Reigning champions France beat Finland 2-0 in a World Cup qualifier on Tuesday thanks to Antoine Griezmann's double strike to snap a five-game winless streak while Scotland kept their hopes alive with a 1-0 win in Austria.

In other action, Portugal and the Netherlands stayed on track to reach the finals in Qatar next year, with Memphis Depay grabbing a hat-trick for the Dutch in a 6-1 demolition of Turkey.

Japan will not host the FIFA Club World Cup later this year because of virus restrictions that could cap spectator numbers, a report said Wednesday.

The annual football tournament, at which the champions from the six global confederations compete along with the host nation's top team, was due to be held there in December.

Some of the world's largest broadcasters including American network NBC are being asked by human rights groups to cancel plans to cover next year's Winter Olympics in Beijing. The Winter Games are scheduled to open on Feb. 4.

The request comes in an open letter from rights groups representing minorities in China, including Uyghurs, Tibetans, Hong Kong residents and others.

Former France attacker Franck Ribery has joined Salernitana on a one-year deal, the promoted Serie A club said on Monday.

Questions swirled on Monday after Brazilian health officials dramatically halted a World Cup qualifier against Argentina over  alleged Covid-19 quarantine breaches by the visitors.

Brazilian football great Pele has undergone surgery for a suspected colon tumor and is recovering, the hospital in Sao Paulo treating him announced on Monday.

England boss Gareth Southgate says he is "open-minded" about holding the World Cup every two years and has spoken to Arsene Wenger about the proposal.

Algeria's football team arrived in Morocco on Monday on the eve of their African World Cup qualifier against Burkina Faso, against a backdrop of diplomatic tensions between the North African neighbors.

The Algerian delegation "was received by Moroccan football federation officials at Marrakesh airport", said Mohamed Makrouf, an official from the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF).

Former France defender Jean-Pierre Adams has died aged 73 after almost 40 years in a coma, his former club Nimes announced on Monday.

Italy set an international record of 36 games unbeaten on Sunday as Germany and Spain returned to the top of their World Cup qualifying groups.

Though European champions Italy were held 0-0 at Switzerland, Germany and Spain were joined by England and Poland in routing low-ranked opponents.