FootieTalks

Uruguay 2-1 Portugal  PSG's Edinson Cavani scored two superb goals as Uruguay beat Portugal to set up a World Cup quarter-final meeting with France. The defeat for the European champions ended Cristiano Ronaldo's hopes of success in Russia just mere hours after Lionel Messi and his Argentina team were knocked out, after being beaten 4-3 by Les Bleus.  This World Cup has not been short of stunning goals and Cavani added another to the collection when he opened the scoring early on, playing a superb one-two with Luis Suarez before thumping home a header from his strike partner's cross, and his second also demonstrated his sheer class, passing the ball into the back of the net with ease, from outside of the box Uruguay had not previously conceded a goal at this World Cup before Pepe rose unmarked to nod in an equaliser from close range, which started a brief spell of dominance for Portugal.  It was Cavani who secured Uruguay's place in the last eight - and a ...

France 4-3 Argentina Wow, what a way to kick off the 2018 Russian World Cup Last 16! The game started brightly, especially the French being the more exciting team. PSG's Kylian  Mbappé  won a penalty, which was converted by Antoine Griezmann converting the spot kick.  From that point on, Argentina wormed themselves back into the game, with a fabulous finish by Angel Di Maria to level in the 41st minute. Fullback Mercado gave Argentina their lead for the first time in the game in the 48th minute with a very clever touch from a Lionel Messi shot.  The next goalscorer was also a fullback, with France's Pavard score an absolutely thunderous finish, that is being discussed as goal of the tournament, as is Di Maria's, and that definitely was better than that of Nacho against Portugal earlier in the group stage. Following the equaliser, the match became the  Mbappé  show. A close range shot wa...

Before the tournament kicked off, I made some predictions about how I felt the tournament would progress.  As you can see, I was fairly accurate in my predictions.  I didn't expect the dismal campaign Egypt endured, and was suprised that Lewandowski didn't have the tournament we all expected him to. I also, albeit unfairly, underestimated Switzerland. I don't think anyone could say that they expected the holders to be knocked out so early on, and Low's side had a dreadful campaign, carrying on the curse of the holders. So now I have updated my predictions, which sees; Uruguay beat Portugal, Spain to beat Russia, France knock out Messi and Argentina, Croatia to beat Denmark, Brazil knock out the impressive Mexico, Switzerland beat Sweden, Belgium knock out Japan and England beat Columbia,    The quarter final sees France knock out Uruguay, Spain to b...

England 0-1 Belgium England will face a tricky test against Colombia in the last 16 of the 2018 Russian World Cup after a spectacular strike by former Manchester United midfielder Adnan Januzaj ensured that Belgium finished top of Group G on 9 points. Gareth Southgate made eight changes from England's win against Panama, while opposite number Roberto Martinez made 1 more, in nine alterations, proving that victory was not exactly the top priority as the tournament moves towards the knockout phase. That was illustrated by a largely mediocre and lifeless encounter in Kaliningrad, the former Manchester United attacker cutting inside before curling a left-foot finish high past Jordan Pickford. England who desperately missed absent captain and leading World Cup scorer Harry Kane barely threatened and though Marcus Rashford should have equalised the Belgium keeper Thibaut Courtois touched his effort wide after he ran clear. Southgate must now reflect on England's first l...

Tunisia 2-1 Panama A second-half strike from Sunderland's Wahbi Khazri ensured Tunisia ended their World Cup Group G campaign with a victory, as Panama finished bottom. The north African side, who had an astonishing 14 chances, fell a goal behind when Jose Luis Rodriguez's effort deflected in off Yassine Meriah. Fakhreddine Ben Youssef equalised for Tunisia when he tapped home Khazri's low ball. Khazri then scored his second of the tournament, previously scoring against Belgium when he fired home Oussama Haddadi's cross.

Senegal 0-1 Columbia  Barcelona's Yerry Mina scored a second-half header to send Colombia into a last-16 tie with England at the 2018 World Cup. Senegal spent the final 20 minutes pushing for an equaliser which would have sent the African side through, and former captain and now manager Aliou Cisse's side were level with Japan in terms of points and goal difference, but crucially not yellow cards.  Colombia had to win to cement their progress, but with Poland beating Japan 1-0 in Volgograd, African representation at the World Cup was ended as Senegal failed to secure the point that they needed.  The South Americans will now face Group G runners-up England in Moscow on Tuesday, while Japan take on Belgium in Rostov-on-Don on Monday. 

Japan 0-1 Poland Japan reached the last 16 of the World Cup by having a better disciplinary record than Senegal, despite losing to Poland in their final Group H game. The match finished in farcical fashion, and ended a rather boring affair, with both sides happy to play the ball around at the back for much of the final quarter. Akira Nishino's side finished with the same number of points, goals scored and goals conceded as Senegal, however were shown only four yellow cards during the group stage to the African side's six. The new Fair Play Rules introduced this year sent Japan through to the next round, breaking Senegalese hearts, who played the better football over the 3 group games. "We did not go for victory but we just relied on the other match," said Nishino. "That was slightly regrettable but I suppose at that point I didn't have any other plans. "I am really not happy about how we played but we wanted to go through to the round of 16 a...

Mexico 0-3 Sweden After an excellent start to their World Cup, Mexico became undone against a well performing Swedish side who  propelled themselves into the World Cup knockout stage with a deserved victory over Mexico that qualified them as Group F winners and sent Germany to early elimination. Mexico, who found themselves undone on the counter attack and from the penalty spot , before conceding an own goal, joined Sweden in reaching the next round as runners-up despite the defeat as a result of the defending champions also losing. Sweden also had a first-half penalty claim for a handball by Javier Hernandez denied despite going to a VAR review, but in the end it mattered little after their three second-half goals. Ludwig Augustinsson fired Sweden ahead five minutes after the break when a Viktor Claesson mis-hit inadvertently found him free at the far post, before Andreas Granqvist smashed home a penalty 12 minutes later following Hector Moreno's trip on Marcus Ber...

South Korea 2-0 Germany  Defending champions Germany were knocked out of the tournament as they lost their second game of the tournament, finishing bottom of their group on 3 points in one of the biggest shocks in World Cup history. The four-time winners crashed out in humiliating fashion, conceding twice in injury time as the Germans pressed for the goal which would have sent them through. In an astonishing and enthralling end to the match, Kim Young-Gwon's 92nd-minute goal - which was originally ruled out for offside was eventually awarded after a video assistant referee decision - left Germany on the brink of elimination. The worse was yet to come for the world's number one ranked side when deep into stoppage time and becoming increasingly desperate sweeper-keeper Manuel Neuer lost possession in the Koreans half. Ju Se-jong pumped it forward,where Son Heung-min tapped into an empty net to score the second, which prompted jubilant celebrations from the already kno...

Switzerland 2-2 Costa Rica Switzerland set up a World Cup last-16 tie with Sweden after a draw with Costa Rica that featured bizarre late penalty drama.  Vladimir Petkovic's side kicked off only a point from their final Group E game to reach the knockout stages for the third time in four tournaments, but Serbia's 2-0 defeat by Brazil meant that they would have gone through even with a defeat.  The Swiss had to settle for a second place in their group and just a point, despite substitute Josip Drmic giving them a 2-1 lead late on in the 88th minute. Already eliminated Costa Rica equalised in injury time, as Bryan Ruiz's penalty hit the crossbar and then bounced in off Swiss goalkeeper Yann Sommer's head for an own goal in a weird turn of events.

Serbia 0-2 Brazil Brazil avoided a shock result like Germany had earlier in the day, with the Wold Champions knocked out of the World Cup, by defeating Serbia to finish top of Group E and book a challenging last-16 tie against Mexico. The Brazilians did so with a dazzling performance that suggests that they are growing into a tournament that they are one of the favourites to win, as they put behind them their slow start in Russia. Paulinho had deservedly put Brazil in front with a nimble finish after an excellent run from deep saw him convert a Philippe Coutinho through ball in the 36th minute. Tite's team had to protect a slender lead for a shaky 15-minute period at the start of the second half, as Serbia went all out for the win they then needed for them to progress. But Newcastle's Aleksandar Mitrovic found an opposition defender when he should have scored and saw another header saved by the unconvincing Alisson. Once Thiago Silva extended Brazil's advantage wi...

France 0-0 Denmark   The first 0-0 of the 2018 FIFA World Cup  was absolutely dismal as France's second team were disappointing and produced nothing to convince Didier Deschamps they deserved a place in the starting XI for the knockouts.    There isn't much of a game to review to be frank, as group winners France ended their group stage with a tiresome and horrifically dull 0-0 draw, the first of this years tournament. which was greeted by boos at the final whistle.  A draw was good enough to see a much-changed French side top Group C, while the Danes knew a point would be enough for them too, even if Australia beat Peru. That scenario resulted in a game that lacked drive, chances, entertainment and any element of danger, which was not helped by news midway through the first half that Peru were winning in Sochi.  The fans in Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium began enthusiastically enough, especially the red-...

Australia 0-2 Peru C aptains' Calling Peru captain  Paolo Guerrero scored his countries second goal, following his 14 month drug ban being overturned after a  tribunal ruling and letters from his fellow group contenders captains asking he is permitted to play.  The Socceroos needed to defeat already-eliminated Peru and hope that France beat Denmark in order to reach the last 16, but the South Americans went ahead with a well struck, low 15-yard volley from Andre Carrillo. Some excellent defending from Anderson Santamaria denied Mathew Leckie a close-range equaliser as Australia struggled to create clear-cut chances. Peruvian captain Paolo Guerrero, only able to play in the tournament after a tribunal ruling overturned a 14-month drug ban, was the man who sealed the victory when he spun and shot into the far corner, executing the chance with perfection. Christian Cueva had also hi...

Spain 2-2 Morocco  Iago Aspas scored a stoppage-time equaliser - with the aid of VAR - as an unconvincing Spain team scraped a draw with Morocco to top Group B and secure a last-16 tie against World Cup hosts Russia. Youssef En-Nesyri, who plays for Malaga in Spain, looked to have won it for Herve Renard's side when he powered in a superb header from fellow substitute Faycal Fajr's corner with 10 minutes to play.  Iago Aspas flicked in Dani Carvajal's low cross to make it 2-2, with referee Ravshan Irmatov initially disallowing the goal before overturning the decision, giving Spain their lifeline. Spain won the group on goals scored as Portugal were held to a 1-1 draw by Iran - but had a both Iberian teams had a tough night. A dreadful mix-up between veterans Andres Iniesta and Sergio Ramos had allowed Khalid Boutaib to stride through and give Morocco a surprise 14th-minute lead. Iniesta made up for his errors five minutes later by helping create a sublime ...

Iran 1-1 Portugal  Portugal progressed to the World Cup knockout stages after drawing with Iran in a game full of VAR controversy. Cristiano Ronaldo missed a penalty for Portugal and was shown a yellow card after a lengthy VAR review for a possible red card. Iran scored a late penalty, given after another video review, and could have snatched a winner in stoppage time which would have seen them through at Portugal's expense. Ricardo Quaresma put Portugal in front with a screamer of a goal at the end of the first half. The late Iran penalty denied the European champions top spot in the group and means they play the tougher tie of  Uruguay in Sochi in the last 16 on Saturday, rather than Group A runners-up Russia.

Uruguay 3-0 Russia Russia's impressive start to the World Cup ended as they had a man sent off in the first half, were easily defeated by Uruguay, whose victory means they top Group A. There was a party atmosphere around the scorching Samara Arena before kick-off, with fans having travelled from all over the country keen to share in the good feeling surrounding their national team. The already qualified hosts had to fight it out with Uruguay for top spot in Group A.  Russia had scored eight goals in their first 2 games with victories over Saudi Arabia and Egypt and were already guaranteed to progress, but they went behind in their final group match after only 10 minutes when Luis Suarez drilled in a clever low free-kick. It got worse for Stanislav Cherchesov's Russia side when a Diego Laxalt effort from 25 yards was deflected in by Denis Cheryshev, leaving his keeper Igor Akifneev stranded and in the embarrassing position of having conceded three goals at the tourna...

Saudi Arabia 2-1 Egypt Mohamed Salah scored his second goal of the World Cup but Egypt ended their campaign pointless with defeat by Saudi Arabia at Volgograd Arena. The Liverpool star, who had an unbelievable season, and sadly injured in the Champions League Final gave Egypt the lead with a brilliant lob over keeper Yasser Al-Mosailem in the 22nd minute. Egypt's Essam El Hadary, 45, became the oldest player to feature at a World Cup and saved Fahad Al Muwallad's penalty. However, he could not stop Salman Al Faraj's attempt at a spot-kick and was beaten again by Salem Al Dawsari with seconds left to give Saudi their first win at a Word Cup Finals in 24 years, and Egypt leave the competition on 0 points. 

Colombia 3-0 Poland Another poor Poland and Lewandowski performance ended hopes of progression for the Poles, as Colombia made up for their disappointing loss against Japan.  Radamel Falcao scored his first ever World Cup goal as Colombia got their tournament in Russia started with an impressive victory that ended a lacklustre Poland side's hopes of reaching the last 16. Barcelona's Yerry Mina nodded in a James Rodriguez cross shortly before the interval to give the South Americans a lead.  Falcao, who missed the finals four years ago with injury, broke through in the second half before he drove a low strike into the far corner and Juan Cuadrado capped off a fine team performance with an accomplished finish after racing on to Rodriguez's exquisite ball behind the Poland defence. It was a much improved performance by Colombia following the disappointing 2-1 defeat by Japan in their Group H opener and will give their fans hope they can at least m...