Costa Rica kept their World Cup campaign alive with a 1-0 victory over Japan, while Morocco stunned Belgium 2-0.
Spain split the points with Germany, who kept their trophy hopes alive with a 1-1 draw, but Canada could not salvage their round-of-16 dreams as they suffered a 4-1 defeat by Croatia.
Meanwhile, Marcus Rashford heaped praise on life in England camp under Gareth Southgate.
Here, the PA news agency looks at how events unfolded in Qatar.
Morocco stun Belgium
Morocco’s supporters raised the roof at Al Thumama Stadium after their team caused another huge World Cup upset in Qatar with a 2-0 victory over Belgium.
The vociferous Moroccan fans turned it into a home match, whistling every Belgian touch, and they were up in arms in first-half stoppage time when they had a goal ruled out after a VAR check.
Both goals came from second-half substitutes, with Abdelhamid Sabiri netting the opener before Zakaria Aboukhlal sealed an incredible win when he fired in at Thibaut Courtois’ near post from Hakim Ziyech’s cutback at the death.
Spain settle for a single point
Spain thrashed Costa Rica 7-0 in their World Cup opener, but Sunday’s meeting with Group E rivals Germany was a much closer affair.
For 62 minutes it appeared as though the match could be headed towards the sixth goalless draw of the tournament before Alvaro Morata broke the deadlock.
But four-time World Cup winners Germany, coming off a shock 2-1 loss to Japan, were able to keep their campaign alive – and the group open – when Niclas Fullkrug netted an 83rd-minute equaliser.
Canada bow out but make history
Croatia sent World Cup 2026 co-hosts Canada packing with a decisive 4-1 victory at Khalifa International Stadium as they moved to the top of Group F.
Andrej Kramaric bagged a brace with goals on either side of the break, with strikes from Marko Livaja and Lovro Majer ensuring Zlatko Dalic’s men sealed all three points.
Croatia may have netted more goals than their opponents but it was Alphonso Davies’ second-minute opener that carried the most historical significance: it was Canada’s first at a men’s World Cup.
Costa Rican c-upset
Costa Rica produced the day’s first upset as Keysher Fuller scored the only goal to sink Group E rivals Japan 1-0 at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium and avoid elimination.
Defender Fuller fired a late winner with Costa Rica’s first shot on target in the 81st minute to throw the group wide open and bring Japan crashing back down to earth after their stunning opening win against Germany.
Manager Luis Fernando Suarez said: “We are still alive. We weren’t dead yesterday and now we are very much in this, alive still.”
Rashford sticks up for Southgate
Marcus Rashford questioned the approach to training of former England manager Roy Hodgson – insisting it “doesn’t take a genius” to see how much better the team are under Gareth Southgate.
Rashford made his senior tournament debut at Euro 2016 after Hodgson selected the then-teenager following his breakthrough at Manchester United.
However, the forward pinpointed a change in the level of training from the Hodgson regime as one of the reasons England have progressed.
“Training has been good for the lads that haven’t been getting as many minutes (in Qatar),” he said.
“But I feel like, for this squad, it has never really been an issue, especially since Gareth’s been managing.
“Maybe before it was a little bit of an issue in terms of quality of training and people’s dedication to training but since he’s been manager of England, it’s been good.”
Picture of the Day
Tweet of the Day
Who’s up next
Group G: Cameroon v Serbia (10am, ITV1)Group H: South Korea v Ghana (1pm, BBC1)Group G: Brazil v Switzerland (4pm, ITV1)Group H: Portugal v Uruguay (7pm, ITV1)
