The organisers of the World Cup in Qatar are paying groups of soccer fans to travel to the tournament next month, saying on Monday they are asking them for positive comments on social media in return.

France defender Presnel Kimpembe has suffered an Achilles injury three weeks away from their first game at the World Cup, his club Paris Saint-Germain announced on Tuesday.

Skipper Jos Buttler praised the character of his England side as they breathed new life into their Twenty20 World Cup on Tuesday, but it was curtains for Afghanistan.

Pep Guardiola is confident Manchester City stars Kyle Walker and Kalvin Phillips can recover from injury in time to play for England at the World Cup.

Belgium coach Roberto Martinez says the absence of "irreplaceable" Romelu Lukaku from the World Cup would force his side to change the way they play, but the striker has not been ruled out of the tournament yet, team officials confirmed.

Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu left Celtic striker Kyogo Furuhashi and Vissel Kobe forward Yuya Osako out of his 26-man squad for the World Cup on Tuesday, saying he had opted for players with "burning ambition" over experience at the finals this month.

England rescued their Twenty20 World Cup hopes as they held their nerve to see off New Zealand by 20 runs at the Gabba in Brisbane on Tuesday.

India resume their bid for a Twenty20 World Cup semi-final spot when they face Bangladesh on Wednesday and coach Rahul Dravid said there is no room for complacency despite the 2007 champions losing just one of their last 11 matches to their neighbours.

India coach Rahul Dravid said Tuesday they are shutting out criticism of KL Rahul and backed the opening batsman to come good at the Twenty20 World Cup.

Dhananjaya de Silva scored an unbeaten 66 as Sri Lanka kept their slim Twenty20 World Cup hopes alive with a six-wicket win over Afghanistan at the Gabba in Brisbane on Tuesday.

Australia are sweating on the fitness of three key players ahead of their crucial ICC Men's T20 World Cup clash against Afghanistan in Adelaide on Friday.

Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan has said memories of 50-over World Cup victory over England in Adelaide in 2015 would help them mentally when they take on India at the same venue in the T20 World Cup Super 12 match on Wednesday.

Babar Azam was supposed to lead Pakistan to Twenty20 World Cup glory but his side are on the brink of an early exit and the usually inspirational skipper is facing growing questions about his batting and leadership.

The 2022 World Cup gets underway in three weeks' time in Qatar, with France hoping to become the first team to successfully defend the title since Brazil 60 years ago.

The first World Cup ever to be held in the Middle East will be unlike any that has come before, but there may still be a familiar name on the trophy with Brazil heading to Qatar as the favourites to succeed France and end two decades of European dominance.

England must get past in-form New Zealand on Tuesday if they are to get their Twenty20 World Cup campaign back on track but their hopes of reaching the semifinals would also suffer a heavy blow if the Brisbane weather refuses to play ball.

Bangladesh’s batting has been a major concern in the T20 World Cup so far and the question that has been asked most is whether their batting depth has paid dividends. On the other hand, the bowling has turned out to be game-changing for the Tigers, with their speedsters making the most of the pace, bounce and movement offered by Australian surfaces.

Australia got their Twenty20 World Cup defence back on track with a 42-run win over Ireland  at the Gabba in Brisbane on Monday.

Afghanistan's hard-hitting opening batsman Hazratullah Zazai will miss the remainder of the Twenty20 World Cup due to an abdominal muscle strain, tournament organisers said on Monday.

Bayern Munich right-back Lucas Hernandez returned to training on Monday after a lengthy injury lay-off in a boost to France ahead of next month's World Cup.