World champion Patrick Chan said Friday he was unconvinced that veteran former Olympic champion Yevgeny Plushenko could make a comeback in the Sochi Games.

Plushenko has said he wants to compete at his home Olympics, and reclaim the title he won at the Turin Games after taking silver in Vancouver behind American Evan Lysacek.

France are in serious danger of missing out on the World Cup finals for the first time in two decades after losing 2-0 to Ukraine in Kiev in their play-off first leg on Friday.

Roman Zozulia gave the home side a deserved lead in the 61st minute and Andriy Yarmolenko scored from the penalty spot with eight minutes left after Laurent Koscielny had brought down Zozulia inside the area.

Cristiano Ronaldo edged Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the battle of World Cup superstars, scoring a late diving header which gave Portugal a 1-0 win over Sweden in the first leg of their play-off Friday.

The Real Madrid superstar headed past Sweden goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson in the 82nd minute from six yards out after a fine left wing cross from Miguel Veloso.

Hosts Kenya will play African World Cup finalists Ethiopia in the opening match of the Cecafa Senior Challenge cup in Nairobi on November 27, the organizers said on Friday.

The two countries, which are regular participants in the annual football tournament for national teams in the east and Central African region, are drawn in Group A alongside Zanzibar and newcomers South Sudan.

Six candidates from Europe and Asia — including two former Summer Olympic host cities — are in the running to host the 2022 Winter Games.

The International Olympic Committee released the official list of bid cities on Friday.

Spain's decision to play an international friendly at Equatorial Guinea is raising eyebrows.

The World Cup winners face Spain's former African colony on Saturday, drawing the ire of Equatorial Guinea's opposition in exile group in Madrid.

Finnish driver Heikki Kovalainen will replace Kimi Raikkonen for Lotus in the final two Formula One races of the season.

Raikkonen will miss the United States Grand Prix and Brazilian GP to undergo back surgery. He is joining Ferrari next season.

Matches in the French league will go ahead as scheduled after clubs agreed to postpone plans to boycott a full round of games in protest at a government plans to impose a controversial super-tax on players' salaries.

The Union of Professional Football Clubs (UCPF) met with a government mediator on Wednesday and announced Thursday that the matches for November 29 through December 2 will go be played.

Kevin Magnussen was promoted to McLaren's driver lineup for the 2014 Formula One season on Thursday, replacing Sergio Perez as the partner for Jenson Button at the British team.

The 21-year-old Dane has been McLaren's development driver for the last two seasons, winning this year's feeder World Series, and will be the first F1 debutant at McLaren since Lewis Hamilton in 2007.

Mexico swept to a 5-1 victory over New Zealand in the first leg of their intercontinental playoff on Wednesday to become the overwhelming favorite for a place at next year's World Cup finals.

Paul Aguilar put Mexico ahead in the 32nd minute and Raul Jimenez made 2-0 before the break. Oribe Peralta added two more in the second half before Rafael Marquez scored in the 84th and Chris James grabbed a consolation goal for New Zealand a minute later.