The FIFA World Cup takes place in Russia from June 14 to July 15.
- Follow the Los Angeles Times for full coverage of the tournament.
- From jerseys to star players: A novice’s guide to World Cup teams
- 2026 World Cup is awarded to North America
- With the home team out, here are 10 World Cup teams worth cheering.
- Who will you be rooting for?
- Who’s better, Ronaldo or Messi? The World Cup could end the debate.
- A closer look at the technology inside the 2018 World Cup soccer ball.
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Here’s the biggest takeaway for the 2022 World Cup
If one thing became obvious during the World Cup’s month-long run in Russia, it’s that Qatar is going to need a bigger country.
More than 1 million visitors flooded Russia, packing Red Square, partying along Samara’s riverfront embankment and strolling the canals of historic St. Petersburg. But Russia is the largest country in the world. What happens when that many people show up four years from now in Qatar, which is smaller than Connecticut and has fewer people than Orange County?
“What we saw in Moscow, which has two stadiums, is that a city can be very quickly overwhelmed by big crowds,” senior Qatari official Nasser Al Khater said. “The fact you’re going to have the fans of 32 teams pretty much in a city, I think, is going to be electrifying.”
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World Cup finalists get big welcomes home
The World Cup finalists received heroes’ welcomes at home Monday, with hundreds of thousands of well-wishers clogging the Champs-Elysees in Paris to greet the victorious French team while a red-and-white checkerboard carpet was rolled out in Zagreb for runner-up Croatia.
At the French presidential palace, captain and goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, brandishing the golden World Cup trophy, and coach Didier Deschamps, winner of the award as both a coach and player, were the first to greet President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, on a red carpet in the courtyard.
“Eternal Happiness” was Monday’s headline in sports daily L’Equipe.
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Building toward World Cup victory began with France’s Euros loss
Didier Deschamps, captain of France’s first World Cup champion in 1998, coached the second one Sunday and said the title might not have been won but for the disappointment of losing the European Championship two years ago in Paris.
France entered the Euro final unbeaten but couldn’t score against Portugal, losing 1-0 in extra time. It was a crushing defeat but one Deschamps said set the foundation for the World Cup victory.
“Two years ago, it was so, so painful,” he said. “Maybe if we’d been European Champion we wouldn’t be world champions today. I learned a lot through this final.”
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Sampaoli out as Argentina coach
Jorge Sampaoli is out as Argentina coach, two weeks after his team was beaten by France in the World Cup round of 16.
The Argentina soccer federation says it reached a “mutual agreement” to terminate his contract.
Sampaoli took over in May 2017 to revive Argentina’s faltering World Cup qualifying campaign. The team did advance to play in Russia but failed to beat Iceland, then slumped to a 3-0 loss against eventual runner-up Croatia.
Sampaoli’s role running the team seemed to be marginalized as senior players Lionel Messi and Javier Mascherano exerted influence.
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Croatian fans proud of team despite disappointment of World Cup final loss
Euphoria gave way to a mixture of disappointment and pride for Croatia fans after their national team lost to France in its first ever World Cup final.
The entry into the World Cup final in Russia brought the country of 4 million people to a standstill Sunday after officials and the media described the event as the biggest in Croatia’s sports history.
“Croatia has fallen as a hero!’ proclaimed the Index news portal. “Croatia’s team has managed to unite the whole country!”
Fans in the capital, Zagreb — many wearing the team’s red-and-white checked shirts or wrapped in national flags — crammed into squares and streets and were full of hope and cheers until the last moment.
As the game ended 4-2, they couldn’t hide sadness, but many said they were impressed by what Croatia achieved at the tournament.
“Of course I am sad. I could see them lift the trophy, but this is really fantastic,” Aleksandar Todorovic said. “We were great!”
Waving flags and singing songs, the fans kept up their spirits as the crowd partly dispersed from Zagreb’s main square.
Firecrackers went off as the state TV proclaimed that “we are still not aware of what we have done.” Many fans went on celebrating into the evening.
Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said the national team is “the first in the world for me.”
“People are happy as if we have won, and that’s the way it should be,” Plenkovic added. “This is a miraculous success for Croatia, and we should be very, very happy.”
The fans were particularly proud that the team captain, Luka Modric, won the Golden Ball after being voted the best player of the World Cup.
“We have achieved so much,” the 26-year-old Sofia Halinovcic said. “This is the best ever we did.”
Halinovcic contended that “we had great expectations, but we still need to process what we have done.”
Croatia is planning a huge welcome ceremony for its players on Monday that will include celebrations at the main square in Zagreb and a reception with the country’s president.
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France wins second World Cup title, beating Croatia 4-2
How else should one of the most wild, unpredictable and entertaining World Cups in recent memory end, but with one of the wildest, most unpredictable and entertaining finals in recent memory.
France and Croatia followed that script perfectly in a game that included an own goal, a penalty-kick goal, video replay and a goalkeeper gaffe that led directly to the final score. When the dust had settled France was the champion, winning 4-2 in the highest-scoring World Cup final since 1966.
It was also France’s second title in 20 years.
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Pele congratulates teenage sensation Mbappe
The great Pele has acknowledged Kylian Mbappe’s remarkable tournament that culminated with the France forward becoming just the second teenager to score in a World Cup final. No guessing who is first.
Pele was 17 when he scored twice in Brazil’s 5-2 win over Sweden in the 1958 final.
Mbappe, 19, scored France’s fourth goal in the 4-2 win over Croatia in Moscow and was voted young player of the tournament.
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Belgium beats England to finish third in World Cup
Belgium earned its highest World Cup finish by beating England 2-0 in the third-place match on Saturday in St. Petersburg. The goals came from Thomas Meunier and Eden Hazard, once in each half.
“These players didn’t want to rely on talent anymore, wanted to work as a team,” said Belgium coach Roberto Martinez, who has managed most of his career in England. “Their standards have been magnificent. They wanted to make the country proud.”
Meunier’s early goal matched a World Cup record with Belgium having 10 players score in a tournament, something done only twice before — by France in 1982 and Italy in 2006. Hazard added the other off a pass from Kevin De Bruyne in the 82nd minute.
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On France’s World Cup roster, soccer DNA outranks national origins
To the French national motto liberté, égalité, fraternité you can probably go ahead and add diversité, at least as far as its soccer team is concerned.
Because at a time of rising xenophobia and an anti-immigrant backlash on both sides of the Atlantic, France has made it to Sunday’s World Cup final against Croatia with one of the most diverse and multiethnic rosters of any national team in any sport.
Sixteen of the 23 players on the team come from families that recently immigrated to France from places like Zaire, Martinique, Cameroon, Morocco, Angola, Congo or Algeria. Forward Antoine Griezmann, the team’s leading scorer, is half-German and half-Portuguese. Defender Samuel Umtiti, who scored the goal that sent France to the final, was born in Cameroon. Teenage prodigy Kylian Mbappe is part Cameroonian, part Algerian.
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Soccer has been part of Croatia’s identity even before there was a Croatia
A couple of weeks before the Croatian national team left for Russia and the start of a surprising World Cup run that has carried it to Sunday’s final, fans of Dinamo Zagreb, the country’s most important club team in its largest city, gathered before a monument at Maksimir Stadium, a spot they consider hallowed ground.
It was there, at a soccer stadium, the fans say, that the country’s battle for independence kicked off.
“To all the Dinamo fans for whom the war started on May 13, 1990 and ended with them laying down their lives on the altar of the Croatian homeland,” an inscription on the monument reads.
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World Cup: How Belgium and England match up in the third-place game
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Croatia’s tank far from dry after three extra-time wins
Croatia’s players should have been tired Wednesday during their World Cup semifinal with England.
They had already played two extra-time games in the tournament’s knockout stage, winning both in penalty-kick shootouts. No team had ever won three straight overtime games in a World Cup. Until now.
Croatian captain Luka Modric said his team embraced the challenge of doing things the hard way, adopting the motto “We will see who will be tired” as a rallying cry.
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Belgium has others to thank for its new-found prowess
Kevin de Bruyne said a big factor in Belgium’s recent rise to global prominence in soccer is the fact this generation was the first to send its players in great numbers to top-flight foreign leagues to play and learn.
On the 1986 Belgium team, the first to play in a World Cup semifinal, 20 of the 22 players competed for club teams in the country’s domestic league. This year’s team, by contrast, has just one player — defender Leander Dendoncker — playing at home.
“Belgium has a lot of talent but until 15 years ago, nobody was playing outside of Belgium,” said de Bruyne, who has played in the German Bundesliga and the English Premier League. “Then (Vincent) Kompany and (Marouane) Fellaini went and others thought ‘let’s sign more Belgium players.’ And that has helped.”
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Croatia advances to World Cup final with 2-1 win over England
Mario Mandzukic’s goal four minutes into the second overtime Wednesday capped a wild comeback and sent Croatia into Sunday’s World Cup final with a 2-1 win over England.
The victory makes Croatia the first country to win three consecutive extra-time games in the same World Cup; it won the first two in penalty-kick shootouts. Wednesday’s victory, which ended at nearly midnight local time, also concluded a streak that saw Croatia play six hours of World Cup soccer in 11 days.
It has another 90 minutes — at least — coming up Sunday in the World Cup final with France. England will meet Belgium in the third-place match Saturday.
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England riding high on World Cup success as Wimbledon also creates a racket
England is a nation unified and deliriously divided.
The world’s best tennis players typically own center stage during these two weeks of Wimbledon. But this year, they have stepped to the edge of the spotlight for the country’s surprising soccer team, which has advanced to the World Cup semifinals for the first time since 1990.
A spot in Sunday’s final is up for grabs Wednesday when England plays Croatia in a showdown that has this nation transfixed. As a result, Wimbledon officials are forced to relax their rigid rules of Centre Court that hold that spectators must switch off their phones and devices during play. When England is playing a World Cup game, tennis fans in those prime seats will be allowed to follow on their phones and tablets as long as they don’t disturb the people around them.
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France defeats Belgium 1-0 to advance to World Cup final
When the spotlight has shone on France in this World Cup, it has illuminated Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappe, Olivier Giroud and Paul Pogba, the team’s attackers. And that made the team’s defenders as anonymous as the French Foreign Legion.
But when coach Didier Deschamps needed them the most, those anonymous defenders came up big Tuesday, shutting down Belgium in a 1-0 victory that sends France to its third World Cup final in 20 years.
The French will play the winner of Wednesday’s semifinal between England and Croatia on Sunday in Moscow.
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Jordan Pickford has saved England’s World Cup hopes in more ways than one
A year ago Jordan Pickford was a talented young goalkeeper with just one full season of first-division experience, no national team call-ups and a reputation built more on promise than proof.
On Wednesday he’ll start against Croatia in a World Cup semifinal in Moscow, with a chance to take England to a promised land it hasn’t seen since 1966. And nothing has done more to fuel England’s historic run than Pickford’s rapid rise from prodigy to polished shot-stopper.
He was the difference in England’s Round-of-16 game with Colombia, which England won in a penalty-kick shootout. And he followed that by shutting out Sweden in the quarterfinals. Almost forgotten was the fact that that game was just the eighth of Pickford’s international career.
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Croatia didn’t pay the penalty for misses this time around
For Luka Modric it was like déjà-vu all over again.
When the Real Madrid midfielder lined up for a penalty kick in extra time of a round-of-16 game with Denmark 10 days ago, he had a chance to send Croatia on to the World Cup quarterfinals. Only his weak try was gobbled up by Kasper Schmeichel, preserving the tie and sending the game to a shootout to decide who would advance.
Ten years earlier, in the first knockout round of the European Championship, Modric lived a similar nightmare, failing to convert a penalty try in a game Croatia would go on to lose to Turkey.
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How England and Croatia match up in the World Cup semifinal
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Migrant workers got World Cup started and have kept it going
Invisible to the crowds flocking to World Cup venues all over Russia are legions of migrant workers from Central Asia, who built the stadiums and keep them running, staff concession stands, and clean up after fans who revel through city streets.
They are among millions of migrants who perform menial jobs across Russia, and face routine police harassment and ethnic profiling. Yet they are a pillar of the economy and aid Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s geopolitical strategy — and without them, Russia might not have managed to host a World Cup at all.
“Migrants made up the main workforce” in the construction of stadiums and transport infrastructure for the tournament, Valery Solovei, a professor at Moscow’s MGIMO foreign policy institute and an expert on immigration and nationalism, told the Associated Press. “Without migrant workers, Russia couldn’t have built all these things so quickly.”
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How Belgium and France match up in the World Cup semifinal
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Spain already has a new coach after disappointing World Cup
Spain’s football federation says former Barcelona coach Luis Enrique has been appointed to take charge of the national team.
He replaces Julen Lopetegui, who was sacked on the eve of the World Cup after accepting the job at Real Madrid, with Fernando Hierro taking temporary charge for the finals in Russia.
Enrique, 47, has signed a two-year contract.
“The decision has been unanimous,” federation President Luis Rubiales said. “I like his commitment. He has let better financial opportunities pass in order to be national team coach.
“This coach fulfills all the parameters to take charge of the team. Enrique is bringing his backroom staff, but this is a matter he will speak about next week.”
Enrique, as both player and coach, didn’t fit the typical model of the cerebral tactician steeped in the ways of Barcelona. But his fiery spirit proved to be just as successful— while it lasted.
He started out as a player for his local Sporting Gijon team on Spain’s Atlantic coast. He then won one league title while playing for Real Madrid before moving to fierce rival Barcelona in 1996, where he went on to win two more Liga crowns and became the captain before retiring in 2004.
Overall, Enrique’s achievements compare well to Pep Guardiola’s. Barcelona won nine of a possible 13 titles in his three years in charge, compared to 14 of a possible 19 trophies in four seasons under Guardiola.
At his presentation as Barcelona’s coach, Enrique said his strength was motivating players. “I don’t rely too heavily on tactical know-how, instead I focus on managing a group, managing egos,” he said.
“There is work that goes on during the week, work based on knowing each player. I try to be everything a leader is.”
Enrique achieved his greatest success at the beginning of his stint at Barcelona. The improvement was immediate. With Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez scoring lots of goals, Barcelona repeated the rare treble of Champions League-Spanish league-Copa del Rey titles first won under Guardiola.
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France’s last World Cup hero using expertise to help Belgium reach final
The first time Antoine Griezmann met Thierry Henry he was 7. Henry had just helped France to its only World Cup title and Griezmann, who could barely reach the player’s waist on tippy-toes, wanted an autograph.
Had a video of the meeting not surfaced recently, the moment might have been forgotten to all but Griezmann. In it Griezmann and a pint-sized friend chase down Henry and, after bending over to sign a soccer ball, the player turns to a pair of teammates and says “they’re our successors.”
On Tuesday, Griezmann has a chance to make Henry either a prophet or a profiteer when he leads France into the World Cup semifinals against Belgium. If Griezmann wins, he will have proven a worthy successor indeed by taking France to a World Cup final for the first time since Henry retired from the national team eight years ago.
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A little Pep talk is giving England a World Cup boost
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has never coached a game at the international level, yet his influence was considered partly responsible for the success of the last two World Cup champions and could play a role in next Sunday’s final was well.
Here’s how the “Pep Effect” has worked: When Guardiola was managing Barcelona in Spain’s La Liga, six of his players started for the national team in the 2010 World Cup final, which Spain won. Four years later Guardiola was in the Bundesliga at Bayern Munich and six of his club’s stars played in the 2014 World Cup final, which Germany won.
Neither team has won a knockout game since.
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Neymar’s fall leaves World Cup without a superstar
The last Latin American team is out of the World Cup, meaning Europe will extend its hold on soccer’s biggest prize to 16 years by the time the next tournament rolls around in 2022.
Brazil’s departure means the competition in Russia will finish without a widely recognized international superstar, the kind of player who gets casual fans from Austin to Auckland to turn on their television sets and watch soccer.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, who have combined to win the last 10 world player of the year awards, both went out one game into knockout stage. Brazil’s exit in the quarterfinals in a 2-1 loss to Belgium on Friday takes Neymar, the world’s most expensive player, with it.
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England reaches semifinals after beating Sweden 2-0
England achieved something David Beckham’s generation never managed: It reached the semifinals of the World Cup.
Harry Maguire and Dele Alli scored with headers in a 2-0 win over Sweden on Saturday, earning England a match against either Croatia or host-nation Russia for a place in the final.
England has advanced further than was widely expected. Not even the England side from the early 21st century, containing stars like Beckham, Steven Gerrard and a young Wayne Rooney, ever got this far at a major tournament.
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Russia’s surprising World Cup run ends in shootout loss to Croatia
Croatia defeated host Russia 4-3 in a penalty shootout Saturday night to advance to a World Cup semifinal against England.
The quarterfinal at Sochi was tied 1-1 after regulation and 2-2 after extra time, forcing both Croatia and host Russia to a shootout for the second consecutive game.
Ivan Rakitic scored the winner from the spot as Russian goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev dived the opposite direction. Akinfeev made on save during the shootout and nearly had another on Luka Modric, but the shot deflected off Akinfeev’s hand, off the post and into the net.
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Alex Ovechkin brings Stanley Cup with him to World Cup
Alex Ovechkin has brought the Stanley Cup to the World Cup.
The Washington Capitals captain took the NHL trophy to a fan zone in Moscow where World Cup games are screened. With the Russian national guard providing security, Ovechkin lifted the cup above his head in front of a crowd of fans, who were allowed to take photos with the trophy.
“The cup is with us. The cup is in Moscow, Russia,” Ovechkin said. “I am very happy for the people that can see it and touch it. I am very, very happy.”
Ovechkin said he wishes the Russian soccer team well in its quarterfinal match against Croatia in Sochi.
“The national team did a great a job for the fans. Everyone is so happy. Miracles can happen. We are not far away from the final,” he said. “We need to fight, and our players understand it. They will do everything that they can.”
Ovechkin won his first Stanley Cup championship a month ago in his 13th season in Washington.
Other Russian NHL players are also interested in soccer. Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins posted a picture on Instagram showing himself on a luxury jet with Ilya Kovalchuk of the Los Angeles Kings and Alexander Radulov of the Dallas Stars.
“Flying to Sochi” was the caption.
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Belgium savors 2-1 victory over Brazil, moves on to face France in semifinals
Since taking over as coach of the Belgian national team two years ago, Roberto Martinez has kept the focus on preparing for the next win rather than celebrating the previous one.
He briefly broke from that approach Friday after beating Brazil 2-1 in a World Cup quarterfinal in Kazan, a win that lifted Belgium into the tournament’s final four for the first time in 32 years.
It was a victory, Martinez admitted, that deserved to be savored.
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European team guaranteed title
Losses by Brazil and Uruguay on Friday reduced the World Cup to a European championship with the tournament’s final six teams all calling the continent home.
Neighbors France and Belgium have already advanced to next week’s semifinals while the remaining quarterfinals Saturday will send England against Sweden and Croatia against Russia. When those games are concluded it will mark just the second time since 1982 that the final four of a World Cup have all come from the same FIFA confederation.
It also happened in 2006 when Italy, France, Germany and Portugal reached the semifinals.
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A look at Saturday’s World Cup quarterfinal games
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Belgium survives late push from Brazil, 2-1, to advance to semifinals
Belgium reached the World Cup semifinals for the first time in 32 years by holding off five-time champion Brazil 2-1 Friday, sending Neymar home without living up to the expectations of being soccer’s most expensive player.
Kevin De Bruyne put Belgium up 2-0 by completing a counterattack led by Romelu Lukaku in the 31st minute.
The opener came after a bit of good fortune. Fernandinho’s trailing arm inadvertently helped Belgium captain Vincent Kompany’s header land in his own net in the 13th.
As Belgium lost cohesiveness in the second half and Brazil’s changes stirred the team, substitute Renato Augusto reduced the deficit with a header in the 76th.
But it was too late for Brazil to muster an equalizer as efforts to force the game into extra time were thwarted by Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.
Belgium will face France in the semifinals on Tuesday in St. Petersburg.
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France advances to World Cup semis with 2-0 win over Uruguay
Antoine Griezmann set up one goal and scored another Friday as France became the first team to clinch a spot in the World Cup semifinals with a 2-0 win over Uruguay before a crowd of 43,319 at Nizhny Novgorod Stadium.
The semifinal appearance is the first for France since 2006, when it lost the World Cup final to Italy on penalty kicks. For Uruguay, which was missing leading scorer Edinson Cavani to a calf injury, the loss was its first in Russia. The South Americans were bidding for their second semifinal berth in three World Cups.
France’s semifinal opponent will be determined in Friday’s late game between Brazil and Belgium in Kazan.
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Numbers back France’s claim of being soccer’s dominant nation
Ask Didier Quillot who he is supporting in the World Cup and the chief executive of France’s first-division league pauses to work up the proper amount of disdain before answering.
“Who am I for? For France, obviously,” he eventually said Wednesday. “I am French. So I am a supporter of my country. “
The answer really isn’t that obvious, though, because Quillot’s league has 19 players spread across the rosters of six of the eight teams in the tournament quarterfinals. The leading scorers for Uruguay and France play in Ligue 1. Goalkeeper Danijel Subasic, the hero of Croatia’s victory in the round of 16, plays in France. So does Brazil’s Neymar, arguably the best player left in the tournament.
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Russia’s performance in World Cup — and the country’s history — are raising doping suspicions
During the 2014 Sochi Winter Games, the last major international sporting event held in Russia, athletes from the host country topped the medal count with 33, including 13 golds. It was a performance that seemed too good to be true.
And it was. Seven months ago, the International Olympic Committee sanctioned 43 athletes after an investigation into a state-run doping program, planned for years to ensure dominance at the Sochi Games.
Twenty-eight athletes were later reinstated, but the stain of one of the most elaborate and successful doping ploys in sports remained. That doubt now hovers over the country’s soccer team, which entered the World Cup ranked 70th yet finds itself among the final eight teams.
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World Cup quarterfinals a class conflict between soccer’s rulers and its climbers
There is a prominent square in this central Russian municipality dedicated to the revolutionary writer Maxim Gorky, for whom the city was once named.
For much of the past month World Cup visitors have been pouring through the park, taking pictures of the massive 23-foot statue of Gorky at its center and visiting the museum housed in the Art Deco mansion where he spent his last five years. And while Gorky probably wouldn’t have thought much of the tournament or the tourists, as a master of the social realism literary style he would have found inspiration in World Cup quarterfinals that have reduced to a class conflict between soccer’s bourgeois and its proletariat.
In one half of the bracket are three former champions in France, Uruguay and Brazil who have combined for eight titles; on the other side, three teams that have never lifted the trophy.
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French star Antoine Griezmann has his heart on both sides of quarterfinal match-up
When France and Uruguay face off in a World Cup quarterfinal here Friday, French star Antoine Griezmann may have trouble remembering which team he’s playing for.
Lined up against him will be Juan Maria Gimenez and Diego Godin, two of his teammates at Spain’s Atletico Madrid. In fact Griezmann and Godin are so tight, the Uruguayan captain is the godfather of Griezmann’s daughter.
Add to that Griezmann’s affection for mate, a Uruguayan drink, the fact he speaks Spanish with a Uruguayan accent and has been pictured wearing the team’s jersey and, well, things could get complicated.
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World Cup: Friday’s matchups
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England advances to World Cup quarterfinals by defeating Colombia in a shootout
MOSCOW — England ended its long run of penalty misery and reached the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time in 12 years, beating Colombia 4-3 in a shootout on Tuesday.
Eric Dier scored the decisive kick after a 1-1 draw.
England will play Sweden in the quarterfinals in Samara on Saturday. It is the furthest England has progressed in any tournament since the David Beckham era, when a golden generation of players exited the 2002 and 2006 World Cups in the last eight.
England took the lead in a scrappy match when Harry Kane scored from the penalty spot in the 57th minute. Yerry Mina headed in an equalizer in the third minute of stoppage time.
England trailed 3-2 in the shootout after Jordan Henderson’s shot was saved, but Mateus Uribe hit the bar and goalkeeper Jordan Pickford then saved Carlos Bacca’s kick.
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World Cup TV ratings in the U.S. are down 42% without American team
The lack of a U.S. team caused a big viewership drop for World Cup telecasts.
The 48 group stage telecasts on Fox and FS1 averaged 2.069 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research. That is down 42% from the 3.54 million average on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC four years ago and down 15% from the 2.429 million average on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC eight years ago.
Excluding games involving the U.S. team in previous World Cups, the average declined 28% from the 2014 tournament in Brazil and was up 1% from the 2010 tournament in South Africa.
Most group-stage kickoff times this year were morning EDT, starting as early as 6 a.m., and the latest matches began at 2 p.m. Games in 2014 started mostly from noon to 4 p.m. EDT, while in 2010, there were many matches at 10 a.m. and some as early as 7:30 a.m.
Twenty-six group-stage matches were aired on Fox, up from six on ABC in 2014 and four on ABC in 2010.
Ratings include only television viewers and not those who viewed digital streams.
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Sweden edges Switzerland to reach World Cup quarterfinals
Sweden has advanced to the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time since 1994 with a 1-0 win over Switzerland.
The Swedes took the lead in the 66th minute at St. Petersburg when Emil Forsberg’s right-foot shot deflected off defender Manuel Akanji and past the wrong-footed Yann Sommer.
Forsberg also cleared a corner off his own line to preserve Sweden’s lead in the 80th minute.
Referee Damir Skomina awarded Sweden a penalty in stoppage time for a foul by Michael Lang on Martin Olsson but overturned his own decision after a review showed Lang’s push was just outside the area. Lang was sent off for the challenge.
Sweden will play the winner of Tuesday’s later match between England and Colombia at Spartak Stadium in Moscow.
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Belgium rallies from two-goal deficit to beat Japan 3-2
Belgium has rallied from 2-0 down to beat Japan 3-2 with a goal in the dying seconds and advance to a World Cup quarterfinal match against Brazil.
Nacer Chadli finished off a length-of-the-field movement late in stoppage time for the clincher Monday night at the Rostov Arena. It’s the first time since 1970 that a team has rallied to win a knockout game from 2-0 down at a World Cup.
Midfielders Genki Haraguchi and Takashi Inui scored in the 48th and 52nd minutes to give Japan a surprising 2-0 lead.
Jan Vertonghen started the comeback when he scored with a looping header in the 69th and another substitute, Marouane Fellaini, headed home Eden Hazard’s cross from the left in the 74th.
What was expected to be a mismatch ended up a classic match.
Belgium was one of only three teams to win all three group games and topped the tournament scoring list with nine goals in the group stage. Japan narrowly scraped through to the knockout stage in the tightest of tiebreakers against Senegal — after both teams finished level in Group G — because it had a better disciplinary record at the tournament.
Japan has now lost in the round of 16 three times and has never reached the World Cup quarterfinals.
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Brazil and Neymar eliminate Mexico from World Cup with a 2-0 victory
Mexico’s World Cup is over, ending in a 2-0 loss to Brazil on a sultry evening at Cosmos Arena on Monday.
Brazil got second-half goals from Neymar and Roberto Firmino to hand Mexico a loss in the first game of the knockout round for a seventh consecutive World Cup. El Tri hasn’t made it past the Round of 16 since 1986 and has never won a World Cup elimination game outside Mexico.
For Brazil, the win extends its streak of reaching the quarterfinals to seven straight World Cups. Upsets in this tournament have already claimed the last two World Cup finalists and the last two World Cup winners.
Mexico took down one of those giants, stunning reigning champion Germany in its opener. But it couldn’t get past Brazil, a team it has never beaten — and never scored upon — in World Cup competition.
Brazil’s quarterfinal opponent will be determined in Monday’s late match between Belgium and Japan.
The game in Samara, Russia, kicked off in sweltering 92-degree temperatures, making it as much a struggle for survival as it was a soccer match. Both teams slogged through a scoreless first half in which Mexico did not put a shot on goal and Brazil tested Mexican keeper Guillermo Ochoa three times.
It was the first knockout game in this tournament not to have a goal in the first half but the 20th overall to be scoreless at the half. Only one of those previous games ended 0-0 and this one wouldn’t either after Neymar scored the game’s first goal in the 51st minute.
The Brazilian talisman started the sequence by walking the ball across the top of the 18-yard box before sliding to Willian with a back-heel pass. The Chelsea midfielder then brought the ball into the area on the left side and sent a low left-footed cross past Mexican defender Miguel Layun to the front of the goal, where a sliding Gabriel Jesus just missed getting a foot on it.
But Neymar, sliding in tandem just behind Jesus, didn’t miss, poking the ball into the gaping net with his right foot for his second goal in three games.
The goal was the 227th for Brazil in World Cup play, breaking a tie with Germany for all-time high.
Mexico, playing without a clear home-field advantage for the first time in Russia — the crowd of nearly 42,000 was evenly split — tried to come back, with Carlos Vela bending a left-footed shot toward the crossbar in the 60th minute. But Brazilian keeper Alisson lifted it over the goal for his first save of the game.
He wouldn’t be called on to make another as Brazil posted its third consecutive shutout, running its scoreless streak to 310 minutes.
That allowed Firmino, a second-half substitute who had come on just two minutes earlier, to tack on an insurance goal in the 88th minute. With Mexico pushing numbers forward, Neymar and Firmino were launched on a counterattack, and when Neymar’s right-footed shot from the left side strayed, Firmino was there to tap it in to secure the win.
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Croatia advances to World Cup quarterfinals by defeating Denmark on penalty kicks
Danijel Subasic saved three penalties to help Croatia reach the World Cup quarterfinals with a 3-2 shootout victory over Denmark following a 1-1 draw on Sunday.
Ivan Rakitic scored the decisive penalty after Subasic had used his feet to stop an attempt from Nicolai Jorgensen.
Croatia captain Luka Modric, who also scored in the shootout, had a chance to put his team ahead late in injury time, but his penalty was saved by Denmark goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel.
Croatia will next face host Russia in the quarterfinals on Saturday in Sochi.
Denmark took the lead in the first minute when defender Mathias Jorgensen scrambled in a shot that went in off Subasic’s left hand and then the left post. It was Denmark’s fastest World Cup goal.
Croatia equalized in the fourth minute with another untidy goal at Nizhny Novgorod Stadium. Henrik Dalsgaard’s clearance hit a teammate and fell for Croatia forward Mario Mandzukic to hook the ball in.
The teams stayed even for the next 116 minutes, including the 30 minutes of extra time.
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Another World Cup shocker: Russia upsets Spain in penalty-kick shootout
Russia shockingly eliminated Spain from the World Cup, surviving two hours of dominance by the 2010 champions in a 1-1 draw before winning a penalty-kick shootout 4-3.
Russia’s captain and goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev saved spot-kicks from Jorge “Koke” Resurreccion and Iago Aspas, and four of his teammates scored without a miss.
Akinfeev used his trailing left foot to kick the ball high away from the goal on Spain’s last attempt by Aspas. The veteran goalkeeper leapt up, punched the air with both hands and leapt into a belly flop dive on to the rain-soaked turf as teammates raced to him from the halfway line.
The World Cup’s lowest-ranked team now advances to a quarterfinal against Croatia or Denmark in Sochi on Sunday.
“I just feel emptied out,” Akinfeev said. “Over the whole second half and extra time we were defending our goal and managed it, we were hoping for penalties because Spain are hard to beat. Spain can’t always be lucky.”
It gave Russia its greatest win in international soccer for 10 years, since Akinfeev was in goal for an extra-time victory over the Netherlands in a European Championship quarterfinal. That run was ended days later by a Spain team beginning its era of dominance.
Spain has now failed to win a knockout game at three major tournaments since it won Euro 2012.
Defeat Sunday likely spells the end of Andres Iniesta’s career. The veteran Barcelona midfielder came off the bench and almost won the game with an 85th-minute shot well saved by Akinfeev. Iniesta also scored the first spot-kick of the shootout.
Spain was more urgent in extra time after being too passive when it dominated the ball in the 90 minutes of regular time.
Akinfeev pushed away a 109th-minute shot from substitute Rodrigo who ran hard at goal from near the halfway line. He also ensured the game needed 30 extra minutes with back-to-back diving saves in the 85th to deny substitutes Iniesta and Aspas.
Spain dominated the ball during the game — completing more than 1,000 passes — but was too passive against a well-organized Russian defense.
Spain led in the 12th minute when captain Sergio Ramos helped force Russia’s Sergei Ignashevich into an own goal when his back was turned to the play. The 38-year-old defender diverted a crossed ball into the net with his heel as he and Ramos got tangled up.
An error in Spain’s defense let Russia level in the 41st, after Gerard Pique’s raised arm blocked a header by Artyom Dzyuba at a corner. Pique’s complaints were wasted. Referees and video officials have consistently penalized handballs in the box at this World Cup.
Dzyuba’s penalty kick fooled goalkeeper David De Gea to dive the wrong way.
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No team? No problem for Chinese World Cup sponsors
China does not have a team in the World Cup — it finished fifth in its six-team group in Asian qualifying — but it does have a lot of fans in Russia, where the country’s economic clout has given it a huge presence.
Nearly 43,000 World Cup tickets were sold in China, more than were purchased in 26 countries that did send a team to Russia. Chinese fans purchased less than 11,000 tickets to the last two World Cups combined.
And corporate China is even more prominent at this summer’s tournament.
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Mexico is relishing a chance to make history against Brazil
If Mexico had taken care of business in its final group-stage game with Sweden, it would be facing Switzerland in the round of 16 this week, safely tucked in the softer side of the World Cup bracket alongside Russia, Denmark and Colombia.
Instead, it will play in the elimination round Monday against Brazil, a team it hasn’t beaten in more than six years — and one it has never bettered in a World Cup.
Yet for captain Andres Guardado, it’s the ideal matchup.
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Edinson Cavani scores twice in Uruguay’s 2-1 win over Portugal
Edinson Cavani scored twice and Cristiano Ronaldo none, giving Uruguay a 2-1 victory over Portugal on Saturday at the World Cup.
On the same day, Lionel Messi was sent home in Argentina’s loss, the other “GOAT” at this tournament that also was eliminated. It was two weeks ago that Ronaldo scored a hat trick in the same stadium against Spain, stroking his chin after the first goal to imply he was the “greatest of all time.”
Uruguay, a two-time champion that reached the semifinals at the 2010 World Cup, will next face France on Friday in Nizhny Novgorod.
There was no goal from Ronaldo this time. Everywhere he went, the Portugal great was hounded by two or three Uruguayan defenders.
It was Cavani who instead took the spotlight. He combined with Luis Suarez to compete a series of precision passes to give Uruguay the early advantage with a header in the seventh minute. And after Portugal equalized on Pepe’s header in the 55th minute, it was Cavani again finishing a perfect Uruguay counter in the 62nd with a shot from just inside the penalty area that caught Portugal goalkeeper Rui Patricio slightly out of position and curled inside the far post.
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Colombia star James Rodriguez misses practice
James Rodriguez was the only Colombia player who didn’t take part in training Saturday, raising further doubts about whether he will be fully fit for the World Cup knockout match against England.
Rodriguez, who was the top scorer at the 2014 World Cup, has been bothered by a calf injury since the start of the tournament in Russia.
He left the field in the 31st minute of Colombia’s 1-0 victory over Senegal on Thursday night, but his injury has never been officially disclosed as the reason for the substitution.
Colombia’s national team hasn’t clarified how serious the injury is. The South Americans face England on Tuesday at Spartak Stadium in Moscow.
Before training on Saturday, midfielder Carlos Sanchez and backup goalkeeper also didn’t shed any light on Rodriguez’s recuperation.
“James is a leader, but I’m also sure that if James isn’t there, there are others who can step in and make the difference,” Sanchez said. “Each member of the team’s squad is here to play and they have the experience.”
Rodriguez missed two training sessions before Colombia’s first group match against Japan and didn’t start in the 2-1 loss. He was fit enough to play a full 90 minutes in the second match against Poland in the 3-0 win.
With Colombia facing England on Tuesday, the possibility that Rodriguez wouldn’t be fit enough to play would be a major headache for coach Jose Pekerman.
“It’s not a secret to anybody what James means for us, not only in football terms, but for the group. But I stand by what Carlos says,” Colombia goalkeeper Camilo Vargas said. “At the level of the national team, everyone has the hope of giving their best.
“Whatever happens, all 23 players have that dream.”
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Here’s a look at Sunday’s World Cup games
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David Silva says Spain needs to use speed against Russia
With Russia expected to defend in numbers, Spain’s speed and attack will be crucial in their last-16 match at the World Cup.
One of the players on which the 2010 champions will be relying to cut through the host’s back line is David Silva.
He scored for Spain in its 3-0 win over Russia in the semifinals of the European Championship in 2008, the last time the two teams played in a competitive fixture.
“Sometimes these teams ‘park the bus’ in front of us, and it’s hard to handle,” he said through an interpreter Saturday. “If we play very fast up front, we’ll have more options and generate spaces in which we can hurt them.”
After tough matches in a group also containing Portugal, Iran and Morocco, Silva and coach Fernando Hierro both called on Spain to be more meticulous and cut down on errors.
“It was a very tough group, and we need to minimize our mistakes. That’s the key,” Silva said. “If in difficult matches we start handing out goals to the opposition, things are going to be difficult for us, so we need to tighten up our defending.”
The winner of the match goes on to face either Croatia or Denmark in the quarterfinals.
Hierro never expected to be leading Spain into the knockout stages of this World Cup — at least not until his predecessor, Julen Lopetegui, was fired as coach two days before the tournament.
Despite that disruption, Hierro said Spain has been able to do detailed research on its opponents, and Russia is no different. He stressed that his team will need to counter Russia’s physical strength and their success at set pieces.
“So we need to find their weak points and where we can hurt them,” Hierro said through an interpreter.
Plans can change, and he noted that Russia has switched its style since the two teams drew 3-3 last year.
“We’re not going to lose any sleep over all these variables,” Hierro said. “I have done all the work I could, and I have a team which can adapt to any situation. That’s our strength.”
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Argentina defender Javier Mascherano quits after loss to France
Javier Mascherano has announced he’s retiring from the national team after Argentina was eliminated from the World Cup.
“It’s time to say goodbye and for the younger players to step in,” the 34-year-old midfielder said.
Argentina had a 2-1 lead early in the second half, but France, often choosing to attack Mascherano, rallied to win 4-3 and become the first team to advance to the World Cup quarterfinals.
Mascherano, who has played at four World Cups, made his debut for Argentina in 2003 when he still hadn’t played professionally for River Plate.
He holds the record for most appearances for Argentina, with 147.
Now, the defensive midfielder says it’s time for a new generation to shine: “Hopefully, they can achieve something. Now I’m one more fan of the national team.”
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Mbappe becomes second teenager to score twice in knockout stage game as France eliminates Messi and Argentina
Teenager Kylian Mbappe scored two goals in a five-minute span to lead France over Argentina 4-3 Saturday and into the World Cup quarterfinals.
The loss could be the end of Lionel Messi’s international career.
Mbappe, a constant threat to Argentina’s creaking defense with his speed and skill, was at the heart of France’s often-breathtaking display, particularly in the middle part of the second half.
With the score even at 2-2, the 19-year-old Mbappe got his first goal with a cool finish from a tight angle in the 64th minute, his low shot going under Argentina goalkeeper Franco Armani. Four minutes later, he slotted past Armani again after he was put through on goal by a deft pass from Oliver Giroud.
Mbappe also helped France to its first goal. Following a sustained period of early pressure, he won a penalty after a 40-meter burst of speed that ended with him being brought down by Marcos Rojo. Antoine Griezmann then scored from the spot in the 13th minute, sending Armani the wrong way.
France will next face either Portugal or Uruguay in the quarterfinals on Friday in Nizhny Novgorod.
Argentina briefly took the lead in the 48th minute at Kazan Arena, but France defender Benjamin Pavard equalized nine minutes later with a superb strike from outside the area.
Argentina got its goals from Angel Di Maria, Gabriel Mercado and Sergio Aguero. Messi set up the latter two, first sending a shot on goal that Mercado deflected into the net in the 48th.
With time winding down, the 31-year-old Messi gave Argentina a bit of hope with a cross to the left that Aguero headed into goal in stoppage time.
Di Maria’s goal was one of the best of the tournament.
Following a throw-in, he hit a hard shot from 30 yards that curled into the top right corner, beyond the dive of France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.
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World Cup’s knockout phase gives teams a second chance at greatness
Roberto Martinez believes the best way to win a World Cup is to have won one before.
“To be a favorite in a World Cup you need to have the know-how of winning a World Cup or have a reference of a previous generation that won the World Cup,” the Belgian coach said. “So for me there’s only five nations that [have] that.”
That’s good news for Brazil, France, Spain and Argentina, who have all won World Cups since 1986 and have made it to the knockout phase in this summer’s tournament.
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Mexico focuses on first two wins, not loss to Sweden
Mexico is on to the final 16 for a seventh straight World Cup, and goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa says the team should be recognized for how it got there, not for the fact that it almost tripped on its way through the door.
“We are in the next round, thanks to the first two games and to the six points we got,” said Ochoa, whose team beat Germany and South Korea before getting blown out 3-0 by Sweden in the group-play finale on Wednesday, nearly ending its tournament.
“We deserve the credit. We don’t like [Wednesday’s] result, but we have a very important game next.”
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Belgium edges England 1-0 to win Group G
In a match neither team had to win, Belgium came out on top and took first place in its World Cup group with a 1-0 victory over England on Thursday in Kaliningrad, Russia.
Adnan Januzaj scored with a curling shot in the 51st minute on a night of little tension or attacking intent.
With the victory, Belgium gets what appears to be an easier match in the next round against Japan on Monday in Rostov-on-Don. England will face Colombia on Tuesday in Moscow.
Both teams had advanced to the round of 16 before the match.
Although Belgium was the winner of the group, it might have the tougher road to the final with Brazil, Portugal, France and Argentina possible future opponents. If England gets past Colombia, it could face Spain, Russia, Croatia, Denmark, Sweden or Switzerland on its way to a possible final.
Belgium is one of only three teams to advance to the knockout round with 3-0 records from the group stage. Croatia and Uruguay are the others.
England and Belgium made a combined 17 changes to their starting lineups to rest players for the knockout round. Harry Kane, the leading scorer at the tournament with five goals, was on the bench for England. So was Romelu Lukaku, who has scored four for Belgium.
In the other Group G game, Tunisia captain Wahbi Khazri set up a second-half goal and then scored one of his own to help his side secure its first victory in a World Cup in four decades.
The striker’s hard, rising shot in the 66th minute lifted Tunisia to a 2-1 triumph over Panama on Thursday night. It came 15 minutes after Khazri’s pinpoint square pass produced Fakhreddine Ben Youssef’s equalizer.
Panama had taken the lead in the 33rd minute through an own-goal when Jose Luis Rodriguez’s hard shot deflected off of Yassine Meriah, which sent the goalkeeper the wrong way.
Tunisia hadn’t won a World Cup game since a 3-1 victory over Mexico in 1978.
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Japan loses to Poland but moves on to knockout round
Japan advanced to the knockout round at the World Cup on a tiebreaker: fewer yellow cards than Senegal.
The Japanese lost to Poland 1-0 Thursday in their final group match, but they still reached the round of 16 because Colombia beat Senegal 1-0.
Both Japan and Senegal finished the group phase with four points, had the same goal difference and the same amount of goals scored. Starting at this year’s tournament, disciplinary records — known as fair play — were added by FIFA as a tiebreaker. Japan had four yellow cards in its three group matches while Senegal had six.
Poland, which had already been eliminated, got its goal from defender Jan Bednarek in the 59th minute. He beat his marker at the far post and volleyed in a swerving free kick from Rafal Kurzawa.
Japan has reached the knockout round at the World Cup three times in the last five tournaments.
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Colombia advances while Senegal is eliminated by ‘fair play’ tiebreaker
Yerry Mina scored on a header in the 74th minute and Colombia defeated Senegal 1-0 Thursday to advance to the World Cup knockout stage. Senegal became the first team ever eliminated by a new tiebreaker — number of yellow cards.
Poland defeated Japan 1-0 in the other Group H match. Japan and Senegal were tied on all tiebreakers except “fair play points,” based on yellow and red cards. Japan had four yellow cards, Senegal had six.
Colombia, which played in the quarterfinals four years ago in Brazil, finished atop the group and is the fourth South American team to advance, joining Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil. Senegal’s elimination means no African teams are left.
Colombia and Japan go on to play opponents from Group G — either England or Belgium, who play later Thursday.
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Bud Light to Mexico fans living in California: ‘Dilly Dilly!’
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Here’s a look at Thursday’s World Cup games
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Knockout stage seems to be lacking a Cinderella story
The clock will strike midnight on the World Cup on Thursday and Cinderella will go home empty-handed once more.
Many Cinderellas in fact.
And that robs the competition of some of its romance.
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Mexicans shower Koreans with love after Asian team’s World Cup win over Germany
As Mexico fell behind by one goal, two goals and then three in its World Cup game against Sweden on Wednesday, Mexico fans across the world switched their television channels to another game that had suddenly become much more important.
With a loss to Sweden all but guaranteed, Mexico’s future in the tournament depended on South Korea beating Germany, or at least hold the reigning World Cup champion to a tie.
“Korea, Korea,” Mexican fans chanted in cantinas, plazas and anywhere else screens had been erected to broadcast the game. Never mind that only days before the same fans had been cheering against Korea when Mexico won 2-1.
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Switzerland advances after 2-2 draw with Costa Rica
Switzerland has qualified for the round of 16 at the World Cup despite twice losing the lead in a 2-2 draw with Costa Rica, which had already been eliminated.
Costa Rica scored on a Bryan Ruiz penalty kick in stoppage time to tie the match Wednesday night, but it didn’t affect Switzerland’s progression as the second-place team in Group E.
Brazil topped the group after a 2-0 win over Serbia and will play Mexico. Switzerland will play Sweden.
Bjerim Dzemaili slammed in Switzerland’s first goal from close range after being set up by a header from Breel Embolo.
Costa Rica got its first goal in Russia when defender Kendall Waston headed in a corner early in the second to equalize.
Substitute Josip Drmic put Switzerland 2-1 up in the 88th minute. Ruiz’s penalty kick hit the crossbar and then bounced in off of goalkeeper Yann Sommer.
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Brazil advances to round of 16 at World Cup, tops Serbia 2-0
Worried no more, Brazil is through at the World Cup.
Paulinho and Thiago Silva each scored a goal Wednesday to give the five-time champions a 2-0 victory over Serbia and first place in their group.
Brazil struggled in its opening two matches, first held to a 1-1 draw and then needing late goals to win the other. But they controlled this one.
Paulinho gave his team the lead when he met a lofted ball from Philippe Coutinho in the 36th minute. The defensive midfielder let the ball bounce in front of him near the penalty spot and kicked his right leg in the air to tap it over the goalkeeper’s fingertips.
Silva later scored with a powerful header in the 68th minute from Neymar’s corner.
Brazil finished first in Group E and will next face Mexico in the round of 16 on Monday in Samara. Serbia was eliminated, finishing third in the group behind Switzerland.
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Fans stunned by Germany’s World Cup elimination
Germans shook their heads in disbelief Wednesday after their defending champion team was eliminated from the group stage of the World Cup in a 2-0 loss to South Korea.
Tens of thousands of fans watched the German team’s lackluster performance from Berlin’s “Fan Mile” — a major downtown street running from the landmark Brandenburg Gate to the Victory Column that was shut to traffic and set up as a public viewing area.
As the game wound down, people started sneaking away and then streaming home after South Korea’s second goal in the final minutes.
Germany needed a win to have a shot at advancing from Group F but conceded two goals in stoppage time in the loss to South Korea after squandering many chances to score. The result allowed Sweden and Mexico to advance.
“I don’t understand it,” said a disappointed Tim Mueller, a fan wearing a Germany T-shirt who lingered at the Fan Mile after many had left.
Like many, he directed his frustration at team coach Joachim Loew, who he said pursued too much of a defensive strategy. “I think honestly Loew must resign immediately, he needs to give it up,” Mueller said. “He couldn’t motivate the team and get them ready for the game.”
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert took the stiff-upper-lip approach, tweeting after the loss “Not our World Cup - that is sad! More tournaments will come where we can celebrate.”
Leaving a patio bar at Berlin’s Alexanderplatz, an upset Tiffany Tuchen said Germany gave up too many chances to win.
“I can’t believe it, my pulse was 180 the whole game, but they deserved to lose,” she said.
Her friend Kerstin Fahrenholz swore off watching any of the rest of the World Cup games, lamenting: “The worst case scenario actually happened.”
Berliner Juhan Szok said he was disappointed, but was trying to be optimistic.
“We’re out now, but there’s still the European Championship,” he said, referring to the European Football Championship coming up in 2020. “Then we’ll be European champions.”
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Defending champion Germany is eliminated from World Cup after 2-0 loss to South Korea
Germany is out of the World Cup, the fourth defending champion in the last five tournaments to be eliminated in the group stage.
The four-time champions lost to South Korea 2-0 in Kazan, Russia, on Wednesday, allowing a pair of injury-time goals while knowing a 1-0 victory would have been enough to advance because of the result in the other group match.
Germany ended up last in Group F while Sweden and Mexico advanced to the round of 16. South Korea was also eliminated despite the victory.
It was the first time Germany has been eliminated in the first round since 1938.
Kim Young-gwon scored the first goal in the third minute of injury time. Originally called out for offside, the goal was then given after video review.
Son Heung-min made it 2-0 in the sixth minute of injury time after Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer came up the field to help his teammates outside the South Korea box. Son tapped the ball into an empty net after a long pass from Ju Se-jong.
Besides Germany this year, France in 2002, Italy in 2010 and Spain in 2014 were the previous defending champions to get eliminated in the group stage.
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Mexico falls to Sweden but advances to knockout round with an assist from South Korea
Mexico’s World Cup is alive but only by the thinnest of margins.
Playing in Yekaterinburg, the easternmost World Cup city, on the border between Asia and Europe, Sweden got second-half goals from Ludwig Augustinsson, Andreas Granqvist and an own goal contributed by Mexican defender Edson Alvarez to stun Mexico 3-0.
But South Korea — and American referee Mark Geiger — rescued El Tri with Kim Young-gwon’s goal in extra time to beat defending champion Germany and save Mexico’s spot in the knockout round.
Kim’s goal was originally waved off by an offside call, but Geiger, after consulting video replay, correctly ruled that the ball had struck a German defender before bouncing to Kim, negating the offside. South Korea later scored on an unattended goal to win 2-0.
Had Germany won that game, Mexico would have become the first team to get six points in the first round of a World Cup yet fail to advance since the group-play format was adopted in 1950.
Sweden got its first goal in the 50th minute when Viktor Claesson, in the center of the penalty area, chipped the ball toward the edge of the six-yard box, allowing Augustinsson to use his left foot to redirect it in off the arm of Mexican keeper Guillermo Ochoa and across the line.
The second came 12 minutes later on a penalty kick by Granqvist, whose right-footed blast beat Ochoa high to the keeper’s right. The penalty kick was set up when Hector Moreno was whistled for a sliding tackle on Sweden’s Sebastian Larsson in the box.
Sweden closed out the scoring in bizarre fashion in the 74th minute when Claesson sent a long throw-in into the box. The ball was headed forward, dropping behind Sweden’s Ola Toivonen before glancing off Alvarez and bouncing into the goal.
Mexico, needing only a draw to win the group and advance, did not play cautiously, attacking for most of the afternoon. It had a 2 to 1 advantage in time of possession in a first half in which it also outshot Sweden. But Mexico struggled to break down a Swedish defense that kept as many as nine players behind the ball and put just one shot on goal in the first half.
Sweden’s swarming defense made things even more difficult for Mexico once it took the lead
The Swedes started quickly, getting three dangerous set-piece chances in the first five minutes. On the second it took a stout two-handed save by Ochoa to keep out a strong shot by Emil Forsberg from a tough angle to the left of the six-yard box.
Mexico answered with left-footed shots from Miguel Layun and Carlos Vela, but both went just wide. Mexico did catch a break in the 29th minute after a loose ball struck Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez in the arm while he was in the box, but Argentine referee Néstor Pitana, after consulting a video replay, declined to call it a hand ball.
On the ensuing corner — one of three Sweden had in the first half — Ochoa came up big again, turning away a shot from Marcus Berg. The half ended with Berg putting a final left-footed shot off the side netting.
But Ochoa, who has been brilliant in the tournament, had his luck run out in the second half when he didn’t get enough of Augustinsson’s shot to stop it, then guessed right on the penalty kick only to see Granqvist direct his shot perfectly into the corner.
He never got close to the ball that glanced off Alvarez.
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Mexico’s Jesus Gallardo picks up fastest card in World Cup history
Jesus Gallardo on Wednesday received what FIFA is calling the fastest yellow card in World Cup history.
The Mexico fullback was booked for a hard tackle just 13 seconds into a match against Sweden.
The record for the fastest red card still belongs to Uruguay’s Jose Batista, who was sent off in the first minute against Scotland in 1986.
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Croatia reserves halt hard-fighting Iceland 2-1 at World Cup
Fielding a side filled with reserves, Croatia ended Iceland’s first World Cup run with a 2-1 win in Rostov-on-Don, Russia.
Milan Badelj crashed a volley against the bar, and moments later scored for Croatia in the 53rd minute, sprinting into the area to fire a bouncing shot past goalkeeper Hannes Halldorsson.
Croatia playmaker Luka Modric led the already-qualified Croats for 65 minutes before being taken off, as his team remained in low gear for most of the match to contain the Icelanders, who had needed a win to hope for a place in the last 16.
Iceland equalized with a penalty shot taken by Gylfi Sigurdsson in the 76th minute after substitute Dejan Lovren carelessly handled the ball. But Ivan Perisic punished a defensive error to make it 2-1 at 90 minutes.
Russian fans at the 45,000-seat Rostov Arena rooted for the underdogs as the traveling Iceland supporters kept up their singing and chanting all evening.
Defender Sverrir Ingason twice threatened for Iceland, hitting the crossbar with a header in the second half.
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Lionel Messi, Marcos Rojo score in Argentina’s 2-1 win over Nigeria
Argentina has scraped into the knockout stage of the World Cup after a tense 2-1 victory over Nigeria in a must-win last group game.
Defender Marcos Rojo scored in the 86th to secure the win with volley from the right to spark wild celebrations on the Argentina bench.
After Lionel Messi’s exquisite 14th-minute goal was canceled out by Victor Moses’ penalty in the 51st minute, Argentina was in danger of being eliminated without winning in Russia.
It took an unlikely goal by Rojo — a center back — to save Argentina and help the two-time world champion finish in second place behind Croatia in Group D.
Argentina will play France in the last 16 in Kazan on Saturday and Messi’s ambition of a first world title is still alive
In the simultaneous match in Rostov-on-Don, Croatia sent Iceland home with a 2-1 defeat on second-half goals by Milan Badelj and Ivan Perisic. Iceland had several chances to tie or take the lead, and a win would have seen them advance instead of Argentina.
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France and Denmark advance to the knockout round after a scoreless draw
France got what it wanted and Denmark got what it needed Tuesday on the final day of play in Group C at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium.
What neither team got, however, was a goal. Not that it mattered, since the first scoreless draw of the World Cup was enough to give France the group title and Denmark a berth in the second round as runner-up when Peru beat Australia 800 miles away in Sochi, eliminating the Aussies.
France and Denmark will learn their opponents in the knockout stage after the final two Group D games later Tuesday.
With their fates largely decided before kickoff, neither Denmark nor France showed more than an occasional interest in scoring — in fact, Denmark spent part of the second half going backward, drawing jeers from many in the announced crowd of 78,011.
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Peru defeats Australia 2-0 for first World Cup win since 1978
Peru has won its first game at the World Cup since 1978 with a 2-0 victory over Australia on Tuesday in the last match of Group C play.
Veteran striker Paolo Guerrero assisted on the first goal when Andre Carrillo volleyed the cross and beat Australia goalkeeper Mat Ryan in the 18th minute. Guerrero then got a goal of his own in the 50th minute, finishing a deflected cross from Christian Cueva. It was Peru’s first win since beating Iran in the 1978 tournament. They were winless in their previous eight World Cup matches but had not been in the tournament since 1982.
The Peruvians are going out on a high note this time, though, delighting the thousands of fans who made the trip from South America and flooded every city and stadium where they played. Carrillo’s goal started Peru’s party, and it only became louder and more joyful after Guerrero found the net.
Australia came out of its first two matches with only one point, but was still in contention to advance to the knockout stage. Needing a win, and help from France, the Socceroos were lackluster and their effort at times was sluggish. Even the addition of Tim Cahill and youngster Daniel Arzani in the second half failed to produce the spark Australia needed.
The 38-year-old Cahill appeared for the first time in this World Cup. Cahill was unable to become the fifth player to score in four World Cups, although he came close in the 60th minute when his shot was blocked by Christian Ramos in front of the goal.
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Portugal advances after 1-1 draw with Iran
Cristiano Ronaldo’s missed penalty cost Portugal first place in its World Cup group on Monday.
Portugal finished second in Group B after a 1-1 draw with Iran. The 2016 European champions will next face Uruguay on Saturday in the round of 16.
Instead of Ronaldo, it was Ricardo Quaresma who scored for the Portuguese. The 34-year-old midfielder responded to his first start of the tournament by producing one of the more aesthetically pleasing goals of group play.
Quaresma hit a curling shot with the outside of his right foot from the edge of the penalty area that went beyond the reach of diving Iran goalkeeper Ali Beiranvand.
Quaresma’s goal came on a night when Ronaldo — who had scored all four Portugal goals in its first two games — was denied on a penalty shot.
Karim Ansarifard scored a late penalty for Iran.
Spain won the group after its 2-2 draw with Morocco. Both Spain and Portugal had a goal difference of plus-1, but Spain scored six goals in its three group matches while Portugal had five.
Spain will next face host Russia on Sunday.
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Here’s a look at Wednesday’s World Cup matches
It has been a difficult tournament so far for reigning champion Germany, which lost its opener to Mexico then needed a goal deep in stoppage time to beat Sweden, keeping alive its hopes of reaching the knockout round.
Now it needs another win if it hopes to continue a streak of never exiting a World Cup in group play, although with the right circumstances, it could also advance with a draw.
Winless South Korea also has a path — albeit a narrow one — open to the second round. The easiest way through would be for the South Koreans to win and Sweden to lose, creating a three-way tie for second that would be broken on goal differential. If Sweden loses and South Korea beats Germany by two or more goals, the Koreans finish second.
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Saudi Arabia sinks Egypt with injury-time goal
Saudi Arabia edged Egypt 2-1 after Salem Aldawsari scored with almost the final kick in a contest where both teams were trying to avoid the last spot in their World Cup group.
Saudi Arabia ends Group A in third place with three points and Egypt finishes with three losses.
Aldawsari scored from a tight angle inside the Egypt penalty area after poking past 45-year-old goalkeeper Essam El Hadary, who became the oldest person to take the field in a World Cup.
Mohamed Salah put Egypt ahead in the 22nd minute when he deftly controlled a long ball from Abdalla Said that split the Saudi defense and then nonchalantly lobbed the ball over goalkeeper Yasser Almosailem.
Salman Alfaraj got the Saudis level with a penalty kick in first-half stoppage time after Ali Gabr was adjudged to have brought down Fahad Almuwallad in the area. The decision was confirmed belatedly after a video review.
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Uruguay downs host Russia 3-0, but both teams advance to knockout round
Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani scored a goal each and Uruguay went on to defeat Russia 3-0 on Monday, finishing undefeated in group play and handing the host nation its first loss of the World Cup.
Both teams were already assured of spots in the knockout round, but Uruguay’s victory put it at the top of Group A and looking toward a match in Sochi on Saturday against the second-place finisher from Group B.
Uruguay, which also benefited from an own-goal in the first half, had its third straight shutout of the tournament after consecutive 1-0 victories over Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
By advancing to the round of 16 with victories over Saudi Arabia and Egypt, Russia secured its best World Cup showing in the post-Soviet era.
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Cristiano Ronaldo appeals for quiet to noisy Iranian fans outside Portugal’s hotel overnight before showdown
Hundreds of Iranian fans spent several overnight hours surrounding the hotel where Portugal’s national team is based, making loud noises in an attempt to disrupt their opponents’ sleep before a decisive World Cup match later Monday.
Superstar Cristiano Ronaldo was filmed by Portuguese TV RTP late at night by the window using gestures to ask the Iranian fans to be silent, but Monday morning there were still a few dozen of them playing loud music near the hotel in the Saransk city center.
Iran can only advance to the next stage of the World Cup if it beats the European champions. Portugal only needs a draw, but also aims to take the top position in Group B ahead of Spain.
Saransk police said they received their first calls about the noise about 11 p.m. Sunday, when a first wave of Iran fans arrived and started singing outside the hotel. That forced Ronaldo to show up, which convinced supporters to leave.
Then a second wave came and did not stop making noise for several hours. Police then blocked roads nearby, but the main avenue across the hotel was still open, which allowed Iran fans to keep their effort in smaller numbers.
Iran fan and IT consultant Mehdi Fayez arrived Monday morning after reading messages from supporters saying they needed to trouble Portugal to stand a better chance of winning the match.
“I love Ronaldo, I love Portugal, but this is a big game. We have to do all it takes,” a still joyful Fayez said as he held an Iranian flag on the back of his head.
Montreh Fayoud, one of the several Iranian women attending their first World Cup, disagreed.
“We were coming back from dinner and saw all these Iranians here. When I found the reason, I decided to leave,” she said.
At about noon on Monday Portugal players had a quick walk around the hotel, but it is uncertain whether they will walk around the city as they did before other matches in Russia.
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Argentina’s lack of talent and philosophy are making it nearly impossible for Lionel Messi to succeed
Even before the start of the World Cup, the photographs invited mockery.
There was a picture of Lionel Messi gazing into the distance with his right hand on the back of a goat. Another of Messi cradling a kid goat in his arms.
The theme of the Paper magazine shoot and accompanying 2,000-word article was that Messi was soccer’s G.O.A.T. — greatest of all time.
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World Cup goals are coming from surprising places, at dramatic times
Through the first 32 matches of this World Cup, there have been 85 goals scored, an average of 2.7 per game, matching the 2014 tournament in Brazil.
But it’s not so much the number of goals that have been scored as it is how and when some of them happened that’s surprising, with 12 coming in stoppage time, either at the end of the first half or at the end of the game, and 13 coming on penalty kicks, one more than were scored from the spot in all 64 games of the 2014 World Cup.
Belgian coach Roberto Martinez, whose team is tied for the tournament lead with eight goals in two games, credits the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) protocol for the rise in penalty-kick goals.
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Winning changes everything for once-ridiculed Russian national team
Maybe Vitaly Milonov was right. Maybe all the jokes and sarcastic songs and abuse heaped on the Russian national team heading into the World Cup were misplaced.
Once dismissed as something of a national embarrassment, the Russian team has become a national treasure heading into Monday’s group-stage finale with Uruguay. It is already assured of a spot in the knockout stage of a World Cup for the first time since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, while the eight goals it scored in its first two games are tied for most in the tournament, and the most scored in the first two games by a World Cup host since 1934.
So maybe Milonov was simply ahead of his time when he joined a group of lawmakers in drafting a bill that would impose a fine of 10,000 rubles (about $160) on anyone who criticized the team. It turns out he need not have bothered; the team silenced the critics on its own.
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FIFA investigating Switzerland’s ‘provocative’ celebration
Despite goal celebrations seen as inflaming political tensions with Serbia, the head of Switzerland’s soccer federation said Sunday he doesn’t expect FIFA to suspend his players.
FIFA has added a third Swiss player — captain Stephan Lichtsteiner — to an investigation of both scorers in a 2-1 win who made hand gestures of a two-headed eagle that is an Albanian national symbol. Lichtsteiner also made the gesture during the match.
Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri have ethnic Albanian heritage linked to Kosovo, a former Serbian province that declared independence in 2008. Serbia doesn’t recognize that independence.
A strict reading of FIFA’s rules suggests the key trio in Switzerland’s starting lineup could be ruled out until the quarterfinals.
“Anyone who provokes the general public during a match will be suspended for two matches,” the FIFA disciplinary code states.
FIFA’s disciplinary panel could impose only a fine and warning before Switzerland plays Costa Rica on Wednesday. The Swiss need a draw to reach the round of 16.
“I don’t have any concerns,” Swiss soccer federation president Peter Gillieron said Sunday in an interview published by Swiss news website “20 Minutes.”
Gillieron said he expected a quick decision from FIFA’s judicial body, and the country could be proud of a team which has four points from two games.
“It may be annoying but we have to accept it,” Gillieron said of the case. “We have to be aware that now football is just a priority.”
Both the Switzerland and Serbia teams played down any political factors before the game Friday. Shaqiri had posted a photograph on Instagram of his playing boots, one with a Switzerland flag on the heel and the other with a Kosovo flag.
However, a tense back-and-forth game saw Xhaka level the game in the second half and Shaqiri win it with a 90th-minute goal. Both players made the eagle symbol before running to celebrate with teammates in front of Swiss fans in the Kaliningrad stadium.
FIFA rules prohibit political gestures by players or fans, and let the disciplinary panel act on “serious infringements which have escaped the match officials’ attention.”
Xhaka, Shaqiri and Lichtsteiner would likely have been shown a yellow card at the time for their celebrations.
In further fallout from the Group E game, FIFA said Sunday it opened disciplinary cases against Serbia coach Mladen Krstajic and federation president Slavisa Kokeza for comments made after the game.
Serbia’s federation said if filed an official complaint, including videos of game action, with the sport’s governing body alleging “biased officiating” by German referee Felix Brych.
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Colombia comes alive in 3-0 win; Poland eliminated
Radamel Falcao’s first World Cup goal led Colombia to a 3-0 victory over Poland on Sunday and kept the team in the running for a spot in the knockout round.
Poland was eliminated.
Falcao, who missed the 2014 World Cup because of a knee injury, made it 2-0 with a 70th-minute goal.
Yerry Mina scored in the 40th and Juan Cuadrado completed the win in the 75th.
Both teams lost Group H openers and knew another loss would end their hopes of advancing.
Senegal and Japan drew 2-2 in the other group match and lead with four points each.
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Will Mexico advance in the World Cup? Here are the scenarios heading into the final group stage game
Despite two wins in two games, Mexico’s future in the World Cup is almost as unsettled as it was when the team landed in Russia three weeks ago.
Heading into its final group stage game with Sweden on Wednesday, Mexico is facing several scenarios that could either send it on to the knockout rounds as Group F champion or runner-up, or send it home. Here are the possibilities — and stick with us because it gets complicated:
[email protected] | Twitter: @kbaxter11
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A look at Monday’s World Cup schedule
A look at the matchups for World Cup games Monday:
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Back-and-forth Senegal-Japan match ends in 2-2 tie
Senegal twice took the lead. Japan tied it up both times.
Keisuke Honda came off the bench and scored from close range in the 78th minute to give the Japanese a 2-2 draw with Senegal on Sunday at the World Cup.
The draw keeps the two teams at the top of Group H ahead of their final matches.
Sadio Mane gave Senegal the lead in the 11th minute, deflecting the ball into the net for his first World Cup goal, but Takashi Inui equalized with a well-placed shot from inside the area in the 34th.
Moussa Wague restored Senegal’s lead in the 71st minute. Honda came on the field a minute later and evened the score.
In their final group games on Thursday, Senegal will face Colombia in Samara while Japan plays Poland in Volgograd.
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Key Uruguay defender Jose Maria Gimenez ruled out for final group stage match with injury
Uruguay defender Jose Maria Gimenez has been ruled out of the team’s final World Cup group match because of a right thigh injury.
Gimenez scored in the team’s opening match of the tournament, a 1-0 victory over Egypt. Uruguay also defeated Saudi Arabia 1-0 to secure a spot in the round of 16 as it heads into its final group match against host Russia on Monday.
The team didn’t say when Gimenez might return.
The stalwart defense of the 23-year-old Atletico Madrid center back has been key to the team’s two wins. Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez wouldn’t reveal Sunday who would replace Gimenez.
Russia with two wins has also qualified for the round of 16, and Monday’s match will be for the top spot in Group A.
Uruguay, ranked No. 14 in the world, is making its 12th overall World Cup appearance. The South American country won the tournament in 1930 as host, and again in 1950.
Veteran Uruguay forward Edinson Cavani acknowledged the loss of Giminez was a blow, but he said he was confident other teammates would help fill the gap.
“It is an important factor. Why? Because Jose Maria Gimenez has played at an excellent level,” Cavani said. “But as I’ve always said on prior occasions, this is a team. We are a team.”
Gimenez has made 44 appearances with the national team since 2013. He signed with Atletico that same year.
He also played in the 2014 World Cup at 19, becoming the youngest Uruguay player to appear in soccer’s premier tournament. Uruguay advanced from its group in Brazil, but fell 2-0 to Colombia in the round of 16.
Tabarez said it’s normal to have to adjust during tournaments. He emphasized that the team was prepared.
“The match plan that we always have is to continue to work — until the match begins really,” Tabarez said. “The fact that he has been injured doesn’t really change anything. We have the same notion of the match and the same plan for the match as before.”
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Harry Kane nets hat trick as England routs Panama 6-1
Harry Kane scored a hat trick to help England to its most one-sided World Cup victory, a 6-1 rout of Panama on Sunday that secured a place in the last 16 with a game to spare.
John Stones headed in two goals and Jesse Lingard curled in another. England’s previous high for goals in a World Cup match was set in its 4-2 victory over Germany in 1966 final.
Two of Kane’s goals came from the penalty spot and the third via his heel. He leads the tournament with five goals, one more than Cristiano Ronaldo and Romelu Lukaku.
England goes into the Group G finale against Belgium level on points and with the same goal difference after conceding a late goal against Panama, which was eliminated after two matches in its World Cup debut.
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Mexico closes in on knockout stage with 2-1 win over South Korea
Mexico moved a big step closer to the knockout round of a seventh straight World Cup with a 2-1 win over South Korea on Saturday at Rostov Arena in the southern port city of Rostov-on-Don.
Mexico got goals from Carlos Vela and Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez, one in each half, to secure its second victory in as many games in Russia. The win also put Mexico alone atop the Group F standings pending the result of Saturday’s late group game between unbeaten Sweden and defending champion Germany.
A victory or draw for Sweden would guarantee Mexico a spot in the second round. But even a win for Germany would still leave Mexico in control of its own destiny, needing only a draw against Sweden in next week’s group-play final to advance.
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Playing with 10 men, Germany scores in stoppage time to beat Sweden
Toni Kroos scored in the fifth minute of stoppage time from outside the penalty area, and Germany, despite playing a man down, rallied to beat Sweden 2-1 on Saturday to stay alive at the World Cup.
Kroos’ goal came off a set play after a foul in the closing minutes of stoppage time. Kroos tapped the ball to Marco Reus, who set it up for Kroos to curl a right-footed shot to the far post. Sweden goalkeeper Robin Olsen couldn’t get his hand on it.
Reus had scored in the 48th minute to pull Germany even after Ola Toivonen’s goal in the 32nd put the Swedes in front. Germany finished with 10 men after Jerome Boateng was sent off following a second yellow card with about 10 minutes remaining.
Mexico has six points in Group F, while Germany and Sweden both have three and South Korea zero entering their final matches.
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Belgium blitzes Tunisia as it eyes path to final
The problem with gold is it’s just a metal until someone takes the time and effort to polish it and make it glisten.
And Belgian soccer’s so-called Golden Generation, a 24-karat collection of world-class players at every position, came to Russia having lost much of its shine over the last four years.
Disappointing losses in the quarterfinals of the 2016 European Championship and the 2014 World Cup had not only left the underachieving Belgians with nothing to show for all that talent, but it led captain Eden Hazard to compare his team to England.
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Cocaine and pot seized in World Cup trophy replicas in Argentina
Some Argentines are taking advantage of World Cup fervor.
The security minister of Buenos Aires province said Friday that police have broken up an organization that trafficked marijuana and cocaine in fake World Cup trophies.
The so-called Narcos de la Copa took advantage of the global merchandising boom generated by the soccer tournament to move the drugs without raising suspicions.
“These merchants of death have endless ingenuity, but don’t be fooled,” said minister Cristian Ritondo, according to a statement. “They shouldn’t be admired. On the contrary, they are now in jail.”
Officials said 20 kilograms of marijuana, 10 kilograms of cocaine, 1,800 doses of crack-cocaine known as “paco,” and 400,000 Argentine pesos ($14,819) were seized. Four men and two women were arrested in the operation.
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Soccer fans gather across Los Angeles to watch Mexico vs. South Korea match
Thousands of soccer fans gathered in sports bars, churches, restaurants, pubs, football clubs and makeshift viewing stands all over Southern California on Saturday to watch the World Cup soccer match between Mexico and South Korea.
The game kicked off at 8 a.m. and is being broadcast locally from Rostov-on-Don, Russia, about 600 miles south of Moscow. Here are some of the places you can watch the game.
Mexico, which upset reigning champion Germany in its June 17 match, is favored to win. History is not on Mexico’s side, however, because it has not won back-to-back matches at a World Cup since 2002.
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Sunil Gulati deserves an assist for bringing 2026 World Cup to North America
A little over an hour after FIFA awarded the 2026 World Cup to the U.S., Mexico and Canada earlier this month, the three co-chairmen of the United 2026 bid committee took the stage for a news conference at Moscow’s sprawling Expo Center.
Carlos Cordeiro, president of the U.S. Soccer Federation, Canadian soccer association leader Steven Reed and Decio de Maria, president of the Mexican federation, all wore crisp suits and wide smiles as they answered questions and accepted congratulations for bringing the world’s biggest sporting event back to North America.
In the third row of the press seats, near the foot of the stage but out of the spotlight, Sunil Gulati sat alone, one leg crossed over the other. If Cordeiro, Reed and De Maria had combined to get the ball over the goal line, Gulati, the former USSF president and the bid committee’s first chair, was the playmaking midfielder who had done the hard and thankless work of bringing the ball up the field.
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Update: Who’s in and who’s out at the World Cup
Who’s in, who’s out and possible scenarios at the World Cup after Friday’s play:
GROUP A
Russia and Uruguay have clinched berths in the round of 16, and play each other Monday to determine who wins the group. Egypt and Saudi Arabia have been eliminated.
GROUP B
Morocco has been eliminated, leaving Portugal and Spain (four points each) and Iran (three) to compete for two spots. Spain plays Morocco on Monday, when Portugal meets Iran.
GROUP C
France has advanced and leads with six points. Denmark is second with four after a 1-1 draw against Australia, which has one point. Peru has been eliminated. Denmark plays France on Tuesday, when Australia takes on Peru.
GROUP D
Croatia has secured a trip to the second round and tops the group with six points. Argentina got some help Friday when Nigeria beat Iceland 2-0. Nigeria (three points) will advance with a win over Argentina (one point) on Tuesday, when Iceland plays Croatia. But Iceland (one point) or the last-place Argentines could survive with a win and a Nigeria loss or tie, depending on goal difference.
GROUP E
Brazil (four points) got a pair of stoppage-time goals Friday to vault from a precarious position to the brink of qualifying for the knockout stage. The 2-0 win also eliminated Costa Rica. Switzerland (four points) pulled off a 2-1 comeback win over Serbia (three points), leaving three teams bunched together, all with a chance to advance but with only two spots to be had. Serbia meets Brazil on Wednesday at the same time Switzerland plays Costa Rica.
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Xhaka and Shaqiri score for Swiss, make Albanian symbol
Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri scored in Switzerland’s 2-1 victory over Serbia on Friday at the World Cup, and both celebrated by making a nationalist symbol to their ethnic Albanian heritage.
In the tournament’s first come-from-behind victory, Xhaka made it 1-1 in the 52nd minute with a powerful shot through a crowded penalty. Shaqiri added the other in injury time after running past the Serbian defense.
Both put their open hands together with their thumbs locked and fingers outstretched to make what looks like the double-headed eagle displayed on Albania’s national flag. The thumbs represent the heads of the two eagles, while the fingers look like the feathers.
The gesture is likely to inflame tensions among Serb nationalists and ethnic Albanians.
Shaqiri was born in Kosovo, the former Serbian province that declared independence in 2008. Serbia doesn’t recognize Kosovo’s independence, and relations between the two countries remain tense. Xhaka’s parents are from Kosovo and of Albanian heritage.
Aleksandar Mitrovic scored for Serbia with a header in the fifth minute.
The win puts Switzerland into second place in Group E with four points, the same as Brazil. The Swiss will advance to the round of 16 if they beat Costa Rica on Wednesday. Serbia will face Brazil in Moscow at the same time.
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Mexico fans try new chant with eye on avoiding more fines
Mexico fans are trying out a new chant so the country’s federation avoids another FIFA fine.
Only time will tell, though, whether some of them won’t go back to the old one that got them into trouble in the first place.
Standing next to a golden-domed cathedral, Mexican fans visited the sites of Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia on Friday and practiced a new chant — “eeeeeeee-ROO-si-ya,” the last part meaning Russia in Spanish — that they hope will keep the tournament hosts and organizers happy.
The modified version was introduced after the national federation was fined 10,000 Swiss francs ($10,000) over a chant by supporters considered to be homophobic during the opening game against Germany.
Mexico fans use the chant to intimidate opposing goalkeepers. FIFA considers it a slur, but many supporters argue it has no discriminatory intent.
Carlos Quezada, from San Luis Potosi in central Mexico, joined revelers at the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary and said he wasn’t certain fans would comply with the ban.
“It’s the way we are. When you tell Mexicans not to do something, they keep on doing it,” he said, but added that the Mexicans were keen to repay the kindness of their Russian hosts.
“People have been really, really nice to us. They have welcomed us everywhere. The Russians have been chanting for us — chanting ‘Mexico, Mexico’ — and it makes us feel like this is a second home.”
Mexico takes on South Korea in its second Group F match after a shock 1-0 win over Germany. The Koreans lost their opener 1-0 to Sweden.
Mexico coach Juan Carlos Osorio said he intended to continue his attacking style, would stick with core players who beat Germany, and would not get carried away with the opening win.
“We hope it doesn’t happen, but there would be no shame in losing to South Korea,” the Colombian said. “We all have respect for them. No matter how prepared you are, the unthinkable can always happen in every game.”
Captain Andres Guardado echoed the sentiment, adding that the team had been hardened by frequent disappointments on the road to Russia — as the Mexicans vie for a quarterfinal spot, having been stopped at the last 16 in the six previous World Cups.
“Beating Germany was good for us. It strengthened our [winning] mindset. But we know how dangerous praise can be. But we’ve had so much criticism in the past. And in those very difficult moments, we built this team. Thanks to those failures, we will stick to our dream and maybe, this time, it will be within reach.”
South Korea coach Shin Tae-yong said he was worried that expected high temperatures would favor the Mexicans. The forecast is for 93 degrees on Saturday.
“The change in the weather will have a negative impact on us,” he said. “I haven’t seen much of the city, only what I could see on the bus coming into the city. But I noticed that it’s hot and it has large fields.”
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Musa scores twice to give Nigeria 2-0 win over Iceland
Ahmed Musa gave Nigeria its first win at this year’s World Cup, and kept alive Argentina’s hopes of reaching the knockout round.
Musa scored two second-half goals to help the Nigerians beat Iceland 2-0 on Friday and move into second place in the group behind already-qualified Croatia.
Nigeria will face Argentina in its final group match on Tuesday in St. Petersburg. If Nigeria wins, it will advance to the round of 16. But if Argentina claims all three points, it can still advance, depending on the result of the other match between Croatia and Iceland.
Musa gave Nigeria the lead in the 49th minute after Victor Moses sprinted deep into the Iceland half and curled a cross to the near post. Musa deftly controlled the ball before slamming it past Iceland goalkeeper Hannes Halldorsson on the half-volley.
He doubled the lead in the 75th minute. Picking up the ball on the left side of the Iceland penalty area, Musa mazed his way past Halldorsson and picked his spot in the Iceland goal.
Iceland had a chance to get one back, but Gylfi Sigurdsson sent a penalty kick high over the Nigeria bar in the 83rd minute. The penalty was awarded after a video review showed that Alfred Finnbogason had been brought down by Tyronne Ebuehi.
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Brazil scores late goals to beat Costa Rica 2-0 at World Cup
Philippe Coutinho and Neymar scored injury-time goals to help Brazil beat Costa Rica 2-0 Friday at the World Cup in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Coutinho poked the ball past goalkeeper Keylor Navas in the first minute of injury time, and Neymar volleyed in another with virtually the last kick of the game six minutes later.
Neymar then broke down in tears and sobbed for several moments. His teammates helped him off the ground to celebrate.
It had looked like Brazil, after drawing its opening game 1-1 with Switzerland, was heading for another stalemate.
Brazil attacked relentlessly in the second half and was awarded a penalty in the 78th when Neymar was impeded as he cut inside defender Giancarlo Gonzalez. But referee Bjorn Kuipers went over to look at the sideline monitor and reversed the decision.
Brazil has four points heading into its final group game against Serbia on Wednesday.
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Peru lost on the field, but its fans made their presence felt
France had the advantage on the field Thursday, beating Peru 1-0 to ensure passage to the second round. But Peru had an overwhelming advantage in the streets of Yekaterinburg, where its supporters outnumbered French fans by about 7 to 1.
Peruvians have been waiting since 1982 to see their team play in a World Cup. And even though its stay will be short — Thursday’s loss, its second in as many games, means Peru will go home after the group stage — many fans had to see it in person, even if they couldn’t get into the stadium.
Many fans arrived without tickets and watched the game from a fan zone in a city park.
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To make history, Mexico must guard against complacency
Carlos Hermosillo played on the last Mexican team to reach the World Cup quarterfinals and he sees some similarities between that squad and the one that opened this summer’s tournament by upsetting defending champion Germany.
“They want to make soccer history,” Hermosillo, once Mexico’s all-time scoring leader, said Thursday. “But they have to approach this game by game. They played Germany and they have to realize the most important game is the one coming up, against Korea.”
That match is Saturday in Rostov-on-Don, a port city about 600 miles south of Moscow. A win and Mexico’s passage to the knockout round of a seventh consecutive World Cup is virtually assured. A loss and Mexico will go into its final group-stage game with Sweden next week facing elimination.