Those confirmed teams, and the launch of Rob Smyth’s England v Panama live coverage, with the match kicking off at 1pm BST concludes this blog for the day. Thanks for joining us. We’ll be back tomorrow.
Updated
England team confirmed: Pickford, Walker, Stones, Maguire, Lingard, Henderson, Trippier, Young, Loftus-Cheek, Sterling, Kane.
Panama meanwhile: Penedo, Murillo, Roman Torres, Escobar, Davis, Barcenas, Cooper, Gomez, Godoy, Jose Luis Rodriguez, Perez.
Updated
Tom H emails in on that tiebreaker scenario. God forbid this happens, there will be panic, but Tom might just have cleaned up.
“From our understanding: if two or more teams are level on points and have identical records, they are separated using fair play points and beyond that, the drawing of lots. If you look at the tie-breaker rules carefully, before the fair play comes into effect, there are the following three tests:
1. Greatest number of points obtained in the group matches between the teams concerned
2. Goal difference resulting from the group matches between the teams concerned
3. Greater number of goals scored in all group matches between the teams concerned
That phrase “between the teams concerned’ is pretty important. What it says is to discount the results against teams NOT concerned. In this case, that’s South Korea. You end up with a table between the three teams (Germany, Sweden, Mexico), all with the same points and the same goal difference….. but in this scenario, Mexico will have scored one less goal against the “other teams concerned” than Sweden or Germany, meaning they will miss out on progression to the next round.
However, if the results are at 2-1 instead of 1-0, then it will go to the fairplay situation. I could be wrong on this..... but that’s my read.”
Niall Mullen emails in. “Has anyone thought of playing Rashford and Sterling? They are both more dangerous players than Lingard. Alternatively play all 3 with Sterling in the number 10 position. He was pretty good there the times he did it for Liverpool.”
My recollection is of Sterling not being much cop in that position four years ago, which is not to say he can’t do it now but Southgate appears to favour twinned attacking midfielders rather than attackers. And isn’t Sterling’s role off the striker - Harry Kane - anyway?
Our man Barney Ronay has made his predictions and he’s sticking to them.
Prediction: England 2-0 Panama (Kane, Sterling)
— Barney Ronay (@barneyronay) June 24, 2018
Loftus-Cheek plays well.
Sterling goal sparks feel-good team celebration.
Gareth afterwards "cautiously optimistic"
A question from Argha: “What happens in Group F if Germany beats S.Korea 1-0 and Sweden beat Mexico 1-0? Germany, Sweden and Mexico would then have identical points, goal difference,goals scored and goals conceded.”
From our understanding: if two or more teams are level on points and have identical records, they are separated using fair play points and beyond that, the drawing of lots. The first scenario could be bad for Germany after Jerome Boateng’s mystery red card against Sweden while lots drawing bring back memories of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.
TS Ahmad has emailed in: “Any news on the Argentinian coach’s status? I so want to hear he be sacked before the final game with Nigeria, though that won’t solve the quality midfield that Argentina lacks.”
There is much talk of a rebellion in the ranks, with Lionel Messi leading the insurrection against Jorge Sampaoli, and wanting him sacked. However, this appears to have failed. Sacking the coach with a game still to play, and possibly the rest of the tournament would have franked any of the shenanigans that Spain served up on the eve of Russia 2018. And would have been great fun. But TS makes a great point; who can make Enzo Perez a better player? And overnight?
Argentina have the chance to be the France 2010 of this tournament and there may be time yet.
Familiar problems being blamed for South Korea’s woes. After losing to Mexico on Saturday, and pointless, they must beat Germany to have a chance to make the last 16. Shin Tae-yong might as well be Gareth Southgate or a Scotland manager when saying this.
We have systemic problems. We must think how we can improve our domestic league and work with young players. We lack experience and that doesn’t come overnight.
Michael Cosgrove emails in. “No player gets to pull on an England shirt without having spent years working hard for it and, for some, being regularly forced to confront and overcome adversity in the form of injuries and a lack of games, and that’s why I’m extremely pleased to see Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s name on today’s team list. As Dominic Fifield’s piece reveals, the lad has had more than his fair share of challenges to overcome, including Mourhino’s lack of faith in him, so I hope he has a great game and goes on to become a regular fixture because if anyone deserves a break for once it’s him.”
Michael makes a fair point, and one well made. Loftus-Cheek, like many from Chelsea’s farm of talent, has had a tough ride beyond winning the FA Youth Cup. When being asked about Loftus-Cheek in the build-up to Chelsea’s 2016-17 season (and how did that go?), Mourinho said this: “You need ten minutes. In ten minutes you can show me if you are ready or if you are not ready.”
A tough school, and Loftus-Cheek’s ten minutes didn’t work out. He needed a couple of years and some rather more pastoral care.
Updated
Let’s not forget today’s other games. At 4pm BST, we have Japan v Senegal, a match in which our minute-by-minute coverage comes in both English and Japanese, with, unless there’s been a huge mistake on the rota, Paul Doyle doing the former and Ben Mabley doing the latter. Ben’s MBM on Japan’s first game, their defeat of Colombia has been capturing some local attention in the Asahi Shimbun.
Updated
Away from plucky England, to France, who are safely into the last 16 with performances that would probably have had UK TV’s Team GB-inspired tub-thumping, chest-beating punditry posse in raptures. The real truth, of course, is that France have been no good so far, and Paul Pogba is getting a bit doomy.
It might be my last World Cup. I’m realistic, we don’t know if I’ll be called up, maybe other players will be better than me. I hope I’ll play more. I’ve already had the chance to play two, some can only dream to play one.
Good morning, world. And thanks to Scott and Jonathan. Ok, then. This is the time, this is the hour, this is this. Or, actually, what should be an easy win for England or else the chumminess of Camp Repino will descend into rancour far worse than the contents of Steve Holland’s notebook caused.
Updated
Anyway, that’s your lot from me. I’m passing you into the loving arms of John Brewin. He’s all yours, dear reader.
From Cold Blow Lane to Central America. Sid Lowe meets Gary Stempel, the man from Millwall who helped guide the minnows of Panama to World Cup glory.
Four years is a long time in football. Just ask
Joachim Löw
José Pekerman. The Colombia manager was a hero after Brazil 2014 ... now, after a shock opening defeat to Japan, not so much. Carl Worswick tells the sorry tale.
New-fangled radio dept. Max Rushden and Barry Glendenning discuss Germany’s Houdini act, John Guidetti’s presence of mind, and Belgium’s five-star performance on the latest edition of World Cup Football Daily.
Dejan Lovren is fond of telling it the way he sees it. And the big Croatia defender reckons his teammate Luka Modric should be in the running for the world’s best player of the year award - but he’s likely to miss out because he doesn’t play for one of the traditional international superpowers. “Modric would probably be getting more attention than he is right now if he was a German or Spanish player he would maybe even be a Ballon D’Or winner,” Lovren says. “Because we are a smaller country, he does get less attention than he deserves.”
The Serbian FA are on a rolling boil. They’re not happy with referee Felix Brych’s officiating during their dramatic 2-1 loss to Switzerland, and have accordingly whined to Fifa in the official style.
We have submitted seven video recordings clearly showing Brych’s tendency to make decisions against our national team. The footage reveals Brych’s double standards in brandishing yellow cards, as he was quick to book our key players while he didn’t do the same in similar situations at the other end. The most glaring poor decision was not awarding Serbia a penalty for a foul on Aleksandar Mitrovic with the score 1-1, and awarding the spot kick could have turned the match our way. The whole world saw the penalty except Brych and it should have gone to VAR analysis. We are wondering why Serbia is the only team in the World Cup where the match official chose to ignore controversial situations at it raises the legitimate question whether the VAR is being used selectively.
Two observations: (a) Where’s the dignity? (b) VAR: a modern success story.
News at Ten: In case you missed the earlier dispatch from our man in Russia, Dominic Fifield, here’s the big team news ahead of England’s match against Panama this lunchtime.
Raheem Sterling is to retain his place in the England lineup for this afternoon’s Group G game against Panama, with Gareth Southgate set to make a solitary change - Ruben Loftus-Cheek for the injured Dele Alli - for the matchin Nizhny Novgorod.
While Steve Holland’s training notes, photographed at an open session on Thursday, had appeared to indicate Marcus Rashford might get the nod up front alongside Harry Kane, Sterling will partner the captain against the side ranked 55 in the world. The Manchester City forward is aiming to score his first goal for his country since October 2015, 21 caps ago, as England seek to secure qualification from the section.
Ashley Young has again been preferred to Danny Rose at left wing-back, while Loftus-Cheek will make his first World Cup start as Alli continues his rehabilitation from a thigh strain. The Spurs midfielder is hopeful of proving his fitness ahead of Thursday’s final group game against Belgium in Kaliningrad.
Paul MacInnes processed Germany’s jaw-dropping feat of escapology last night with a mixture of awe and wonder. Here’s his take on the current state of the still-reigning world champions.
There are many questions about this team that remain unanswered. In short, here are a few: the form of Jérôme Boateng, the positions occupied by their full-backs, the wild variations in tempo, the apparent lack of an effective number nine. But all of them seem less significant than the fact that Germany remain Germany and they’re still in the World Cup.
Peru striker Jefferson Farfan has been hospitalised after a clash of heads with one of the squad’s goalkeepers in training. The Peruvian FA reports that initial results have been “favourable for the player” but he’ll remain in the hospital for monitoring. Peru are already out after losses to Denmark and France. They still have a match against Australia to come in Sochi.
Wilson’s got his chalkboard out. A typically wonderful column, in which tactics guru Jonathan gets to the heart of the goalscoring problem blighting this World Cup.
The pattern has been clear for at least three decades and is predictable and natural. The lack of time available to coaches mean that they, naturally, make a priority of defensive structures over attacking ones: while an under-drilled attack can always conjure a goal from nothing, an under-drilled defence will always concede. Besides, defensive principles are relatively universal; much less adaptation is required than for attacks that can vary wildly.
Just because. Enjoy.
Football fans witnessed the spectacular Scarlet Sails festivities in St Petersburg last night. The tradition celebrates the end of the school year, as a ship with scarlet sails serenely glides towards the Winter Palace. Fans of Brazil, Costa Rica, Argentina and Nigeria lined the banks to enjoy the spectacle, which also included a firework display.
I wonder what Lieutenant Commander Tommy Woodrooffe would have made of this?
That’s All Right Then dept. And it’s more on world champions Germany cavorting with glee at the end of their dramatic win over Sweden. The Swedes weren’t too happy with the reaction on the German bench at the time, but in typically easy-going Scandinavian style, all is now forgiven. Yay! Sweden substitute Pontus Jansson lost his temper with the Germans, but has now calmed down: “Some of them celebrated in a disrespectful way. There was a lot of feelings, we had just let in a goal and lost the game, so it was pretty sour. Maybe there was unnecessary anger from me, but they apologised afterwards so it’s just a case of accepting it. There were a lot of feelings in the heat of the moment.”
England team v Panama: Sterling to start
Just in case you missed the earlier breaking news ... in scenes that would put John le Carré to shame, our man in Russia, Dominic Fifield, has been peering through binoculars at scraps of paper in order to decode England’s line-up against Panama. And here’s what he’s found out!
Raheem Sterling is to retain his place in the England lineup for this afternoon’s Group G game against Panama, with Gareth Southgate set to make a solitary change - Ruben Loftus-Cheek for the injured Dele Alli - for the matchin Nizhny Novgorod.
While Steve Holland’s training notes, photographed at an open session on Thursday, had appeared to indicate Marcus Rashford might get the nod up front alongside Harry Kane, Sterling will partner the captain against the side ranked 55 in the world. The Manchester City forward is aiming to score his first goal for his country since October 2015, 21 caps ago, as England seek to secure qualification from the section.
Ashley Young has again been preferred to Danny Rose at left wing-back, while Loftus-Cheek will make his first World Cup start as Alli continues his rehabilitation from a thigh strain. The Spurs midfielder is hopeful of proving his fitness ahead of Thursday’s final group game against Belgium in Kaliningrad.
Apropos of nothing ...
The latest World Cup dispatch from the Observer’s award-winning diarist David Hills. And it’s been a great week for Sepp Blatter, Mo Salah, and ITV’s Sam Matterface.
Paul Doyle has cast his expert eye over the World Cup so far, and rustled up an XI to take on all comers. Cristiano Ronaldo, Luka Modric, Moussa Wagué, Nordin Amrabat, Alireza Beiranvand ... this is your moment.
While we’re on the subject of Raheem Sterling ... the Manchester City winger, having taken an unreasonable amount of flak from clowns, responded eloquently in the Players’ Tribune recently. Here’s more on the US site, which is better known for its baseball coverage.
So Gareth Southgate opts to keep faith with the brilliant Raheem Sterling, instead of replacing him with the brilliant Marcus Rashford. It wasn’t a bad dilemma to have, was it? Here’s Daniel Taylor on the cautious optimism in the England camp.
BREAKING NEWS. Here’s how England will be lining up this afternoon against Panama, courtesy of our man Dominic Fifield.
Raheem Sterling is to retain his place in the England lineup for this afternoon’s Group G game against Panama, with Gareth Southgate set to make a solitary change - Ruben Loftus-Cheek for the injured Dele Alli - for the matchin Nizhny Novgorod.
While Steve Holland’s training notes, photographed at an open session on Thursday, had appeared to indicate Marcus Rashford might get the nod up front alongside Harry Kane, Sterling will partner the captain against the side ranked 55 in the world. The Manchester City forward is aiming to score his first goal for his country since October 2015, 21 caps ago, as England seek to secure qualification from the section.
Ashley Young has again been preferred to Danny Rose at left wing-back, while Loftus-Cheek will make his first World Cup start as Alli continues his rehabilitation from a thigh strain. The Spurs midfielder is hopeful of proving his fitness ahead of Thursday’s final group game against Belgium in Kaliningrad.
So, good old Germany, eh. But they’re not resting on their laurels. Despite that victory over the Swedes, they’re planning to make some more changes for their final must-win group game over South Korea. “My players were tired at the end of the game and Marco Reus had cramps as early as 10 minutes before the end,” says Joachim Loew. “Jerome Boateng is suspended and Sebastian Rudy broke his nose. We will need a couple of days to recover. Rudy could potentially play on Wednesday but we will need to wait and see. Mats Hummels is likely to play and if he does then we have another option in defence.”
Thanks to Jonathan. Swedish fatalism, anyone?
Speaking of that cuppa, I can hear the kettle boiling, which must mean Scott Murray is due any second now.
As always, thank you for your company and engagement. I’ll see you again here soon.
“Morning Jonathan!” Morning David Penney (not the David Penney we established yesterday, but still a David Penney). “Stir-fry this in your mind-wok! Brazil’s success in every World Cup over the past 25 years has been directly proportional to the quality and form of their No. 9 at the time. Discuss.”
Over to you dear reader. I’m off for a cup of tea soon, so I’ll leave you lot to figure out if Mr Penney is onto something or not.
@JPHowcroft sorry, know you said you might park VAR, but surely the rationale here is to respect the refs authority? “Clear and obvious” means “we think you missed that”, but the ref is free to overrule if he disagrees, as the alternative has players losing all respect for ref
— Keith Williams (@CEB1980) June 24, 2018
Allegations of doping continue to bubble beneath the surface of the World Cup. The Mail on Sunday has today published a story suggesting a Fifa cover-up.
Nobody wants this to be the case, and plenty will not want to hear it, but @sportingintel with some inconvenient facts that deserve an explanation https://t.co/sLFxSCmwO5
— Barney Ronay (@barneyronay) June 24, 2018
The Russian team doctor is unperturbed.
Have you selected your all-time England XI yet?
Viv Anderson has.
While the circulation of what may prove to be England’s XI has caused conniptions in some quarters, Panama coach Hernán Darío Gómez doesn’t know what all the fuss is about.
It doesn’t give me or afford me any advantage. Each and every coach needs to make sure they’re 100% prepared and ready regardless of the opposition. It doesn’t matter who plays, because if one doesn’t play the other is just as good.”
Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill believes England will overcome Panama but warns they must be aware of the passion the Central Americans will bring to the contest.
They are well organised, they get men behind the ball, but beyond that, they play with a great pride; this is a massive thing for them. When we played, the ground was virtually sold out, there were fireworks before the game, kids on the pitch and all sorts going on. You quickly realised what a big moment this is for them, to be in the World Cup. So they’ll play with a great passion. You saw that in the first half against Belgium. It was obvious from the start that these guys would defend for their lives and it took a bit of brilliance to open that game up. Belgium had huffed and puffed a little bit.”
If long-lens cameras are to be believed Ruben Loftus-Cheek is due a World Cup start. Dominic Fifield has filed this lovely profile of a young man who once made an admiring Michael Ballack ask “Who the hell is that kid?”
There are concerns England’s cool-climate training base could leave them unprepared for the heatwave facing them in Nizhny Novgorod.
As dawn breaks over Blighty, time to turn some attention to England’s clash with Panama later today.
Seth Levine wants a right to reply on the VAR debate. “With respect to @cricketingview’s, err, view, the clue to the suitability of the “probable cause” test in American criminal law is in the title. The “clear and obvious error” test makes perfect sense if used for overturning a decision. It makes no sense as a referral test. I’d be quite happy with a “probable cause” type referral system, as the on-field referee would not then run to the screen with the knowledge that the VAR has already deemed there to be a clear and obvious error.”
There’s further explanation over @cricketingview’s Twitter page, expanding on their post below.
I think we might park VAR for a while.
On the subject of wine, the pod described the shorts on Meixco’s away kit as burgundy. There was then a comment that not many kits contain burgundy (Northampton Town highlighted as exception). Which got me thinking about the high-profile clubs with claret in their colours and how claret and burgundy are near-enough the same product (come at me sommeliers!).
It struck me as a curio that the minor differences between a pinot noir grape and a cabernet sauvignon grape could have repercussions in the world of football.
@JPHowcroft Footy be damned, how do I earn my referee's licence for this?https://t.co/DJyvvAEvOq
— Hubert O'Hearn (@BTBReviews) June 24, 2018
.@JPHowcroft Err, no. Seth Levine is wrong. The process of VAR is not paradoxical in the same way that a search warrant for probable cause is not paradoxical. You decide to ask the question when there's good enough reason to ask the question. But then you have to answer it.
— cricketingview (@cricketingview) June 24, 2018
Mark Pulham has a suggestion that Fifa has so-far avoided engaging with, presumably to ensure the on-field referee remains the sole arbiter of the contest.. “Treat it like cricket appeals - one per side per game. No more histrionics / false claiming (for fear of triggering a lost appeal). No more diving / lying (the other side will appeal). No more howlers. No more suspicion of ref or FIFA bias.”
“If the trigger for a VAR referral is a ‘clear and obvious error’,” asks Seth Levine, “why do they bother reverting to the on-field referee at all? That’s not a paradox - it’s just a really poorly defined test. It makes sense for the on-field referee to check if he’s not sure, but every “check” called for by the VAR is, by definition, the result of a clear and obvious error (in the view of the VAR).”
Indeed. It remains very much a work in progress. As someone who lived through the A-League trial it was clear the system was still some way off where it needed to be. That said, it has operated far more efficiently in Russia than it has in Australia.
Matt Le Tissier can see the upside.
@JPHowcroft Not quite a brain-freeze on par with Durmaz and Guidetti last night, but the Sweden-Germany game did remind of the incredible last minute of Croatia v Turkey in Euro 2008: https://t.co/UqNZZniRmz
— Pádraig McAuliffe (@pgmcauliffe1) June 24, 2018
Some background to the Xhaka and Shaqiri situation:
Meanwhile, the animosity between Switzerland and Serbia rumbles on, with Fifa now getting involved.
How’s the round of 16 shaping up after yesterday’s games? Likes this:
Here's how the #WorldCup round of 16 is shaping up after today's matches.
— Ben Mayhew (@experimental361) June 23, 2018
There's a decent chance we'll get to see #BRA v #GER after the latter's late winner, while #MEX are on course to face #SUI ... with the winner potentially taking on #ENG pic.twitter.com/nwZg4pTCWb
Belgium’s win may have come at a cost with key players collecting knocks. Although the battle to top Group G is far from the most fierce at Russia 2018 thanks to the wildcard that is Group H. Roberto Martinez was pragmatic about the situation in his post-match press conference.
The answer is very clear. If we could have seven days to prepare the game and then have seven days for the next game I would say carry on with the same starting XI. The reality now is that we are qualified, and in a tournament like the World Cup you’re only as good as the 23 players in your squad. There’ll be opportunities to give minutes to other players who deserve them. We need to assess the three injury concerns.”
Back to the task in hand, and Belgium’s muscular dismissal of Tunisia, featuring braces from Romelu Lukaku and Eden Hazard.
Andrew Benton (see earlier) may have given me a bum steer.
. @JPHowcroft Quietschende Pennerzeit is not a thing in German... where did you get that from? "Penner" in this context means "bum" as in "homeless", so unnecessarily offensive. Arsch-auf-Grundeis-Zeit (arse on black ice time) would be way more appropriate and funny...
— Barcelona ExpaTom (@BCNtom) June 24, 2018
That’ll teach me to trust Google Translate as a sub-editing tool. And for the avoidance of controversy, I shall amend the previous post.
Updated
The combination of results in Group F leaves us with the tantalising prospect of three sides on equal points at the end of the phase. With the final group matches kicking off simultaneously I’m looking forward to a scenario where groups of players are huddled over pieces of paper like cricket captains studying Duckworth-Lewis permutations.
Raul Vilchis celebrates Mexico’s tactical versatility after El Tri shifted from a counterattacking to a possession-based strategy between their clashes with Germany and South Korea.
As jubilant Mexican fans broke out into renditions of “Cielito Lindo” in the stands, the Mexican players were able to thwart South Korea’s well-ordered defensive line with tactical discipline that drove the action to the sides of the field. The Mexicans knew how to create depth in their plays towards the goal by widening out their placement on the pitch.”
In other Group F action Mexico impressed once again as they defeated perhaps the most disappointing side in Russia so far, South Korea. Javier Hernandez bagged his 50th international goal in the process while Hirving Lozano increased the rate of inflation to his transfer fee.
Peter Rist has a VAR question. “Something I don’t understand about how VAR is bering used is: when the head VAR guy contacts the on-field ref suggesting he look at something, should the ref automatically check or not? I don’t understand why the German ref in the Swiss/Serbia game did nothing when Mitrovic was Tag-teamed in the penalty area, or when Sweden had a clear penalty shout yesterday, the ref did nothing.”
My understanding is once the VAR instructs the on-field ref to review an incident then that is what occurs. In incidents like the ones described above my presumption is the VAR decided there was no clear and obvious error worth the on-field referee’s time reconsidering. Frustrating, I know.
Somebody just reminded me of this glorious piece of Toni-related creativity as a counterweight to the Kroos supremacy. Although I’m not sure it qualifies as Tony Wilson was Tony with a y, and I’m not even sure Toni Kroos is an Anthony Kroos (can anyone confirm?). Regardless, I’ll take any excuse to share this marvellous clip.
“’Squeaky-bum time’ is apparently ‘krånglig bumtid’ in Swedish. Seems the squeaking continues for these two.” Lovely stuff from Andrew Benton who opens the email floodgates in superb fashion.
Updated
The pod point out that with just 75 seconds of injury time remaining John Guidetti shoots tamely at Manuel Neuer from a low percentage angle when he could easily have bled more time from the clock by running the ball into the corner. It brought to mind similar fateful incidents.
What other brain freezes deserve a place in this hall of shame?
Unsurprisingly, Germany’s comeback (only the second of Russia 2018 so far) dominates the latest World Cup Daily.
This is worth listening to all the way to the end in order to savour Barry and Max’s haunting duet of the Home & Away theme tune.
Do last night’s heroics (not to mention the 2014 World Cup winner’s medal, four Champions League titles, four Club World Cups etc etc) make Toni Kroos the world’s preeminent Toni? Surely he’s knocked Braxton, Basil, and & Guy into a cocked hat.
There were handbags after the final whistle at the Fisht Stadium with Sweden’s coaching staff unhappy with their German counterparts.
“Some of the group leaders of their team celebrated by running in our direction, rubbing it into our faces by making gestures,” Janne Anderson said. “That really got me annoyed and angry. We had fought it out for 90 minutes and at the end you should shake hands. So I was very angry with that.
People behaved in ways that you do not do,” the Sweden manager added. “You should leave your opponents to feel sad. You do not act in the way they did. We reacted very strongly.”
Welcome to day 11
Heiliger Strohsack! How close we came to the most ignominious German exit from Russia since Eurovision 2009. Die Mannschaft, seconds from a fateful draw only for Toni Kroos to welly in one of the all-time World Cup winners.
After the heart-stopping action of day ten, the passage of time compels us to contemplate day eleven. By close of business we will have digested 32 of the 64 matches scheduled for Russia 2018. The halfway point, if you like, of a tournament that has yet to reveal a decisive hand.
Over the next few hours we’re going to look back on yesterday’s action and the wins for Germany, Mexico and Belgium, before turning our attention to England’s expected stroll against Panama and a massive night for Group H, the most open in the draw. There’s also no shortage of news to catch up on, including the aftershocks from Switzerland’s controversial victory over Serbia.
As happy as I am to treat this shift as a stream of consciousness, it is much more fun for me and everyone concerned if you bombard me with emails and tweets to break up my ramblings. Send emails to jonathan.howcroft.freelance@guardian.co.uk and tweets to @JPHowcroft.
For now though, where else could we begin but that outrageous German escape act? David Hytner had the pleasure of rewriting his match report in a matter of seconds following Kroos’ late scorcher.
Fußball, verdammt nochmal (as Alex Ferguson might have been Google translated).
Updated
.png?w=600)
