FIFA World Cup 2018 day eight, nine, ten, eleven: Belgium, England confirm knockout phase qualification; Poland, Costa Rica miss out Last 16

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Wednesday, June 27, 2018

On day eight of the 2018 FIFA football World Cup, Thursday, Denmark drew 1–1 against Australia; France defeated Peru 1–0 and Argentina lost 3–0 against Croatia. On day nine, Friday, Brazil won 2–0 against Costa Rica, Nigeria defeated Iceland 2–0 and Serbia lost 1–2 against Switzerland. On day ten, Saturday, Belgium defeated Tunisia 5–2, South Korea lost 1–2 to Mexico and Germany defeated Sweden 2–1. Sunday's game, day eleven, started with England defeating Panama 6–1, Japan drawing 2–2 against Senegal and Poland failed to qualify for the knockout phase, losing 0–3 against Colombia.

Day eight

Denmark v Australia

Denmark faced Australia on Thursday, day eight. Christian Eriksen scored an early goal in the 7th minute for Denmark, from Nicolai Jørgensen's assist, putting Denmark in the lead. In the 37th minute, Yussuf Poulsen was booked for a hand ball in the penalty area, as the referee awarded Australia a penalty. Australia's Mile Jedinak equalised as he converted the penalty into a goal. Both sides shared the spoils, getting one point each.

France v Peru

In France vs Peru, Peru had a greater ball possession. Several of the French players including Raphael Varane, Antoine Griezmann and Paul Pogba had attempts to score. France got the lead in the 34th minute as nineteen-year-old Kylian Mbappé scored the only goal in the match. With this victory, Frace advanced to the knockout phase of the tournament, winning six points from the two matches.

Argentina v Croatia

Argentinian captain Lionel Messi faced his FC Barcelona teammate Ivan Rakitić as they took on Croatia. Though the first half remained goalless, Ante Rebić opened the scoring for Croatia in the 53rd minute, after Argentinian goalkeeper Willy Caballero ended up passing the ball to Rebić inside the penalty area. In the 80th minute, Luka Modrić scored the second goal for Croatia from Marcelo Brozović's assist. In the injury time, Rakitić scored the third goal of the match as Croatia won three points.

Day nine

Brazil v Costa Rica

Brazil took on Costa Rica and had a greater ball possession. The first half remained goalless. Gabriel Jesus' goal was cancelled being offside. Despite multiple attempts by Brazilian players, the first 90 minutes remained goalless. Philippe Coutinho scored a goal from Jesus' assist in the injury time, and moments before the full time whistle, Neymar doubled the lead for Brazil. Brazil won three points while Costa Rica's defeat meant they would not advance to the knockout phase of the World Cup.

Nigeria v Iceland

Nigeria had the greater ball possession against Iceland. The first half remained goalless, but not five minutes into the second half, Ahmed Musa opened the scoring for Nigeria, from Victor Moses' assist. In the 75th minute, Musa doubled the lead for Nigeria from Kenneth Omeruo's assist, beating the goalkeeper. Minutes later, the referee awarded Iceland a penalty after consulting the Video Assistant Referee. Gylfi Sigurdsson took the penalty kick but failed to score from it. The match ended 2–0 with Nigeria winning three points.

Serbia v Switzerland

Serbia faced Switzerland on the last match of the ninth day of the tournament. Switzerland had greater ball possession. Serbia's Aleksandar Mitrović scored a goal from a header in the 5th minute of the match, giving Serbia an early lead. In the second half, Granit Xhaka scored an equaliser in the 54th minute from outside the box. Xherdan Shaqiri scored the winning goal for Switzerland in the 90th minute as Switzerland won the match 2–1, and collected three points.

Day ten

South Korea v Mexico

South Korea faced Mexico in the first match of day ten. Mexico led in ball possession. Mexico were awarded a penalty after Jang Hyun-Soo's handball in the penalty area in the 24th minute. Carlos Vela scored from the penalty, giving Mexico a one-goal advantage in the 26th minute. Mexico doubled their lead in the 66th minute when Chicharito scored his 50th goal for Mexico. Korea's Son Heung-Min scored a consolation goal for the Asian side in the injury time but Mexico won the match, winning three points from the fixture. Chicharito became the first Mexican to score 50 goals for the country.

Germany v Sweden

Germany faced Sweden, and had greater ball possession. Germany's İlkay Gündoğan was substituted after the half-hour mark due to injury. In the 32nd minute, Ola Toivonen score the opening goal for Sweden, chipping the ball over German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. Germany equalised soon after the second half began. Marco Reus scored from Mario Gomez's assist in the 48th minute. In the 82nd minute, German defender Jérôme Boateng received his second yellow card and was sent off. [[Toni Kroos scored the winning goal for Germany in the injury time from a free kick from within the penalty area. Germany won three points.

Belgium v Tunisia

Belgium won an early penalty kick in the 5th minute as Syam Ben Youssef brought down Belgium's Eden Hazard in the penalty area. Hazard scored from the penalty spot, giving Belgium an early lead. Romelu Lukaku doubled the lead for Belgium in the 16th minute from Dries Mertens' assist. Tunisia scored their first goal of the match in the 18th minute. Dylan Bronn scored a header from Wahbi Khazri's assist. Right before the half-time whistle, Lukaku restored Belgium's two-goal lead, netting a third goal for Belgium. Hazard scored in the 51st minute as Tunisia trailed four goals to one. Michy Batshuayi scored the fifth goal for Belgium in the 90th minute. Khazri scored a consolation goal for Tunisia in injury time, but Belgium collected three points from the win.

Day eleven

England v Panama

England had the greater ball possession against Panama. John Stones opened the scoring for England in the 8th minute. In the 20th minute, the referee awarded England a penalty and Harry Kane scored from the spot kick, doubling the lead for England. Jesse Lingard netted the third goal for England from Raheem Sterling's assist in the 36th minute. Stones added the fourth goal in th 40th minute, while Kane scored the fifth goal for England, from the penalty, minutes before the final whistle. The first half ended with England leading 5–0. Kane completed his hat-trick in the 62nd minute as the goal went in from a deflection. Panama's Felipe Baloy scored a consolation goal for the team from Ricardo Avila's assist in the 78th minute. England won the match and qualified for the Last 16 knockout phase. With this victory, Belgium also secured qualification for the Last 16.

Japan v Senegal

Japan had the greater ball possession against Senegal in the second game of day eleven. Sadio Mané opened the scoring for Senegal. Takashi Inui equalised for Japan in the 34th minute from Yuto Nagatomo's assist. The first half ended 1–1. In the 71st minute, Moussa Wagué scored another goal for Senegal, putting the African side in the lead. But the lead was short-lived as Keisuke Honda scored the second equaliser of the night in the 78th minute. The match ended 2–2 with both the sides winning one point each.

Poland v Colombia

Colombia had greater ball possession in the match. Yerry Mina opened the scoring for Colombia, netting the first goal in the 40th minute from James Rodríguez's assist. Radamel Falcao doubled Colombia's lead in the 70th minute, scoring from Juan Quintero's assist. Five minutes later, Juan Cuadrado scored the third goal for Colombia, from another assist by Rodriguez. Colombia won three points, while Rodriguez's Bayern Munich teammate Robert Lewandowski and Poland missed out qualification for the knockout stage, losing both of their group stage games.


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