France defender Lucas Hernandez will miss the rest of the defending champions' World Cup campaign after suffering a knee injury in Tuesday's opening match against Australia, a source close to Les Bleus told AFP.

Croatia take on Morocco to begin their World Cup campaign as they hope to not only execute a repeat of an astonishing 2018 World Cup run but aspire to go a step further this time around.

Few experiences can compare to watching a World Cup in Brazil: the borderline-obsessive football passion; the explosion of pride around the national team. And the schadenfreude when rivals Argentina lose.

Olivier Giroud became France's joint all-time top scorer when his double helped the holders start the defence of their World Cup title in style with a 4-1 comeback Group D win against Australia on Tuesday.

Defending champions France start their campaign in Group D looking to beat Australia just like they did to kick off their 2018 journey in Russia.

Poland skipper Robert Lewandowski failed to break his World Cup duck when he saw a second-half penalty saved in a goalless but entertaining draw with Mexico in their opening Group C game at Stadium 974 on Tuesday.

The stars appeared to be aligning for Lionel Messi as he arrived at the Qatar World Cup as the talisman for an Argentina squad that has been simply unbeatable since 2019.

Japan manager Hajime Moriyasu is hoping the apprentices can upset the masters when they take on “role models” Germany in their World Cup opener on Wednesday.

Croatia have won five matches and lost once in 16 months, but the 2018 runners-up, led by midfield conjuror Luka Modric, will begin their World Cup campaign against Morocco on Wednesday with little fanfare and few predicting glory.

Belgium’s aging “Golden Generation” will begin their final shot at World Cup glory against Canada on Wednesday, but do so without talismanic forward Romelu Lukaku, who has been central to their success in recent years.

The young Spain players at the heart of coach Luis Enrique’s new-look side make their global debut on Wednesday when they face the experienced veterans of Costa Rica in their Qatar World Cup opening match.

Tunisia held Denmark to a goalless draw in their World Cup opener on Tuesday, kicking off their Group D campaign with a strong performance against one of the pre-tournament dark horses.

Do not adjust your television sets: England and Iran really did play nearly half an hour of injury time in their World Cup game.

Saudi Arabia produced one of the greatest World Cup upsets in history on Tuesday, stunning South American giants Argentina in a 2-1 group stage victory in Doha.

Saudi Arabia scripted a ‘totally crazy’ game of football during their famous 2-1 win over World Cup favourites Argentina at the Lusail Stadium on Tuesday, leaving Lionel Messi and Co ruing the mistakes.

Argentines woke up early in the capital Buenos Aires to cheer on their team in the soccer World Cup over morning pastries and coffee, but were left with a bitter taste after the team was humbled in a shock loss to Saudi Arabia.

The biggest of World Cup shocks paid out for at least one prescient punter who correctly predicted Saudi Arabia would stun Lionel Messi's Argentina 2-1 in their opening match in Qatar on Tuesday.

Soccer federations who had planned to wear the 'OneLove' armbands to make a statement against discrimination during the World Cup in Qatar were faced with "extreme blackmail" that led to dropping the planned action, the German Football Association (DFB) said on Tuesday.

Defender Andreas Cornelius hit the post and Denmark had a late penalty appeal turned down, while Tunisia wasted two clear chances in a 0-0 draw in their World Cup Group D opener at Education City Stadium on Tuesday.

Saudi Arabia's Salem Al-Dawsari grabbed the world's attention with his match-winning wonder strike against Argentina on Tuesday but the winger has been a star in his home country for years.