Day 10 & 11: Germany survives, England & Belgium cruise through

With the second matchround already over and the final one starting today, we must catch up on the action of this weekend. A lot to talk about, because crazy things happened in the last couple of days. Normally I would start with a full depth analysis of Belgium's match, but I think for this post Group F is the right place to start.

Mexico's place in the round of 16 is as good as certain after they beat South Korea with 2-1. If they don't lose against Sweden on Wednesday, their qualification nor the first place in the group can be taken away from them. But it was the game later on Saturday we were all looking forward to: Germany vs Sweden. Germany were under huge pressure. They knew that with the victory of Mexico, only a win against Sweden would be enough to keep their chances in this group intact. Coach Löw made some changes after the Mexico game: Khedira, Hummels, Plattenhardt en Özil were 'sacrificed' for Rudy, Rüdiger, Hector and Reus. Germany tried to crush Sweden right from the start but Sweden held on. They even got better in the match along the first half and could have been given a penalty when Boateng took down Berg. Germany took that warning too lightly, and when Kroos gifted the ball in midfield, it was Toivonen who beat Neuer with a subtle lob to put Sweden in front. Germany' chances of winning the World Cup were living on a thread at this point. Berg could have knocked Germany down completely, but Neuer was there to the rescue. Germany was very dominant, but still faced a huge mountain to climb in the second half. It took them only minutes to equalize: finally a slight touch of luck when Reus got his knee against a cross from Werner. At the age of 29, the Borussia winger scored his first World Cup goal. Germany went full gear now in search of that necessary goal and the best chances fell for Müller and Gomez, but their headers went either wide or were saved by goalkeeper Olsen. When Boateng got his second yellow card, the match seemed to turn in Sweden's advantage. Sweden almost immediately capitalized on that red card, but a slipping Neuer just managed a hand against a header from Granqvist to deny Guidetti an easy tap-in. Germany went for an all or nothing offense in the final minutes, but despair took over when Gomez header went straight to Olsen and Brandt's shot hitted the post. One final free kick in the 95th minute: Kroos curls it to the second post and this time, Olsen is beaten. Gary Lineker once said it: in the end, the Germans always win! Germany is still in this World Cup and if they beat South Korea with two goals- which seems like a doable task- they do not have to look at the result between Sweden and Mexico.

With that crazy game out of the way, let's talk about Belgium. They entered their second match against Tunisia with the expectations a win would guarantee a spot in the round of 16. After just five minutes, Hazard got brought down at the edge of the box. Whether the foul was in our out the box was very difficult to see, but the VAR decided it was a penalty. Hazard finished in his trademark style. A perfect start for the Red Devils. Just 10 minutes later Lukaku scored his third of the tournament to make it 2-0. The match looked already decided, but any conclusions were premature when Bronn- who plays in the Belgian league- headed in a free kick just minutes later. Tunisia found renewed hope through that goal and they made it difficult for Belgium for the rest of the first half. When Lukaku scored the third goal- his fourth of the tournament, equaling Ronaldo- right before the break, a sigh of relief could be heard among the Belgian fans. A two goal lead at the break after a very pacy first half, and the unlucky Tunisians with two injuries in their defense. Hazard took away the last doubts when he dribbled past goalkeeper Ben Youssef and made it 4. Hazard hadn't scored a goal at a World Cup before Saturday, but now has two behind his name. After a quite match against Panama, the Hazard we love to see stepped up. He was given some rest with 20 minutes to go, Batshuayi was awarded his first minutes. That didn't took the pace out of the match at all. Tunisia kept looking for a goal and Belgium happily exploited the space Tunisia had to give away. Bathsuayi made an impact on his substitution and got multiple opportunities to find his goal but his finishing wasn't on point yet. He could have easily scored a hat-trick. With a scoreline of 4-1, it is forgiven for once. Bathsuayi found the reward for his efforts when he finished off a cross from Tielemans in injury time. The cherry on the cake. The late goal from Khazri denied the record of breaking the biggest victory for Belgium on a World Cup.

Who loves to see many goals, really got what we wanted in Group G this weekend. Who likes tension a lot less. England also held a goal festival against Panama. Just like in Belgium-Tunisia, 7 goals were scored. England made 6 goals and were on their way to steal the top spot from Belgium, but World Cup history was written when Felipe Baloy scored Panama's first World Cup goal in the 78th minute. Nevertheless, Panama got raped by England in the 77 minutes before and will-as expected- go home with Tunisia on Friday. It took England just 8 minutes to find the breakthrough. England put the pedal to the metal in the first half and at the break the score was already 5-0. Star of the afternoon was Harry Kane: he scored 2 goals from the penalty spot. When a shot of Loftus-Cheek deflected on him, he got- with a bit of luck- his third of the match. Kane leapt over Ronaldo and Lukaku for the Golden Boot with his 5 goals. 6 goals was enough for England. They showed mercy for the debutants, but they won't be happy with the goal they conceded. England and Belgium are equal in points, goal difference and goals scored, but 'fair play' places England above Belgium now. This can make for an entertaining match on Thursday night, but dependable on what happens in the other groups, it is not unlikely both teams might want to settle for second place instead of going for the first place.

In Group H, the World Cup is already over for Poland. A slight surprise for many, because they were the favorites together with Colombia to progress in this group. The European Championship quarter-finalists got football lesson from Colombia, who themselves got revenge for their defeat against Japan. Colombia was in every aspect the better team but had to wait till the 40th minute to score. Defender Mina rose higher than Sczesny, who didn't look too good on this ball. Juventus might consider looking for another replacement of Buffon after this World Cup. Poland couldn't create a single good opportunity until the 60th minute, when Lewandowski popped up in front of Ospina but couldn't get the ball past the goalkeeper. When Falcao got his first World Cup goal 10 minutes later, the tie was over for Poland. A deadly counter minutes later sealed Poland's fate: Cuadrado finished off after a beautiful pass from James Rodriguez. The Juventus and Bayern man provided the quality the Polish team couldn't bring. They are out after two disappointing games, a miserable end to the season for Lewandowski. Colombia has revived but is not there yet. Japan and Senegal's entertaining 2-2 draw means Colombia is in third spot with 3 points, Japan and Senegal have 4. Japan is in the best position to qualify for the round of 16- even as group winners- because they have to play Poland on Thursday. Colombia and Senegal have to decide between themselves who will be the second team to go through.

One final free-kick in the 95th minute: Kroos curls it to the second post and this time Olsson is beate