Cristiano Ronaldo "never told" Erik ten Hag he wanted to leave Manchester United before the forward's explosive interview aired.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner parted ways with United by mutual consent last month after a wide-ranging interview with Piers Morgan on TalkTV in which he said he felt "betrayed" by the club.

Ronaldo also lamented "zero" progress since Alex Ferguson departed Old Trafford in 2013, while hitting out at former interim boss Ralf Rangnick and stating he had "no respect" for current United manager Ten Hag.

The Dutchman claimed the 37-year-old never came to him to discuss his desire to leave, though Ten Hag conceded there was no way back for Ronaldo after his public comments.

"Until that moment he never told me 'I want to leave'," Ten Hag told reporters in Spain, where United are training during the mid-season break for the World Cup.

"I have seen most of it. I have to do it. It is part of my job. The interview, I think, as a club you can't accept. To make that step he knew the consequences. But before, he never told me."

An unceremonious exit will somewhat tarnish Ronaldo's legacy at United, for who he had made just four starts in the opening 14 Premier League games this season.

Ronaldo suggested he may be open to leaving ahead of the 2022-23 campaign, according to Ten Hag, though the Portugal forward opted to stay after consideration.

"In the summer we had one talk," he added. "He came in and said 'I will tell you in seven days if I want to stay'. He came back and said he did. Until that moment [the interview] I never heard anything [else].

"I like to work with world-class players. I know they can make a difference and help you to achieve your objectives.

"I wanted him to stay from the first moment until now. I did everything to bring him into the team because I value his quality.

"We wanted him to be part of our project and for him to contribute to Manchester United because he is a great player and has such a great history."

Ronaldo has been widely linked with a big-money move to Saudi Arabian side Al Nassr but Ten Hag has little interest in what the striker does next as his focus remains with United.

"I don't want to spend energy on that. It is the past. We want a new future of Manchester United and he didn't want to be part of it," he continued.

"All my accountability is in favour of the club and the team. They are the decisions I have to make and it doesn't matter which person it is.

"It is about how we perform now. I believe our performances will confirm that we are going in the right direction."

Neymar said he was rooting for himself when asked if he would be supporting club-mates Kylian Mbappe or Lionel Messi in the wake of Brazil's World Cup exit.

Brazil looked set to make the semi-finals in Qatar when Neymar put them ahead against Croatia at Education City Stadium midway through extra time.

But Croatia prevailed 4-2 in a penalty shoot-out following Bruno Petkovic's leveller to leave the pre-tournament favourites' hopes in tatters.

While Brazil are out, Neymar's Paris Saint-Germain team-mates Mbappe of France and Messi of Argentina both still had a chance of winning the tournament when the Selecao squad spoke to reporters after their defeat.

Neymar, though, was not best pleased when asked if he had paid any mind to their fortunes.

"That's hard to talk [about] now," said the 30-year-old, who had been in tears at full-time. "I was rooting for myself."

Neymar's goal, which capped a sublime move started by the PSG star, took him level with the great Pele on 77 international goals for the Selecao.

Luka Modric must be ranked as one of the best midfielders of all time, according to his Croatia team-mate Borna Sosa.

The Real Madrid midfielder won the Golden Ball in 2018 – the award for the best player at the World Cup – as Croatia reached the final in Russia before falling to France.

Modric claimed the Ballon d'Or after helping Madrid to the Champions League crown in the same year and has again delivered in FIFA's top tournament four years later in Qatar.

The 37-year-old dominated the midfield battle on Friday as Croatia edged past Brazil on penalties after a 1-1 draw to reach the World Cup semi-finals for the third time, leading Sosa to hail the evergreen Modric.

"For me, he's in the top five midfielders of all time. Absolutely nobody performed on his level at 37 years old," Sosa told reporters.

"He's showing from year to year how important a player he is for us and Real Madrid. When it's most important, he gives us this experience, confidence and he's really calm on the ball.

"I'm very happy to have him in the team and, hopefully, he will stay with us as long as he can."

Marcelo Brozovic and Mateo Kovacic provided support for Modric in Croatia's midfield trio, who overran Brazil's lone holding midfielder Casemiro at Education City Stadium.

"We believe in ourselves, I can say we have the best midfielders ever. Brozovic, Kovacic and Modric," full-back Josip Juranovic said.

"If they are on their game, we can control the game 90 per cent of the time and because of that we can beat teams."

The shoot-out victory would not have been possible without the excellent Dominik Livakovic, who made the most saves by a Croatian at a World Cup after recording 11 stops against Tite's side.

While Neymar did manage to beat Livakovic in extra-time before substitute Bruno Petkovic levelled with four minutes remaining, Sosa considers Croatia fortunate to have a "magnificent goalkeeper" to call upon.

"He showed many, many times throughout his career that he is a magnificent goalkeeper," Sosa added. "I think he gives us a lot of confidence.

"Against a team like Brazil – they will always have chances because you cannot close everything against these kinds of players.

"To win against Brazil, you need to have this kind of luck and a goalkeeper on the maximum level like we had today. We're very happy, but it was a very exhausting game."

Sosa hopes to continue to make history as Croatia look to go one better than their last tournament on the global stage.

"I'm so happy that we survived Brazil, which is one of the best teams in the World Cup," he continued. "Now, we're looking forward to the semi-finals.

"There were a lot of emotions. A lot of happy tears because we are really showing many, many results.

"As our country, nobody expects this and nobody believes in us, and that's why it's really emotional when you achieve things like this.

"For me, Brazil is football and football is Brazil. When you beat Brazil, it's maybe the best feeling ever."

Tite reiterated his plan to walk away from the Brazil job following World Cup elimination, adamant his "cycle" is over.

The 61-year-old revealed in February that he would not remain in charge of the Selecao beyond Qatar 2022.

On Friday, Brazil were knocked out of the tournament by Croatia, succumbing 4-2 on penalties following a 1-1 draw after extra time.

Neymar had given Brazil the lead with a tremendous goal just before half-time in extra time, but Bruno Petkovic's deflected strike restored parity with the 120 minutes almost up.

Rodrygo and Marquinhos both failed to convert their spot-kicks in the shoot-out while Croatia scored all four of theirs, ensuring Zlatko Dalic's men reached a second successive World Cup semi-final.

Defeat meant Brazil suffered a quarter-final exit in consecutive World Cups under Tite, but he insists that will not change where his future lies.

"It is indeed very difficult, but it's a stalemate now about the end of my cycle with the Brazil squad," he told reporters.

"I think the cycle ended and I said that [over] half a year ago. I keep to my word; we shouldn't make a drama about this.

"I said back then there are other great professionals who can replace me. In the past [2018] we lost the World Cup, but I needed a full cycle.

"Now I had the full cycle. The cycle is over."

Understandably, talk in Tite's press conference soon turned to his "legacy".

Although their World Cup performances under his guidance have ultimately been disappointing, Tite did win the 2019 Copa America while in charge of the Selecao.

But he felt the situation was still far too raw to be able to provide the necessary insight on such a topic, particularly given the emotions of a shoot-out.

"I think time will answer that," he said.

"Although I might try to be someone with serenity, I can't make an assessment of the entire cycle.

"In time [the media] will make due assessment and others will, but right now I'm not in the condition to make an assessment, especially after defeat through the shoot-out. I can't do that right now."

Lionel Messi became the player with the most assists on record in World Cup knockout matches on Friday, surpassing Pele when he teed up Nahuel Molina's goal against the Netherlands.

Messi produced a trademark assist as Argentina hit the front 35 minutes into their quarter-final clash with the Oranje, slipping a fine reverse ball behind a packed defence for Molina to finish.

Since such records began in 1966, no player has matched Messi's tally of five assists in knockout ties at the tournament, with Pele managing four.

Molina's goal also gave Messi his seventh World Cup assist overall – all of which have come for different goalscorers.

Since 1966, only fellow Argentina great Diego Maradona has laid on more goals at the tournament as a whole, recording eight assists.

Zlatko Dalic pinpointed Dominik Livakovic as "the difference" in Croatia's World Cup quarter-final win over Brazil, while he hailed the "unbelievable" Luka Modric.

Croatia, as they did against Japan in the round of 16, progressed in Qatar with a penalty shoot-out victory over Tite's side on Friday after a 1-1 draw at Education City Stadium.

A well-crafted Neymar strike before half-time in extra-time seemed to have Brazil on course for the final four, only for substitute Bruno Petkovic to level with a deflected strike with four minutes remaining.

Livakovic made the most saves by a Croatian in a World Cup match (11) before stepping up in the shoot-out to deny Rodrygo as Croatia reached the semi-finals in FIFA's top tournament for just a third time.

"A couple of situations created by Brazil owed to their quality and speed, but we were able to prevent them with our goalkeeper, who was in top shape," Croatia head coach Dalic said. 

"He [Livakovic] was the difference, he made the difference in the crucial moments, he saved us and he was there to save us.

"He was there to do what he's supposed to do, he saved the first penalty and gave us confidence and less confidence for Brazil because they were afraid he'd save again.

"He made the difference for us over the whole match."

It was not the first time Livakovic has shone for Croatia having become only the third goalkeeper to make three saves in a single World Cup penalty shoot-out with his heroics against Japan.

Modric was far from his usual high standards against the Samurai Blue but left his mark on Brazil with an excellent midfield showing alongside Marcelo Brozovic and Mateo Kovacic.

"Modric played for 120 minutes with great rhythm, he was at the head of the Croatia team and shot his penalty when he needed to," Dalic added.

"I think it is unbelievable how he plays and how he's not tired. He didn't fall behind and when we were thinking about replacing the midfield, we asked and he was fully ready.

"He played the entire 120 minutes. At 37 that's unbelievable but that's Luka Modric, and it only shows he's one of the best in the world.

"The recipe for success is his seriousness and professionalism. He's a gentleman, he's impeccable in training. He tries his best, works in individual training and lives for football, which rewards him ten-fold.

"It's very difficult to find someone his age, 37, with such performance, such strength, whether he plays for Real Madrid or Croatia.

"He's proven his quality. When we came to the World Cup, people were writing him off, then he came back in his best light, at the top of his game, and he brought Croatia into the semis."

Brazil's lone holding midfielder Casemiro had no answer and was largely overran against Croatia's midfield trio, who Dalic labelled "the best in the world".

"I said several times before, Croatia has the best midfield in the world. We have passes, control of the game and ball, and managed to demonstrate that," he added.

"We did interceptions, our midfielders were great there. They were not hasty, that's the most important part. When we broke the game open, we went forward.

"We didn't have many chances but they were sufficient, as much as we needed, and I think the midfield is the best part of the team."

Luka Modric believes club team-mate Rodrygo "will get stronger" following his crucial penalty miss in Croatia's World Cup quarter-final victory over Brazil.

Rodrygo was one of two players to fail from 12 yards - along with Marquinhos - as the Selecao were beaten 4-2 in the shootout following a 1-1 draw at Education City Stadium.

Modric knows how his 21-year-old Real Madrid team-mate feels. The midfield maestro was only a year older when he missed his spot-kick in Croatia's quarter-final defeat by Turkey at Euro 2008. 

Despite the disappointment, the Vatreni captain is confident Rodrygo will benefit from the ordeal, telling reporters: "I'm sure he'll gain more experience and strength to continue. He will get stronger with all this.

"It can happen to anyone. We must congratulate Rodrygo for having the strength and mentality to take and shoot penalties. Everyone can fail. I have encouraged him. I get along very well with him, and it's a shame that it was him."

Croatia have now won all four of their World Cup penalty shootouts, having also defeated Japan on spot-kicks in the last 16, as the 2018 finalists sealed their second successive appearance in the last four.

Zlatko Dalic's side fell behind in extra time to Neymar's wonderful individual effort, but Bruno Petkovic struck a dramatic equaliser with three minutes remaining, and Modric saluted the character of his team-mates.

"Surely, nobody has given us anything before the World Cup, or they didn't see that we could get there so far," he added.

"The important thing is that between us, we have had faith, confidence, and we have a real team again with very good youngsters who have entered. Winning like this, I'm sure it gives more confidence for what follows.

"We have shown once again that we never gave up. Our faith is enormous. We tied and on penalties, we had confidence."

Eddie Jones should have been given until the conclusion of next year's Rugby World Cup to turn England's results around, according to former centre Mike Tindall. 

The Australian was dismissed on Tuesday following a review of recent results, with England enduring their worst calendar year since 2008 – winning just five of their 12 Tests in 2022.

A 27-13 defeat to South Africa proved to be the final straw for Jones, who walks away with the best win rate (73 per cent) of any head coach in England's history, having won 59 of his 81 Tests at the helm.

While Tindall acknowledges the reasons behind the decision to make a change, he would have preferred for Jones to lead England at the World Cup in France, which starts on September 8.

"It's a really difficult one because Eddie does divide opinion," Tindall, who won the World Cup in 2003, told ITV.

"I would say I don't agree with their decision to part ways, [but] I understand why they've done it.

"I still think he's still delivered an 18-game winning streak and he's produced probably the best England performance that's ever been seen against New Zealand in 2019.

"If you look from 2019 to where we are now, the results aren't quite as good, so it really is a difficult one, but I would've stuck with him and then changed after the World Cup."

Jones guided England to their first Six Nations Grand Slam in 13 years in 2016 before winning the tournament again in 2017 and 2020, while also reaching the 2019 World Cup final.

The 62-year-old also won his first 17 games with England, which was part of an 18-game winning streak overall, the joint longest of any Tier 1 nation.

Forwards coach Richard Cockerill will step up to lead England on an interim basis, with Leicester Tigers head coach Steve Borthwick the favourite for the permanent position.

Tindall added: "I think it's hard now. Say a new coach comes in now and does fantastically well through the Six Nations and then the World Cup, everyone will say it has Eddie's DNA on it. 

"It will be sort of like what he got off [predecessor] Stuart Lancaster when he came in too, and then if you do poorly, it's the new guy's fault."

The San Francisco 49ers looked destined to contend for a Super Bowl because of their astute move to invest in a quarterback insurance policy for Trey Lance.

Now with Jimmy Garoppolo, whom they kept around after attempting to trade away, likely also on the shelf for the rest of the season with a broken foot, the NFL world is left wondering whether one of the best rosters in the league can still go deep in the postseason with rookie seventh-round pick Brock Purdy at quarterback.

The early signs are promising, with Purdy stepping in for Garoppolo against the Miami Dolphins in Week 13 and producing a composed display in a 33-17 win that pushed the Niners' record to 8-4.

An enforced switch from Garoppolo to Purdy, the last pick in this year's draft, is an obvious downgrade, but how does it impact the 49ers' hopes of reaching the playoffs and Super Bowl?

Stats Perform can answer that question by looking at its rest-of-season (ROS) projection.

To generate the ROS predictions, every future game is projected to give a predicted win percentage for each team across its remaining games. The projections are calculated by looking at each team's quarterback and performance in terms of yards added in expected passing situations as well as team values for pass protection/pass rush, skill position players/coverage defenders and run blocking/run defense.

The projected win percentages are then aggregated to produce the forecasted standings, which suggest all is not lost for the 49ers.

Still Purdy Good

Purdy was poised, decisive and accurate after replacing Garoppolo, fostering hope he can help keep the 49ers in the Super Bowl hunt despite his inexperience at the highest level.

The ROS projection does not see the Niners winning the Super Bowl, giving San Francisco less than a one per cent chance to lift the Lombardi Trophy with Purdy under center.

However, the 49ers are still given an average win total of 10.5, putting them as the third seed as NFC West champions. With the division rival Seattle Seahawks projected to win 9.76 and end the season as the sixth seed, it would set up a mouthwatering Wild Card matchup.

The 49ers have done most of the hard work in their playoff pursuit and have a dominant defense that ranks first in EVE (our Efficiency Versus Expected metric).

As such, the Niners are still likely to make the playoffs, with ROS giving them a 95 per cent shot. What happens after that is up in the air with Purdy at the helm.

Chiefs Still Reign

The Kansas City Chiefs' loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 13 dropped them out of the No. 1 seed in the AFC, with the Buffalo Bills once again in control of the conference.

ROS, though, expects the Chiefs to reassume the top spot by the end of the season.

The Chiefs are given a projected average win total of 12.8, the highest in the AFC and ahead of the Bills' 12.4.

On the NFC side, ROS does not project any slip-ups from the 11-1 Philadelphia Eagles, who are predicted to win 15.1 games and finish well clear of the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC East. The Eagles also have an NFL-best 35 per cent chance of winning the Super Bowl, with the Chiefs second at 18.8 per cent. 

If this projection is accurate, Dallas would face the prospect of playing the NFC South champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers on the road in the Wild Card round despite a 12-win campaign.

A dangerous Wild Card

ROS still appears to lack belief in the defending AFC champion Cincinnati Bengals despite a third successive win over the Chiefs.

Cincinnati are predicted to finish second in the AFC North behind the Baltimore Ravens with a projected average win total of 10.42. The margin is razor-thin, though, with the Ravens' total at 10.43.

The Bengals have just a 2.4 per cent chance to win the Super Bowl, according to the projection.

Yet with Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati offense catching fire in recent weeks, the Bengals loom as an extremely dangerous potential Wild Card team and the projected addition of the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets to the playoffs would make for one of the most fascinating AFC postseasons in recent memory.

By contrast, the recent tie between the New York Giants and Washington Commanders is unlikely to strike fear into the heart of any NFC contenders. They will renew acquaintances in Week 15, and it is the former who is projected to ultimately win out in their battle for the seventh seed and seal a Wild Card clash with the Minnesota Vikings.

The Giants have an average projected win total of 8.3 compared to 8.2 for the Commanders as the projection suggests a losing record will be good enough for at least one team to reach the postseason.

Casemiro lamented the way Brazil let a semi-final place escape their grasp after the World Cup favourites suffered penalty shoot-out defeat against Croatia on Friday.

Brazil were on course to reach the final four when Neymar finished a flowing move in expert fashion as half-time in extra-time approached, but substitute Bruno Petkovic struck a deflected equaliser as Croatia forced spot-kicks.

Rodrygo and Marquinhos were unsuccessful in the shoot-out – the former denied by the outstanding Dominik Livakovic – as Croatia advanced to the World Cup semi-finals for just the third time.

Brazil have now been eliminated from each of their last six knockout ties in FIFA's top tournament against European teams, with the manner of their latest defeat leaving Casemiro struggling for words.

"All defeats are painful, especially when you have a goal, a dream, you have a four-year job for that moment. It's hard to find words in these moments," the midfielder said.

"It's about lifting your head, life that goes on. We are sad, everyone in the group did their best. We get upset, mainly because of the way it was. It was in our hands, it escaped there. 

"It's a hard moment. Now it's about having peace of mind, life has to go on."

Casemiro will be 34 when the next edition of the World Cup begins, but the Manchester United man is in no rush to make a decision on his international future. 

"I'm 30. Of course, there are always kids, but I'm 30 years old. I'm living the best moment of my career and I'm very happy at the club I'm at," he said.

"I missed an opportunity, but we need to see, especially now that a new coach will come in.

"You need to have respect. It's a tough time to talk about it, but we don't have to think about it now. It's about having tranquillity and a cool head."

Brazil's 38-year-old captain Thiago Silva, meanwhile, knows he will not get another opportunity to lift the famous trophy. 

"Unfortunately, as a player, I will not be able to lift this cup. Who knows later with another role," the veteran defender said. "It's difficult to have words at that moment. 

"I have already gone through some decisions in my life, not only in the national team, but personally.

"When we lose something important, which we aim for, it hurts a lot. You have to try to lift your head and follow it up, there's no other alternative. I'm a guy who got up every time he fell."

Neither England nor France see a clear favourite as they prepare to face one another in a highly anticipated World Cup quarter-final.

The Three Lions and Les Bleus each eased through the last 16, beating Senegal and Poland respectively to set up a far trickier tie in the next round.

Although England have won both of the sides' previous World Cup meetings, France have lost just one of the past eight between the nations in all competitions.

Didier Deschamps' side are the world champions – albeit the first holders to feature in a quarter-final since Brazil in 2006.

Meanwhile, Gareth Southgate is hoping to become the first England manager to go to two World Cup semi-finals, and Kyle Walker – on whom there is plenty of focus ahead of a battle with Kylian Mbappe – cannot split the two teams.

"We're playing the world champions, but we are two good teams that will go toe to toe," the England right-back said. "You've seen what can happen in 90-plus minutes.

"There have been shocks and for us this is just another game. We take our hat off to them as world champions, but each and every one of us will not be rolling that red carpet out for them to treat it as a theatre.

"We have great talent – talk about the goals we have scored and the clean sheets that we've kept. In my eyes, neither team is the underdogs or the favourites."

It is an assessment France midfielder Adrien Rabiot agrees with, even if England have been eliminated from six of their past eight World Cup knockout matches against fellow European nations.

"They are a team that has the same characteristics as us, very fast on the wings, with attacking full-backs, midfielders who can get forward, and [Declan] Rice looks a bit like [Aurelien] Tchouameni," Rabiot said.

"I am not sure that we should say that we have to be careful. They will also be very careful because we have the possibility of putting them in difficulty.

"It's an open game with two teams who know how to counter. What can make a difference is set-pieces. They are very good, we will have to be vigilant and not make the same mistakes as against Denmark. They have weapons, but we are not inferior."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

England – Jude Bellingham

Teenage sensation Bellingham will play a huge role in getting England up the pitch. He has won possession more often than any team-mate (23), with only Harry Kane (six) doing so more often in the final third (five). England have won the most high turnovers at the tournament (38).

France – Olivier Giroud

Mbappe has the talent to decide the game not just by scoring but also by setting up Giroud, as he did against Poland. Mbappe (five) alone has scored more goals for France at this World Cup than the 36-year-old (three).

The only older player to net four at a single World Cup was 38-year-old Roger Milla for Cameroon in 1990.

PREDICTION

Neither Walker nor Rabiot may be able to choose a favourite, but Opta's supercomputer can – just.

France are given a 40.3 per cent chance of winning, ahead of slight underdogs England's 32.4 per cent. In a tie this tight, extra time or penalties could be required, with the draw rated at 27.3 per cent.