Beach Soccer World Cup Kicks off Today

The third FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup kicks off today on the beaches of Rio de Janeiro, with the host nation Brazil looking to defend the crown they won in last year's tournament.

There are a total of four Latin American teams involved in the competition, with Mexico, Uruguay and Argentina joining Brazil among the sixteen teams who qualified.

Brazil and Mexico are both in action on the first day of competition. Mexico kick off the tournament against Russia at 9:30am local time, with Brazil against the Solomon Islands following at 11:00am.

As ever, FIFA.com TV will be showing all of the matches live on the Internet for European countries. Brazil is two hours behind the current London time.

Eurosport will also be showing various games throughout the tournament, details of which can be found on their TV guide here.

U-17 World Cup Begins

The U-17 World Cup kicked off on Saturday, with the first round of group games ending this afternoon.

It has been a mixed start for the Latin American teams involved thus far.

Costa Rica started their campaign with a 1-1 draw with Togo, after Josue Martinez equalised nine minutes from time.

Peru shocked the host nation Korea Republic by defeating them 1-0 thanks to a first half strike from Carlos Bazalar.

Brazil lived up to their billing as one of the pre-tournament favourites as they thrashed New Zealand 7-0. Seven different players were on the scoresheet for Brazil; first half goals from Fabinho, Lazaro and Giuliano added to in the second half by Fabio, Alex, Lulinha and Junior.

Honduras put up a valiant effort against European Champions Spain, but it wasn't quite enough as they went down 4-2, despite strikes from Christian Martinez and Roger Rojas.

Argentina limped to a disappointing goalless draw with Syria in their opening game; a fine display by the Syrian goalkeeper enough to keep the Argentines at bay.

Haiti were defeated 3-1 by Japan in their first ever U-17 World Cup game. Joseph Guemsly Junior equalised to make it 1-1 with twenty minutes to go, but the Japanese proved too strong with two goals in the last ten minutes enough to secure them victory.

Colombia came back from 3-1 down to draw 3-3 with Germany this morning. A Miguel Julio strike had given Colombia the lead early on, before Germany raced into a 3-1 lead. Two second half goals from Cristian Nazarith - the second coming two minutes from time - were sufficent to give the Colombians a well earned point.

Trindad and Tobago are the last Latin American team to play their first round match as they take on Ghana early this afternoon. The game is being shown on British Eurosport from 12:30pm, or is availiable on FIFA.com TV if you cannot get Eurosport.

U-20 World Cup Final

Tonight sees Argentina face the Czech Republic in the final of the U-20 World Cup in Toronto.

Unfortunately, Eurosport are not showing the game live as it clashes with their Champ Car and Tour de France coverage. They are offering a highlights package from 11pm, after the Moto GP finishes (so may be later).

For anyone who wants to catch this game and the third/fourth playoff between Austria and Chile as they happen, FIFA.com offers live coverage through their FIFA TV feature.

The start times are as follows:
Austria vs Chile - 17:15 UK/12:15 Canada
Argentina vs Czech Republic - 20:15 UK/15:15 Canada

I had some trouble getting FIFA TV to work using Mozilla Firefox, but it appears to run fine in Internet Explorer.

U-20 World Cup Semi Tonight

Just to remind everyone that the U-20 World Cup semi-final between Argentina and Chile is tonight.

The game is being shown on Eurosport 2, kicking off at 00:45 British time, 19:45 Canadian.

The winners will face the Czech Republic in the final on Sunday, with the losers squaring off against Austria in the third/fourth playoff earlier in the day.

River Plate and Chivas Friendlies on Setanta Sports

Pay channel Setanta Sports are showing two pre-season friendlies from the Peace Cup involving Latin American sides against English opposition over the weekend.

River Plate face Reading on Friday lunchtime from 11:55am, with Mexican side Chivas squaring off against Bolton Wanderers on Saturday at the same time.