England to win World Cup? WC day 15

England v Belgium and both sides made numerous from their previous games with both teams already qualified for the next round. Roberto Martinez had already stated that he would be doing it to give his players a rest ahead of the knockout stages, but it was unconfirmed how many changes Gareth Southgate would make. In the end it was eight and after by the end of the game all twenty outfield players for England have now played at this tournament.

As for the game, well the first half was pretty dull, well apart from two Belgium chances that Jordan Pickford should have done better with, but on both occasions he spilt them. The biggest cheer from the England fans throughout the whole game was when Belgium picked up yellow cards, as that meant if the scores stayed level England would top the group. In the end the yellow cards didn’t matter as former Manchester United man Adnan Januzaj outwitted Danny Rose and bent the ball passed Pickford. Marcus Rashford should have equalised late on but in the end it was a poor England display overall and the Belgium deserved the win. England will now face Colombia in the last sixteen next Tuesday.

England 0–1 Belgium
Januzaj Goal 51′

Next fixtures for England v Belgium:
Tuesday July 3rd: Colombia v England – Moscow (Spartak), 7pm
Monday July 2nd: Belgium v Japan- Rostov-on-Don, 7pm

Tunisia v Panama and with all the neutrals around the World probably watching England take on Belgium, these two took to the field as well to play their last game of Russia 2018. It was a great game though, yes both teams are going home and yes both teams have lost both their games so far, but this was an opporunuity to fly home to their fans on a high if one of them could win.

Panama took the lead as well when a huge deflection off Meriah just after the half hour mark but Khazri was a constant threat for Tunisia but they just couldn’t score. Thankfully it was an end to end game and the second-half started as the first finished but this time it didn’t take too long for the goals to come. Khazri the main man set-up Youssef before scoring himself himself for his second tournament goal. Great game to end the groups.

Panama 1–2 Tunisia
Meriah Goal 33′ (o.g.)
F. Ben Youssef Goal 51′
Khazri Goal 66′

No more games for Tunisia or Panama, they’re going home:

Japan v Poland and Japan knew a draw was good enough for them to go through to next round and with Poland having nothing to play for they might have though it was an easy enough task. It wasn’t though as Poland went all out to get the win having performed so terribly in their previous two matches. Both sides had first half chances and the game could have gone either way except for some superb saves from both goalkeepers, including a Japan one that was stopped on the line.

Thankfully the second half sparked into life and Poland were giving it everything to ensure that they at least went back home with something to show from their time in Russia. They got it too when Southampton defender Bednarek was up for a free-kick on the hour mark and he scored the only goal of the game with a calm side footed volley. It was Poland’s second goal only of the tournament. Worryingly for Japan by the final whistle of the game they did not know if they were out or still in, but eventually word came through that they’d qualified because over the tournament they’d had less yellow cards than Senegal. The first time that has ever happened at a Word Cup. Japan will now face Group G winners Belgium in the next round.

Japan 0–1 Poland
Bednarek Goal 59′

Next fixtures for Japan below, but Poland are going home:
Monday July 2nd: Belgium v Japan- Rostov-on-Don, 7pm

Senegal v Colombia and this group was wide open with both these sides as well as Japan all still hoping to finish in the top and therefore go into the last sixteen. It was going to be an intense afternoon for all concerned. Senegal thought they’d got an early penalty when the referee awarded one, but after a review via VAR it was clear that Davinson Sanchez had won the ball and the decision was correctly overturned. Again both teams continued to attack but Senegal knew that if they could score that they were virtually through, as even if Columbia equalised Senegal would still be through anyway.