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The group stage of the 2014 FIFA World Cup has been concluded and the 16 teams who will advance to the knockout stage have been decided. As expected, teams from the Americas have excelled with half of the qualifiers coming from North, Central and South America. Europe under-achieved with only six teams advancing out of a total of 13 spots. Asia came crashing out of the tournament with all four teams going out in the first stage. Africa still has two teams to represent the continent.

Uruguay striker Luis Suarez will miss the knockout stages of the 2014 World CUP after FIFA banned him from all football related activity for four months following his biting incident with Italy's Giorgo Chiellini.

Dante Exum of Australia was drafted 5th overall by Utah Jazz in the 2014 NBA Draft on Thursday. It was a slight drop from the original projection of 4th in most mock drafts before the annual selection as the Orlando Magic preferred Aaron Gordon

Jeremy Lin Trade Rumors - The Houston Rockets have been lining up a deal that would help them unload the contracts of Jeremy Lin. Apparently, the Golden State Warriors are interested to acquire the Bay Area product via trade, according to a reliable league source on Thursday.

Belgium returned to the World Cup stage with a good start after making their last appearance in Korea and Japan back in 2002. The Red devils came into their last match already qualified into the top 16. Their final match triumph over Korea Republic gave them the maximum 9 points and the top spot in the group.

The Golden State Warriors and Minnesota Timberwolves resumes their negotiations for the Kevin Love - Klay Thompson swap. No deal was made on the night of the NBA Draft.

Tiger Woods showed no ill-effects of his back injury after his latest return to the PGA tour, posting a 3-over-74.

Group G was one of the groups which was still wide open coming into the last match day in the group stage for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. All four teams still had a mathematical possibility of advancing to the next stage with Germany and USA each with 4 points and Ghana and Portugal with one point.

The 2014 World Cup's popularity is so immense that it is touted as the "biggest global event for social media," The Journal reported.

Roger Federer has kept his bid of winning the Wimbledon Open Championship for a record-setting eighth time by beating Gilles Muller of Luxemburg 6-3, 7-5, 6-3 to advance into the third round on Thursday.

Despite the rains and floods, the match between the U.S. and Germany for World Cup 2014 supremacy will go on as scheduled in the city of Recife, Brazil.

Belgium won all 3 matches in the group stage to collect 9 points to finish on top of Group H. United States, on the other hand, won 1, drew 1 and lost 1 to collect 4 points to finish second in Group G.

Argentina won all 3 matches in the group stage to collect 9 points to finish on top of Group F. Switzerland, on the other hand, won 2 and drew 1 to collect 6 points to finish second in Group E.

Germany won 2 matches and drew 1 in the group stage to collect 7 points to finish on top of Group G. Algeria, on the other hand, won 1, lost 1 and drew 1 to collect 4 points to finish second in Group F.

France won 2 matches and drew 1 to collect 7 points to finish on top of Group E. Nigeria, on the other hand, won 1 match and drew 1 to collect 4 points to finish second in Group F.

Luis Suarez is now awaiting his fate as FIFA investigate his alleged bite on Italy's Giorgio Chiellini during Uruguay's group stage clash with the Azzurri. Suarez was seen jostling with Chiellini and leaning into Chiellini's shoulder. When they both hit the ground, they both fall with Suarez clutching his mouth in pain and with Chiellini pulling away his collar in an attempt to show the referee that he had been bitten. No call was made right there but FIFA are now reviewing the incident...

The Cleveland Cavaliers made Andrew Wiggins of Canada the No. 1 pick of the 2014 NBA Draft. The selection comes a year after Anthony Bennett, another Canadian, got chosen as number one overall also by the Ohio franchise.

Canadian tennis star Eugenie Bouchard reached the 3rd round at Wimbledon for the second consecutive time.

AC Milan CEO Adriano Galliani insists that Mario Balotelli will not be leaving the San Siro this summer amid talks linking the Italian striker to Arsenal.

Sevilla defender Alberto Moreno will remain at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, at least, for the time being, as discussions in bringing him to Liverpool have been called off, according to La Liga outfit's sporting director Ramon Rodriguez Verdejo.

Arsenal defender Bacary Sagna insists that his recent move to Premier League rivals Manchester City has nothing to do with the wages that he is going to receive.

A draw will be enough to get them - USA and Germany - through to the knockout stages, but neither side is apparently willing to settle with such an outcome.

The dream match between pound-for-pound king contenders Floyd Mayweather Jr and Manny Pacquiao will reportedly take place in September 2014, Kdramastars, a Korean drama, movie and celebrity news site reported, citing a reliable source from 78Sports TV and Latino Post.

Manchester City have successfully signed Porto holding midfielder Fernando for a reported fee of £12million.

Liverpool legend Phil Thompson revealed that FC Barcelona forward Alexis Sanchez is on his way to Merseyside this summer, as he was able to gather insider information from reliable sources.

Hockey teams and players shined bright at the National Hockey League (NHL) Awards 2014 held at Pittsburgh Penguins Center, Las Vegas, Nevada. The yearly award aimed to recognise the key players and teams in the league who have shown tremendous talents.

Hosts Brazil and Mexico went absolutely head-to-head in group A with both teams winning their first matches in the group stage and then going on to draw each other in the second round. They then went on to stamp their authority in the group by winning their last round matches convincingly with Brazil defeating Cameroon 4-1 and Mexico kicking out Croatia 3-1.

Portugal and Ghana might don't have control of their own fates heading into the final group match, but expect these two football countries to fight for a spot into the round-of-16 down to the last second. Portugal and Ghana will go for gold on Thursday at 17:00 BST (2:00 a.m Sydney) at Estadio Nacional in Brasilia.

FIFA WORLD CUP 2014 BRAZILGROUP E RESULTSQUALIFIED: 1. FRANCE, 2. SWITZERLAND