Igor Tudor has been sacked by Tottenham after just seven games across 44 days at the helm, with his forgettable spell as interim boss being brought to a close. The former Juventus and Marseille manager was appointed by Spurs on February 13 as successor to Thomas Frank, but has been moved on with the threat of Premier League relegation continuing to loom over the north London outfit.

Portugal were solid defensively but offered little going forward, and were forced to settle for a scoreless draw against a much-changed Mexico with Cristiano Ronaldo sidelined due to injury. Roberto Martinez's men had the majority of the ball, but little concrete to show for it. The two teams combined for three shots on target over the course of 90 forgettable minutes.

The former France captain and Atletico Madrid legend has always been obsessed with American sports. Moving to Orlando City is a bad fit, but the transfer isn't about soccer.

GOAL sat down with the American star to discuss career-defining moments, how he's grown as a person, and why his USMNT teammates matter so much to him

As the paper aeroplanes took flight around Wembley Stadium early in the first half of this eventual 1-1 draw between England and Uruguay, the fans were showing that they had already lost their interest. It looked like the players were also phoning it in and some needed reminding that not only was a World Cup just around the corner, but that their place at the tournament was far from guaranteed.

The World Cup is now just two-and-a-half months away, with teams currently making their final preparations for the finals, while others look to book the final few spots in North America during the March international break. Once the tournament does eventually get under way, the stage will be set for a whole host of players to make themselves national heroes, including some of the most exciting youngsters in the game today.

In November, we were treated to the most exhilarating reminder possible of the magic of the World Cup. History was made in Jamaica as Curacao became the smallest nation ever to qualify by holding the Reggae Boys to a 0-0 draw in Kingston. Elsewhere in CONCACAF, Haiti managed to secure a spot at the finals for the first time in 50 years with a 2-0 win over Nicaragua - in spite of the fact that they weren't able to play any games at home because of the ongoing conflict on the Caribbean island.

Lucy Bronze endured a nightmare outing for Chelsea in their WSL clash with Aston Villa, but the legendary Lionesses defender saw her blushes spared by Sjoeke Nusken in a chaotic seven-goal thriller that ended 4-3. Sam Kerr, Naomi Girma and Lauren James were also on target for the Blues in a topsy-turvy encounter that means their title defence is not yet officially over.