Senegal the first team in World Cup history eliminated on fair play tiebreaker
Japan and Colombia have advanced in bizarre circumstances.
Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images
1st place: Colombia
2nd place: Japan
Unbelievable. For the first time in the history of the World Cup, a team has advanced on the fair play tiebreaker. Senegal and Japan finished level on points, goal differential, goals scored and head-to-head, but Japan finished with four bookings to Senegal’s six.
No team has ever gone out of the World Cup on Fair Play, but that’s what’s about to happen to Senegal if there are no more goals, or if Japan doesn’t get two more yellow cards. As it stands, Japan have four bookings to Senegal’s six.
GOAL Yerry Mina! Colombia 1-0 Senegal
Huge twist here thanks to a well-executed Colombia corner. This goal means that Senegal and Japan are tied on everything — goals scored, goal differential and head-to-head. That means we’re heading to the fair play tiebreaker, and as it stands, Japan is winning that with fewer bookings. Madness.
Here’s Mina’s excellent goal:
GOAL Jan Bednarek! Poland 1-0 Japan
Finally, some drama! Japan has gone behind, and as a result, drops to third place. Colombia moves up to second if results hold, while Senegal would win the group. Check out this volley from Bednarek, which is quite impressive by central defender standards.
Halftime scores: Senegal 0-0 Colombia, Japan 0-0 Poland
I was told we’d have madness. Where’s the madness? Everything is as it started in Group H, and as it stands, Colombia is going out of the tournament.
James Rodriguez injury: Colombia star substituted
Oh no, this isn’t what anyone wanted to see. James Rodriguez has been limping for a while, and he’s decided he can’t play on in the 31st minute. His foot appears to be hurting, and he’s walked straight down the tunnel after coming off. Luis Muriel replaces him.
Senegal penalty taken away by VAR
It looked like Davinson Sanchez had fouled Sadio Mane in the box, but take a closer look at the replays — he actually got all ball. It’s an incredible play, and thankfully we had VAR to get it right.
Group H live standings
This table will be updated as goals are scored
Through to the Round of 16: Colombia, Japan
Group H table
Team | Points | Goal Diff. | Goals Scored |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colombia | 6 | 3 | 5 |
| Japan | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Senegal | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Poland | 3 | -3 | 2 |
Senegal vs. Colombia lineups
Carlos Sanchez has returned to Colombia’s midfield after his suspension, despite a good performance by Wilmar Barrios in their last game. Senegal have made three changes, including the introduction of Balde Keita up top.
Japan vs. Poland lineups
Japan has made the stunning decision to make six changes, dropping all of its goal scorers from this World Cup. They only need a draw to progress, but winning the group will get them into the easier side of the bracket, so this is a very curious decision.
In the last day of the group stage, Group H kicks off play for Thursday with both matches at 10 a.m. ET. Japan faces Poland at the Volgograd Arena in Volgograd, Russia, while Senegal competes against Colombia at the Samara Arena in Samara, Russia.
Follow along here for the live blog of key moments and score updates as Japan, Senegal, and Colombia all fight for a spot in the knockout stage.
There are a lot of possible outcomes for this group of which teams will advance.
All three teams could advance to the next stage with a win. Both Japan and Senegal can also advance with a draw against their opponents, while Colombia could advance with a draw if Poland beats Japan. Japan could still advance with a loss if Senegal beats Colombia, or Colombia beats Senegal by a greater margin in goals. Senegal could also still advance with a loss if Japan loses to Poland by a greater margin in goals.
Poland is eliminated from moving on the knockout stage because of it lack of points and two losses.
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