Rooney, then Ronaldo and now Messi.

Ivory Coast bowed out of the World Cup in style.

Luis Fabiano scored a pair of goals and Elano added another as Brazil beat Ivory Coast 3-1 Sunday to secure a spot in the second round of the World Cup with one match to spare in Group G.

Ivory Coast tied Portugal 0-0 at the World Cup on Tuesday, largely outplaying its higher-ranked opponent despite Didier Drogba only coming on as a late substitute.

Didier Drogba is training with his teammates ahead of Ivory Coast's World Cup opener against Portugal and a decision will be made on whether the striker can play two hours before Tuesday's match.

To beat England, the United States has to stop a player who in real life had the kind of season usually seen only in video games.

Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba has hope of playing in the World Cup after having surgery on his broken right arm in a Swiss hospital Saturday.

Didier Drogba has told teammate Kolo Toure that he will miss the World Cup after breaking his right arm Friday in a warmup match.

Germany will bring six strikers to South Africa but Italy dropped two as some of the leading World Cup contenders made late decisions on their teams Tuesday, hours before the roster deadline.

Didier Drogba scored his 37th goal of the season Saturday to give Chelsea a 1-0 victory over Portsmouth in the FA Cup final and complete the Premier League champion's first domestic double.