MONDAY, JULY 2
Mexico 0 Brazil 2
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Photo Gallery: Jonathan dos Santos makes his first career World Cup appearance
BELGIUM 3 JAPAN 2
BELGIUM 3 JAPAN 2 (Rostov-on-Don) A stoppage-time goal gave Belgium the 3-2 victory over Japan and sent the European side to the quarterfinals of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
The first 45 minutes saw the Asian side dominate possession, spending the majority of the time in Belgium’s half. Japan built on their foundation with a finish minutes after the whistle in the second half, Genki Haraguchi took possession of a pass and dashed towards the box to fire a strike for the opening goal. The celebrations continued as Shinji Kagawa found the ball on the edge of the area and placed it near the post for Takashi Inui, who shot it past Thibaut Courtois and into the goal to double their lead in the 52nd minute.
In the 68th minute, Belgium got on the board as Jan Vertonghen used a rebound to head the ball into the net to make the score 2-1. Minutes later, Eden Hazard launched a fantastic left-wing cross, finding Marouane Fellaini, who headed it in for the equalizer. Japan nearly stole a winner when Keisuke Honda’s free kick was saved by Courtois. Just moments later, with eight seconds remaining in the match, Belgium executed a brilliant counterattack that ended with Thomas Meunier finding Nacer Chadli to score the last-minute winner.
