FIFA World Cup 2022

In a meeting with European soccer federations, the world soccer governing body FIFA has raised the prospect of yellow cards if the teams or any other players that pledged to wear the armband. The new regulations came hours before England's Harry Kane, the Netherlands' Virgil van Dijk and Wales' Gareth Bale were due to wear the armbands in Monday's games.

In the thick of the action was Fenerbahce striker Enner Valencia. The 33-year-old had a third-minute header ruled out in bizarre circumstances under the VAR rule. The former West Ham and Everton striker, however, came back to strike twice in the first half and take his team into the half time with a 2-0 lead.

With England expected to top the group, an early slip-up would leave the loser probably needing to beat a tough Iran side and avoid defeat against England to have a chance of reaching the last 16. The USA is back at the World Cup after missing out on qualification in 2018 and will feel they have something to prove before they host the tournament in 2026 with Canada and Mexico, reports Xinhua.

The image was shared by both the footballers on the eve of the start of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, through their Instagram accounts. While some social media users called it "iconic", others hailed it as the "picture of the century". With both of them sharing 12 Ballon d'Or's between them, Ronaldo and Messi came together for a promotion campaign by Louis Vuitton ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar.