Who played with whom?. England beat Panama 2-0 to secure top spot in their group. Second place goes to Croatia, which achieved the victory necessary to reach the playoffs in the match with Ghana (2:1). Portugal and Colombia tied (0:0) in a match that did not decide anything for both teams. Austria and Algeria (3:3) also played a draw (but much more excitingly) – and as a result, the two of them went to the playoffs. Jordan leaves the tournament after losing to Argentina with a score of 1:3. Messi started the match on the bench, but half an hour before the end of the game he came on as a substitute and scored again (his sixth goal at this World Cup). Uzbekistan is also flying home, having opened the scoring in the match with DR Congo, but then missed three.
Tournament layouts. The group stage of the World Cup has ended, and now all the playoff pairings are known – at this championship it begins with the 1/16 finals. Some of the most intriguing signs of this stage are Brazil-Japan and Portugal-Croatia. The rest of the favorites have the following layouts: Germany got Paraguay, France – Sweden, Spain – Austria, England – DR Congo. Argentina will play Cape Verde, which has drawn all of its matches at the World Cup.
A separate fan fact. At this World Cup, nine African countries reached the playoffs, and five of them for the first time (DR Congo, Egypt, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast and South Africa). Algeria, Ghana, Morocco and Senegal will also play in the round of 16. The only African country that did not make it past the group stage was Tunisia.
What are they talking about. Ghanaian shaman Nana Kwaku Bonsam, who โplaced a curseโ on English forward Harry Kane before the England game with his national team, announced that the spell had been lifted and the footballer would score in the next match. Harry Kane actually finished the game with Ghana without goals – at the end of the match he was unable to score almost from the goal line. But in the match with Panama, Kane converted the chance and chalked up the third goal of this World Cup.
Photo of the day. Egyptian fans in Cairo watch their national team’s match with Iran in spartan conditions. The game ended 1:1, Iran leaves the tournament, and Egypt makes the playoffs for the first time.
Next in the program. The 1/16 finals will take place from June 28 to July 4. The playoffs will open on the first day with a match between South Africa and Canada – they will play at 22:00 (Moscow time) at the Sou-Fi stadium in Inglewood, USA.
The full tournament schedule and detailed results are here.