England edged Colombia 4-3 on penalties to halt a run of five successive shootout defeats at major tournaments and book a quarter-final clash against Sweden at the World Cup. Harry Kane fired England ahead with his tournament-leading sixth goal just before the hour in Moscow, converting a penalty after he was hauled down by Carlos […]
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Sweden booked a World Cup quarter-final against England or Colombia with an attritional 1-0 win over Switzerland in St. Petersburg, sealed by Emil Forsberg’s deflected strike. In a contest desperately short of quality in the final third, Forsberg — Sweden’s brightest player — broke the deadlock with a low finish after 66 minutes, and Sweden […]
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Nacer Chadli scored a stunning injury-time winner as Belgium fought back from 2-0 down to defeat Japan 3-2 and advance to a World Cup quarter-final showdown with Brazil here Monday. Chadli’s superbly worked goal in the fourth minute of stoppage time was the final act of an epic last-16 battle that saw Belgium become the […]
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Neymar and Roberto Firmino struck as Brazil edged past Mexico with a 2-0 victory to seal progress to the World Cup quarter-finals. Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa was in inspired form to keep Brazil at bay for long periods, but Brazil star Neymar tapped home a low Willian cross six minutes after half-time to put his […]
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Hosts Russia reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup on Sunday when they beat Spain 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw. Koke’s third penalty for Spain was saved by Igor Akinfeev who then saved Iago Aspas’s final shot. Spain took a 12th-minute lead when veteran Russia defender Sergei Ignashevich put into his own net […]
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Croatia are through to the quarter-finals of the World Cup after beating Denmark in the second penalty shootout of the day A frantic start saw Denmark score in under a minute as Mathias Jorgensen latched onto the end of a long throw that caused mayhem in the six-yard-box, but just three minutes later Mario Mandzukic […]
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Edinson Cavani scored twice as Uruguay shattered Cristiano Ronaldo’s World Cup dream with a 2-1 victory over Portugal on Saturday. Paris Saint-Germain striker Cavani curled home a superb 62nd-minute winner to settle a thrilling second round duel in Sochi which sends Uruguay into a quarter-final against France next Friday. Cavani had already put Uruguay in […]
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Argentina’s most-capped player Javier Mascherano called time on his international career Saturday after the painful World Cup defeat to France. “It’s time to say goodbye,” the 34-year-old ex-Barcelona, Liverpool and West Ham midfielder said after Argentina were dumped out in a 4-3 last-16 defeat by France. “I hope that all the lads who follow in […]
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France have a number of options to limit Lionel Messi’s influence in their round of 16 clash against Argentina coach Didier Deschamps said on Friday. However, the French coach also resigned that he could turn the match in an instant. Messi has yet to light up the World Cup in a stuttering Argentina side. But […]
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Belgium beat England to top spot in their World Cup group on Thursday after Japan sneaked into the knockout phase on the back of their superior disciplinary record. The 1-0 win for Roberto Martinez’s much-changed team in Kaliningrad earns a second-round tie against Japan while England have a trickier-looking match against Colombia. But the result […]
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