Algeria, Austria provide thriller in 3-3 draw
Trending
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Algeria and Austria knew that a pedestrian draw Saturday night would have sent both to the knockout round of the World Cup.
They delivered a thrilling 3-3 draw instead.
In the wildest finish of the group stage, Algeria took the lead in stoppage time only for Austria to answer on the final play of the game, making it a win-win result for those teams and a heartbreaking loss for Iran, which was eliminated from the tournament.
“I’ve been a coach for about 40 years. I don’t remember a game that had such a dramatic course, and such an unexpected trajectory,” Austria coach Ralf Rangnick said, shaking his head. “Even at the beginning of the match, if someone would have said it would be 3-3, nobody would have believed it. Somebody would have won an incredible bet, I guess.”
The game was tied 2-all in the closing minutes, and Algeria looked as if it was content to run out the clock and allow both teams to advance, when Riyad Mahrez scored his second goal of the game. That put Austria on the verge of elimination, only for Sasa Kalajdzic to head in the equalizer a couple of minutes later, rescuing Das Team’s World Cup hopes.
“The locker room is madness,” Rangnick said with a smile. “If Alfred Hitchcock -- who had nothing to do with soccer, didn’t really like soccer -- if he had written such a drama, I would have said he was completely mad.”
Marko Arnautovic and Marcel Sabitzer also had goals for Austria, which finished second behind Argentina in Group J to advance for the first time since 1982. Its reward is a matchup with European champion Spain on Thursday in Los Angeles.
Rafik Belghali also scored for Les Fennecs, who became the ninth of 10 teams from Africa to advance. They finished third in the group but get a potentially easier Round of 32 matchup with Switzerland on Thursday night in Vancouver, British Columbia.
“It’s a feeling of being extremely happy,” Mahrez said. “We’re obviously happy, and it was the objective when we arrived -- it was to go beyond the first round. That’s what we did, and we’re all very happy.”
COLOMBIA 0, PORTUGAL 0
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) -- Colombia’s plan was nearly perfectly executed. The only thing missing was a goal.
Didn’t matter -- it goes into the knockout stage as a group winner.
Colombia finished the World Cup ‘s opening round as the Group K winner after playing Portugal to a scoreless draw Saturday night at Hard Rock Stadium in front of an electric crowd of supporters, the majority of whom were clad in Colombia’s bright yellow jerseys.
“We were the better team and deserved to win,” Colombia coach Néstor Lorenzo said. “I think we created so many chances. We just lacked finishing. The players were outstanding against a top contender ... not only did we play them on equal terms, we dictated the terms. I think playing against a rival like that, showing this kind of football to all these people, in this heat, was incredible.”
He wasn’t wrong. Colombia had 24 of the game’s 37 attempts on goal, never wilting despite the game-time temperature topping 90 degrees (32 degrees Celsius.).
Both squads had already secured spots in the knockout stage before the match, needing only to learn their opponents for the next round.
Colombia opens the knockouts on July 3 against Ghana, which entered with one of the lowest FIFA rankings but also played England to a scoreless tie during the group stage. Portugal will face Croatia, which beat Ghana 2-1 earlier Saturday, on July 2 as the Group K runner-up -- potentially needing to go through Spain to reach the quarterfinals.
“Win, losing or having a draw today didn’t make a difference,” Portugal coach Roberto Martínez said through an interpreter. “Our goal really is to play eight matches. The path for us really doesn’t make a difference. We tried to win the match. Our opponent did the same.”
CROATIA 2, GHANA 1
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Luka Modrić lined up for a corner kick intent on trying to float the ball to the top of the 6-yard box. Nikola Vlašić jumped high among the scrum and headed it in for a goal -- good enough to advance Croatia in the World Cup and give Modrić a slice of tournament history.
The 40-year-old Modrić became the oldest player in World Cup history with an assist, and Vlašić and Petar Sučić scored to help Croatia earn a spot in the knockout round with a 2-1 win over Ghana 2-1 on Saturday.
“I told him after the game, you play like you’re 20 years old,” Sučić said. “He was incredible today. He runs a lot. He goes into every duel. He was incredible with the ball. He is our leader; he is our best player and we’re so happy he can lead us in this World Cup. He can play until he wants, he’s so good.”
Ghana had already secured advancement from the group stage for the first time since 2010.
Vlašić headed home Modrić’s corner in the 83rd minute to score the winner and put Croatia back in contention after it finished third in 2022. The win means Croatia finished second behind England in Group L, with Ghana third.
“On the goal, I think I needed to do a block,” Vlašić said. “But the ball arrived to me so I shot it with my head. It’s not like it was some action but thank God the goal went in and we won the game.”
CONGO 3, UZBEKISTAN 1
ATLANTA (AP) -- For 52 years, Congo’s standout World Cup memory was a humiliating 9-0 rout at the hands of Yugoslavia in its only other appearance on soccer’s biggest stage.
Not anymore. Not after a new generation of players made history by advancing to the knockout stage of the World Cup for the first time and set up a clash with England.
“The weight on our shoulders was hard to bear,” said striker Yoane Wissa, whose two goals helped Congo rally to a 3-1 win against Uzbekistan on Saturday night
Fiston Mayele was also on target in a dramatic second-half comeback as Congo joined Cape Verde as another unexpected qualifier for the round of 32.
“We told ourselves we can’t give up,” Mayele said.
Congo has been one of the surprise stories of this World Cup, with few expecting it to emerge from a group that included Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal and Colombia. And history was hardly on its side.
Congo’s previous appearance was when it competed as Zaire in 1974 and lost all three games, including the rout by Yugoslavia.
It’s a completely different story now.
After holding Portugal to a 1-1 draw earlier in the tournament, Congo needed a win in its final Group K game to advance as one of the best third-place teams.
It did just that with a breathless fight back after trailing to Eldor Shomurodov’s lobbed goal in the 10th minute.
“We’re a team that knows how to respond when we concede a goal; we keep fighting with determination,” coach Sébastien Desabre said.
If the weight of the occasion was evident in Congo’s first-half performance, the resilience of its players proved irresistible after the break.
The game was level in the 68th when Wissa was brought down by Abdukodir Khusanov for a penalty.
Wissa picked himself up and sent Uzbekistan goalkeeper Abduvohid Nematov the wrong way, rolling the ball into the bottom corner for the first of a late flurry of goals.
Mayele put Congo ahead 10 minutes later when flicking past Nematov at the near post and was mobbed by teammates and even substitutes, who raced off the bench and across the field to join in the wild celebrations.
ENGLAND 2, PANAMA 0
EAST RUTHERFORD, N,.J. (AP) -- Jude Bellingham, Harry Kane and England’s fervid fans made MetLife Stadium feel like Wembley. They hope for a repeat at next month’s World Cup final.
With supporters’ red-and-white St. George’s Cross signs circling the field on an afternoon of sporadic rain, Bellingham and Kane scored early in the second half for a 2-0 win over Panama on Saturday. England earned first place in its group and a more favorable knockout phase bracket.
The Three Lions even wore the red jerseys made famous when England beat Germany for its only title in 1966, a sartorial similarity connecting North Jersey and that famous day in north London.
“Amazing support. Crazy white wall behind the goal. Perfect weather to play football for us -- warm rain,” England coach Thomas Tuchel said.
England finished Group L with two wins and a draw for seven points and plays its round of 32 match Wednesday at Atlanta against Congo. The team that advances faces Mexico or Ecuador in Mexico City.
If the Three Lions had dropped to second, they would have encountered Portugal, with the winner meeting Spain or Austria.
“I know some people have already made plans,” Bellingham said, “so it was nice they don’t have to cancel anything.”
Fans filled the field walls with flags displaying club names that included Tottenham, Watford and Wolves plus less-celebrated clubs such as Crawley Town, Bristol Rovers and Faversham Town.
Panama held the England scoreless through a first half in which Kane had 10 touches, the fewest of any player. Croatia added pressure by taking the lead in the 31st minute against Ghana in simultaneous match in Philadelphia.
“All the lads were ready to go after halftime,” Bellingham said. “We realized we had a couple of more gears to go.”
Bellingham put the Three Lions ahead in the 62nd minute from Bukayo Saka’s corner kick. Held in bear hug by Jorge Gutiérrez at the top of the 6-yard box, Bellingham stuck out his left leg and stabbed the ball past goalkeeper Orlando Mosquera for his third World Cup goal, his second this year.
Five minutes later, Bellingham crossed from the left flank and Kane outjumped Andrés Andrade to head in the ball for his 82nd international goal. Kane became England’s record World Cup scorer with his 11th goal, one more than Gary Lineker.
ARGENTINA 3, JORDAN 1
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) -- Giovani Lo Celso became the first Argentina player other than Lionel Messi to score in this World Cup as the defending champions finished the group stage with a three-game sweep after a 3-1 victory over Jordan on Saturday night.
Lo Celso, in his first World Cup start, put Argentina ahead to stay when he scored on a direct free kick in the 19th minute. Messi added one of his own after entering the game in the second half, and the top scorer in World Cup history extended his mark to 19 goals.
“I am very happy for him, for the moment he is having,” Lo Celso said in translated remarks about their captain.
Messi, the leader in this tournament with six goals, was among nine Argentina starters changed from the previous game since Group J was already clinched before the match. He entered in the 60th minute, three days after his 39th birthday and in the same stadium where he broke the scoring mark Monday, and scored in the 80th minute.
He scored all five of Argentina’s goals in wins over Algeria and Austria, including his first World Cup hat trick and then two goals in his record-setting game Monday. He has scored in seven consecutive World Cup games, breaking a tie with France’s Just Fontaine and Brazil great Jairzinho for the longest all-time streak.