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source:  https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/28/sports/world-cup/england-vs-belgium.html MOSCOW — Adnan Januzaj curled in a left-footed shot in the second half to give a second-string Belgium a 1-0 victory over a second-string England on Thursday. The win continued Belgium’s strong start to the World Cup — it joined Croatia and Uruguay as the only teams to win all three games in the group stage — but it set the Red Devils on a potentially far more difficult path in the knockouts. Belgium won the game in Kaliningrad despite making nine changes to its lineup, and amid a discussion about whether it might be better to finish second in the group instead of winning it. With its victory, Belgium won its third game at the World Cup but advanced to what most consider the tougher side of the  knockout-round bracket , one that includes Brazil, Mexico, France, Argentina, Uruguay and Portugal. England, which made eight changes to its starting lineup in an effort to rest its stars, probab

    Source:  https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/28/sports/world-cup/colombia-vs-senegal.html Colombian players celebrate after Yerry Mina's goal in the second half. After all that, after all the qualification and buildup, after six hard-fought matches and injuries and hand-wringing, it all came down to yellow cards. Just like Japan, Senegal won once, tied once, and lost once — falling by 1-0 to Colombia on Thursday after giving up a goal to Yerry Mina — but it will be the Japanese advancing to the knockout phase by virtue of having only three yellow cards, while Senegal had five. [ Here’s how the World Cup tie-breaker system works ] Colombia, which was in the most precarious position of the three teams (Poland had already been eliminated), emerged from the chaos, and the disappointment of losing James Rodríguez early in the first half, at the top of the Group. But for Senegal, it is a painful end to what had been a promising run. They defeated Poland and tied

Source:  https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-cup/2018/06/28/japan-vs-poland-world-cup-2018-live-score-latest-updates/ Fair play sent Japan through to the next round Akira Nishino is a lucky man indeed. Unconvincing, barmy and lucky. Maybe the stifling heat in Volgograd had got to the Japan coach? How else to explain his thought process? Nishino rolled the dice not once, but twice here in a fog of muddled thinking and, in the end, was only spared total humiliation back home courtesy of the fair play rule. No one, least of all his players, could quite fathom his decision to make a raft of bewildering changes with everything still to play for against Poland. And no less bemusing was his insistence that Japan run down the clock for the final 10 minutes of the match amid a cacophony of boos inside the Volgograd Arena, despite the knowledge that a second Poland goal or a Senegal equaliser against Colombia would have sent his team crashing out. “It was a very tough decision, o

Source:  https://www.thesun.co.uk/world-cup-2018/6650333/japan-finishing-above-senegal-group-h/ After a dramatic finish, the Japanese are celebrating qualification on disciplinary points GROUP H was seen as one of the closest at this year's World Cup before the tournament - and so it proved. With Poland already out, Japan, Senegal and Colombia were all fighting it out to reach the knockout stages in a tense final round of fixtures. Why Japan finished above Senegal in Group H? BOTH Japan and Senegal finished level on points, but it's the Japanese celebrating qualification to the last-16. Despite falling to a 1-0 defeat to Poland, their African rivals were beaten by the same scoreline against Colombia. This resulted in them having the same goal difference and goals scored - which as we know, means the process moves onto fair play. Japan picked up  FOUR  bookings in their three games. But Senegal wracked up  SIX  , including one today for M'Baye Ni

Source:  https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-cup/2018/06/27/mexico-vs-sweden-world-cup-2018-live-score-latest-updates Hundreds of Mexico supporters danced and cheered outside the South Korean embassy in Mexico City on Wednesday night, grateful that the Asian country’s victory over Germany guaranteed the national team a spot in the knockout stages of the World Cup. After Sweden beat Mexico 3-0 in Ekaterinburg, courtesy of second-half goals from Ludvig Augustinsson and Andreas Granqvist, plus an own goal from Edson Alvarez, Mexican fans were left praying that South Korea would deliver a sporting miracle in beating the reigning world champions. They delivered with a stunning 2-0 win which allowed Mexico to finish the group in second place. Despite their amazing victory, South Korea were eliminated. Bjoung-yin Han, consul general at the embassy, said: “There’s no distinction between Mexicans and Koreans today” and added that Mexican staff were crying with joy. Hundreds of Mexicans ce

Source:  https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/44439284 Brazil avoided a shock result that had earlier seen  Germany knocked out of the World Cup  by defeating Serbia to finish top of Group E and book a last-16 tie against Mexico. They did so with the sort of occasionally dazzling performance that suggests they are growing into a tournament that they are one of the favourites to win, as they put behind them their slow start in Russia. Paulinho had deservedly put Brazil in front with a deft finish after a brilliant run from deep saw him convert Philippe Coutinho's through ball in the first half. Tite's team had to protect a slender lead for a shaky 15-minute period at the start of the second half as Serbia went all out for the win they then needed. But Aleksandar Mitrovic found an opposition defender when he should have scored and saw another header saved by the unconvincing Alisson.  And once Thiago Silva extended Brazil's advantage with an unmarked header from a