Mexico survive, Sweden advance, Germany eliminated in wild Group F finish
What a finish.
Photo by Hector Vivas/Getty Images
SWEDEN AND MEXICO ADVANCE
Unbelievable.
In as thrilling a conclusion to World Cup group play as you could imagine, Mexico and Sweden advanced to the knockout stage.
Defending World Cup champions Germany had a chance to advance when Mexico went down by two to Sweden, but were eliminated when they not only failed to score against South Korea, but gave up two goals in stoppage time. It’s a shocking result for the German side, who were considered one of the favorites entering the tournament.
The first South Korea goal against Germany was initially ruled offside, when it appeared Kim took the ball in behind the Germany defense, but VAR showed that the ball actually came off the foot of a Germany player, thus reversing the call.
Minutes later, with German goalkeeper Neuer pushing high up the field, Son finished a wide open breakaway to end Germany’s dream.
The result was a gift for Mexico, who were thoroughly beaten by Sweden on Wednesday, as their magical World Cup run was met with cold reality by a Sweden team that pushed them around physically and took their chances.
Mexico, on the other hand, didn’t take their chances — Carlos Vela had a golden opportunity to score in both halves of the game. In the first half he curled one wide left, and in the second half a volley from a teammate struck his head at the back post but he wasn’t able to convert and put the ball in the net.
Sweden looked strong, and their counter-attack worked perfectly as they invited Mexico pressure, weathered it time and time again, and then looked to attack. A volley from Augustinsson broke the deadlock, then a penalty from Granqvist and an own goal left the Mexico fans in attendance in a state of shock.
Germany - South Korea was a more tense affair. Germany built their attack slowly, throwing more and more players as the game went on, and South Korea showed the power of team defending. If anything, South Korea could have taken the lead several times in the closing 20 minutes as they kept getting sprung on counter attacks, which somehow the outnumbered Germany defense handled time and time again.
Right up until they didn’t.
HIGHLIGHTS:
11:55 a.m. ET — GOAL SOUTH KOREA AGAIN. SON ALONE IN. SOUTH KOREA 2 - GERMANY 0.
SCENES! SCENES!
11:51 a.m. ET — GOAL SOUTH KOREA. KIM. VAR CONFIRMS!
MEXICO GIVEN A GIFT!
11:32 a.m. ET — GOAL SWEDEN. OWN GOAL ALVAREZ. SWEDEN 3 - MEXICO 0.
Sweden and Mexico are still going through. If Germany score one, they will take Mexico’s spot, as they will have better goal differential. If Germany score one, Mexico can still re-take the second spot, but they need to score two goals, so they will have the same goal differential and will have scored more goals.
11:20 a.m. ET — PENALTY SWEDEN, AND GRANQVIST CONVERTS. SWEDEN 2 - MEXICO 0.
Oh my. Mexico are in trouble now. One Germany goal and they’re done.
11:08 a.m. ET: GOAL SWEDEN. AUGUSTINSSON ON THE VOLLEY. SWEDEN 1 - MEXICO 0.
Right now, both Sweden and Mexico would advance, but things just got a lot more nervy for Mexico.
Group F Table:
(top two teams advance)
Group F
Team | Points | Goal diff. | Goals scored |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sweden | 6 | 3 | 5 |
| Mexico | 6 | -1 | 3 |
| South Korea | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Germany | 3 | -1 | 2 |
Who advances:
Sweden and Mexico
Lineups are in!
For the first time in 51 games, Juan Carlos Osorio trots out the same lineup for Mexico. (Can you blame him?) In the Germany game, Jogi Low has made five changes (!), and finally brought in Goretzka.
Preview:
Group F kicks off its final group stage matches on Wednesday, with both set for 10 a.m. ET. Germany and South Korea face off at the Kazan Arena in Kazan, Russia, while Mexico and Sweden are set to compete at the Ekaterinburg Arena in Ekaterinburg, Russia.
Today we’ll have a running live blog of key moments and score updates as every team in Group F works to move on to the knockout stage.
But first, you probably want to know what the scenarios for advancement are here.
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