Ja'Kobe Tharp clocked 12.75sec to smash the 110m hurdles world record during heats at the NCAA collegiate athletics championships in Eugene, Oregon, on Wednesday.

The president of the Ivory Coast national supporters' committee and an official from the Senegalese sports ministry told AFP that their supporters would be devastated.

The World Cup kicks off on Thursday with co-hosts Mexico taking on South Africa in the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, launching a sprawling tournament of 48 teams that will last nearly six weeks.

Ten years after Max Verstappen announced his arrival by winning the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix, his apparent heir Mercedes' teenage ace Kimi Antonelli, will on Sunday seek a crushing sixth consecutive victory.

Feel it, it is here again! That was the spirit echoing across South Africa on Thursday as young and old rallied behind Bafana Bafana ahead of their FIFA World Cup opener against Mexico.