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Brazil's journey to the Round of 16 has been anything but smooth World Cup favourites Brazil continue their campaign for the 2018 World Cup in Russiaon Monday against a Mexican side, which stated their campaign brilliantly before coming dangerously close to elimination. Brazil produced their best display of the tournament in beating Serbia 2-0 to secure their place in the last 16, finding more connection between midfield and attack than in previous games, reports Xinhua news agency. Brazil struggled for fluidity in their opening two matches in Russia and will look to the win over Serbia as a turning point to their campaign and a confidence boost. ALSO READ:  Here are the top scorers of Fifa World Cup 2018 for Golden Boot standings However, they will have to be wary of their disciplinary record with key trio Neymar, Coutinho and Casemiro a booking away from suspension. Brazil's journey to the Round of 16 has been anything but smooth: After drawing 1...

The more a country and its society give liberty to its people to make choices for their lives, the more likely it is to be a World Cup winner More than a seventh of humanity watched the 2014 final, where Germany became the champions with a lone goal in the extra time. Unarguably, this makes the 2018 World Cup the most to-be-watched sport tournament, and a question that becomes central to discussion in the office, over tea or lunch, and at parties, is this: Who will win this time? ALSO READ: Here's how to watch  Fifa World Cup 2018  for free in mobile devices Juxtaposing the general development and economic progress of a country with its perceived chances of winning reveals that the probable semi-finalist teams would be the countries with better social and economic indicators. The world’s top betting players such as Ladbrokes, WilliamHill and 888sport have almost unanimously put Germany, Brazil, France, Spain and Argentina as top five, while Tunisia, Iran, P...

Both Airtel and Jio would broadcast the FIFA World Cup 2018 matches for free to their respective subscribers Fifa World Cup 2018 is about to begin in a few hours from now in Russia, where 32 teams from across the globe would play around 50 matches in a span of one month. The much-awaited football event would attract fans from across countries to watch the action live, either from the stadium or from home. However, it would be a dream come true if the matches could be watched live even on the go. For Indian fans, that dream has just come true, as telecom operators Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio have announced free broadcast of 2018 Fifa World Cup matches on their respective mobile television apps. Here is how to catch the live action on mobile devices Airtel TV Bharti Airtel has rolled out an updated Airtel TV app, which would enable users to watch live broadcasts of the upcoming football tournament. Interestingly, the matches will be broadcast in va...

Unsurprisingly, Brazil and Germany are the teams appearing most often in World up 2018 forecast models produced by economists So much for the unpredictable nature of the beautiful game. Goldman Sachs Group Inc reckons Brazil will win its sixth World Cup, basing its forecast on data mining, machine learning and econometrics. The investment bank is the latest to jump into the excitement before the soccer championship kicks off this week. It used 200,000 statistical models, sifted data on individual players and recent team performance and ran 1 million simulations of the tournament. As a result, it predicts that Brazil will lift the trophy on July 15. We should note that Goldman also tipped Brazil in 2014 (forecasting a 3-1 win over Argentina in the final). But Brazil stumbled in the semi-final back then, losing by a whopping 7-1 to eventual champions Germany. ALSO READ:  In pics: Here's how Indians are gearing up for Fifa World Cup 2018 Here’s the Goldman ex...

After the match on Saturday he made an impassioned plea to all fans of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Cristiano Ronaldo, "abuse us, criticize us but please come to watch the Indian national team" Sunil Chhetri, one of the greatest footballers the country has produced, will play his 100th international match today when India will take on Kenya in Intercontinental Cup at Mumbai Football Arena. Earlier, in his 99th match, he scored a hat-trick to seal the game for India against Chinese Taipei and equalled David Villa's record of 59 goals. After the match on Saturday, he made an impassioned plea to all fans of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Cristiano Ronaldo: “Abuse us, criticize us but please come to watch the Indian national team.” India cricket captain Virat Kohli was the first to support Chettri, urging sports lovers to come forward and watch the national football side play, in an instagram post. With less than two weeks left for Fifa World Cup 2018 to begin and broadca...

By involving star footballers and advertising it during qualifying matches ahead of the tournament World governing body FIFA should start promoting   FIFA World Cup 2018   more actively by involving star footballers and advertising it during qualifying matches ahead of the tournament, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko has said. Russian President Vladimir Putin would meet with FIFA President Gianni Infantino here on Friday, reports   Sputnik. But Mutko said before the meeting that they expect FIFA to start its preparations to reach a global audience.   Read More

AC Milan may get a Chinese touch Chinese dealmaker   Sonny Wu , whose business holdings span renewable energy and lighting, is leading the proposed takeover of storied Italian soccer team AC Milan, people in the know said. Wu's private equity firm GSR Capital is the main investor in the consortium that is in advanced talks to buy   AC Milan   from Silvio Berlusconi's Fininvest S.p.A, according to the people. The Chinese businessman, who led two failed attempts to buy Royal Philips NV assets in the last 18 months, is valuing the soccer club at about 750 million euros ($825 million) including debt, one of the people said, asking not to be named because the discussions are private. Steven Zheng, a Chinese businessman with solar power interests, is also part of the buyer group, the people said. The deal will involve new sponsorship agreements with the seven-time European champion, according to one of the people. Berlusconi, the former Italian premier, said this mont...

Nike beats Adidas 2-0 in Euro 2016 finals For the first time in three decades of modern sports sponsorship,   Adidas   won't have a team playing in the European Championship final. Even worse: when host France and Portugalmeet on Sunday in Paris, everyone will be wearing jerseys emblazoned with   Nike   and its ubiquitous swoosh. The two have battled in the $5 billion global soccer market since the 1990s. And nothing is more attractive to them as top national and club team jerseys   Read More

Messi sentenced to twenty-one months for tax fraud A court in Spain on Wednesday sentenced Barcelona's star striker  Lionel Messi  and his father to 21 months in jail for tax fraud and slapped them with a fine of Euro 3.7 million ($4.1 million). But these prison sentences are likely to be suspended, as is common in Spain for first offences for non-violent crimes carrying a sentence of less than two years. The Barcelona court found the Argentina international and his father Jorge Horacio Messi guilty of using companies in Belize, Britain, Switzerland and Uruguay to avoid paying taxes on Euro 4.16 million of Messi's income earned from his image rights from 2007-09. The income related to Messi's image rights that was allegedly hidden includes endorsement deals with Danone, Adidas, Pepsi-Cola, Procter & Gamble or the Kuwait Food Company.

Chile manager Pizzi labels Messi as 'the best player of all time' Soon after guiding   Chile   to their second straight   Copa America   Centenario title,   manager   Juan Antonio   Pizzi   has lavished praise on Argentina star striker Lionel   Messi   and described him as the 'best player of all time'. Pizzi's announcement came right around the same time when Messi was announcing his retirement from   international   football   following his country's 2-4 defeat at the hands of Chile in Copa America. Although Messi missed his crucial penalty kick in the final match, Pizzi's opinion about his fellow countryman remains the same. Admitting that he admires Messi, Pizzi believes it is very difficult to match the numbers that the   Barcelona   striker achieved during his career. "Because I know what it means to value certain numbers and Messi's numbers are unmatched, and I don't think they will ever be m...