World Cup favourites France were made to sweat to book their quarter-final place but Kylian Mbappe’s second-half penalty proved enough to help them past a resolute Paraguay in Philadelphia. Paraguay limited the two-time winners to very few chances until substitute Desire Doue was fouled inside the box by Brighton’s Diego Gomez and referee Ilgiz Tantashev pointed to the spot after a video assistant referee (VAR) intervention.
Read more
Nikola Vlasic scored late to earn Croatia a 2-1 win over Ghana in Philadelphia and ensure a second-place finish behind England in Group L and a meeting with Portugal. Both sides were in strong positions going into their final group game and both have progressed to the last 32, despite Ghana being denied second spot by Vlasic’s late finish, though the result also confirmed Scotland’s elimination.
Read more
Nicolas Pepe scored twice as Ivory Coast reached the World Cup knockout stages for the first time thanks to a 2-0 victory which eliminated tournament debutants Curacao. Arsenal’s one-time €83.5m record signing gave his country a seventh-minute lead in Philadelphia, slotting in from close range following Yan Diomande’s cut back from the left before adding a second in the 65th minute.
Read more
Kylian Mbappe scored twice on his 100th appearance for France as they beat Iraq 3-0 in a match delayed for more than two hours by bad weather. Mbappe scored either side of the storm which delayed the second half to move alongside Miroslav Klose on 16 World Cup goals, behind only Lionel Messi who took the record to 18 with two goals against Austria on Monday.
Read more
Matheus Cunha scored twice as Brazil moved top of World Cup Group C with a 3-0 win over Haiti. Vinicius Junior netted the third, with all of the goals coming in a first half during which Brazil looked markedly improved from their insipid opening draw against Morocco. The result ensures Haiti, who lost to Scotland 1-0 in their first game, can no longer reach the knockout phase.
Read more