Full Coverage: 2018 World Cup

This is a picture of Nicolas.

A couple of weeks before the Croatian national team left for Russia and the start of a surprising World Cup run that has carried it to Sunday’s final, fans of Dinamo Zagreb, the country’s most important club team in its largest city, gathered before a monument at Maksimir Stadium, a spot they consider hallowed ground.

WORLD CUP THIRD-PLACE GAME ENGLAND VS. BELGIUM Where: St. Petersburg Time: 7 a.m. PDT.

Croatia’s players should have been tired Wednesday during their World Cup semifinal with England.

Kevin de Bruyne said a big factor in Belgium’s recent rise to global prominence in soccer is the fact this generation was the first to send its players in great numbers to top-flight foreign leagues to play and learn.

The oldest national team in the world played one of the youngest in a World Cup semifinal Wednesday.

England is a nation unified and deliriously divided.

When the spotlight has shone on France in this World Cup, it has illuminated Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappe, Olivier Giroud and Paul Pogba, the team’s attackers.

SEMIFINAL ENGLAND VS. CROATIA Where: Moscow Time: 11 a.m.

A year ago Jordan Pickford was a talented young goalkeeper with just one full season of first-division experience, no national team call-ups and a reputation built more on promise than proof.

For Luka Modric it was like déjà-vu all over again.

The last Latin American team is out of the World Cup, meaning Europe will extend its hold on soccer’s biggest prize to 16 years by the time the next tournament rolls around in 2022.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has never coached a game at the international level, yet his influence was considered partly responsible for the success of the last two World Cup champions and could play a role in next Sunday’s final was well.

The first time Antoine Griezmann met Thierry Henry he was 7.

Invisible to the crowds flocking to World Cup venues all over Russia are legions of migrant workers from Central Asia, who built the stadiums and keep them running, staff concession stands, and clean up after fans who revel through city streets.

SEMIFINAL BELGIUM VS. FRANCE Where: St. Petersburg Time: 11 a.m. PDT. TV: Fox, Telemundo.

Nothing conveys Roberto Martinez’s obsession with his job better than the way he outfitted his Liverpool, England, home while he was coaching at Everton.

It was the lowest-ranked team in the World Cup it was hosting, one given virtually no shot to get out of group play.

Jordan Pickford hadn’t been born the last time England reached the semifinals of a World Cup.

Since taking over as coach of the Belgian national team two years ago, Roberto Martinez has kept the focus on preparing for the next win rather than celebrating the previous one.

Losses by Brazil and Uruguay on Friday reduced the World Cup to a European championship with the tournament’s final six teams all calling the continent home.

In a Volkswagen commercial running during TV coverage of the World Cup, soccer fans from countries around the globe are seen inviting U.S. fans to start rooting for their teams.

Antoine Griezmann learned how to play soccer in France.

QUARTERFINALS SWEDEN VS. ENGLAND Where: Samara Time: 7 a.m. PDT. TV: Fox, Telemundo.

There is a prominent square in this central Russian municipality dedicated to the revolutionary writer Maxim Gorky, for whom the city was once named.

During the 2014 Sochi Winter Games, the last major international sporting event held in Russia, athletes from the host country topped the medal count with 33, including 13 golds.

QUARTERFINALS URUGUAY VS. FRANCE Where: Nizhny Novgorod Time: 7 a.m. PDT. TV: FS1, Telemundo.

Ask Didier Quillot who he is supporting in the World Cup and the chief executive of France’s first-division league pauses to work up the proper amount of disdain before answering.

When France and Uruguay face off in a World Cup quarterfinal here Friday, French star Antoine Griezmann may have trouble remembering which team he’s playing for.

When Mexico arrived at the World Cup last month, the big question was how far would the team go.

The head of North American soccer believes the region’s teams will be greatly improved by 2026, when the World Cup returns to the continent for the first time in 32 years.

Mexico welcomed a new president Monday, then quickly struggled to come to grips with the fact it still has the same old national soccer team.

When the final whistle sounded, defender Hugo Ayala dropped to his knees at midfield and prayed.

ROUND OF 16 SWEDEN VS. SWITZERLAND Where: St. Petersburg Time: 7 a.m. PDT. TV: FS1, Telemundo.

The early favorite was knocked out, a team beloved by locals led fans on an emotional rollercoaster, and there’s an increasing, undeniable sense that if the improbable can happen, it probably will.

No one’s laughing at Russia now.

With the elimination of Portugal and Argentina, Russia’s World Cup lost most of its star power when Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi packed up to leave.

A look at the matchups for World Cup games Monday: ROUND OF 16 MEXICO VS.

China does not have a team in the World Cup — it finished fifth in its six-team group in Asian qualifying — but it does have a lot of fans in Russia, where the country’s economic clout has given it a huge presence.

ROUND OF 16 SPAIN VS. RUSSIA Where: Moscow Time: 7 a.m.

If Mexico had taken care of business in its final group-stage game with Sweden, it would be facing Switzerland in the round of 16 this week, safely tucked in the softer side of the World Cup bracket alongside Russia, Denmark and Colombia.

WORLD CUP ROUND OF 16 FRANCE VS. ARGENTINA Where: Kazan, Russia Time: 7 a.m. PDT.

The Brazilian national team has a lot in common with Samara, the sprawling city of 1.2 million where it will play in the second round of the World Cup on Monday.

The voice sounds familiar, even in far-off Sochi. But the name? Maybe not so much.

Roberto Martinez believes the best way to win a World Cup is to have won one before.

Mexico is on to the final 16 for a seventh straight World Cup, and goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa says the team should be recognized for how it got there, not for the fact that it almost tripped on its way through the door.

Count Brazil among those teams breathing a sigh of relief that the World Cup’s unpredictable group stage is over.

The clock will strike midnight on the World Cup on Thursday and Cinderella will go home empty-handed once more.

As Mexico fell behind by one goal, two goals and then three in its World Cup game against Sweden on Wednesday, Mexico fans across the world switched their television channels to another game that had suddenly become much more important.

Here’s a look at the matchups for Thursday in the World Cup: GROUP H JAPAN VS.

Coach Didier Deschamps left it up to Hugo Lloris.

A look at the matchups for World Cup games in Russia on Wednesday: GROUP F SOUTH KOREA VS.

This World Cup hasn’t been particularly kind to the favorites.

Guillermo Ochoa doesn’t need a slide rule or a calculator to figure out the complicated scenarios facing Mexico as it tries to win its group and advance to the second stage of the World Cup.

The World Cup field will grow to 48 teams when the tournament lands in North America in 2026, opening the door to more countries and more players.

A look at the matchups for World Cup games Tuesday: GROUP C AUSTRALIA VS.

Even before the start of the World Cup, the photographs invited mockery.

A look at the matchups for World Cup games Monday: GROUP A SAUDI ARABIA VS.

Maybe Vitaly Milonov was right.

Despite two victories in two games, Mexico’s future in the World Cup is nearly as unsettled as it was when the team landed in Russia three weeks ago.

The streets of this capital were mostly deserted.

Senegal’s Aliou Cisse is the only black coach at this year’s World Cup and he says more must be done to create opportunities for others to follow in his path. �In European countries, in major clubs, you see lots of African players.

Through the first 32 games, there have been 85 goals scored, an average of 2.7 per game, matching the 2014 tournament in Brazil.

Photos from Mexico’s 2-1 victory over South Korea in a group game at the World Cup in Russia as well as images of fans in L.A. reacting to the action.

GROUP G ENGLAND VS. PANAMA Where: Nizhny Novgorod Time: 5 a.m.

Two games into the World Cup, Mexico is unbeaten, leads its group and has its fate firmly in its grasp.

The game played out more than 6,000 miles away in a Russian port city.

The problem with gold is it’s just a metal until someone takes the time and effort to polish it and make it glisten.

On Saturday, Mexico and South Korea will face each other in their second group stage match of the World Cup.

The Los Angeles area is home to the second-largest Mexican community in the world, second only to Mexico City.

A little over an hour after FIFA awarded the 2026 World Cup to the U.S., Mexico and Canada earlier this month, the three co-chairmen of the United 2026 bid committee took the stage for a news conference at Moscow’s sprawling Expo Center.

An army travels on its stomach.

France had the advantage on the field Thursday, beating Peru 1-0 to ensure passage to the second round.

Carlos Hermosillo played on the last Mexican team to reach the World Cup quarterfinals and he sees some similarities between that squad and the one that opened this summer’s tournament by upsetting defending champion Germany.

A look at the matchups for World Cup games Friday: GROUP E BRAZIL VS. COSTA RICA Where: St.

The Mexican soccer federation was fined $10,000 for “discriminatory and insulting chants� during Sunday’s World Cup game against Germany.

This World Cup will have a winner and undoubtedly will produce many memorable moments over the next 3 1/2 weeks.

Look beyond the green shirt, ignore the Wells Fargo logo on the screen and the underlying message of Landon Donovan’s cheer-for-Mexico campaign is truly wonderful.

Amid the dark roar of a dry cleaning machine and the steamy swoosh of presses appears a different sort of sound.

When the World Cup started in Russia on Thursday, Oleg Sentsov was on day 32 of his hunger strike in a northern Siberian penal colony.

A look at the matchups for World Cup games Wednesday: GROUP B PORTUGAL VS.

Telemundo drew an average audience of 6.56 million viewers for Sunday’s Mexico-Germany World Cup match, making it the most-watched sporting event in the Spanish-language network’s history.

Pele was unparalleled as a soccer player. But as a prognosticator? Not so much.

Juan Carlos Osorio wasn’t even a year into his stint as coach of Mexico’s national team when fickle fans began calling for him to be fired.

The shine from Mexico’s opening-game victory over Germany was dulled Monday when the Associated Press reported FIFA has opened disciplinary proceedings against the team because its fans used an anti-gay slur during the game.

A look at Tuesday’s World Cup matchups: GROUP H COLOMBIA VS. JAPAN Where: Saransk Time: 5 a.m.

They played the game on the banks of the Moscow River, but given the noise, the waves of green Mexican national team jerseys and multicolored sombreros and the loud renditions of “Cielito Lindo,� Luzhniki Stadium on Sunday might as well have been Estadio Azteca.

Of all the things my father brought with him when he first came to the United States from Mexico, his love of soccer has proven to be the most useful.

Eight people, including two visitors from Mexico, were injured Saturday when a taxi crashed into pedestrians on a sidewalk near Red Square in Moscow.

It’s more a mental block than a physical one. More a lack of faith than a fait accompli.

They came, they saw, but they refused to be conquered.

GROUP C FRANCE VS. AUSTRALIA Where: Kazan Time: 3 a.m. PDT.

Mehrnoush Yazdanyar’s eyes were peeled on the giant television screen showing Iran’s national soccer team facing off against Morocco in the World Cup opener.

At a recent World Cup warm-up match at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Mexico’s national soccer team was missing one of its biggest stars: Rafael Marquez, the team’s captain and a legendary defender.

The 2018 FIFA World Cup is finally here.

Russia welcomed the world to its World Cup on Thursday with a quick, energetic opening ceremony that featured a giant fire bird made from crepe paper, English pop singer Robbie Williams flipping off the cameras, a lot of juggling and a speech from President Vladimir Putin.

Spain will go into the World Cup under new management after the country’s soccer association fired manager Julen Lopetegui on Wednesday, two days before its tournament opener against Portugal in Sochi, Russia.

GROUP A EGYPT VS. URUGUAY Where: Yekaterinburg Time: 5 a.m. PDT. TV: FS1, Telemundo.

The capital of the world’s first communist country has become a study in contradictions on the eve of Eastern Europe’s first World Cup.

In the end, the marathon process of bringing the World Cup back to North America was decided with a sprint.

Full coverage: 2018 World Cup »

Undeterred by the changing politics that have buffeted the United States-led North American bid for the 2026 World Cup, leaders of the three-nation campaign are banking on a more dependable ally to get them past the finish line — money.

Four years ago, as Colombia prepared for its first World Cup in 16 years, Radamel Falcao struggled to get healthy.

Donald Trump isn’t the only president who governs by tweet.

Omar Gaber made two commitments before leaving Egypt for Russia and the World Cup on Sunday.

GERMANY FIFA world ranking: 1 Last World Cup: 2014 Best World Cup finish: Champions, 2014, 1990, 1974, 1954 How qualified: Won European qualifying group.

As a young soccer player — one good enough to make an age-group national team — Jules Boykoff dreamed of someday going to a World Cup.

Germany’s most difficult World Cup opponent might not be on the field in Russia.

Costa Rica didn’t lose a game in regulation in the World Cup four years ago in Brazil, where it was eliminated in a penalty-kick shootout.

A look at the teams that make up Group D of the Russia 2018 World Cup: ARGENTINA FIFA world ranking: 5 Last World Cup: 2014 Best World Cup finish: Champions, 1978, 1986 How qualified: Finished third in South American qualifying tournament.

Even Disney couldn’t have written Iceland’s World Cup story better.

A look at the teams in Group C of the 2018 World Cup in Russia: AUSTRALIA FIFA world ranking: 40 Last World Cup: 2014 Best World Cup finish: Round of 16, 2006 How qualified: Beat Honduras in interconfederation playoff Key players: GK Mat Ryan, MF Mile Jedinak, MF Aaron Mooy It’s a fact: Interim coach Bert van Marwijk took the Netherlands to the World Cup final in 2010 and guided Saudi Arabia through a successful qualifying campaign in 2017 before resigning in a contract dispute and accepting the Australia job.

No country has gone longer between World Cup appearances than Peru, which returns to soccer’s biggest stage this month after a 36-year absence.

Portugal is joined by Spain, Iran and Morocco in Group B of the World Cup in Russia.

No player in modern soccer history has enjoyed a better run than Cristiano Ronaldo has had since the last World Cup.

Mohamed Salah was a quiet teenager who had made just one appearance for Egypt when Bob Bradley took over the country’s national team in the summer of 2011.

Brothers Giovani and Jonathan dos Santos of the Galaxy and forward Carlos Vela of the Los Angeles Football Club were officially named Monday to Mexico’s 23-man World Cup roster, but Vela’s LAFC teammate Laurent Ciman wasn’t as fortunate, with the central defender failing to make the final cut for the Belgium team.

If you think the U.S. team’s failure to qualify for the World Cup was devastating for the players, consider Rob Stone’s disappointment.

For Mexico coach Juan Carlos Osorio, Monday’s exhibition against Wales at the Rose Bowl was more about learning than about winning.

Juan Carlos Osorio has a week to finalize Mexico’s 23-man roster for next month’s World Cup.

The first step toward being fired as coach of the Mexican national team is being hired as coach of the Mexican national team.

Mexico, Brazil and Germany are the only countries to advance out of group play in each of the last six World Cups.

To design the most technologically advanced World Cup ball in history, Adidas had to go back to a time when TV transmissions were mostly in black and white, soccer balls were made from heavy, unforgiving leather and chips were something you put in cookies, not sports equipment.

Germany was three minutes from winning its first World Cup in a generation and Bastian Schweinsteiger couldn’t see.

Roger Bennett, one half of the follicly challenged “Men in Blazers� soccer pundits, has endured a lifetime of backing teams that have stubbornly refused to reward his support with success.

The U.S. national team is sitting out this summer’s World Cup but that doesn’t mean U.S. fans have to remain on the sidelines.

When Bruce Arena was asked to rescue a struggling U.S. national team in the fall of 2016, he was also asked to write a book about how he did it.

As the final seconds ticked away on the U.S. national team’s last World Cup qualifier this past October, the mood on the American bench darkened quicker than the Caribbean skies over the tiny stadium in Couva, Trinidad.

More than 200 teams competed for 31 open spots in this summer’s World Cup and the United States wasn’t the only country that came up short in that competition.

Jair Marrufo grew up playing soccer like many kids in his El Paso neighborhood.

When Argentine World Cup champion Rene Houseman died from cancer in March, it was a reminder that membership in one of sport’s most exclusive clubs is withering.