Day 15
Group G – England vs Belgium
Date – June 28, 2018
Venue – Kaliningrad Stadium
Goal scorers – (Belgium) Adnan Januzaj 51;
Group G – Panama vs Tunisia
Date – June 28, 2018
Venue – Saransk Stadium
Goal Scorers – (Tunisia) Yassine Meriah 33’(own goal), F.Ben Youssef 51’, Wahbi Khazri 66’
Belgium beats England to win Group G.
Adnan Januzaj goal was the difference between Belgium and England.
With promotion from the group stage secured, the two sides came to decide the path they would be taking to the final.
Group H – Japan vs Poland
Date – June 28, 2018
Venue – Volgograd Arena
Goal scorers – (Poland) Jan Bednarek 59
Group H – Senegal vs Colombia
Date – June 28, 2018
Venue – Samara Arena
Goal scorers – (Colombia) Yeri Mina 74’
Group H proved to be the ‘group of death’. Colombia and Japan advance from a very tricky Group H.
For the first time since 1982, no side from Africa will be in the knockout round of the FIFA World Cup. Senegal needed a draw or better to seal their place in the ‘Round of 16’ but Yeri Mina scored the only goal of the match for Colombia to win Group H and also denied Senegal a place in the knockout round.
Poland bows out with a win.
Poland could have given Senegal a helping hand if they had managed to get an additional goal against Japan.
Japan and Senegal finished Group H with an identical record – a win, a draw, a defeat, 4 goals scored, 4 goals conceded, and four points. And despite a ‘1-0’ defeat for both teams in the final group match, the FIFA fair-play rules allow Japan to secure second place in Group H.