Argentina and Lionel Messi scraped into the knockout stages of the World Cup by the skin of their teeth on Tuesday after an 86th minute strike from defender Marcos Rojo gave them a barely deserved 2-1 win over Nigeria, eliminating the African side.

The twice World Cup champions will face France in the last 16 while Croatia, who advance as winners of Group D with the maximum nine points after beating Iceland 2-1, will take on Denmark.

Nigeria were just minutes away from progressing before central defender Rojo superbly volleyed home a Gabriel Mercado cross from the right.

As the drama unfolded in St Petersburg, Iceland were simultaneously fighting with all their Nordic might for a win over the Croats in Rostov-on-Don that could have sent them through. The Argentines, however, had enough on their plate with a feisty Nigeria to worry about results elsewhere.

Messi had put them ahead in the 14th minute, with a fabulously taken goal but the Africans equalised through a Victor Moses penalty in the 51st minute.

Culled from Presstv

The France and Denmark men’s national football teams have played out an uninspiring goalless draw in their final 2018 Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup Group C match.

French and Danish soccer players rarely threatened each other’s goalposts during the fixture at the Luzhniki Stadium in the Russian capital city of Moscow on Tuesday as chances for either side were few and far between.

Both teams were just happy to sit back and earn the point as they had already advanced to the knockout stage.

It was the first scoreless match of the tournament after 36 games.

The France men’s national football team, nicknamed Les Bleus (The Blues), will take on the runner-up of Group D in the round of 16, while Danish Dynamite will next face that group’s winner.

During the official 2018 FIFA World Cup draw ceremony at Kremlin State Palace in the Russian capital city of Moscow on December 1 last year, the host nation, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Uruguay were put in Group A in the preliminary round of the tournament.

The Iran men’s national football team, nicknamed Team Melli, has joined Portugal’s A Selecção, Spain’s La Furia Roja and Atlas Lions of Morocco.

France is drawn in Group C, and is pitted against Australia, Peru and Denmark.

Argentina, Iceland, Croatia and Nigeria are drawn in Group D.

Group E consists of Brazil, Switzerland, Costa Rica and Serbia.

While the 2014 FIFA World Cup champion Germany, Mexico, Sweden and South Korea shape Group F, Belgium, Panama, Tunisia and England are in Group G.

Group H has Poland, Senegal, Colombia and Japan.

The 2018 FIFA World Cup will take place from June 14 to July 15. Russia opened the event against Saudi Arabia in a Group A fixture at Luzhniki Stadium. The hosts won the match 5-0.

A total of 64 matches will be played in 12 venues located in 11 cities. Source: Presstv

Iran coach Carlos Queiroz said Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo was fortunate to escape a red card despite a VAR review following an elbow in Monday’s 1-1 draw at the World Cup.

Portugal will face Uruguay in the last 16 after advancing as runners-up of Group B, but Queiroz insisted Ronaldo deserved to be sent off for catching Iran defender Morteza Pouraliganji with an elbow to the face.

“I don’t want to talk too much, it’s about my country and a player. I know it’ll be a war against me,” said Queiroz, who coached his native Portugal at the 2010 World Cup. “But the reality is you stopped the game for VAR, there is an elbow. An elbow is a red card in the rules. In the rules it doesn’t say if it is (Lionel) Messi or Ronaldo…”

It was a busy evening for the video assistant referee in Saransk as two penalties were awarded upon review, on top of the Ronaldo altercation.

“We accepted human mistakes before, that was part of the game. Players make mistakes, coaches make mistakes and referees make mistakes,” said Queiroz. “But now you have one system that cost a fortune. It’s high-tech with five, six people inside and what happens? Nobody takes responsibilities.”

He further said, “We need to be like rugby. When there is a decision by VAR I need to know what the referee is saying to them, people need to know what is going on.”

“So in my opinion, Mr. Infantino and FIFA, everybody agreed that VAR is not going well,” he added. “That’s the reality, there’s a lot of complaints.”

Ricardo Quaresma struck a brilliant opening goal with a trademark curling effort using the outside of his right foot on the stroke of half-time.

Ronaldo had the chance to double the lead with a penalty five minutes into the second half after he was upended by Saeid Ezatolahi, but his effort was save by Iran goalkeeper Ali Beiranvand.

Portugal defender Cedric was then penalized in stoppage time for a handball, and Karim Ansarifard converted from the spot to give Iran a lifeline.

Mehdi Taremi nearly snatched a dramatic winner after a deflected shot rolled into his path, but he fired into the side netting as Iran were eliminated in agonizing fashion.

Ronaldo cut a frustrated figure after failing to add to his four-goal tally at the Mordovia Arena, suffering the same penalty misfortune as Lionel Messi earlier in the competition.

“I understand, it’s normal. The best players in the world face that when there isn’t an opportunity to really make it happen,” said Portugal boss Fernando Santos. “That hurts a lot more to them than to other players. They always want to win. They want to be the best and refuse to fail, and when they fail they get very upset.”

Santos said he thought the referee made the right decision in terms of the Ronaldo flashpoint.

“No I wasn’t concerned (about a red card), it seemed like a normal thing in the match. The referee did what he had to do,” he added. “He went to the VAR twice or three times, he considered two penalties and one yellow card. I’d have to watch it again to talk about it, but I think the VAR did its job.”

A late equalizer from Iago Aspas that earned Spain a 2-2 draw with Morocco pushed the European champions down into second place.

“To us what is important is to be in the last 16 and we want to carry on in this tournament,” Santos said. “Uruguay have high quality and top-notch players. They’re excellent but Portugal are too and we’re going to try and find a way to win.”

• (Source: AFP)

Colombia’s World Cup campaign roared back into life with a 3-0 win over Poland in Group H on a sweltering evening at the Kazan Arena which sent the Poles tumbling out of the tournament on Sunday.

Defender Yerry Mina opened the scoring in the 40th minute with captain Radamel Falcao and winger Juan Cuadrado sealing a deserved victory with two goals in five minutes as the desperate Poles chased the game in the last quarter.

Midfielder James Rodriguez, winner of the Golden Boot at the last World Cup, returned to the starting lineup after injury and played a part in two of the goals as Colombia got back on track after their opening loss to Japan.

The victory puts Colombia in third place in the group on three points behind the Japanese and Senegal, who shared a 2-2 draw earlier on Sunday to move to four points apiece.

A victory over the Africans in their final first-round match in Samara on Thursday would secure Colombia a spot in the last 16 as they target at least matching their charge to the quarter-finals in Brazil four years ago.

For Poland, the optimism fostered by their quarter-final spot at Euro 2016 and a strong qualifying campaign proved to be misplaced as they slumped to a second successive defeat.

The match started to a barrage of noise from the yellow-shirted Colombian fans and the early exchanges were frenetic with Poland putting in some physical challenges and Robert Lewandowski getting close attention from the Colombian Defense.

Poland’s offensive tactics were limited to launching long balls towards their prolific striker and although Colombia were trying to play the ball on the floor they could not get their passes to stick.

Cuadrado was causing some problems down Poland’s right flank, however, and a piece of mazy dribbling in the 37th minute saw the winger forge the first genuine opening, which goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny blocked behind.

The respite was brief and on the next Colombia attack Juan Quintero found Rodriguez lurking inside the box and the midfielder chipped a delightful cross into the danger area for Mina to head the ball into the net from point-blank range.

The Poles came out firing at the start of the second half but their limitations remained and Cuadrado was soon causing them more problems down the right.

Lewandowski finally got a chance to score his first World Cup goal in the 58th minute but his first touch on the long ball was not his best and goalkeeper David Ospina smothered his shot.

Quintero played creator in the 70th minute and Falcao turned the last defender before stroking the ball past Szczesny with the outside of his boot for his first World Cup strike.

Poland pushed forward to try and get back into the game and five minutes later were caught on the break by the Colombians with Rodriguez rasping a pass across the field to allow Cuadrado fitting reward for a fine performance.

Mexico has taken a giant step toward reaching the last-16 stage of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia by beating South Korea and putting the East Asians to the sword.

The rampant Mexicans built on their shining victory against Germany in their opening game in Group F by beating the Koreans 2-1 at Rostov Arena, Russia, on Saturday.

Mexico’s sea of fanatical supporters watched how Carlos Vela gave them the lead by scoring from the penalty spot in the 26th minute while all-time top scorer Javier Hernandez, known to many in Europe as Chicharito, finished off a brilliant move from  Hirving Lozano, one of Mexico’s best in the tournament, to seal the victory in the second half.

A sensational solo from Son Heung-min, the Tottenham Hotspur talisman, in the injury time was too late to revive South Korea’s hopes for a draw.

South Korea will be out of the tournament if Sweden draw or win against Germany in the other match of the group later on Saturday. Mexico will also be assured of a place in the last 16 if Germany fail to beat Sweden.

Mexico stormed past Germany with a 1-0 victory in the opening game of the group last Sunday. Sweden beat South Korea with the same score line a day later.

The world cup began on June 14 and will continue until July 15 in 12 stadiums in 11 Russian cities.

The Belgium men’s national football team has exhibited an impressive display of speed, power and attacks during its second showdown at the preliminary round of the preliminary round of the 2018 Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup in Russia, outclassing Tunisia.

On Saturday, De Rode Duivels (The Red Devils) completely overran their North African opponents from the start of the Group G fixture at the Spartak Stadium in the Russian capital city of Moscow, and thumped a 5-2 win.

Romelu Lukaku and Eden Hazard scored two goals apiece for the Belgian side, while substitute Michy Batshuayi was on target once.

Dylan Bronn and Wahbi Khazri netted for Tunisia.

The Belgium football team will seal its place in the Round 16 if Panama fails to beat England on Sunday.

During the official 2018 FIFA World Cup draw ceremony at Kremlin State Palace in the Russian capital city of Moscow on December 1 last year, the host nation, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Uruguay were put in Group A in the preliminary round of the tournament.

The Iran men’s national football team, nicknamed Team Melli, has joined Portugal’s A Selecção, Spain’s La Furia Roja and Atlas Lions of Morocco.

France is drawn in Group C, and is pitted against Australia, Peru and Denmark.

Argentina, Iceland, Croatia and Nigeria are drawn in Group D.

Group E consists of Brazil, Switzerland, Costa Rica and Serbia.

While the 2014 FIFA World Cup champion Germany, Mexico, Sweden and South Korea shape Group F, Belgium, Panama, Tunisia and England are in Group G.

Group H has Poland, Senegal, Colombia and Japan.

The 2018 FIFA World Cup will take place from June 14 to July 15. Russia opened the event against Saudi Arabia in a Group A fixture at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium. The hosts won the match 5-0.

A total of 64 matches will be played in 12 venues located in 11 cities.

The Brazil men’s national football team has fought a fierce battle to see off Costa Rica in its second game at the preliminary round of the 2018 Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup in Russia.

On Friday, the Brazil squad, nicknamed Canarinho (Little Canary), won the Group E match at the St Petersburg Stadium 2-0 with goals scored in stoppage time.

Even though Brazilian footballers had more of the possession and more of the shots in the first half, they could not turn their dominance into goals as the Costa Rica squad put up a spirited fight and defended so well.

Canarinho’s 21-year-old forward Gabriel Jesus even buried the ball in the back of the net after 26 minutes, but his side’s first goal was then disallowed and ruled offside by Dutch referee Björn Kuipers.

Both sides had chances in the second half, but could not direct their shots on target.

Brazil thought it had been awarded a penalty with 12 minutes left, when the referee pointed to the spot after Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior, commonly known as Neymar, came down following a brief tangle with Costa Rica’s defender Giancarlo González.

Kuipers, however, reconsidered his decision after consulting the video assistant referee (VAR) and stated that there had been no meaningful contact.

Finally, Brazil’s substitute Roberto Firmino headed a cross back into the middle and Jesus toe-poked the ball away from a defender. Philippe Coutinho adeptly grasped the marvelous opportunity and smashed home from close range in the first minute of added time to break the deadlock.

In the dying seconds, Neymar jabbed Brazil’s second goal when he volleyed into an empty net from a few yards out.

During the official 2018 FIFA World Cup draw ceremony at Kremlin State Palace in the Russian capital city of Moscow on December 1 last year, the host nation, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Uruguay were put in Group A in the preliminary round of the tournament.

The Iran men’s national football team, nicknamed Team Melli, has joined Portugal’s A Selecção, Spain’s La Furia Roja and Atlas Lions of Morocco.

France is drawn in Group C, and is pitted against Australia, Peru and Denmark.

Argentina, Iceland, Croatia and Nigeria are drawn in Group D.

Group E consists of Brazil, Switzerland, Costa Rica and Serbia.

While the 2014 FIFA World Cup champion Germany, Mexico, Sweden and South Korea shape Group F, Belgium, Panama, Tunisia and England are in Group G.

Group H has Poland, Senegal, Colombia and Japan.

The 2018 FIFA World Cup will take place from June 14 to July 15. Russia opened the event against Saudi Arabia in a Group A fixture at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium. The hosts won the match 5-0.

A total of 64 matches will be played in 12 venues located in 11 cities.

Source: Presstv

The Argentina men’s national football team, also known as La Albiceleste (The Albiceleste), has slumped to a crushing defeat to Croatia in its second fixture at the preliminary round of the 2018 Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup in Russia.

On Thursday, the Croatia football team handed La Albiceleste a 3-0 drubbing at the end of a Group D showdown at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium in Nizhny Novgorod, and claimed a place in the knockout stage of the tournament.

Argentina head coach Jorge Sampaoli drafted in Gabriel Mercado in defense to replace Marcos Rojo, and Enzo Perez and Marcos Acuna were chosen in midfield instead of Lucas Biglia and Di Maria.

Croatia head coach Zlatko Dalic, on the other hand, made just one change to the starting line-up of the Vatreni (The Blazers) and brought in 25-year-old midfielder Marcelo Brozovic for striker Andrej Kramaric.

Ante Rebic seized on a gaffe by Argentina keeper Willy Caballero, when the latter picked up a back pass and surprisingly lobbed it towards the Croatian forward. Rebic then whacked in a volley in the 53rd minute to open the way to victory for the Balkan side.

After that, the Vatreni captain Luka Modric doubled Croatia’s lead 10 minutes from time.

Ivan Rakitic put the icing on the cake one minute into added time and sealed the Croatia squad’s resounding win.

During the official 2018 FIFA World Cup draw ceremony at Kremlin State Palace in the Russian capital city of Moscow on December 1 last year, the host nation, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Uruguay were put in Group A in the preliminary round of the tournament.

The Iran men’s national football team, nicknamed Team Melli, has joined Portugal’s A Selecção, Spain’s La Furia Roja and Atlas Lions of Morocco.

France is drawn in Group C, and is pitted against Australia, Peru and Denmark.

Argentina, Iceland, Croatia and Nigeria are drawn in Group D.

Group E consists of Brazil, Switzerland, Costa Rica and Serbia.

While the 2014 FIFA World Cup champion Germany, Mexico, Sweden and South Korea shape Group F, Belgium, Panama, Tunisia and England are in Group G.

Group H has Poland, Senegal, Colombia and Japan.

The 2018 FIFA World Cup will take place from June 14 to July 15. Russia opened the event against Saudi Arabia in a Group A fixture at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium. The hosts won the match 5-0.

A total of 64 matches will be played in 12 venues located in 11 cities.

Source: Presstv

The Australia men’s national football team, nicknamed the Socceroos, has tied with the Danish squad in a crunch clash at the preliminary round of the 2018 Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup in Russia.

In a Group C match held at the Cosmos Arena in Samara on Thursday, the Aussies could earn a 1-1 draw against Danes, and kept their hopes of reaching the knockout round alive.

Australia coach Bert van Marwijk named an unchanged starting line-up for the game following the Socceroos’ opening 2-1 defeat to France five days earlier.

The Danish outfit got off to a sound start, and managed to take an early lead only seven minutes into the match.

Striker Nicolai Jorgensen, with calm and precision, directed the poorly cleared ball by Australia’s 27-year-old midfielder Aaron Mooy inside to Christian Eriksen who lashed a great half-volley that flew high into the net.

Denmark should have doubled it advantage shortly afterwards, when Jorgensen flashed a header wide at the near post.

Finally, Australia was awarded the opportunity to level the match from the penalty spot, thanks to the intervention of the Video Assistant Referee.

Spanish referee Antonio Miguel Mateu Lahoz had failed to notice that a header struck by the Socceroo’s forward Mathew Leckie had struck the arm of Danish Dynamite striker Yussuf Poulsen.

Australia captain Mile Jedinak calmly slotted home his penalty in the 38th minute to equalize.

The result fostered Australia’s sense of belief, and the Soccerroos surged forward in numbers whenever they could. They could not turn that impetus, however, into clear chances.

Both teams had chances in the tense second half. Iranian-born Daniel Arzani brought an additional spark to Australia attack after coming on as a substitute, and even had a good shot in the dying minutes that Denmark keeper Kasper Schmeichel parried.

Leckie also tested the Danish goalie with a hooked effort but to no avail.

Denmark, with four points, now needs at least a draw against France in its last Group C encounter to secure a berth in the Round of 16.

Australia, on the other hand, is clinging on by its fingertips with one point, and has to emerge victorious in its final match against Peru to stand any chance of going through.

During the official 2018 FIFA World Cup draw ceremony at Kremlin State Palace in the Russian capital city of Moscow on December 1 last year, the host nation, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Uruguay were put in Group A in the preliminary round of the tournament.

The Iran men’s national football team, nicknamed Team Melli, has joined Portugal’s A Selecção, Spain’s La Furia Roja and Atlas Lions of Morocco.

France is drawn in Group C, and is pitted against Australia, Peru and Denmark.

Argentina, Iceland, Croatia and Nigeria are drawn in Group D.

Group E consists of Brazil, Switzerland, Costa Rica and Serbia.

While the 2014 FIFA World Cup champion Germany, Mexico, Sweden and South Korea shape Group F, Belgium, Panama, Tunisia and England are in Group G.

Group H has Poland, Senegal, Colombia and Japan.

The 2018 FIFA World Cup will take place from June 14 to July 15. Russia opened the event against Saudi Arabia in a Group A fixture at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium. The hosts won the match 5-0.

A total of 64 matches will be played in 12 venues located in 11 cities.

The Uruguay men’s national football team has claimed it second narrow win in the preliminary round of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, and got a berth in the knockout stage of the tournament.

The Uruguay side, nicknamed La Celeste (The Sky Blue), exhibited a largely tepid performance against Saudi Arabia in a Group A fixture at the Rostov Arena in Rostov-on-Don on Wednesday, and won the game 1-0.

Striker Luis Suarez scored Uruguay’s winner in the 23rd minute after Saudi Arabia goalkeeper Mohammed al-Owais made a terrible mistake following a corner.

The result means the South Americans and hosts Russia have propelled into the next round, while Saudis have been eliminated.

Later in the day, the Iran men’s national football team, better known as Team Melli, will face Spain in a Group B match at the Kazan Arena in Kazan.

During the official 2018 FIFA World Cup draw ceremony at Kremlin State Palace in the Russian capital city of Moscow on December 1 last year, the Iran football team joined the Portugal national football team, nicknamed A Selecção, Spain’s La Furia Roja and Atlas Lions of Morocco in the preliminary round of the tournament.

The host nation, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Uruguay form Group A in the upcoming quadrennial international sports event.

France is drawn in Group C, and is pitted against Australia, Peru and Denmark.

Argentina, Iceland, Croatia and Nigeria are drawn in Group D.

Group E consists of Brazil, Switzerland, Costa Rica and Serbia.

While the 2014 FIFA World Cup champion Germany, Mexico, Sweden and South Korea shape Group F, Belgium, Panama, Tunisia and England are in Group G.

Group H has Poland, Senegal, Colombia and Japan.

The 2018 FIFA World Cup kicked off on June 14 and will run through July 15. Russia opened the event against Saudi Arabia in a Group A fixture at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium. The hosts won the match 5-0.

A total of 64 matches will be played in 12 venues located in 11 cities.

Iran started its World Cup campaign against Morocco at Krestovsky Stadium in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on June 15.

The Iranians were gifted a 1-0 win over Atlas Lions when Moroccan striker Aziz Bouhaddouz thumped a powerful header into his own net five minutes into injury time.