On Thursday, the last stage of group stage matches will take place, where teams from groups G and H will meet, lrt.lt wrote. The situation in group G is clearest, from which Belgium and England national teams will advance to the next stage. In group H, only Poland has no chance of advancing to the next stage, while all other teams have excellent chances of reaching the quarter-finals. You can watch all the football championship matches through the official tournament broadcaster LRT.
Japanese samurais will try to leave Poland without points
Japanese - surprise of this championship. Before the tournament, they were considered outsiders in the group, but before the crucial match against Poland, they are ranked first in the group. The last match means nothing to Poland, as they have no theoretical chances to progress, but the Poles do not want to leave the tournament in Russia without points.
The "Blue Samurai" started their journey in the championship with an unexpected victory 2:1 against Colombia, who were left with ten players almost from the start of the match. Then they met with Senegal national team and drew 2:2. Japanese national team has as many points (4) as Senegal, so they would be enough to play with Poland on equal terms. Even a defeat to the Poles may not eliminate the hopes of advancing to the next stage, but then they would have to look at the result of the Colombia and Senegal match.
Adam Nawalka's players lost their first match to Senegal national team 1:2, and in the second match, they had no hope against the hurricane-like attack from Colombia and lost to them 0:3. Poland, winning a match against the Asians, could rise to the third place if Colombia loses to Senegal and the "Eagles" have a better goal difference of goals scored and conceded.
Captain of the Japanese national team Makoto Hasebe said before the match that the Japanese national team is not the one that seeks only a draw, they want to get the last 3 points and travel calmly further.
After recovering from an injury, Shinji Okazaki is expected to appear in the Japanese starting lineup, who appeared as a substitute in previous matches. It is also speculated that the Japanese may change their goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima.
In the Polish national team, Kamil Glik should play from the beginning of the match, having recovered from a shoulder injury.
Japan and Poland played two friendly matches. In 1996, the Japanese defeated the Poles with a score of 2:0. In 2002, the samurais defeated the hosts in Lodz with a score of 2:0. The Poles won their last group stage matches in the previous World Championships in 2002 and 2006.
Keisuke Honda scored in three different World Cup tournaments in the match against Senegal.
Predicted starting lineups:
Japan: Eiji Kawashima, Hiroki Sakai, Maya Yoshida, Gen Shoji, Yuto Nagatomo, Makoto Hasebe, Gaku Shibasaki, Genki Haraguchi, Shinji Kagawa, Takashi Inui, Yuya Osako.
Poland: Lukasz Fabianski, Lukasz Piszczek, Kamil Glik, Jan Bednarek, Bartosz Bereszynski, Grzegorz Krychowiakas, Jacek Goralski, Maciej Rybus, Piotr Zielinski, Robert Lewandowski, Kamil Grosicki.
Watch these matches starting at 16.45 on LRT TELEVISION and news portal LRT.lt.
Will the attack of the Colombian national team be stronger than Senegal's?
Before the championship, there was little doubt that the Colombian national team would reach the quarter-finals, but now they are on the edge of the abyss. In the match against Senegal, the Colombians need to show their offensive arsenal because only a victory guarantees them a ticket to the next stage, otherwise, they would have to look at other group matches.
Senegal only needs a draw in this match, and in that case, the Colombian team should wait for Poland's victory over Japan by more than one goal.
Colombia put themselves in a difficult situation during the first match, when they lost 1:2 to Japan, leaving them with ten players. In the next matches, the South American team showed all their offensive potential and wiped out the Poles with a score of 3:0.
Senegal defeated Poland 2:1 in the first match, but complicated their situation by drawing 2:2 with the Japanese national team. Now Japan and Senegal have 4 points each, and Colombia has 3.
Sadio Mane should play better against Colombia than before, even though he is under great pressure, said coach A. Cisse.
These teams played friendly matches in 2014, where Senegal ended up with ten players, but the result was a draw: 2:2.
Predicted lineups:
Senegal: Khadim N'Diaye, Youssouf Sabaly, Kalidou Koulibaly, Salif Sane, Moussa Wague, Cheikhou Kouyate, Pape Alioune N'Diaye, Idrissa Gana Gueye, Sadio Mane, M'Baye Niang, Ismaila Sarr.
Colombia: David Ospina, Santiago Arias, Davinson Sanchez, Yerry Mina, Johan Mojica, Mateus Uribe, Carlos Sanchez, Juan Cuadrado, Juan Quintero, James Rodriguez, Radamel Falcao.
Will Panama win their first matches?
Panama and Tunisia - two underdog teams in Group G, who will compete for honorable points on the leaderboard in the last matches.
Tunisia proved to be a dangerous opponent. In the first matches, they only conceded a goal at the end of the match, after the second goal from Harry Kane, and lost 1:2. In the second match, Belgium and Tunisia engaged in an exchange of goals, but Belgium won with a score of 5:2.
Panama did not cause problems for their opponents. In the first match, they were defeated by the Belgians 3:0, and England let Panama score once, but scored six times more, ending the match with a 6:1 victory for the English.
In the last match of the Tunisia team, the third goalkeeper of the team will play, as the other two suffered injuries. Dylan Bronn, who suffered a knee injury, will also be unable to play.
Panama will have to play without Michael Murillo and Armando Cooper, who both received their second yellow cards during the match against England and will not be able to play in the last match.
Tunisia won their last match at the World Cup in 1978, when they defeated Mexico in their first match of the tournament. This is Panama's first championship, so their victory would be the first in history.
Currently, Tunisia is in third place in the tournament table due to a better goal difference comparing the goals scored and conceded.
Evening dessert - a fight for first place between England and Belgium
The England and Belgium national teams are already calm about advancing to the next stage, but now they have to determine which team is stronger and will take first place in the group.
Belgium started their journey in the championship confidently. In the first matches, they did not leave any hopes for Panama with a 3:0 victory and played even more effectively against Tunisia, ending the match with a score of 5:2.
The England national team had a tough match against Tunisia, unlike Belgium, they had a difficult match and only scored the second goal in extra time, which secured a 2:1 victory. The match against Panama's national team was easier, and the "Three Lions" won with a result of 6:1.
The "Red Devils" are now in first place in the group. If the teams play on equal terms, the higher position will go to the team with fewer yellow and red cards.
English fans can probably relax easier because Romelu Lukaku, who suffered an injury during the match against Panama, is not expected to appear in the Belgian national team in this match. Dries Mertens and Eden Hazard also have injuries.
Dele Alli will not be able to help the England national team.
Possible starting lineups:
England: Jordan Pickford, Phil Jones, John Stones, Gary Cahill, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Eric Dier, Jesse Lingard, Danny Rose, Marcus Rashford, Harry Kane.
Belgium: Thibaut Courtois, Thomas Vermaelen, Dedryck Boyata, Toby Alderweireld, Mousa Dembele, Marouane Fellaini, Nacer Chadli, Thorgan Hazard, Youri Tielemans, Eden Hazard, Michy Batshuayi.
lrt.lt
