Tunisia became the first African country to score in this year’s World Cup in a match that the North Africans lost 2-1 to England. Harry Kane completed his brace in the ninety_first minute having scored the opener in the eleventh minute. Tunisia’s only goal came from Ferjan Sassi who converted a penalty ten minutes before halftime. A last minute blunder saw them fail to rescue a point.
In other matches played on Monday (day-4), Sweden won by one goal against defensive South Korea, Granqvist scoring the only goal. Later on, Belgium thrashed Panama by three goals , Napoli’s Dries Mertens with a stunner two minutes after halftime. Manchester United’s Rumelu Lukaku bagged a brace, scoring in the sixty ninth and seventy fifth minutes. Belgium are now top of group G alongside England though the former boast more goals.
On Sunday, Costa Rica lost to Serbia, Roma’s Aleksandar Kolarov scoring the only goal in a match that saw Costa Rica’s goalkeeper Keylor Navas make important saves. Brazil who also fall into that group, were held to a draw by Switzerland when Philippe Coutinho’s goal was cancelled by Zuber in the fiftieth minute. Serbia are now top of Group E, followed by Brazil, Switzerland and Costa Rica respectively.
On that day four, Germany received a surprise beating from Mexico, failing to equalize a goal that was scored in the first half by Hirving Lozano. The Germans who pushed a lot for an equaliser, were often caught off guard by Mexico’s counter attacks that were saved by veteran goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. Sweden and Mexico top group F, with Germany and South Korea lagging behind.
A couple of matches involving members of group C and D were showcased on Saturday, France beating Australia 2-1 in Saturday’s early kick off. Antoine Griezmann opened the scoreline with a penalty before Australia getting one too when Jedinak converted the penalty. The Frenchmen who seemed to have an upper hand the entire match sealed the win, Paul Pogba’s effort being validated by VAR in the eightieth minute. Same group members Peru lost to Denmark, Cueva losing a penalty and Yussuf Yurary Poulsen scoring for Denmark to seal three points. France and Denmark top the group with three points with Australia and Peru taking the third and forth positions.
In group D, Argentina were held to a draw by offensive Iceland in a match that saw their main man Lionel Messi lose a penalty. Sergio Aguero scored the opener for the South Americans minutes before Finnbogason equalised for Iceland. Later on, Messi was fouled in the penalty area and Iceland’s goalkeeper saved his effort.
In same group fixture, Croatia beat African side Nigeria by two goals, with the Nigerians lacking sharpness. Nigeria’s Etebo scored in his own goal before Croatia being awarded a penalty that Luka Modric scored in the seventy first minute.
As for group B, Iran are leading having beaten Morocco in their first match on Friday when Bouhaddouz scored a late own goal to deny his side one point. Later that night, Portugal drew by three goals with Spain, Cristiano Ronaldo bagging a hatrick. Atletico Madrid’s Diego Costa scored twice while Nacho scored the third for the Spaniards.
Group A’s second match was played on Friday Egypt losing to Uruguay in the last minute when Jose Gimenez completed a corner with a header, that left Egypt’s El-Shenawy helpless. On Thursday, Russia had thrashed Saudi Arabia 5-0 in the tournament’s opener, Denis Cherysev bagging a brace.
Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo lead’s the scoreboard with threw goals, while Belgium’s Rumelu Lukaku, Spain’s Diego Costa, Russia’s Denis Cherysev, and England’s Harry Kane come second with two goals each.
