A seesawing classic of a contest had just ticked into the 122nd minute, penalties all but a formality, when the referee, Saíd Martínez, wandered back towards the centre circle to award Belgium a stoppage-time penalty. The VAR, Guillermo Pacheco Larios, had highlighted Lamine Kamara swiping away Youri Tielemans’s left ankle in the seconds before Dodi Lukébakio had skimmed the crossbar. For Belgium, it was a get out of jail card, Tielemans converting the spot-kick to propel Rudi Garcia’s side into the last 16. After 85 minutes, they trailed Senegal 2-0.
Next up…
Senegal’s players look devastated as they walk off the field. In a parallel universe they have won 2-0 with a performance of calm authority, but that’s not how this thing works.
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Full time: Belgium 3-2 Senegal (aet)
For the second time in three World Cups – and this really doesn’t happen often – Belgium have come from 2-0 down to win a knockout game. They did it against Japan in 2018 and now they’ve done it against Senegal.
It makes no sense, not least because Senegal were emphatically superior for 85 minutes, but Belgium refused to go away and they will play the United States or Bosnia and Herzegovina in the last 16.
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120+12 min Pape Sarr woofs the free-kick over the bar. It’s the last kick of a crazy match.
120+11 min Ismaila Sarr’s shot is handled just outside the area. Senegal have one last chance.
Tielemans composed himself and clipped a majestic penalty into the top-right corner. How on earth have Belgium won this game.
GOAL! Belgium 3-2 Senegal (Tielemans 120+5)
Youri Tielemans has won it for Belgium!
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120+5 min Youri Tielemans is going to take the penalty…
The penalty still hasn’t been taken. There’s a bit of nonsense in the penalty area, with Ciss going down after a very slight elbow to the chest.
120+2 min: Penalty to Belgium!
Senegal are furious. It’s probably a foul – whether it’s clear and obvious, who knows.
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120 min Senegal and last-minute penalties, eh.
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119 min: The referee is going to the monitor! Camara kicked through the back of Tielemans’ leg at the near post and I suspect this will be given.
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118 min That was a great chance for Lukebakio, 10 yards out, albeit on his right foot.
Hang on, there’s a VAR check for a potential foul on Tielemans before the ball reached Lukebakio.
117 min: Lukebakio hits the bar!
Onana finds the impressive Moreira on the left. His low cross reaches Lukebakio, who lifts a shot off the top of the crossbar!
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116 min “Sparklehorse, Eels, Red House Painters: wonderful bands all, the ‘identikit indie outfits’ jibe couldn’t be further off the mark here,” writes Phil Podolsky. “And yet I still always mix up between their song titles. In fact, the deeper I get into the respective discographies the worse it gets. Devoted-MBM-contributor-in-cognitive-decline shocker.”
Arf. I guess it doesn’t help that the first two released brilliant songs about Saturday.
115 min Senegal are having their best spell since the score was 2-0. I suspect the game will still go to penalties, but the momentum has shifted.
113 min A poor clearance from Meunier leads to a stinging long-range shot from Ndiaye. Courtois crouches to hold with authority.
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110 min: Belgium substitution Amadou Onana replaces Leandro Trossard.
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109 min Chance for Senegal!
Bara Sapoko Ndiaye gets away down the right and angles a cutback towards Mbaye, who slices a shot past the far post. That was pretty close.
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106 min Senegal begin the second period of extra time.
Well maybe, you’re gonna be the one that saves me. On a wild, boisterous, often agonising afternoon under the giant Victorian railway dome of the Atlanta Stadium, the Democratic Republic of Harry Kane progressed to the last 16 of the World Cup.
With England playing like a team terrified of their own feet and 1-0 down to an excellent DR Congo, Kane decided something else was going to happen, scoring two goals in 11 minutes towards the end to turn disastrous defeat into joyful relief. In the process he also saved Thomas Tuchel’s job and perhaps the jobs of his bosses at the Football Association. Because England really had gone at points in this game.
Half time in extra time: Belgium 2-2 Senegal
It’s heading to penalties.
104 min Trossard’s shot from 20 yards is blocked, then Raskin’s cross-shot evades the stretching Trossard at the far post. All the momentum is with Belgium now.
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101 min Almost a chance for Belgium, with a ball over the top from the left evading both Tielemans and Lukaku. Right now, they look the likelier winners.
98 min Belgium have had more of the ball in extra time. It’s generally harmless possession, but a reflection of the change in the momentum since those two late goals.
95 min Another Senegal substitution: Bara Sapoko Ndiaye comes for Idrissua Gueye. This already reeks of penalties.
93 min: Senegal substitutions Nicolas Jackson and El Hadji Malick Diouf replace Sadio Mane and Ismail Jakobs. Both were superb.
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91 min Peep peep! Extra time is under way.
Full time: Belgium 2-2 Senegal
Senegal were the better team and looked set for a quietly comprehensive 2-0 win until Romelu Lukaku and Youri Tielemans scored in the last five minutes of normal time. At this point, all bets are off.
90+6 min Idrissa Gueye sweeps a decent shot from 25 yards that wide of the far post. Courtois had it covered.
90+5 min Before the game I thought this would go to extra-time. After 85 minutes, not so much.
90+2 min Lukaku charges forward and finds Tielemans, whose dangerous cross is belted past the near post by a Senegal defender. This is absurd.
90+1 min Seven minutes of added time.
Belgium have been outplayed for 85 minutes and now they’re level! Trossard drilled a flat cross from the left that tempted the keeper Diaw from his line. He couldn’t get there and Tielemans headed into the empty net from six yards.
GOAL! Belgium 2-2 Senegal (Tielemans 89)
What the actual football?
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88 min Senegal go straight down the other end and Mbaye splashes well wide from the right side of the area.
87 min It sounds like the ball has been changed since the goal; not sure why.
Moreira challenged Pape Sarr just outside the Senegal area, with the ball ricocheting towards Meunier on the right. He slipped a low cross to the near post, where Lukaku got across the defender and finished decisively with his right foot.
GOAL! Belgium 1-2 Senegal (Lukaku 86)
Romelu Lukaku gives Belgium hope!
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86 min We’ve had a couple of emails suggesting Lukaku had to stop two Belgian players having a square-go during the hydration break. Not sure what happened but I’m sure we’ll find out.
85 min Mane runs through on goal and drives a low shot from the edge of the area that is pushed away the diving Courtois. Mane is then flagged offside, though I don’t think he was.
84 min Trossard plays a crisp pass into Tielemans, who beats his man but then sprays high and wide from 22 yards.
83 min A cross from Lukebakio, who has been pretty good since coming on, is headed back across goal and wide by Castagne. Tough chance. Senegal look comfortable.
79 min: Belgium substitution Thomas Meunier is on for Maxim De Cuyper.
78 min Lukebakio zips inside from the right, just outside the area, and flashes an excellent curler just wide of the far post.
For all Senegal’s dominance, a Belgium goal would mean all bets are off.
77 min A deep cross from Raskin on the right is headed back across by De Cuyper and booted clear by Ciss.
74 min “Assume this is likely to be the last time we see KDB at a major tournament,” says Colin Livingstone. Even as a non-Belgian, non-City fan, this feels quite sad.”
Has he underachieved at major tournaments or is that harsh? The goal v Brazil in 2018 was a scorcher, but it feels like he didn’t influence games in the same way as he did for City.
73 min: Senegal substitution Ibrahim Mbaye and Pape Sarr replaces Iliman Ndiaye and Habib Diarra.
70 min Time for a hydration break.
69 min Senegal are allowing Belgium more possession, but it’s all pretty harmless. Right now, it’s hard to see Belgium getting back into this.
68 min “Oasis are no Sparklehorse,” writes Peter Oh, “but Don’t Lukebakio in Anger might be an appropriate tune if Belgium do crash out.”
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67 min: Senegal substitution Lamine Camara comes on for Pape Gueye, then immediately gets booked for a foul on Trossard.
63 min: Belgium substitution Diego Moreira replaces Hans Vanaken.
60 min Lukebakio dummies a couple of defenders and then has a shot blocked. Belgium are pressing but there isn’t a huge amount of conviction.
58 min My colleague Gregg Bakowski has a better reference point for Sarr’s first touch – this bit of genius from Luis Suarez.
Sarr’s wasn’t quite as good, no goal could be, but there are a lot of similarities.
56 min: Double substitution for Belgium Dodi Lukebakio and Nicolas Raskin replace two giants of Belgian football, Jeremy Doku and Kevin De Bruyne. Yikes. In defence of Rudi Garcia, both have had very quiet games.
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54 min Sarr’s first touch gets better every time you see it. It was reminiscent of that famous Zinedine Zidane chest control against Portugal at Euro 2000. Not only did he take the force of the blow, he guided it carefuly into a position where he could finish with his second touch.
Ismaila Sarr doubles Belgium’s lead with a storming goal! He ran beyond the Belgium defence to receive Niakhate’s long, angled pass from deep inside the Senegal half. He controlled tbe ball beautifully on his chest – actually, it was almost his neck – and leathered it past Courtois with his right foot. That’s about as emphatic as a two-touch goal can get.
GOAL! Belgium 0-2 Senegal (I Sarr 51)
Pick that flipper out!
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51 min: Great chance for Diarra!
It should be 2-0. Mane, who has been superb, skins Castagne in the area and cuts the ball back carefully towards Diarra. He shins it wide from 10 yards.
49 min That half chance aside, it’s been a quiet start to the second half. Senegal still look the better side.
Thanks also for your emails declaring love for bands as varied as The Mekons and Bon Jovi. I shall listen to them all tomorrow*.
46 min Senegal pick up where they left off with a half chance inside 30 seconds. Mane’s cross just evades Sarr and reaches Ndiaye, who sidefoots well wide from 15 yards.
Half-time substitution Belgium are bringing on Romelu Lukaka for Charles De Ketelaere.
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Half time: Belgium 0-1 Senegal
Habib Diarra’s goal has given Senegal a deserved lead in Seattle. They’ve been slick, purposeful and have played with just the right amount of swagger. Belgium could do with a bit more swagger – they look lost.
45+5 min In fact it was De Cuyper who took it, lashing a shot into the wall.
45+4 min Doku is fouled 25 yards from goal. No idea who’ll take this.
45+1 min Five minutes of added time.
45 min: Good save by Diaw!
Belgium take a short corner on the left and work the ball infield to De Cuyper. He whips a curler from 25 yards that is pawed round the post by the diving Diaw. A save he should make, but still a good one.
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44 min “Saw Sparklehorse live at the Hackney Empire in ’98” writes Gregory Phillips. “What a band. And Hammering the Cramps should the perfect pick-me-up for footballers in the 80th minute.”
43 min Better from Belgium. De Bruyne controls an awkward ball superbly on the chest and finds Doku on the right. His cross takes a big ricochet off Jakobs and is held smartly by the leaping Diaw.
42 min “Hello Rob,” writes Kári Tulinius. “While I love Animal Collective, even I must admit that their ‘paint’ era is musical marmite. That said, I really like Goalkeeper, off The Painters, which starts as if it’s going to be a metaphor, but turns out to be actually about goalkeepers. Lord knows they need their own anthem.”
I’m sad that Pavement never wrote a song called Peter Shilton.
41 min A decent spell of possession for Belgium. Eventually De Cuyper finds a bit of space on the left side of the area; his cutback, alas, finds a Senegal defender.
38 min I think Diarra’s goal is the eighth by a Sunderland player at this World Cup, a tally exceeded only by the players of Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain. How good is that?
37 min Mane plays a give-and-go with Diarra and hits a shot on the stretch from 15 yards that is held by Courtois. Senegal look so good.
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33 min Doku goes down 25 yards from goal but is told to get up by the referee. Belgium are really struggling to create openings, never mind chances.
31 min The match resumes… and then stops while stewards wheeze their way after a pitch invader. They get their man eventually.
27 min It’s 16 degrees in Seattle, and it’s time for the JR Hartley Hydration Break.
Sadio Mane used the underlapping Jakobs by not using him, then flipped a cross from the left towards Ismaila Sarr, whose excellent flicked header bounced off the far post. Habib Diarra – Sunderland’s Habib Diarra, if you don’t mind – was first to the rebound and had a simple finish. Senegal fully deserve their lead.
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GOAL! Belgium 0-1 Senegal (Diarra 25)
It’s been coming, and here it is.
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23 min Pape Gueye deftly makes some space on the edge of the area but then overhits his cross. Right now Senegal are the better team.
21 min “Sparklehorse Schmarkelhorse,” writes Kimberley Thonger. “Rob I think it’s pretty obvious that the most overlooked song for national football anthem is Wire’s Outdoor Miner
“Football players ply their trade outdoors. They mine goals. It’s an easy tune to sing. And the lyrics are so wonderfully surreal, they can be applied to virtually any circumstance in which the England team, especially this one, finds itself.
No blind spots in the leopard’s eyes
Can only help to jeopardize
The lives of lambs, the shepherd criesAn outdoor life for a silverfish
Eternal dust less ticklish
Than the clean room, a houseguest’s wishHe lies on his side, is he trying to hide?
In fact it’s the earth, which he’s known since birthHe lies on his side, is he trying to hide?
In fact it’s the earth, which he’s known since birthFace worker, a serpentine miner
A roof falls, an under-liner
Of leaf structure, the egg timerHe lies on his side, is he trying to hide?
In fact it’s the earth, which he’s known since birthHe lies on his side, is he trying to hide?
In fact it’s the earth, which he’s known since birthHe lies on his side, is he trying to hide? (he lies on his side)
In fact it’s the earth, which he’s known since birth (is he trying to hide?)He lies on his side, is he trying to hide? (he lies on his side)
In fact it’s the earth, which he’s known since birth (is he trying to hide?)He lies on his side, is he trying to hide? (he lies on his side)
In fact it’s the earth, which he’s known since birth (is he trying to hide?)
It’s a fine song, but I’d like it more if it wasn’t an obvious Elastica rip-off.
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19 min Senegal are slowly taking control of this game. Diatta wins the first corner, though nothing comes of it.
18 min Diatta’s cross is headed away by Castagne, straining every sinew. Idrissa Gueye runs onto the loose ball and rakes a half-volley that is comfortably held by Courtois.
Belgium go straight down the other end and De Bruyne endangers low-flying aircraft from 25 yards.
15 min “Seattle is famously much further north than the majority of Canada’s population,” says Andrew Goudie. “And to travel to Canada from Detroit, you should go south. These are two of my favourite geography facts.”
They’re also two of mine, as of about 30 seconds ago.
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13 min: Sarr hits the post!
Eek, how did that stay out? Jakobs bursts down the left and clips a fabulous cross towards Ismaila Sarr at the far post. The diving Courtois gets a slight touch on the ball and Sarr, despite reacting pretty smartly, can only drag the ball against the right-hand post. He has another go at the rebound, while lying on the ground, and puts it into the side netting.
That was some cross from Jakobs, almost perfect.
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11 min This is a really fun game. Iliman Ndiaye receives Diarra’s pass on the right and hits a brilliant cross that is crying out for the Keith Houchen treatment. Alas for Senegal, there’s nobody in there.
9 min Trossard screws a shot from the edge of the area that is comfortably held by Diaw. Moments before that, De Ketelaere used the overlapping Castagne by not using him but then dithered for a split-second and was well challenged.
6 min Trossard gets away on the right and drives a cutback that is also cut out. Belgium’s contrasting wide forwards, Doku and Trossard, are such an important part of their team.
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4 min “I agree with Simon McMahon about the match timings,” writes Andy Gordon, “and trying to figure out the conversion into Central European Time whilst on holiday meant I was sitting on my own in a restaurant with a TV two hours before the England kick off this afternoon. France and Pixies for me.”
3 min Doku zips into the area from the left and slides a low cross that is cut out. Both sides have started brightly.
1 min Peep peep! Belgium kick off from left to right as we watch. This could be a cracker.
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A reminder of the teams, who are entering the field as I type
Belgium (poss 4-2-3-1) Courtois; Castagne, Mechele, Theate, De Cuyper; Tielemans, Vanaken; Trossard, De Bruyne, Doku; De Ketelaere.
Subs: Lammens, Penders, Meunier, De Winter, Seys, Ngoy, Witsel, Moreira, Saelemaekers, Raskin, Onana, Lukaku, Lukebakio, Fernandez-Pardo.
Senegal (poss 4-3-3) Diaw; Diatta, Ciss, Niakhate, Jacobs; Diarra, I Gueye, P Gueye; I Ndiaye, I Sarr, Mane.
Subs: Diouf, M Sarr, Koulibaly, Seck, Mendy, Malick Diouf, Camara, P Sarr, B Ndiaye, Diao, Dieng, Jackson, C Ndiaye, Mbaye.
Referee Said Martinez (Honduras).
“Well, I’m going to come right out and say that I’ve never heard of Sparklehorse,” says Charles Antaki. “There; that’s me disqualified as an aging hipster, or a hipster of any variety. So I looked them up, and there’s a couple of videos online which feature faux-naif montages (at least I assume they are faux), one of them unfortunately featuring many shots of a man in clown make-up wearing a Stetson. Anyway: the music is rather beguiling, in a rather melancholy way. Good for the calm-down after the England excitement and associated hoo-hah.”
If you’re calling me a hipster, Charles, your vocabulary is nowhere near as precise as I thought. As for Sparklehorse, there’s a discordant beauty to his music that I adore. Not to everyone’s taste though.
The route to glory for Belgium and Senegal
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Last 16 USA/Bosnia and Herzegovina
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Quarter-final Spain/Austria/Portugal/Croatia
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Semi-final Paraguay/France/Canada/Morocco
Blimey department
In the parlance of our time, Tottenham are not messing around this summer.
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“Evening Rob,” says Simon McMahon. “Not sure what to make of this extended World Cup so far. Been some good games, and performances, but the UK timings have made it difficult for me to feel fully involved. Except when Scotland beat Haiti at 4am and the bottom of my whisky bottle told me we were going to bring it home. Glad to see African teams doing well, and the host countries, but it’s France’s to lose, isn’t it?”
I still think Spain will win it, but I also think Sparklehorse are the greatest band of all time and I doubt that opinion would find favour down the local.
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Thomas Tuchel’s mission to put a second World Cup star on the England shirt did not look as though it would reach the second knockout round. On a fraught and chaotic occasion in Atlanta, his team flirted aggressively with disaster. For 75 minutes, England mixed loose defending with an inability to take their chances. Which were plentiful. The Democratic Republic of the Congo goalkeeper, Lionel Mpasi, had the game of his life. Who needs Lionel Messi.
It was easy for England’s long-suffering fans to feel their minds being taken to dark places. Iceland 2016, anyone? They had only ever lost once to an African team – to Senegal in a friendly in June of last year. The DRC, who have brought the romance to this tournament, a team to unite a war-torn nation, led through Brian Cipenga’s seventh-minute goal. They were primed to do something utterly extraordinary.
At which point Harry Kane decided that enough was enough. The England captain was not ready to go home, to be buried under an avalanche of awful headlines. He kept the faith. If he could get another chance, he told himself he would take it.
Team news
Belgium stick the team that thrashed New Zealand 5-1. Senegal make three changes from their 5-0 win over Iraq. Pathe Ciss, Iliman Ndiaye and Pape Gueye replace Abdoulaye Seck, Ibrahim Mbaye and Lamine Camara
Belgium (poss 4-2-3-1) Courtois; Castagne, Mechele, Theate, De Cuyper; Tielemans, Vanaken; Trossard, De Bruyne, Doku; De Ketelaere.
Subs: Lammens, Penders, Meunier, De Winter, Seys, Ngoy, Witsel, Moreira, Saelemaekers, Raskin, Onana, Lukaku, Lukebakio, Fernandez-Pardo.
Senegal (poss 4-3-3) Diaw; Diatta, Ciss, Niakhate, Jacobs; Diarra, I Gueye, P Gueye; I Ndiaye, I Sarr, Mane.
Subs: Diouf, M Sarr, Koulibaly, Seck, Mendy, Malick Diouf, Camara, P Sarr, B Ndiaye, Diao, Dieng, Jackson, C Ndiaye, Mbaye.
Referee Said Martinez (Honduras).
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We can all agree the Geopolitics World Cup has gone on far too long, so Football Daily is pleased to announce it is over. It monopolises everyone’s time, changes sleeping, eating and drinking patterns, leaving everyone tired and poorer. No one wants to stay up for further 2am BST kick-offs or attempt to watch a couple of games a day. Frankly, the process has been completely futile since the first ball was kicked. France have won the tournament; no one can compete with their arousing front four who are, frankly, better than anything else on the planet.
This is the first game of day 21 at the World Cup, with USA v Bosnia and Herzegovina to follow. Ach, who am I kidding.
Belgium had just beaten New Zealand 5-1 to secure top spot in Group G and, at least in theory, an easier last-32 draw, but Rudi Garcia was evidently irked. In response to the first question in a curt post-match press conference, he adjusted the microphone to ensure his point was heard.
“I really didn’t appreciate them being called has-beens,” he said, alluding to an article in La Libre, a French-language Belgian newspaper, that compared Kevin De Bruyne to a washed-up Hollywood actor after a flat display against Iran in their previous match in Los Angeles.
“When a nation has players of that calibre, you support them,” Garcia added, praising the performances of his “four leaders” in De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku, Thibaut Courtois and Leandro Trossard, who scored twice against New Zealand; Trossard’s opener represented the first goal Belgium scored themselves at the tournament (after an own goal against Egypt) at the 45th attempt after more than 200 minutes of labouring.
Preamble
Hello and welcome to live coverage of Belgium v Senegal in Seattle. In its own quiet way, this is one of the more intriguing games in the last 32, largely because it involves two teams whose level isn’t entirely clear.
Belgium, 10th in the world rankings, have endured a painfully slow comedown since their Golden Generation reached the semi-final in 2018, but any team that includes Kevin De Bruyne, Jeremy Doku, Youri Tielemans, Thibaut Courtois nd Leandro Trossard is surely worth a damn.
Senegal (18th) were one of the hipster picks going into the World Cup. They’re unofficial champions of Africa and beat England handsomely in Nottingham a year ago. But they were drawn in a very tough group and lost to France and Norway before walloping Iraq to progress as one of the best third-place teams.
The United States or Bosnia and Herzegovina await in the last 16. Right here, right now, all four teams will fancy their chances of making the quarter-finals.
Kick off 1pm local/4pm EDT/9pm BST/6am AEST
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