Al-Amin

Didier Drogba did not hide his allegiance ahead of tomorrow's World Cup final between France and Croatia. Speaking to reporters at the Moscow Press Centre the 40-year-old Ivorian, who is revered by the world as the best marksman Chelsea have produced, said that he would be rooting for Les Bleus at the Luzhniki Stadium.

Croatia set up a dream final with France as they came from a goal down to beat England 2-1 in a nail-biting semifinal at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow yesterday.

The World Cup in Russia is into its final leg. After so many twists and turns, dramas and upsets we are left with four European teams to fight for the ultimate glory.

The young brigade of Didier Deschamps took their World Cup dream closer to reality as they dispatched Belgium with a 1-0 win in the first semifinal at the Saint Petersburg Stadium yesterday.

Adaptability is a great virtue if you are in Russia to be part of the World Cup. We were desperate to get flight tickets from Kazan to Saint Petersburg so that we could cover today's first semifinal between France and Belgium. With no flights available, we decided to take a hired van instead of taking the hazardous route of going to Moscow first and then taking another train to Saint Petersburg.

If you discount World Cup pedigree, which has actually had little or no bearing in Russia 2018 so far, there is little to choose from between France and Belgium when the two European nations lock horns in the first semifinal at the Saint Petersburg Stadium today.

While we were crammed into a narrow corridor awaiting the elevator, one gentleman approached with a very important guest in tow.

Brazil coach Tite said that it was very painful for him to turn up and talk to reporters after that heart-stopping defeat against Belgium in the quarterfinal at Kazan Arena on Friday. But he refused to attribute the 2-1 loss to luck.

As we were leaving the Kazan Arena at around midnight on Friday, the volunteers at an exit point said: goodnight, thank you very

Belgium shot Brazil out of the World Cup with a 2-1 quarterfinal win yesterday to set up a semifinal clash with France on Tuesday.

The Bangladesh media contingent in Russia for the 2018 World Cup seems quite large when considering that the journalists hail from

When the battle to reach the last four in the World Cup starts today after a couple of days' break, both Brazil and France will desperately look for a semifinal collision course, something they would otherwise have tried to avoid before the final.

We have been in Russia for the last 24 days and have already travelled to five cities. Unfortunately, we could muster very few Russian words, being limited to da (yes), nieth (no) and pasiva (thank you). One Bangladeshi expat, who has been living in Russia since 1996, told us that it's not a tough language to understand 'if you have the understanding of Sanskrit'.

Is it about time for Brazil to really think that they have got the best chance to win a record-extending sixth Word Cup title in Russia?

Like many other cities in Russia, Samara has a rich history and two of its most historical places have attracted the travelling World Cup fans in droves.

Brazil took a firm step onto the World Cup quarterfinals when they beat Mexico 2-0 at the Samara Arena yesterday.

The round of 16 match between Mexico and Brazil yesterday was a really entertaining one but more importantly, Mexico managed to stretch the five-time champions. However, the most impressive thing for the Selecaos was that they withstood some intense pressure to win the game 2-0 and make the quarterfinals.

Brazil will look to start from where they had left off against Serbia when they take on a feisty Mexico in a World Cup round of 16 fixture at the Samara Arena today.

The departure of Lionel Messi and his Argentina side from the World Cup on Saturday following a 4-3 defeat against France was perhaps something that the Albiceleste fans had not seen coming or refused to accept.

It was an amazing scene at the Samara Arena's make-shift press centre moments after Russia won their round of 16 World Cup match against Spain on penalties. The whole facility erupted, with a few Russian journalists running for joy and volunteers embarking on emotional hug.