Japan 0 Poland 1
Japan knew that a draw against Poland would guarantee their spot in the knockout phase at the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™, but events in Group H transpired in such a way that the Samurai Blue progressed on the back of a defeat. It is the third time the East Asians have made it past the group stage at a World Cup finals, having achieved the feat in back in 2002 and 2010.
Akira Nishino made six changes to the line-up that started against Colombia and Senegal, and it would be fair to say the large-scale rotation did his team no favours. The Japanese lacked a cutting edge in attack, and it was Poland who created the two best chances of the game. Shortly before the interval, Eiji Kawashina was forced into a spectacular diving save to claw Kamil Grosicki’s header off the goalline, but the goalkeeper could do nothing about Jan Bednarek’s short-range volleyed finish in the second half.
For the Poles, who even before the start of today’s match knew they were on their way home, it was their first win in the competition.
Colombia 1 Senegal 0
Jerry Mina scored his second goal at the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ to see Colombia defeat Senegal 1-0 at Samara Arena and finish as Group H winners.
In the group’s other match, Poland edged Japan 1-0 meaning Senegal and the Blue Samurai finished level on four points, however the latter became the first team in history to advance to the World Cup knockout stage on the fair play rule.
The game was played evenly throughout, with few significant goalscoring chances of note. The decisive moment came when Los Cafeteros‘ towering centre-back Mina leapt above his markers to head in the winning goal in the second half.
England 0 Belgium 1
With both teams already through to the Round of 16 before a ball had been kicked and relatively little riding on this encounter, the England and Belgium coaches rang the changes compared to their previous fixtures. As a result, there was unsurprisingly a disjointed and somewhat subdued feel to the game right from the off, with many players struggling to find their bearings.
That is not to say there were no chances. The Belgians were the first to threaten. Jordan Pickford denied Mousa Dembele early on before keeping out Marouane Fellaini. Trent Alexander-Arnold then saw his cross-shot whistle narrowly past the post on the half-hour mark and Ruben Loftus-Cheek failed to find the target with a header four minutes later. However, that was about as good as it got in the first half, leaving the crowd at the Kaliningrad Stadium craving more action after the break.
Soon enough, Adnan Januzaj ensured that the fans would go home having got their money’s worth. With just six minutes on the clock in the second period, the Belgium attacking midfielder dropped a shoulder, skipped past Danny Rose and curled a sumptuous left-footed strike into the top corner. To their credit, the Three Lions did not lie down after going behind. Phil Jones had an opportunity to equalise after an hour and Marcus Rashford twice went close, but Belgium held on to secure their third win in as many matches at Russia 2018 and clinch top spot in the group.
Tunisia 2 Panama 1
Tunisia will fly home with their first win at the FIFA World Cup™ in 40 years after beating Panama 2-1 at the Mordovia Arena in Saransk. Fakhreddine Ben Youssef made World Cup history during the finale of Russia 2018’s Group G action as his second-half equaliser marked the 2,500th goal in tournament history.
The Carthage Eagles controlled the tempo of the game in the first half and created a few early chances, but Panama took the lead against the run of play from an own goal. Jose Luis Rodriguez’s strike from distance took a deflection off of Tunisia defender Yassine Meriah, which sent goalkeeper Aymen Mathlouthi the wrong way. Tunisia came out firing in the second half, though, and it was not long before Ben Youssef’s milestone strike levelled the score.
Eleven minutes later, Tunisia No10 Wahbi Khazri put the North African side in front, slotting past Jaime Penedo from close range. The win marked Tunisia’s first victory at the World Cup since Argentina 1978, while Los Canaleros are forced to head home without a point to pack up from their maiden appearance at the competition.
Already eliminated from Russia 2018 prior to the start of today’s fixtures, Tunisia’s win secured third place in Group G as the Central Americans finished bottom.
2018 FIFA World Cup Russia – second round:
Sat, Jun 30: France v Argentina (Kazan); Uruguay v Portugal (Sochi).
Sun, Jul 01: Spain v Russia (Moscow); Croatia v Denmark (Nizhny Novgorod).
Mon, Jul 02: Brazil v Mexico (Samara); Belgium v Japan (Rostov-on-Don).
Tue, Jul 03: Sweden v Switzerland (St Petersburg); Colombia v England (Moscow Spartak).
