The sporting weekend in pictures

England saw their World Cup dreams end with defeat to France in the quarter-finals on Saturday night.

Away from Qatar, England’s cricketers continued to impress against Pakistan, the Sky Bet Championship returned in sub-zero temperatures while there was also a world title boxing showdown and European rugby union fixtures.

Here, the PA news agency looks at some of the best images from the weekend’s sporting action.

England’s Harry Kane (centre) is dejected at the end of the World Cup quarter-final defeat by France
England’s hopes of repeating their 1966 triumph ended in heartbreak at the Al Bayt Stadium (Nick Potts/PA)

England’s Harry Kane misses from the penalty spot in the World Cup quarter-final against France
Kane, though, failed to hit the target with his second spot-kick (Mike Egerton/PA)

England fans at BOXPARK Croydon in London react to England’s World Cup defeat
There was also bitter disappointment for England fans watching back home (Victoria Jones/PA)

England’s Jack Leach (centre) celebrates with team-mates after taking a wicket in Pakistan
England’s cricketers had a more successful weekend as Jack Leach (centre) made another breakthrough in the second Test against Pakistan in Multan (Anjum Naveed/AP)

Blackburn Rovers and Preston play a match in the snow
An Arctic blast welcomed the Sky Bet Championship’s return to action, with Preston winning 4-1 at Lancashire rivals Blackburn (Barrington Coombs/PA)

Saracens’ Callum Hunter-Hill tackled by Edinburgh’s Sykes Marshall (left)
Saracens returned to the top table of European rugby with a hard-fought 30-26 Heineken Champions Cup win over Edinburgh at a freezing StoneX Stadium on Sunday (Zac Goodwin/PA)

Chelsea’s Eve Perisset (left) and Reading’s Tia Primmer battle for the ball
Chelsea overcame wintry conditions at Kingsmeadow to edge past Reading 3-2 and keep themselves clear at the top of the WSL table (John Walton/PA)

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