assistant Referee system was used for the first time in World Cup history. The Group C match in Kazan was goalless when Antoine Griezmann went down after a tackle in the second half. Uruguayan referee Andres Cunha did […]

Kazan (Russia) (AFP) – Antoine Griezmann scored from the first VAR-assisted penalty awarded in the history of the World Cup as title hopefuls France battled to a 2-1 win over gutsy Australia in Kazan on Saturday. Griezmann, expected to make a huge impact on Russia 2018 after topping the Euro 2016 scorers with six goals, […]

Moscow (AFP) – Germany midfielder Julian Draxler admitted on Saturday it was "fun to read" reports about a Mexico farewell party involving around 30 prostitutes before the team departed for the World Cup. Nine members of the World Cup squad found themselves caught up in controversy earlier this month after they reportedly partied with the […]