Belgium thrashed Tunisia, Mexico beat South Korea to almost qualify to the knockout stage. But the biggest moment of day 10 was Toni Kroos giving Germany hope of staying in this World Cup with a 95th minute goal against Sweden.
Belgium 5 Tunisia 2 (Match Highlights)
Unless something unexpected happens, Belgium will be in the round of 16 after another display of attacking flair and efficiency, this time scoring 3 before half time, not getting drawn into frustrating situations like in their opener against Panama. Romelu Lukaku showed once again how lethal he is when he gets space and doesn’t have to fight over long balls, while the passing of Kevin de Bruyne and speed of Eden Hazard proved to be perfect complementary pieces to the target man’s clinical finishing.
Group G Table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Belgium | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 2 | +6 | 6 | |
| 2 | England | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 3 | |
| 3 | Panama | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | −3 | 0 | |
| 4 | Tunisia | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 7 | −4 | 0 |
The win over Tunisia and their terrific goal difference means it’ll be very difficult for anyone to prevent Belgium from advancing into the next round, and unless England thrash Panama by an unlikely 6 goals, they’ll need to beat Belgium in the match between the two to finish first. That is, if they beat Panama beforehand.
South Korea 1 Mexico 2 (Match Highlights)
Two sides that love the ball on the ground and have knack for keeping the pace at full throttle from the moment the first whistle is blown provided one of the more fun-filled match of the tournament. In the end, all South Korea could do was get a consolation goal in the 9oth minute through Son, their sole danger man in the match, while Mexico once again showed their efficiency on the counter, exemplified in the second goal by Chicharito. Carlos Vela opened the scoring with a penalty kick, and the South Koreans, who won’t be advancing to the next round, were lucky not to see a red card or two.
Germany 2 Sweden 1 (Match Highlights)
Not a great match by Germany, finishing it with only 10 men after a late Jerome Boateng sending off, but Toni Kroos, who was the one to blame for Sweden’s early opener, scored a stunning free kick deep in injury time to give Germany a win, suddenly putting them in an excellent position to qualify after being on the brink of elimination. Marco Reus managed not to injure his knee while poking in the equalizer.
Group F Table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Mexico |
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 6 | |
| 2 |  Germany |
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | |
| 3 |  Sweden |
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | |
| 4 |  South Korea |
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 0 |
Mexico need to avoid defeat against Sweden to qualify, while Germany now need to beat South Korea, and wish for – A) Sweden to not win against Mexico, or to simply win by enough goals to give them a goal difference advantage no matter what happens. South Korea, in any case, are out of the picture.
Goal of the Day: Eden Hazard, Belgium
There were plenty of fine team passing and off the ball movement moments in Belgium’s demolition of Tunisia, but the finest of them came early in the second half, when a series of short passes in the middle of the pitch freed Eden Hazard to do his thing one on one, grabbing his second goal of the day.
Top Scorers
4 goals: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Romelu Lukaku (Belgium)
3 goals: Denis Cheryshev (Russia), Diego Costa (Spain)
2 goals: Harry Kane (England), Artem Dzyuba (Russia), Mile Jedinak (Australia), Luka Modric (Croatia), Philippe Coutinho (Brazil), Ahmed Musa (Nigeria), Eden Hazard (Belgium),
1 goal: Yuri Gazinsky, Aleksandr Golovin (Russia), Jose Maria Gimenez, Luis Suárez (Uruguay), Nacho (Spain), Paul Pogba, Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappe (France), Sergio Aguero (Argentina), Alfred Finnbogason (Iceland), Christian Eriksen,Yussuf Poulsen (Denmark), Aleksandar Kolarov, Aleksandar Mitrovic (Serbia), Hirving Lozano, Carlos Vela, Chicharito (Mexico), Neymar (Brazil), Steven Zuber, Granit Xhaka, Xherdan Shaqiri (Switzerland), Andreas Granqvist, Ola Toivonen (Sweden), Dries Mertens, Michy Batshuayi (Belgium), Ferjani Sassi, Dylan Bronn, Wahbi Khazri (Tunisia), Shinji Kagawa, Yuya Osaka (Japan), Juan Quintero (Colombia), M’Baye Niang (Senegal), Grzegorz Krychowiak (Poland), Mohamed Salah (Egypt), Ante Rebic, Ivan Rakitic (Croatia), Son Heung-Min (South Korea), Marco Reus (Germany)
Goals in the tournament: 71 goals in 29 matches, 2.45 per match.
Day 11 Matches:
England vs Panama (Group G)
Japan vs Senegal (Group H)
Poland vs Colombia (Group H)