FIFA

Youssef En-Nesyri headed home on the stroke of halftime after Portugal dominated possession without finding a way past Morocco's defense in their quarterfinal here. Ronaldo, who started on the bench for the second game in a row, was introduced in the 51st minute as a replacement for Ruben Neves, and made an immediate impact.

France reached the FIFA World Cup semifinal, where they will face Morocco. Speaking during the Viacom18 Sports' FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 presentation, Rooney said that England has a young squad and should look ahead. Speaking during the Viacom18 Sports' FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 presentation, Rooney said that England has a young squad and should look ahead.

England had more chances than France in the game, but were undone by a 25-meter drive from Aurelien Tchouameni and a header from Olivier Giroud. Although capitain Harry Kane levelled once from the penalty spot, he fired a second penalty over the bar seven minutes from time.

Speaking to the press after France's 2-1 win against England in a thrilling quarterfinal, the coach, whose contract is up at the end of the tournament said: "I will be manager for the semifinal and after that we will see. I don't know everything in advance. We will tackle that later." He gave a lot of merit to his side's win, which came thanks to a first half shot from Aurelien Tchouameni and a second half header from Olivier Giroud, while Harry Kane scored one penalty and then missed another that would have taken the game into extra time.

Kane, who had already levelled the score with a penalty in to cancel out Aurelien Tchouameni's 17th minute opener for France and in the 83rd minute he had another opportunity to level from the spot after Mason Mount was bundled over by Theo Hernandez, reports Xinhua news agency. This time however, Kane sent his effort high into the night sky and France held on for the win.

The first major incident in the game, which Argentina won on penalties after surrendering a 2-0 lead to a late Dutch fightback, came in the 89th minute, after Leandro Paredes committed a nasty foul on Dutch defender Nathan Ake and then slammed the ball into the Netherlands' dugout. That saw players and technical staff from both teams involved in pushing and shoving, and hostilities were resumed after Wout Weghorst equalised for the Netherlands in the 10th minute of injury time, reports Xinhua.

England provided a wonderful fightback but missed a crucial chance to take the game into extra time as Harry Kane missed a penalty at fag end of the match. In the end, Les Bleus's ability to produce a moment of brilliance out of thin air was the difference and are the first reigning champion to reach the World Cup semi-finals since Brazil in 1998.

But if one compares the figures of FIFA World Cup opening day in India to the opener of Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) season nine, a stark difference in noticed. The opening day of PKL's season nine registered a staggering reach of 46 million (2+U+R) combined with a consumption of 1.41 billion minutes, which is significantly more than the figures recorded for the opening day of the FIFA World Cup.

The World Cup is not just a competition among the 32 squads but also a crucial market for the jersey sponsors. For some favourites who remain in Qatar, their jerseys have been sold out, but in stark contrast, for some other sides that have already left, their kits are unsalable.

The Netherlands have progressed calmly into the quarterfinals after beating the United States with an assured and serious display in the last 16, while Argentina were led by an excellent display from Messi against Australia. Messi was inspirational in what is likely to be his last World Cup appearance, but Van Dijk advised there is more to Argentina.