The report said he wants to appear via video link before Argentina take on defending champions France in Doha's Lusail Stadium with an expected global audience of hundreds of millions.

He said the tournament, which currently involves seven teams, would be held every four years and would boost revenues for the global sports body further.

Morocco, punching above their weight, beat Belgium and Canada in the group stage before eliminating 2010 world champions Spain on penalties in the last 16 and then beating 2016 European champions Portugal in the quarter-finals.

Amid a growing frenzy ahead of Sunday's game against defending champions France, supporters said the cheapest official tickets are selling on underground markets for more than $4,000.

Coman, the Bayern Munich winger, had already been forced to miss a training session on Thursday because of a "light viral syndrome", the French Football Federation (FFF) said.

Grant Wahl, a leading American sports reporter who died suddenly on Dec. 10 while covering the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, suffered a fatal rupture of the aorta, the main blood vessel leading from the heart, his wife said on Wednesday.

There were jubilant scenes on the Champs-Elysees avenue in central Paris on Wednesday as French supporters waved tricolor flags and let off flares to celebrate the win over Morocco that put Les Bleus into the World Cup final.

Goals from Theo Hernandez and substitute Randal Kolo Muani put the French into a fourth World Cup final and gave them the chance to become the first team to retain the title since Brazil 60 years ago.

Considered by many to be the world’s best, Messi now has a chance to put behind him defeat in the 2014 World Cup final and fill the only blank on his career resume.

In the 21 editions of the World Cup over 92 years featuring 79 nations, there have still been only eight winners and only 13 have made it to the final. Spain were the last to join the elite group of champions in 2010 after France in 1998 and Argentina in 1978. 

In the second semi-final on Wednesday, reigning champions France take on giant-killing Morocco, the first African team ever to reach the last four of a World Cup.

France, who defeated England on Saturday, are looking to become the first team in 60 years to retain the trophy but they can expect fierce resistance from the surprise package of the tournament.

Leading American sports reporter Grant Wahl, who last month had a run-in with Qatar's World Cup organizers over a rainbow lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) shirt, died while covering a tense quarterfinal match on Friday, his family said.

The story of the women’s U19 team making it into the International Cricket Council (ICC) U19 Women’s T20 World Cup in South Africa in 2023 is a flight of fancy.

As their national team made history, crowds gathered in Casablanca on Saturday evening and chanted "Qualified! Qualified!"

Elated French fans on both sides of the Channel roared with delight and threw dance moves after their team's dramatic World Cup quarter-final victory over old rivals England in Qatar on Saturday.

The north Africans' coach Walid Regragui said they would start as underdogs againstPortugal but had proved they were genuine challengers in Qatar and were hungry for more success.

Minutes from the semi-finals after Neymar had smashed the ball into the roof of the net at the end of a sublime move in extra-time, they allowed Croatia substitute Bruno Petkovic to fire home to level.

Long after the vanquished Dutch had left the field, the Argentinian players danced in front of their dancing, flag-waving fans, all ignited by the belief that maybe Messi's time has come at long last.

Morocco will bid to become the first African or Arab nation to ever reach the semi-finals but face a Portugal side who put six goals past Switzerland in the last 16 after dropping Cristiano Ronaldo.

An unforgivable tactical and mental breakdown ended up costing Brazil the win that they had fought resiliently to achieve throughout the match.

The 37-year-old striker was dropped for the last-16 clash earlier this week, with his replacement, Goncalo Ramos, netting a hat-trick in a scintillating 6-1 victory against Switzerland.

On a pitch beneath the Amsterdam tower blocks where they grew up, two young friends of Surinamese origin practise free kicks and dream of wearing the Netherlands' famed orange jersey.

Argentina have the pride that comes from being two-times world champions while the Netherlands carry the baggage of being three-times beaten finalists.

La Roja last lifted a major trophy a decade ago at Euro 2012, while they have not won a single knockout game at the World Cup since triumphing in South Africa in 2010.

Victory took the African side into the quarter-finals for the first time in their history, trumping their performance in 1986, when they reached the last 16.

Santos had expressed his unhappiness with Ronaldo's reaction to being suspended in the final group stage game against South Korea but he said that matter had no impact.