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Friday’s schedule took some time to get going as Costa Rica was doing their most CONCACAF impression ever and slowing down and uglying up the game against Brazil plus an outstanding keeper standing on his head. It was working well until Brazil got a 91st minute goal and tacked on another for good measure in the 97th minute to win 2-0, eliminating Costa Rica.
Nigeria put themselves in a good position to advance with a 2-0 win over Iceland while Switzerland were in big trouble down 1-0 to Serbia at halftime in the day’s final match. Switzerland made a furious comeback in the second half that concluded with a 90th minute Xherdan Shaqiri winner to earn a hard fought 2-1 win.
Before we get to our games today, I would like to point out it is World Cup Day 10 and we have yet to have a scoreless draw in Russia.
Belgium vs. Tunisia
Time: 5:00 AM
Location: Spartak Stadium, Moscow
TV: FOX (English) and Telemundo (Spanish)
Announcing team: JP Dellacamera and Tony Meoloa (English)
Streaming: Fox Sports Go and Telemundo Deportes
Belgium took a while to get going in their opener against an overmatched Panama team and the game went to halftime 0-0. In the second half order was restored and it turns out the Seattle Sounders Roman Torres, Panama’s Captain, was not able to shut down Romelu Lukaku for 90 minutes while also simultaneously watching out for Eden Hazard running between the defensive lines and the game ended with a comfortable 3-0 Belgium win.
Tunisia lost their opener to England 2-1 but it took a stoppage time winner from Harry Kane, his second goal on the day, to seal the three points. Tunisia showed that they are a organized defense and will look to put out the same game plan against Belgium they did against England and hope for a result. With a winnable Panama game looming in their finale, there is a scenario in play that a close loss here for Tunisia is not by any means a disaster.
South Korea vs. Mexico
Time: 8:00 AM
Location: Rostov Arena, Rostov-On-Don
TV: FOX (English) and Telemundo (Spanish)
Announcing team: Jorge Perez-Navarro and Mariano Trujillo (English)
Streaming: Fox Sports Go and Telemundo Deportes
Mexico earned the upset of the tournament in a tournament full of upsets when they beat Germany 1-0 in their opener. Mexico fully deserved the win as they came out to attack Germany from the opening whistle. With better finishing and a few linked passes on multiple 3 on 1 counter attacks, that scoreline could have been much more impressive to Mexico. Mexico are definitely a better team than South Korea, but their press corps can sometimes be exuberant and prone to overreaction. It will be curious to see how they open this match as big favorites instead of heavy underdogs like their opener.
South Korea lost 1-0 to Sweden in their opener. It was their sixth World Cup match in a row without a win. Even though Sweden needed VAR to earn the penalty kick that lead to the goal, South Korea rarely threatened and the big story out of Korean training this week is who is starting at striker. This might be the best opponent for a Mexico team wary of avoiding being too overconfident as the South Koreans are somewhat in disarray.
Germany vs. Sweden
Time: 11:00 AM
Location: Fisht Stadium, Sochi
TV: FOX (English) and Telemundo (Spanish)
Announcing team: John Strong and Stu Holden (English)
Streaming: Fox Sports Go and Telemundo Deportes
The last time Sweden won two matches in a row in a World Cup Finals was in 1958 when Sweden was the host. With a Germany team focused after losing their opener to Mexico, that stat does not bode well for the Seattle Sounders Gustav Svensson and the rest of Sweden’s defense.
With their third and final group match scheduled against Mexico, this game might be about Sweden trying to preserve their goal differential and save everything for the finale.
Sweden and Germany have a long history in international soccer dating back to that 1958 World Cup but Sweden have not beaten Germany in any competition since 1978 with 6 losses and 5 draws against Germany over the last 40 years. The strangest game in that stretch was a World Cup qualifier in Germany for the 2014 World Cup that was played in October of 2012. Germany, who would go on to win the World Cup, were up 4-0 at the 60 minute mark and cruising. But somehow Sweden put four goals on Manuel Neuer over the last 30 minutes en route to an improbable 4-4 draw.