On the last day of the group stage, in a great turnaround, the Democratic Republic of Congo qualified for the knockout stages of the World Cup for the first time by beating newcomers Uzbekistan 3-1 this Saturday (27), in Atlanta.
The African team joins Cape Verde, South Africa, Canada, Ivory Coast, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Egypt among the teams that, in this edition of the World Cup, reach the knockout phase for the first time.
In the other Group K clash, Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal and Luis Díaz’s Colombia finished 0-0 in Miami and also qualified for the knockout stage.
Colombia ended the group stage at the top of the group, with 7 points. Portugal was in second place, with 5. DR Congo had 4. Uzbekistan was in last place, with zero.
In the 32-team phase, the Colombian team will face Ghana on Friday (3), at 10:30 pm. Portugal will play against Croatia on Thursday (2), at 8pm. DR Congo will face England on Wednesday (1), at 1pm.
Grupo J
The last game worth a place in the 32-team phase of the World Cup, which ended in the early hours of this Sunday (28), the duel between Algeria and Austria began with the possibility that they would play a “game of friends”, to draw and both qualify for the knockout stage.
The confrontation, however, ended up becoming one of the most exciting spectacles of this edition of the World Cup, with two goals in second-half stoppage time, the first momentarily eliminating Austria and the second classifying the two teams with a 3-3 draw at Arrowhead Stadium, in Kansas City.
It was up to Iran, which depended on a victory by one side to go to the knockout stage as one of the eight best third-placed teams and ended up eliminated.
With Argentina already assured of first place, Group J had Austria as second and Algeria as third, both with 4 points.
Thus, the African team entered as one of the best third parties and will face Switzerland on Friday (3). Austria, in turn, will face Spain, first in Group H, on Thursday (2).
In the other game in the group, Argentina opted for an almost entirely reserve formation and beat Jordan 3-1, in the first meeting between the two teams, at the AT&T Stadium, in Arlington, on the outskirts of Dallas.
Once again, Lionel Messi was the highlight of the duel. He started the match on the bench, but came on in the second half and didn’t score a goal from a free kick, his sixth goal in the current edition and his 19th in total, further isolating himself as the greatest historical scorer of the World Cups.
The record-breaking number 10 of the Albiceleste team also became the first to score in seven consecutive World Cup games, including this World Cup and the previous one, surpassing the mark set by Jairzinho, in 1970, and Frenchman Just Fontaine, in 1958.
Group L
Harry Kane made England history. It was Jude Bellingham, however, who changed the story of Saturday night (27).
Two efforts from Bellingham in the second half were enough to guarantee the victory and qualification for the knockout stages.
In the first, he opened the scoring and, in the second, he passed to Kane to score and remain alone at the top of England’s artillery in World Cups. The striker reached 11 goals and surpassed Gary Lineker.
England ended the group stage with 7 points, one more than Croatia, and secured the lead in the group. Now, they will face the Democratic Republic of Congo, on Wednesday (1st).
Panama leaves the World Cup with a negative mark: it was the only team not to score.
In Philadelphia, Croatia beat Ghana 2-1. As a result, the Europeans finished the group stage in second place and will face Portugal, second in Group K, on Thursday (2).
The Africans, classified as one of the best third parties, will face Colombia, who were ahead of the Portuguese in the group, on Friday (3).
