What did you miss last night? And what’s on the schedule for today? Our daily concise roundup—this time featuring the goalless Lions, a special milestone, and a rock-solid goalkeeper who was finally beaten.
It wasn’t exactly a spectacle that England and Ghana put on in the first half. The Three Lions had more of the play, but they were too static and created hardly any scoring chances. The Black Stars, coached by Carlos Queiroz, were a bit more active in the second half, but ultimately proved harmless as well. Adu also failed to get the ball past Pickford on two occasions: first, there was a collision, then he shot at Semenyo, who was offside.
In the closing stages, the English, now pressing hard, almost scored the winning goal, but Saka was denied by the quick-reacting Asare, and later O’Reilly hit the crossbar. Kane blasted the rebound over the crossbar from close range—meaning the Bayern striker now trails the top scorers Messi, Mbappé, and Haaland, who had all scored twice the previous day. Nevertheless, Thomas Tuchel’s team remains at the top of Group L with four points.
After a 2-4 loss to England in their opener, the 2022 World Cup third-place finishers were already under some pressure against Panama. In Modric’s 200th international match, the Croatians had the upper hand on the field, but lacked the precision in the final third to pose a truly serious threat. Panama’s game plan was much more straightforward, and so the team led by former Bundesliga striker Thomas Christiansen repeatedly made promising forays forward. Ultimately, substitute Budimir sealed the victory. The former FC St. Pauli forward capitalized on a fine cross from Bayern’s Stanisic in the 54th minute to make it 1–0.
Mpasi put on a veritable showcase of saves against Colombia in the early going. The DR Congo goalkeeper unnerved the Cafeteros with his sharp reflexes and made several crucial saves to keep his team from falling behind. The ball did find the net once, but Muñoz was narrowly offside, so the goal was disallowed following a VAR review. The water break, however, disrupted the South Americans’ flow; their momentum toward the goal stalled, allowing Mpasi and his defenders to catch their breath. Shortly after play resumed, however, the 31-year-old goalkeeper was called into action again and made a save against Luis Díaz. In the closing stages, Mpasi was finally beaten—and in a most unfortunate manner, as Kapuadi deflected Muñoz’s shot into the near corner. Another goal by the Colombians, scored by Luis Diaz, was again disallowed for offside. Shortly before the end, Colombia’s goalkeeper Vargas was also forced into action, but he deflected Mbuku’s shot around the post, securing the 1-0 victory—and a spot in the Round of 16.
Here’s what today’s World Cup action brings—and what’s next for Germany
The second matchday is in the books; the final one kicks off on Wednesday at 9 p.m. Switzerland will open the action against Canada, while at the same time, Bosnia-Herzegovina will hope for its first win against Qatar and a slim chance of advancing to the knockout stage. In Group C, Brazil (midnight against Scotland) and Morocco (midnight against Haiti) are locked in a long-distance battle for first place in the group. The Scots can still finish first, but they’ll need some help from Haiti.
At 3 a.m., Mexico faces the Czech Republic in Group A, where the Mexicans have already clinched first place. South Africa and South Korea, who face off at the same time, also still have a chance to advance.
And what about the German national team? After their final training session (4:30 p.m. CEST) on Wednesday, they’ll travel to New York, as their final group stage match against Ecuador takes place on Thursday in East Rutherford (10 p.m.). The press conference is scheduled for this evening (7:45 p.m. local time, 1:45 a.m. CEST) and will feature Julian Nagelsmann and Deniz Undav.
