Well yesterday’s World Cup certainly brought some fun things. Belgium continue to impress after rolling Tunisia, Mexico maybe probably secured their seventh straight Round of 16 appearance by beating South Korea, and Germany looked not that hot in the first half, tied things early in the second and then Toni Kroos hit an absolutely bananas free kick in stoppage time to win over Sweden. How bananas?
This is so satisfying to watch. pic.twitter.com/J0lRNgVr73
— World Cup (@FlFAWC2018) June 23, 2018
So now we move on to today. This is the last of the three consecutive game match days before things get crazy tomorrow with the usual simultaneous kickoffs for 2 groups a day this week. Let’s start with the one folks may know the most:
England vs. Panama
What to watch for: Panama was rolled by Belgium 3-0 in their first Group G game, while England took a Harry Kane brace over Tunisia in a game they were...not horrible in? This is a fairly straightforward game: England wins and they clinch a spot in the Round of 16 and help Belgium in the process, thus making Thursday’s game with the two moot. Panama can get shifty when they play desperate as any CONCACAF footy fan will tell you. Difficult, not impossible?
Location: Nizhny Novgorod Stadium (Nizhny Novgorod)
Kickoff time: 8:00am Eastern
Available TV: Fox Sports 1, Telemundo
Available streaming: Fox Sports Go, Telemundo
Japan vs. Senegal
What to watch for: With Group H kicking off, you could consider this a match of upstarts as the two teams defeated their CONMEBOL and UEFA opponents in their first games. Senegal has Sadio Mane (of Liverpool), Japan has Shinji Kagawa (of Borussia Dortmund). The winner of this game put themselves in prime position to lock up a spot in the Round of 16. As they’ve never been there before, I’m pulling for the Lions of Teranga.
Location: Central Stadium (Yekaterinburg)
Kickoff time: 11:00am Eastern
Available TV: Fox, Telemundo
Available streaming: Fox Sports Go, Telemundo
Poland vs. Colombia
What to watch for: The subject of a lot of TV spots I saw Saturday night, the Biało-czerwoni and Los Cafeteros have familiar faces on both sides of the ball, and both play for Bayern Munich in Robert Lewandowski and James Rodriguez, respectively. Colombia also has Radamel Falcao and Carlos Bacca and have enough ponies to keep their World Cup hopes alive, albeit barely.
Location: Kazan Arena (Kazan)
Kickoff time: 2:00pm Eastern
Available TV: Fox, Telemundo
Available streaming: Fox Sports Go, Telemundo
For listings in other countries, check out LiveSoccerTV.com.