We live in a wonderfully weird world and here's the proof!

Serbia and Costa Rica begin their World Cup campaigns on Sunday with the teams likely to adopt contrasting approaches to making the most of their limited resources at the tournament.

World Cup hopefuls France salvaged a late 1-1 draw against the United States in their final friendly before the tournament, while fellow title favourites Spain also needed a late oal as they edged past Tunisia 1-0 on Saturday. Elsewhere, there were wins for finalists Serbia, Denmark, Morocco and Australia, while Sweden were held to a goalless draw by Peru.

Uruguay will head to the World Cup on a winning note after beating Uzbekistan 3-0 in a chilly warmup in front of their own fans on Thursday.

News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.

News of all that's transpired on and off the football field

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Virat Kohli batted continuously for over a day in Delhi and showed no signs of fatigue caused by the pollution, marvels Dhruv Munjal.

Real Madrid talisman Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona striker Luis Suarez took centre stage on Saturday in bailing their teams out with late strikes to silence their critics following slow starts to the season.

Raja Krishna Menon, who had directed Airlift before he moved to Chef, shares his movie experiences.

In the remote corner of eastern Bolivia where Che was executed, thousands gathered to commemorate his death anniversary.

Summary of the South American World Cup qualifiers played on Thursday

Summary of the South American World Cup qualifiers played on Thursday

Argentina have reached three major finals in three years but the team who came so close to winning the 2014 World Cup face crunch games against Peru and Ecuador that will determine if they miss out on the global showpiece event for the first time since 1970.

Little more than a year has gone by since Tite took over as coach of a Brazil side still reeling from embarrassing exits in the World Cup and Copa America but in that short time he has transformed the team into favourites for Russia 2018.

From watching 'Chak De! India' to taking yoga classes and training in Kolkata-like sultry conditions, Chileans have not left any stone unturned in their bid for the maiden FIFA U-17 World Cup title.

News of all that's transpired on and off the football field

Media reports suggest Sevilla's Argentine coach Jorge Sampaoli, who has never disguised his ambition to take charge of the national team and steered neighbouring Chile to the Copa America title in 2015, will step into the vacancy.

Five-times world champions Brazil have returned to what they will consider their rightful place at the top of the FIFA rankings for the first time in seven years.

Barcelona have condemned FIFA's decision to impose a four-match international ban on striker Lionel Messi for verbally abusing a match official in Argentina's World Cup qualifier against Chile last week.

Neymar shrugged off some rough tackling and a missed penalty to score a brilliant solo goal as he led Brazil to a 3-0 win over Paraguay that moved them within sight of the 2018 World Cup finals on Tuesday.

According to Associated Press, Messi was banned for "having directed insulting words at an assistant referee" during a home qualifier against Chile on Thursday, FIFA said hours before kickoff in La Paz.

A round-up of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers played on Thursday

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One of the most favourite activities of Christmas is decorating the Christmas tree. From England to Lebanon, here are some of 2016's most over-the-top Christmas trees.

These eight images show that we live in a crazy, mad world!

South American champions Chile have been handed a stadium ban for the third time in the 2018 World Cup qualifying competition because of homophobic chanting by their fans, FIFA said on Monday.

The Brazilian town of Chapeco, its streets wet with drizzle and buildings draped in the green of its devastated soccer club, prepared Saturday to receive the bodies of victims of an air crash in Colombia that killed 71 people and wiped out the team.

Dozens of hearses carrying the coffins of those killed when a plane flying Brazil's Chapecoense soccer team crashed into a Colombian mountain will leave Medellin for the airport on Friday to be flown home.

The plane that crashed in Colombia virtually wiping out an entire Brazilian football team was running out of fuel, had no electrical power, and was preparing for an emergency landing, according to the pilot's final words. The disaster on Monday night killed 71 people and sent shock waves round the global football world. Only six on board the LAMIA Bolivia charter flight survived, including three of the Chapecoense football squad en route to the biggest game in their history: the Copa Sudamericana final.

Of the players, goalkeeper Jackson Follmann was recovering from the amputation of his right leg. Defender Helio Neto remains in intensive care with severe trauma to his skull, thorax and lungs. Fellow defender Alan Ruschel had spine surgery.

Glimpses from the Commandante's colourful life.

Here are eight images that prove we live in a mad, mad world.

An outstanding performance from Gabriel Jesus helped Brazil to a 2-0 win over Peru on Tuesday and moved the five times World Cup winners four points clear at the top of the South American qualifying group for Russia 2018.

A Lionel Messi masterclass, netting a brilliant free kick before laying on two more goals, put Argentina's World Cup qualifying campaign back on track with a resounding 3-0 win over Colombia in San Juan on Tuesday.

First half goals from Philippe Coutinho and Neymar were followed by a third from Paulinho after 58 minutes to sink the Argentines and extend their winless run to four games.

A player from Chilean top flight side Audax Italiano has apologised after being arrested for climbing onto a fence and kicking a spectator following a match at the weekend.

'I'm definitely not going to change, players have to know that when they face me that I have my own way of playing and that is dribbling, scoring goals and helping my team mates'

Brazil hammered Bolivia 5-0 in World Cup qualifiers on Thursday, giving coach Tite his third successive win in the most convincing performance from the five-time world champions for some time. Bolivia had not won a World Cup qualifier away from home since 1993 but Brazil were still excellent, particularly in the first half, when they scored four of their five goals.

"This is a momentous occasion," the secretary-general said after the deal was ratified by 72 countries accounting for more than 56 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.