Qatar became the first hosts to lose an opening match in the World Cup’s 92-year history as the tournament finally got underway.
In Abu Dhabi, Max Verstappen claimed victory at Formula One’s season-ending Grand Prix – as Lewis Hamilton’s record of winning in every season of his career went up in smoke with a forced retirement.
In the absence of the Premier League the domestic focused shifted to the Women’s Super League, where Chelsea returned to the summit of the table and welcomed Emma Hayes back to the dugout with a 3-0 win over Tottenham.
The Autumn internationals continued with a shock defeat to Georgia for Wales while England came back to draw against New Zealand.
Here, the PA news agency takes a look at some of the best images from an action-packed weekend of sporting action.
The World Cup finally got underway in Qatar with an opening ceremony ahead of the first game (Adam Davy/PA)
Morgan Freeman even formed a part of the opening ceremony (Adam Davy/PA)
Ecuador’s Enner Valencia scored twice as his side beat Qatar 2-0 (Manu Fernandez/AP)
Max Verstappen capped off a Championship-winning year with victory in the final Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi (Hussein Malla/AP)
England snatched an incredible draw, holding New Zealand to a 25-25 result in the final seconds (Ben Whitley/PA)
Wales suffered an embarrassing 13-12 defeat to Georgia at the Principality Stadium (Joe Giddens/PA)
Emma Hayes returned to the dugout as Chelsea reclaimed top spot in the Women’s Super League with a 3-0 win over Tottenham (John Walton/PA)
Rachel Furness scored a last-gasp equaliser as Liverpool drew 3-3 with 10-woman Brighton (Zac Goodwin/PA)
Novak Djokovic beat Casper Ruud to win a record-equalling sixth ATP Finals title (Antonio Calanni/AP)
Ireland overcame the loss of captain Johnny Sexton to cap the year with a 13-10 win over Australia (Brian Lawless/PA)
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