On Saturday in Kazan, Kylian Mbappe was playing a video game; everyone else was just trying to keep up. In a match full of some of the world’s best talent including the inimitable Lionel Messi, the 19-year-old PSG forward outshined all other stars in the France vs Argentina highlights.
Belgium claimed top spot in Group G after defeating England 1-0 Thursday thanks to Adnan Januzaj’s beautiful 51st-minute curler. Michy Batshuayi celebrated the goal by thunder punting the ball off the post and back into his own face.
With one thrilling upset and a few hearty dances, Senegal quickly became a fan favorite at the 2018 World Cup. Sadly, after a 1-0 win for Colombia vs Senegal, the Lions of Teranga are going home in the most excruciating way possible — FIFA fair play points.
Senegal and Japan finished tied in every way imaginable except for one. The two finished with the same number of points, goal differential, goals scored and head-to-head tiebreakers.
The great news for Mexico is that South Korea’s shock upset of Germany kept El Tri in the tournament. The bad news is that it’s Brazil lying in wait in the Round of 16. The even worse news? That right-hand side of Mexico that just got torched by Emil Forsberg and Ludwig Augustinsson now has to stop Neymar and Philippe Coutinho. The only real news of comfort for the backtracking Miguel Layun is that Marcelo might not be there.
Costa Rica lost two tough matches to start the 2018 World Cup. The 2014 quarterfinalist was a few moments away from earning two draws but instead took two losses. But the Switzerland vs Costa Rica match finished 2-2, giving Los Ticos a deserved point from their stay in Russia, even if it came thanks to an odd own goal.
El Tri fans will likely not want to watch the Mexico vs Sweden highlights from Wednesday’s World Cup Group F finale. The 3-0 defeat for the Concacaf side had few redeeming qualities for fans of Mexico. But hey, South Korea stunned Germany and El Tri advanced anyway, so who cares, right?
Mexico started the match out with the right attitude, not sitting back but not pushing too far forward. But that changed in the second half, when Sweden took the lead with three goals in 24 minutes.
Since the turn of the century it’s happened without fail: every World Cup, three nations that began the tournament ranked in FIFA’s top 20 have been unceremoniously dumped out at the group stage.
After registering somewhat surprising victories over Colombia and Poland on matchday one in Group H, Japan and Senegal played to a thrilling 2-2 draw in Yekaterinburg on Sunday. Sadio Mane opened the scoring for Senegal early in the first half, only for Takashi Inui to equalize 23 minutes later.
If Miguel Layun manages to bury any of his six total shots over in Russia, he’s one of the stories of the World Cup. Of course Chucky Lozano has been excellent. Of course Carlos Vela has taken his game to a level that even the most ardent of Vela supporters couldn’t have anticipated. Of course Andres Guardado is a wizened midfield wizard.
Group of Death? Watching the Mexico vs South Korea highlights you quickly realize the only ones dying are those going up against El Tri.
Placed in a difficult group with Germany, Sweden and South Korea, arguably the toughest in the World Cup, many thought Mexico would have a difficult time advancing to the Round of 16. After a 2-1 victory over South Korea on Saturday, El Tri is all but through to the knockout rounds and on the way to possibly winning Group F.