Many Russian soccer fans believe their underdog national team can pull off another upset when they take on Croatia in the World Cup quarter-finals later on Saturday, allowing them to stay in the tournament against the odds.
Sweden's players suffered a rude awakening ahead of their World Cup quarter-final clash with England when the fire alarm went off at their hotel in Samara on Saturday morning, leading it to be evacuated.
Raphael Varane's glancing header and a goalkeeping blunder that gifted Antoine Griezmann a soft goal gave France a 2-0 victory over Uruguay in the first World Cup quarter-final on Friday and a set up a last-four tie with Brazil or Belgium.
Sweden's success at this year's World Cup has been built on defensive organisation and clinical counter-attacks.
Putin said the tournament and its coverage on social media had 'helped break many stereotypes about Russia'.
England came into the World Cup with low expectations from their fans and much talk of building for the future but as they face a quarter-final with Sweden on Saturday, manager Gareth Southgate says this generation might not get a better chance to triumph.
Images from Day 6 of the US Open in New York, on Saturday.
France was always among the favourites but an underwhelming set of warm-ups plus a timid start suggested their reputation rang louder than reality
Brazil firmed up to 3-1 favourites to win the World Cup for the sixth time after goals from Neymar and Roberto Firmino secured a 2-0 win over Mexico and a place in the quarter-finals on Monday.
Russia forward Denis Cheryshev said he got quite emotional after his team upset the odds to eliminate highly fancied Spain at the World Cup and move unexpectedly to the last eight, sending football fever to sky high levels in the host country.
Alexei Sorokin, the head of Russia's World Cup local organising committee, said on Sunday the tournament had so far been a success and that organisers were receiving positive feedback from participants.
Kasper Schmeichel could hardly have done more for his team in their World Cup clash with Croatia on Sunday but the Denmark goalkeeper ended up in the unusual position of being both man of the match and a loser.
Spain's dramatic defeat by Russia on penalties in the World Cup round of 16 on Sunday ensured that at least one of this year's finalists will not have reached the title decider for half a century, if at all.
Russia's penalty shootout hero, goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev, thanked God, luck and the Luzhniki Stadium crowd for bringing the hosts home safely against Spain on Sunday to reach their first World Cup quarter-final since 1970.
Images from the Round of 16 match between Russia and Spain, in Moscow, on Sunday.
The last time Stanislav Cherchesov walked out at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium to face Fernando Hierro's side, the Spaniards were heavy favourites but the Russians reached the next round.
With no clear sense of direction being set by Deschamps' selections, it may be up to the players to find their own way to deal with Messi.
A second-place finish in the group stages could prove to be a blessing in disguise for England who are on the relatively easier side of the draw in the knockout stages.
The points table of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
German fans responded with shock and dismay after the national team suffered their first elimination in the first round of the World Cup for 80 years.
A round-up of Thursday night's matches from the Euro 2020 qualifiers.
Not even a lively performance from Lionel Messi - at least in the first half in St Petersburg - as they edged out Nigeria 2-1 to finish second in Group D will give their large travelling band of supporters in Russia much in the way of confidence.
A late goal by Marcos Rojo gave Argentina a dramatic 2-1 victory over Nigeria in Group D on Tuesday and sent the twice champions through to the knockout stages of the World Cup.
Didier Deschamps, for whom a 0-0 draw with Denmark was 'mission accomplished' as his side finished top of Group C ahead of the Danes.
Achilles the cat, who has correctly predicted the score of all three World Cup matches played so far in St Petersburg, tipped Nigeria to beat Argentina as the teams battle on Tuesday for a place in the soccer last 16.
Coach Harendra defends junior players' selection for World Cup
The 2-2 draw in Kaliningrad was thrilling for neutrals but exposed huge vulnerabilities in the 2010 world champions, who had to come from behind twice after careless mistakes gifted two goals to already-eliminated Morocco.
Nigeria have no sympathy for the struggles of Argentina striker Lionel Messi at the World Cup and will do everything they can to bring his tournament to a premature end when the teams meet in St Petersburg on Tuesday.
Serbia refuses to recognise the independence of its former province Kosovo, whose 1.8 million people are mostly ethnic Albanians, which broke away 10 years ago, and opposed Kosovo's ultimately successful bid to join FIFA.
'There are many myths about the team and about this generation'
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert made sure of that with a gripping doubles win that keeps France's hopes against Croatia alive in the last final to be staged in the event's traditional format.
World champions France had eight players, one less than former holders Spain, in international players' association FIFPro's 55-name shortlist for its World XI of 2018 award.
Nigeria's top players needed persuasion to change positions in a tactical shake-up but coach Gernot Rohr's plans paid dividends as they beat Iceland 2-0 on Friday to get back in contention to progress to the World Cup's last 16.
Ahmed Musa returned to the line-up with devastating effect as he scored both goals for Nigeria to help them resuscitate their World Cup hopes in a 2-0 win over Iceland at the Volgograd Arena on Friday.
Les Bleus needed a penalty, given by the video assistant referee, and goal-line technology to beat Australia 2-1 in their opening game and they were shaken up by Peru on Thursday but won 1-0 thanks to a Kylian Mbappe goal.
Sampaoli looked morose after Argentina's heaviest defeat in a World Cup group stage since 1958 and appeared resigned to his side's fate.
Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone said Argentina look lost and have no leadership after the 3-0 loss to Croatia which left them on the verge of a disastrous early exit from the World Cup, in an audio message leaked to Spanish and Argentine radio stations.
Jorge Sampaoli took the blame for Thursday's shambolic 3-0 World Cup defeat by Croatia as he tried to deflect the criticism from a terrible goalkeeping mistake and a poor performance by his captain Lionel Messi.
Sergio Ramos has responded to a putdown from Argentina great Diego Maradona
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