The sporting weekend in pictures

The World Cup began with a spectacular opening ceremony but hosts Qatar stumbled, while Novak Djokovic and Max Verstappen were celebrating elsewhere.

Qatar became the first hosts to lose an opening match in the World Cup’s 92-year history (Nick Potts/PA) (PA Wire)

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.