Copa favourites such as reigning champions Argentina and Brazil advanced to the quarter-finals playing in sold out stadiums but the less heralded teams have played in half-empty arenas.

Brazil and Argentina have expectedly reached the quarterfinals of the Copa America 2024. The Selecao have a relatively more difficult road to the finale as they will face Uruguay in the last eight, whereas the Albiceleste will square off against Ecuador. 

The Argentines, defending Copa champions and title favourites, enjoyed wins over Canada, Chile and Peru in the group stage where the solidity of Lionel Scaloni's side was evident throughout.

Forward Joselu heaped praise on last season's teammate at Real Madrid, but said Spain were laser-focused on winning in Stuttgart to reach the Euros semi-finals regardless of the implications for Kroos.

Kylian Mbappe leads France into Friday's Euro 2024 quarter-final against Portugal having yet to find his best form at the tournament after months of speculation about his club future and then the broken nose which overshadowed his team's opening game.

Defending champions Argentina will hope for their star man and skipper Lionel Messi to be back for their crucial Copa America 2024 quarterfinal tie against Ecuador at the NRG Stadium in Houston on Friday morning.

CONMEBOL said the referee and VAR made a mistake in not awarding Brazil a penalty during Tuesday's group-stage 1-1 draw against Colombia when defender Daniel Munoz tripped Vinicius Jr inside the box.

Lionel Messi's fitness remains in doubt ahead of Thursday's Copa America quarter-final with Ecuador with coach Lionel Scaloni saying he will wait before deciding on his team.

Euro 2024's quarterfinals kick off on Friday with a blockbuster match between hosts Germany and Spain as the tournament heads towards its decisive final week.

India's T20 World Cup winners returned home to a heroes' welcome on Thursday with skipper Rohit Sharma and his players hailed by euphoric fans jostling to glimpse their stars.

What happens inside the team environment usually stays out of public knowledge, but this time the news about Taskin was leaked quite some time after the World Cup game in question.

Earlier, European soccer's governing body UEFA opened an investigation into the Turkish centre back's celebration in a Tuesday evening match that Germany condemned as racist due to its far right associations.

Kroos, who won the Champions League with Real Madrid last month and will hang up his boots after the Euros, came out of international retirement this year to chase the one major trophy missing from a vast haul that also includes the 2014 World Cup.

Favourites India won the title on Saturday after defeating South Africa in a thrilling final, but their travel plans were disrupted by Hurricane Beryl.

There were other movements in the top 10 of the T20I all-rounder rankings, with Marcus Stoinis , Sikandar Raza, Shakib Al Hasan and Liam Livingstone rising up by one spot. Mohammad Nabi moved back by four spots to go out of the top five.

In a frantic first fifteen minutes at Levi's Stadium, Vinicius Jr was shown a yellow card while tussling over a loose ball, a booking which rules the winger out of the Uruguay match.

Brazil goalscorer Raphinha insisted the five-time world champions would be unfazed at the prospect of playing Uruguay.

The timings are given as per Bangladesh time:

Colombia, who finished top of Group D on seven points, face Panama in the quarters while second-placed Brazil take on Group C winners Uruguay.

The Al-Ahli centre-back smashed home after just 58 seconds and produced a towering header on the hour mark to double Turkey's lead.