Today: Ozil could be the fall guy again for Germans.

Chris Hatherall previews Wednesday’s World Cup action as the tournamnet heats up.

Here’s your round-up of what’s on today and tomorrow at the World Cup.

Germany 2 Sweden 1

Gareth Southgate is considering dropping Raheem Sterling against Panama, judging by a note spotted at England training.

It seems churlish to use the word ‘crisis’ after only one defeat but Germany’s World Cup defence is looking increasingly nervous as criticism of Mesut Ozil reached abusive levels yesterday and players had to rebut reports of cliques and disunity in the camp.

Brazil, already anxious and nervous after drawing their opening game against Switzerland, were given an almighty scare yesterday when Neymar limped off the training field with an ankle injury.

Panama coach Hernan Dario Gomez isn’t in the business of sugarcoating the truth before his team makes history by playing in its first World Cup.

There have been some remarkable stories in the World Cup over the years but this one you really couldn’t make up.

It will either be the setback that brings Spain players closer than ever before, bound together by adversity; or it will be the moment their World Cup dream ended before it had even begun.

Irish football fans won’t have had too much trouble coming up with a comparison for 24 hours which saw World Cup challengers Spain come close to total meltdown just two days before their opening Group B game against Portugal in Sochi.

Fernando Hierro will manage Spain during the World Cup, the Spanish Football Federation has announced.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said his military "won't stop" efforts to oust Syrian Kurdish fighters from Syria's north, as the leaders of Turkey, Russia and Iran met for talks on the conflict.

Seamus O’Connor will be Ireland’s flag bearer tomorrow morning as the coldest Winter Olympics in decades gets underway with the opening ceremony in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

The World Anti-Doping Agency has described the decision to overturn the lifetime bans given to 28 Russian athletes as a cause of "dismay and frustration".

Sport Ireland has defended its handling of Steven Colvert’s doping case in the wake of a claim by one of the world’s leading anti-doping experts that the Irish sprinter was wrongfully convicted.

The United States Anti-Doping Agency has launched a strongly-worded attack on the International Olympic Committee after 28 Russian athletes had lifetime doping bans overturned on appeal.

A word of advice for Irish Olympians competing in South Korea next month: the cold is back for the Winter Games.

The prevalence of doping in sport has been once again to the fore in recent weeks, writes Jack Anderson.

Russian athletes who are proven to be clean should be allowed to compete under the Russian flag at the 2018 Winter Olympics, according to Arsenal shareholder Alisher Usmanov.

Individual athletes who can prove they have not cheated could compete under the Olympic flag.

Vitaly Mutko is now Russia's deputy prime minister, president of the Russian Football Union and the chairman of the organising committee for Russia 2018.

Russia has been banned from sending a team to February’s Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.

The lawyer of the man who blew the whistle on Russia's state-sponsored doping programme believes anything other than a ban from February's Winter Olympics would "embolden the cheats".

Vladimir Putin has met with Syrian president Bashar Assad in Sochi.

Russian president Vladimir Putin claims a stand-off over Catalonia's independence has been spawned by Western double standards in treating secessionist movements.

Russian president Vladimir Putin has been given another puppy as a gift.

Plenty of companies have been eager to associate themselves with Formula One, the world’s most popular racing series.

Germany eased into the Confederations Cup final following a comfortable 4-1 victory over Mexico in Sochi.

PORTUGAL 0 - CHILE 0 (Chile win 3-0 on penalties AET): Manchester City goalkeeper Claudio Bravo was the hero of the hour as Chile reached the Confederations Cup final by beating Portugal on penalties last night.

Fifa’s Video Assistant Referee (VAR) claimed the spotlight for all the wrong reasons at the Confederations Cup in Russia yesterday when the on-field official’s decision resulted in the wrong man getting sent off before the players intervened in Germany’s 3-1 win over Cameroon last night.

Australia 2

Joachim Low's much-changed Germany opened their Confederations Cup campaign with a 3-2 victory over Australia in Sochi.

Germany coach Joachim Low felt the 7-0 thrashing of minnows San Marino was a good test for his young squad before they head off to the Confederations Cup in Russia.

Cameroon play Germany in Sochi on June 25.

During a tense appearance with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Mr Putin said accusations of meddling in last year's US presidential election were "simply rumours".

Lewis Hamilton believes it is advantage Sebastian Vettel for the Russian Grand Prix after he finished a distant fourth behind his Formula One World Championship rival in practice on Friday. 

Video replays took centre stage as Spain beat France 2-0 in a friendly at the Stade de France.

Ukraine's security service has banned Russia's contestant from this year's Eurovision song contest because she performed in Crimea.

Search teams have recovered another flight recorder from a military plane which crashed in the Black Sea, killing all 92 people on board, Russia's Defence Ministry said.

Search teams have recovered a flight recorder from the Russian military plane that crashed into the Black Sea over the weekend, the defence ministry said.