France's hopes of successfully defending the World Cup were dealt a huge blow late on Saturday as Ballon d'Or winner Karim Benzema was ruled out of the tournament in Qatar with an injured left thigh.

There is a thread that connects the three leading favourites to win the World Cup starting in Qatar on Sunday.

Former Bangladesh international Alfaz Ahmed believes the Qatar World Cup is going to be full of excitement, especially considering that the world’s two most popular footballers, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Rolando, will be making their last appearance in the greatest show on earth.

Superstar Argentinian forward Lionel Messi and six other players were noticeably absent from Argentina’s training session at the Qatar University premises yesterday.

When the curtain comes up on the FIFA World Cup in Qatar on Sunday, the hosts and Ecuador will take their turn to try to conjure a contest that is bracketed among the great World Cup occasions. Among all the group stage fixtures, it is often the first of the lot that is remembered besides finals and high-drama knockout ties.

On yet another blisteringly hot morning in downtown Doha, the Qatar Sports Club Stadium turned into the venue for one of the most unique exercises ahead of the 2022 World Cup.

Two weeks after FIFA urged the 32 teams at the World Cup to “focus on the football”, Gianni Infantino veered off-script on Saturday.

Qatar coach Felix Sanchez said the hosts were excitedly looking forward to a “historic moment” when his team open the 2022 World Cup against Ecuador on Sunday.

The wait is almost over as the greatest show on earth, the FIFA World Cup, commences tomorrow. Apart from being the last hurrah for many superstars, the Qatar edition will witness several new rules.

Poland defender Matty Cash had a special request for Aston Villa team mate and Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez ahead of their meeting at the World Cup: to get him Lionel Messi's shirt.

The ceremony starts at 8 PM (Bangladesh Standard Time) on Sunday.

Germany team official Oliver Bierhoff said Saturday he "could not understand the decision" to ban beer from stadium perimeters at the Qatar World Cup.

People of various ages, races, genders, cultures, and nationalities are often brought together through football, and the World Cup is the perfect example of this. Because it is the sport that is played and watched the most around the world, the World Cup is one of the most eagerly awaited sporting occasions, with the Olympics coming in as a distant second.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino blasted the "hypocrisy" of Western critics of Qatar's human rights record on Saturday, making a passionate defence of the World Cup in the Gulf state on the eve of the kick-off.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino said Saturday that World Cup fans can survive for three hours a day without beer after sales were banned around stadiums.

Belgium’s defeat to Egypt in Friday’s World Cup warm-up international was a wakeup call before the tournament, said coach Roberto Martinez.

An Indian man has been arrested after upsetting his football-mad neighbours by tearing up a Portugal flag, hoisted for the World Cup, when he mistook it for the emblem of a controversial Islamist group.

India's cricket board has sacked its entire selection committee, led by former fast bowler Chetan Sharma, and put out the call for replacements after the team's humiliating T20 World Cup exit.

The World Cup always provides a stage for young players to make a name for themselves and the younger generation will be eagerly awaiting Sunday's start of the 2022 edition.

A team from outside of Europe has not won the World Cup since 2002, but the public is expecting that to change in Qatar this year.