BELGIUM 5 TUNISIA 2 (MOSCOW)
Belgium has qualified for the knockout stage after a heroic 5-2 victory over Tunisia, the highest scoring game thus far in the 2018 World Cup.
The Red Devils wasted no time, charging towards the opposition half immediately after the first whistle. In an attempt to slow down Belgium and defend, Syam Ben Youssef tackled Eden Hazard within the box, awarding the opponents a penalty at the sixth minute. Hazard approached the designated spot, and tapped the ball into the bottom left corner to find the 1-0 lead. Belgium’s dominance continued as Romelu Lukaku raced down the center of the pitch to fire a strike into the bottom right of the post, doubling the lead.
Lukaku’s celebrations, however, were short-lived. Tunisia retaliated as Khazri converted a free kick into an unstoppable goal to make the game 2-1. Then, a lovely play by Meunier met the feet of Lukaku, and allowed Belgium’s number 9 to clip the ball over the keeper to seal the first half 3-1. Though their first goal gave Tunisia a boost of energy, it was not enough to leash the European giants. Again, Belgium failed to waste time as Hazard gained possession of the ball in his own half and sped towards the goal to find the back of an empty net at the 51st minute. Despite Tunisia’s vibrant energy, they now faced the daunting task of coming back from a 4-1 score.
To make matters worse for the African side, Tietlemans crossed the ball into the box, allowing Batshuayi to slide the ball into the post for a 5-1 lead. Tunisia managed to take advantage of the stoppage time, finding the back of the net with a goal by Naguez, however, their time on the pitch ran out, ending the game 5-2.
MEXICO 2 SOUTH KOREA 1
GERMANY 2 SWEDEN 1 (Sochi)
A stoppage-time goal by Germany revives the country’s World Cup hopes as they narrowly triumph against Sweden 2-1.
The 2014 World Cup champions entered the match with drive, knowing that a defeat to Sweden would send them home after only two matches. Not surprisingly, Germany used their situation as motivation and overpowered their opponents from the start. By the 11th minute, Germany had completed 122 passes in the opposition half, while Sweden completed merely six passes. Despite their electric offense, Germany’s defensive line allowed Toivonen to sweep into the box and curl a shot into the post for the 1-0 lead.
After the halftime, a desperate and frustrated Germany returned to the pitch and exerted their dominance over Sweden. Two minutes after the whistle, German players stumbled to get the ball into the post until Marcos Reus found the rebound with his knee and fired it into the net to score the equalizer. As the half continued, Germany maintained a high pressure on Sweden, but failed to capitalize on their opportunities.
Though Swedish fans celebrated as if they had won the game, five minutes of stoppage time was added to give Germany one last chance. In the 95th minute, Kroos bent the ball beautifully into the top corner to win the game.
