All the updates, highlights from World Cup 2018 Day 11

A big inevitability of any major soccer tournament is yellow card accumulation leading to suspensions. It’s frustrating for fans and managers alike, but it’s something that always has to be considered going into any game.

The World Cup is no exception to this rule, so knowing how the tournament’s yellow card rules are going to work is important before it starts.

After a 6-1 win over Panama, things are going well for England in World Cup Group G. Amazingly, it was the exact result that the Three Lions needed to draw level with Belgium in every way — points, goal differential and goals scored. The two teams play each other in the final day of the group stage, so if their match ends in a draw, the two teams will be tied by every measure.

In that situation, the next tiebreaker is the fair play table, or how many bookings you’ve received. The team with the fewest bookings would win Group G. It’s a bit of a bizarre tiebreaker, and it’s put these teams into a weird situation — it’s advantageous for each team to get booked a lot.

Following their goals in Switzerland’s 2-1 victory over Serbia on Friday, Swiss stars Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri both appeared to make the double eagle symbol from the Albanian flag with their hands. Serbia was upset by the gesture and asked FIFA to consider disciplinary action. FIFA opened proceedings against the pair, but decided not to suspend the players.

The conflict between the countries presently known as Kosovo and Serbia has been taking place for centuries, with Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic escalating tensions in the late 1980s. Hundreds of thousands of ethnic Albanians were driven from their homes or killed in the 90s, leading to NATO airstrikes, a refugee crisis, and accusations of genocide against the government of Milosevic, who died in prison at The Hague during his trial for war crimes.

James Rodriguez’s pass to send Juan Cuadrado through on goal for Colombia’s third goal was so beautiful and profound that not finishing it would have counted as an act of iconoclasm.

Rodriguez had attracted the attention of Poland’s defense so much while dribbling down the left side of the field that he was covered by three defenders, with Poland’s last defender also watching him. When he made the pass, even the fullback that was responsible for Cuadrado on the opposite side was caught by surprise.

We’ve been through 32 World Cup games and not one of them has ended in a 0-0 draw. Saturday was an incredibly high-scoring game, and Sunday was even more ridiculous, with 14 goals hitting the back of the net.

Harry Kane scored a hat trick, going into the lead for the golden boot with five goals in the tournament. But as you’ll see, he didn’t exactly have the best goals of the day. In fact, on this list of 14, the first three you’ll see are Kane’s. Then we get to the really good stuff.

Following the 2-2 draw between Japan and Senegal and Colombia’s 3-0 win over Poland, the Colombians control their own World Cup destiny. If Los Cafeteros win their final group stage match, they’re in the World Cup knockout stage. It’s that simple. If they draw, things get complicated. They can’t afford a loss.

First, here’s the Group H table after two rounds of play.

Woo boy. That was a day of World Cup action.

Up first, England steamrolled Panama to book a spot in the round of 16. In the middle game, Japan and Senegal put on a show. Wrapping it up, Colombia surged past Poland, looking very much like the darlings of the 2014 World Cup again.

Whew did Colombia need that. We hope you didn’t judge them on a match where they played 87 minutes with ten men and James Rodriguez starting on the bench. As it turns out, they’re pretty formidable with 11 men and James on the field for 90 minutes.

Colombia still sits behind Senegal and Japan in the Group H standings, but they control their own destiny. If Colombia beats Senegal, they’re in the Round of 16. Poland, meanwhile, have been eliminated from the World Cup.

One of the most entertaining games of the tournament, and in the end, a solid result for both sides. If you told either of these teams they would have four points after two group stage games, they both would have taken it.

Shoutout to 19-year-old Senegal right back Moussa Wagué, who plays for Eupen in Belgium, and will now have a lot more big clubs scouting him.

The Three Lions put in a spectacular performance on Sunday, with Harry Kane scoring a hat trick and taking over the lead in the golden boot race. He has five goals, one ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo and Romelu Lukaku. John Stones also scored a brace on the night, and now has more goals in the World Cup than Wayne Rooney.

Hilariously, this was the exact result that England needed to draw level with Belgium on every criteria — points, goal differential, goals for and goals against. If the two teams draw their final match, the winner of the group will be decided on the fair play table, which is who has fewer bookings. Either team can win the group with a victory.

It seems safe to assume that most teams come into a World Cup with a plan. An idea as to their preferred first team, a tactical shape, and so on. Frankly, it would be irresponsible not to. This is quite a big deal. And we can be doubly sure that Germany will have done all available homework: even when they’re not the best, they’re usually among the most sensible.

But as the famous Prussian military strategist Helmuth von Moltke once said: Ahahahaha, suckers! Where is your precious plan now? Two game into the tournament and Germany, though they’re scrapping, are miles off the map. They may even have lost the map completely. Jogi Löw is squinting up at the stars, trying to remember which end of the Plough points at the North Star, and asking Mats Hummels if his compass is meant to be slowly spinning round like that.

The delight of Jorge Perez-Navarro is the paroxysmal orgasm of his narration. It has a natural excitement, one that does not need coaxing. The splendor is paranormal. But the execution creates an otherworldly experience. When listening to Rick Ross one must expect his cavernous, guttural grunt to emerge, a sprinkle of his celebrity for an artist over a generation of work. The same must be done for Perez-Navarro. The explosions of candor, the elongation of consonants, the anecdotes and elation one doesn’t always have the privilege of experiencing in American sporting entertainment that, at times, can be second nature to Spanish-language television.

The World Cup is Perez-Navarro’s moment in the sun. It has been coming since 2002, when he started providing commentary for Univision on “Contacto Deportivo” for four World Cups. His voice’s beauty was a fixture for five Copa América championships, nine Copa MX tournaments and several CONCACAF qualifiers plus 12 Major League Soccer seasons and several international qualifiers for both America’s men’s and women’s teams. Even now, as he’s providing soccer commentary for Fox Sports, his expressions and assertions still wax cathartic. I was left yearning by halftime of Mexico-South Korea, craving more of Perez-Navarro as if the sound was pharmaceutical.