• Spain, Argentina, France, England will be top seeds

• Fifa says measure will ‘ensure competitive balance’

The four highest-placed teams in Fifa’s rankings have had a pathway cleared to meet in the World Cup semi-finals after tennis-style seeding measures were introduced in the name of “ensuring competitive balance”.

Spain, Argentina, France and England – the top four in descending order – are to be split into different brackets in the 48-team finals tournament, with the aim of preventing Spain from facing Argentina, or England from playing France, before a possible final.

• Portugal forward was sent off against Republic of Ireland

• He missed Armenia game so is free to play at tournament

Cristiano Ronaldo has been cleared to play in the opening matches of Portugal’s World Cup campaign after he was handed a suspended sentence for his red card against the Republic of Ireland.

The forward, who was a guest of president Donald Trump in the White House last week, had a customary three-match ban for violent conduct commuted by Fifa’s disciplinary committee on Tuesday to a one-game ban, with two further matches suspended under a year’s probation.

• Arrangement is latest addition to burgeoning relationship

• Infantino joined group with Bin Salman at White House

Fifa has announced the creation of a partnership with a Saudi Arabian government agency, with up to $1bn (£762m) being pledged to fund the development of football infrastructure across the globe.

The game’s global governing body announced on Monday that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Saudi Fund for Development that would lead to it offering discounted loans “for the construction and rehabilitation” of stadiums and other infrastructure. Under the arrangement, priority for any loans will be given to developing nations.