Key events
In case you want a summary of how Belgium 3-2 Senegal went, I will provide post-match quotes from the coaches.
“Senegal deserved to win,” Belgium’s Rudi Garcia said. “But, I am happy it was us.”
“It is a cruel loss, as we were good in the game,” Senegal’s Pape Thiaw said. “We had the advantage. We were leading 2-0. However a football match is not an 85-minute one. Belgium came back, and we were not able to deal with that … We must congratulate Belgium as they progress.”
Krishnamoorthy emails: “The two African nations would feel cheated today. At least Congo can go knowing that one Harry Kane was a man possessed last night and turned in a supernatural performance but Senegal were certainly the better team yesterday. Am still glad it did not go to penalties. Did the Three Lions practice on Ben Nevis?”
Raphaël Jucobin
The flaws in this France team are difficult to spot. Aside from a few defensive lapses, none of which the Sweden attack could exploit, France turned in a performance that consolidated their status as tournament favourites. Even if there had been problems at the back, the overriding sentiment is that France’s free-flowing attacking quartet more than make up for any of their teammates’ shortcomings.
Mile Jedinak never missed a penalty when playing for Australia and scored from the spot three times at World Cups, to be well-placed to pass on advice as an assistant coach with the men’s national team. “It’s the familiarity of it and understanding what makes you feel in that moment [that] you have the right solution in that moment, you’ve got the tools to be able to deal with whatever’s being thrown at you,” he said.
And I appreciate all this has been forgotten because England won but Harry Kane should have been awarded a first-half penalty. When a goalkeeper slides and does not get the ball, of course the forward is going to take the contact. Kane is just being punished for being as clever as the officials desire.
Maurico Pochettino was rather unhappy with Folarin Balogun’s dismissal. The striker painfully caught the Bosnia and Herzegovina defender Tarik Muharemovic on the ankle but it was a complete accident with two players going for the ball.
To me it looked like another occasion that shows up an official’s lack of understanding of football. It it is a tangle of legs with two players focused on winning the ball. The problem of having so many replays of an incident and not really understanding how the body or mind works.
“Never was this a red card. Watching it on TV, never was there intention to step (on) the player,” Pochettino said. “That was a normal action in football. That happened by accident and it’s never intentional. That is why for me it was never a red card.”
Luka Modric and Cristiano Ronaldo are two of the very few players who are older than me at this World Cup. They do not make me feel young.
They meet later in the round of 32.
Philipp Lahm
Our columnist Philipp Lahm reviews the mediocrity of the German national team.
I am stunned. Germany have been eliminated early from a World Cup for the third time in a row. I need time to recover from this. The key word that needs to be discussed is continuity – something the national team have lacked for a decade. German football hasn’t decided how it wants to play. There are constantly new ideas, and time and again new players in new positions. Julian Nagelsmann has experimented too much, and not just during this tournament. Yet developing a team takes years.
Where would England be without Harry Kane? Out of the tournament is the simple answer. He will be getting into his teammates, demanding an improvement, otherwise the round of 16 could be this side’s last hoorah.
England will face Mexico at 1am BST on Monday morning. Thomas Tuchel is more of a fun uncle than responsible parent it would seem. I am not 100% sure how adults would function on little sleep, let alone the kids.
Ben Fisher
Ben Fisher had a quiet night in Seattle … not!
This time Senegal’s players did not depart the field prematurely owing to a burning sense of injustice, as they did in the Africa Cup of Nations final in January, but they did exit another knockout match aggrieved after Belgium advanced to the last 16 deep in extra time. The winning goal, a nerveless Youri Tielemans penalty which capped an extraordinary comeback from 2-0 down, came with 124 minutes and 44 seconds on the clock, cementing its place as the latest goal in World Cup history.
In the end, England were just about good enough but left no one thinking they could go all the way. Thomas Tuchel made some bold squad selections and they are starting to feel incorrect at this stage.
See what was said in Atlanta …
David Hytner’s report.
Harry ‘the shark’ Kane.
Ed Aarons on player ratings duty. The defence do not come out of it well.
Barney Ronay on Harry Kane.
Jacob Steinberg on avoiding disaster.
And the whole game in picture form. Some sad, some happy.
The Belgians will play USA after Mauricio Pochettino’s side saw off Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Alexander Abnos was on report duty.
Balogun’s sending off was somewhat controversial.
Pablo Iglesias Maurer on an up and down night for the Monaco striker.
And plenty of pics.
Preamble
What a fun night of knockout football it was. Harry Kane dragged England through on an unconvincing night for Thomas Tuchel. It was all quite pedestrian against DR Congo but when you have one of the world’s best striker’s leading the side, anything is possible. The match provided more questions than answers, and many of the former will be posed to Tuchel before facing Mexico on Sunday/Monday, depending on where you are in the world.
In the second game, Belgium were calling the concierge and asking for their bags down to be brought so they could make a quick escape from Seattle. No one saw the coming on the horizon but it was ruddy impressive, albeit heartbreaking for Senegal. The African side fell apart after outplaying their European opponents. The late late late winner was seen as controversial but it looked like a penalty to me.
USA made sure all three co-hosts made it through but will ponder the cost of Folarin Balogun’s sending off, which will make him miss out against Belgium next time around.
We will also buildup to today’s fixtures.
Spain v Austria
Portugal v Croatia
Switzerland v Algeria
