Uruguay defender Sebastian Croates says that the Portugal skipper Cristiano Ronaldo will have their respect but Uruguay will not be solely focusing on the ace forward during their 2018 World Cup last-16 clash with Portugal.

French former World Cup winner Roberto Pires talked about Albiceleste playmaker Lionel Messi before his country’s crucial tie against Argentina in the Round of 16 phase.

Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic warns his players nobody will remember their blistering start to the World Cup if they lose to Denmark in the last 16 on Sunday.

The Brazil midfielder Paulinho says his team mate Philippe Coutinho is a phenomenon after the Selecao’s 2-0 victory against Serbia in their last match of the group stage at the Spartak Stadium to go through to the second round of the tournament as the Group E champions.

Both England and Belgium are through to the second round of the World Cup. Today they face each other in their last match of the group stage to battle it out for the champions spot in the group at the Kaliningrad Stadium. The match is scheduled to start at 12 am in Bangladesh time. Let’s look at some of the statistics ahead of the thrilling encounter.

Tite insists Brazil can cope with being installed as World Cup favourites, following Germany's shock exit, with the Selecao boss backing his side to grow in the knock-out stages at Russia 2018.

Mexican fans plunged into anguish by their team's drubbing by Sweden are left cheering for South Korea -- exploding into celebration when the Asian side defeated Germany, putting Mexico into the World Cup knockout stage.

Serbia throw caution to the wind and everything they had at a fast, slick and disciplined Brazilian defence but came up short and were punished by brilliance at the other end, coach Mladen Krstajic acknowledges.

Brazil coach Tite says he is off to celebrate with a caipirinha after his side beat Serbia 2-0 and avoided a similar fate to world champions Germany, who were knocked out of the competition four hours earlier.

Brazil's star man at this World Cup was supposed to be Neymar but three games into the tournament it is Philippe Coutinho who is taking the plaudits and the Barcelona player was again prominent in Wednesday's 2-0 win over Serbia.

Did Argentina’s estranged coach Jorge Sampaoli ask captain Lionel Messi whether to bring on Sergio Aguero during the must-win match against Nigeria?

They were one of the three suspect heavyweights going into the final matchday of the group stages, but five-time champions Brazil moved to the round of 16 with flying colours, defeating Serbia 2-0 at the Spartak Stadium in Moscow yesterday.

Former Sweden international Anders 'Taco' Svensson has vowed to give up having Mexican food if Mexico knocked the Swedes out. "I've

Gary Lineker had to modify his famous quote about the Germans always winning for a second time after Joachim Loew's holders crashed out of the World Cup on Wednesday.

From chants of "goodbye" to stunned silence, Germany fans reacted with dismay to their defending champions' humiliating World Cup exit Wednesday after a first-round loss commentators called a "historic disgrace".

Switzerland kept politics off the field and Costa Rica broke their World Cup duck in a thrilling 2-2 draw on Wednesday that saw the Europeans through to the next round of the World Cup where they will face Sweden.

Sweden sprang a surprise with a 3-0 thumping of Mexico, breaking their opponents' resistance after a scoreless first half and guaranteeing that both teams advance to the World Cup last 16 at the expense of defending champions Germany.

Germany coach Joachim Loew said he felt "huge disappointment" at seeing the holders crash out of the World Cup but said they had fully deserved it after they were sensationally beaten 2-0 by South Korea on Wednesday.

Germany coach Joachim Loew said he would take time to consider his position after the defending champions tumbled out of the World Cup in the opening round for the first time since 1938.

Switzerland made sure of a place in the last 16 of the World Cup but had to survive some anxious moments in 2-2 draw with Costa Rica before finishing second behind Brazil in Group E.