Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo netted an early diving header to help his side beat Morocco 1-0 in their second Group B match at the World Cup in Moscow yesterday.

Lionel Messi’s mother, Celia Cuccittini, said her son has been deeply affected by criticism of his performances with Argentina and insists he wants nothing more than to win the World Cup.

New Zealand’s Matthew Conger will handle Nigeria’s Rusia 2018 second Group D fixture against Iceland on Friday at Volgograd.

England manager Gareth Southgate admitted his World Cup celebrations will be more muted for the remainder of the tournament after dislocating his shoulder while out running on Wednesday.

Coach Fernando Hierro welcomed Dani Carvajal back into the starting line-up on Wednesday as 2010 World Cup winners Spain bid to keep pace with Portugal in Group B with victory against Iran.

Argentina coach Jorge Sampaoli defended star player Lionel Messi on Wednesday and said his side’s World Cup match against Croatia was effectively a must-win.

Whatever becomes of Brazil at this World Cup will inevitably be seen through the prism of Neymar and his state of fitness, but Philippe Coutinho has already shown that he could hold the keys for Tite’s side.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored his fourth goal of the World Cup on Wednesday as Portugal beat Morocco 1-0, condemning the north African team to an early exit while 2010 champions Spain prepared to play Iran.

BREAKING: Egypt, Saudi Arabia crash out of World Cup, join Morocco on early flight home

From Russia with love… Brief stories from the World Cup

Neymar was back in training for Brazil on Wednesday ahead of their World Cup clash with Costa Rica, 24 hours after limping out of a session with an ankle problem.

 Soccer fans on Wednesday craving a Kit Kat, Snickers or Bounty snack at Russia’s World Cup soccer stadiums need to do a bit of lateral thinking to get their chocolate fix.

Peru coach Ricardo Gareca said his team will not be bullied by France in their World Cup clash on Thursday, but admitted: “We are not on their level anywhere”.

Portugal vs Morocco : Cristiano Ronaldo followed up his opening game heroics at the World Cup with the only goal in a 1-0 win for Portugal against Morocco as the European champions edged closer to the last 16.