Passing

DOHA - Thirteen years separate France strikers Kylian Mbappé and Olivier Giroud but their devastating double act in the 3-1 last-16 defeat of Poland at the World Cup on Sunday showed the age gap is no barrier to a flourishing relationship.

Giroud, at 36, brings experience and guile to France's attack, while Mbappé, 23, is blessed with pace so explosive that the screens at the Al Thumama Stadium showed him hitting a top of speed of 22 mph as he tormented Poland's defense.

Serbia and Cameroon arguably played the best game of the 2022 World Cup on Monday with a six-goal thriller that ended 3-3. The game also saw a Serbia tiki-taka goal that honestly looked like it could have been scored by that legendary 2010 Spain squad.

The Eagles of Serbia were soaring after scoring two goals in first-half stoppage time to take a 2-1 lead. Playing with supreme confidence, Serbia scored one of the prettiest team goals of the tournament in the 53rd minute.

Look at this string of passes from the Serbs.

Tiki-taka (the lethal variety) is back. Spain was greatly helped by Costa Rica's decision to grant mobile brain-in-a-jar Sergio Busquets freedom of the park Wednesday, but to downplay La Furia Roja's 7-0 World Cup victory over Los Ticos is like throwing mashed potatoes at a Van Gogh.

This was always the danger for Old Man Costa Rica: 35-year-old Keylor Navas, 34-year-old Celso Borges and 33-year-old Óscar Duarte getting torn apart by 22-year-old Ferran Torres and Barcelona teenage prodigies Pedri and Gavi. 

Chelsea travelled to Red Bull Arena and beat Salzburg 2-1 Tuesday night to clinch passage to the Champions League Round of 16 for the fourth straight year.

Christian Pulisic, making his first start since scoring against Wolves on Oct. 8, played a role in both goals, although they were spectacularly finished by Mateo Kovačić and Kai Havertz.   

Sydney United 58 FC — a semi-professional club that plays in the third divison — made history Saturday by reaching the Australia Cup final with a dramatic 3-2 extra time victory over the A-League's Brisbane Roar.

In a back and forth affair, Riku Danzaki opened the scoring for Brisbane, but Sydney's Matthew Bilic leveled before halftime. 33-year-old Englishman Charlie Austin restored normality with a 63rd-minute penalty, but Patrick Antelmi kept the "cupset" alive with one in the 71st to knot the match at 2-2.

PARIS — Paris St Germain forward Neymar scored his eighth Ligue 1 goal of the campaign as the champions overcame Brest 1-0 at Parc des Princes on Saturday to extend their unbeaten start and reclaim top spot in the standings.

The result, secured after Gianluigi Donnarumma saved a late Islam Slimani penalty, means Christophe Galtier's side have 19 points from seven matches, two more than second-placed RC Lens who led the table after a 1-0 win over Troyes on Friday.

Olympique de Marseille can go level on points with PSG if they beat visitors Lille later on Saturday.

Megan Rapinoe is no longer a starter for the USWNT. Mallory Pugh has made the left flank her own, and it was the 24-year-old Chicago Red Stars forward who forced the opener on Tuesday night against Nigeria at Audi Field with a low cross that resulted in an own goal from the Super Falcons.

However, after Nigeria had surprisingly found an equalizer in the 50th minute through Tigres forward Uchenna Kanu, it was Rapinoe's introduction in the 65th that brought the crowd back to life before her quality in the final third restored the USWNT's advantage just one minute later. 

MANCHESTER, England - Marcus Rashford struck twice as Manchester United made it four wins in a row and ended Arsenal's perfect start to the Premier League season with a 3-1 victory at Old Trafford on Sunday.

A high-tempo, top quality game was decided by two Rashford goals on the break after Bukayo Saka had cancelled out United debutant Antony's opener.