Germany vs Sweden Match in numbers

Four years ago, Cristiano Ronaldo produced an emphatic performance as the forward bagged his maiden World Cup hattrick to help Portugal draw 3-3 against Spain in their Group B encounter of the FIFA World Cup 2018 in Sochi. 

With just two minutes left in the regulation time, Ronaldo swerved a sweetly-timed freekick past the Spanish wall and keeper David De Gea as Portugal roared to level terms. 

Ronaldo also made yet another record in that game as he became the first player to score in eight consecutive major international tournaments when he converted a fourth-minute penalty after drawing a faul from his then Real Madrid teammate Nacho Fernandez to put Portugal 1-0 ahead in the game. 

With that goal, the Portugal skipper extended an unprecedented streak of scoring at major tournaments. Since finding the net at Euro 2004, he has gone on to grab goals at three further European Championships and four successive World Cups. 

Thanks to the goal, Ronaldo also became the fourth player to score in four World Cups, following in the footsteps of Uwe Seeler, Pele and Miroslav Klose.

Ronaldo scored once again just before half-time to give Portugal the lead after Diego Costa equalised it for Spain. Portugal conceded two goals in the second half and it looked like Portugal would go on to start their 2018 World Cup campaign with a defeat. 

Ronaldo, however, had other ideas as he curled in a late freekick to ensure a point for Portugal.   
 

France captain Hugo Lloris has announced his retirement from international football at the age of 36, three weeks after his country lost the World Cup final on penalties to Argentina in Doha.

"I have decided to stop my international career, with the feeling that I have given everything," Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Lloris said in an interview with French sports daily L'Equipe published on Monday.

"I think it is important to announce this now, two and a half months before the start of Euro qualifying."

Lloris, who made his international debut as a 21-year-old in a friendly against Uruguay in November 2008, bows out after becoming France's most-capped player during the World Cup.

He overtook previous record-holder Lilian Thuram's mark of 142 appearances and finished with his 145th cap in the final, which France lost 4-2 on penalties after an epic 3-3 draw at the end of extra time.

"I have really been thinking about it since the end of the World Cup, but there has been something deep inside of me for maybe six months now and which grew during the competition, leading me to make this decision," Lloris said.

Former Nice and Lyon goalkeeper Lloris captained France to victory at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

He played at seven major tournaments in total, including Euro 2016, when France lost in the final to Portugal as hosts.

France's back-up goalkeepers at the World Cup were 37-year-old Rennes veteran Steve Mandanda and Alphonse Areola of West Ham United.

However, the replacement for Lloris as France's starter is set to be the 27-year-old Mike Maignan of AC Milan, who missed the World Cup due to injury.

- 'Go out at the top' -

"There comes a time when you need to step aside. I have always said the French national team does not belong to any one person," Lloris said.

"There is a goalkeeper who is ready (Maignan), and I need a bit more time for me, for my family and for my children.

"To have been the France goalkeeper for 14 and a half seasons is a big deal, but it is also mentally exhausting and I hope clearing some time for myself will allow me to keep playing at the highest level for a few more years."

He added: "I prefer to go out at the top, having helped France get to a World Cup final."

Lloris' decision comes after coach Didier Deschamps -- in charge since 2012 -- signed a new contract to remain in the position through to the 2026 World Cup in North America.

"I must, we must, respect his decision even if he still had his place in our team, as he demonstrated during the last World Cup," Deschamps said in a statement.

"A great servant of the France team is bowing out and I want to pay tribute to his exceptional career.

"Beyond all the records that his talent and professionalism enabled him to break, beyond the essential role that he played in our greatest victories ... Hugo is a remarkable person on a human level."

The next assignment for Deschamps and France is the qualifying campaign for Euro 2024 in Germany, which begins at the end of March with a double-header against the Netherlands and the Republic of Ireland.

They will also play Greece and Gibraltar in Group B, with the top two teams advancing to the finals which will take place from June 14 to July 14 next year.

A month ago, if someone had predicted that France and Croatia would play the World Cup final in Russia, most of us would have dumped it as an impossible option. But here we are with that spectacularly different reality -- the Les Bleus and the Blazers lining up for today's final at the Luzhniki Stadium.

France are no rank outsiders -- they are a proven force and won the World Cup in 1998. But Croatia have certainly lived up their nickname -- blazing their way to their first-ever World Cup final. And if Croatia win, they will be the ninth nation to lift the coveted trophy.

Do they deserve it? Let's have the facts -- they played three knockout games on the trot for 120 minutes and more importantly they did it the hard way. Croatia won their semifinal against England in style – coming from a goal down to win it 2-1 in extra time, with Mario Mandzukic slamming the winner on 109 minutes. Not only that, they won their three group stage games which included a thumping 3-0 win against two-time world champions Argentina.

This Croatia team have so far not only demonstrated that they have got the qualities, if not pedigree, to go all the way to win the title. They will be up against a team they lost thrice against two draws in the last five meetings, but Croatia's inspirational coach Zlatko Dalic said past statistics would not win his opponents today's final.

“Statics, tradition and head to head -- I don't buy those. Tradition is there to be demolished. We do not mind who is on the other side of the pitch. We have come here to enjoy the moment and give our best. We deserved to play in the final; we want the world to watch Croatia play; we want most of the world to root for us. This is important. We will give our all, we will enjoy our football and whoever is the better team may they win,” Dalic said ahead of the final.

After that semifinal heart-break against France in their maiden World Cup appearance in 1998, Croatia lurched from bad to worse in the following three editions of the World Cup. They made it to Russia at the last moment but since then it has been a spectacular journey for them with Luca Modric playing the key role in a very experienced side.

They might have played more minutes and got less rest compared to France and they have so far proved that they love to grind their way out of a hole. This tough mentality might prove handy for them against an extremely talented yet raw French side, who had only one tough game against Belgium in the semifinal. France were successful in defending a 54th-minute Umtiti lead against Belgium. But the ploy of sitting back against a vastly experienced Croatia side might prove costly for them.

France will bank on the brilliance of Kylian Mbappe to create something on the break. But the key player for the Les Bleus would once again be again Antoine Grizemann and it will be interesting to see who controls the midfield.

France captain Hugo Lloris is well aware that this Croatia team is not only very experienced but have the quality too. He also reminded that they would have to be at their best if they want France to lift the World Cup for a second time and put behind the home disappointment of the Euro 2016 final against Portugal.

Twenty years ago, France joined the exclusive group of World Cup winners, defeating Brazil in the final. Croatia made their first appearance in that year and bowed out, suffering an agonising 2-1 semifinal defeat against France. They will get a second chance at redemption. And if they can do that, it will be gift to the dreamers. Croatia is a county of only four million people, but Dalic promised that the seismic wave back in Croatia would be even bigger than Brazil and Argentina if they win the final.

Croatia set up a dream final with France as they came from a goal down to beat England 2-1 in a nail-biting semifinal at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow yesterday.

Mario Mandzukic struck the winner in the 109th minute after the game headed into extra time following a 1-1 stalemate in regulation 90 minutes. England defender Kieran Trippier gave the Three Lions a fifth-minute lead with a spectacular free-kick before Ivan Perisic levelled the margin in the 68th minute with a first-time flick into the left-hand corner of the net.

And the moment Turkish referee Cuneyt Cakir blew the final whistle after four minutes of added time, the Croatian players burst into wild celebration for having made it into the final for the first time in their history, leaving England to eat the humble pie 28 years after that gut-wrenching defeat against Germany in Italia '90. 

Despite the defeat, this young England team showed they can play entertaining, fearless and not conventional football. Raheem Sterling, Dele Alli, Jasse Lingard, John Stones and goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, whose brilliance under the bar ended the Three Lions' shootout jinx in the round or 16 against Colombia, were really pushing a seasoned Croatian side into tight corners.

And England needed only five minutes to take the lead through a magnificent free-kick from Trippier, who whipped the ball over the wall and into the top right-hand corner that Croatia goalkeeper Danijel Subasic could only watch. England got the free-kick just outside the box when Luka Modric pulled Alli, who looked ominously poised after being nicely fed by Lingard. It was the Tottenham Hotspur winger's first goal on England shirt.

The early goal fuelled more energy into the England attack, with Sterling making those sprints down the right flank. They won a corner in the 14th minute and it was time for another defender to bury it for a team that had proved to be the most successful side from dead-ball situations in this World Cup. But Harry Maguire headed the ball wide off the mark.

The pace of England attack created all sorts of problems for Croatia's defence and a terrible mispass from Domagoj Vida, who was jeered by his the fans whenever he touched the ball, almost allowed Sterling to score another. But the Manchester City forward killed that opportunity by trying to feed it to Harry Kane, who was offside.

Kane, the Tottenham Hotspur forward and the leading scorer in the World Cup with six goals, had his share of chances in the 30th minute. But his shots were amazingly saved by Subasic. After being nicely set up by Lingard, Kane drove a low sided-footed shot that Subasic partially parried and Kane's second attempt off the rebound from a tight angle hit the post before the ball somehow bounced away after hitting the goalkeeper.

Having survived the early onslaught, Modric finally showed up in the final third as he sent through an overlapping Rebic, who sent a rising shot towards the top left post. But that only allowed Pickford to warm his hands for the first time in the evening.

But the post-lemon session offered a completely different picture, with the Croats coming firing in all cylinders. And it turned into anybody's game after Perisic restored parity in the 68th minute.

It was a reward for constant pressure. Vrsaljko curled in the ball towards the far post that Perisic buried with a first-time flick. Four minutes later, Perisic almost got his second goal but his low shot past Pickford came off the far post. Rebic's shot on the rebound came straight at the young England goalkeeper.

England got a golden opportunity to take the decisive lead in the ninth minute of extra time, but Stone's goal bound header was cleared off the line by Vrsalijko. Few minutes later Pickford made an equally brilliant save at the other end off a Mandzukic shot on a Perisic cross from the right.

But the experienced Juventus striker made no mistake to pounce on a loose ball three minutes into the second half of extra-time. After England failed to clear a high ball down the left, Perisic beat Trippier to a header to the left of the box. Mandzukic was first to get the dropping ball and fired an unstoppable left-footer into the bottom right. And that meant dreamland for Croatia.

Brazil took a firm step onto the World Cup quarterfinals when they beat Mexico 2-0 at the Samara Arena yesterday.

After an evenly fought first half, Neymar gave the five-time world champions the lead sliding in from close before Roberto Firmino came off the bench to stab in the insurance in the 88th minute. Both goals were scored from five yards, from where it is very hard to miss the target.

The defeat meant Mexico made their exit from the round of 16 for a seventh straight time and despite their magnificent 1-0 win against Germany in the group stage, their dream of a World Cup win against the Selecao remain unfulfilled.

It was a high-quality game and despite playing in searing heat under the spaceship-like giant metal structure, both teams played with pace. 

Interestingly it was Neymar who served the first salvo in the fourth minute of the game. The star striker sent down a scorcher that Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa somehow managed to fist away despite being blind-sighted.

But after that Mexico took the game to the Brazilians with their forwards Carlos Vela and Hirving Lozano, operating wide, simply tore through rightback Fagner, looking like a fish out of water especially against Vela, who frantically switched ends. Vela also forced Filipe Luis to go for a risky tackle and was booked in the 40th minute, which means he will miss the next game as he was already on a yellow card.

Mexico got their first real chance in the 14th minute. Lozano took control of a long ball down the right side in expert fashion before sending a perfect cross but Javier Hernandez was too late in coming through to take advantage.

After absorbing the pressure in the first half, which ended with ball possession evenly split, the men in the gold shirts launched a blistering attack only to be denied by Ochoa, who stood tall under the bar. Neymar broke through the defence but his close-range shot was blocked by Ochoa in the 25th minute. One minute later Coutinho fired a shot from just inside the box over the crossbar. Mexico defender Edson Alvarez brilliantly tackled Neymar in the box, when the Brazilian superstar almost opened up space after being fed by an overlapping Fagner.

Brazil superstar Neymar is the toast of his teammates after he combined with Willian (not pictured) to give the Selecao their opening goal in the World Cup round of 16 clash against Mexico at the Samara Arena yesterday. Photo:Reuters

Ochoa then palmed a Gabriel Jesus shot as both teams headed in to cool their burning feet after a blistering half.

Mexico could have scored early after the break had Jesus Gallardo not fired a left-footer over the bar when he had the better option of feeding Vela.

Brazil finally ended the evening's duck in the 51st minute. Neymar backheeled to Willian on the edge of the Mexico penalty box and continued a curling run into the box. Willian drove through the penalty box and drilled the ball low and hard across the face of goal. Both Jesus and Neymar were chasing it and Neymar got it with a sliding shot.

Brazil were actually hardly troubled by Mexico after the goal and were surging more with Willian operating down the flank brilliantly. Brazil's second goal was a combined effort of two fresh legs and the brilliance of Neymar. Fernandinho, who came in for Paulinho, sent a through ball to Neymar who galloped down the flank before releasing a neat minus which Firmino, coming on as a substitute for Willian, stabbed it from close. It was a tough game for Brazil, who however showed rigidity in defence and the tenacity to withstand pressure, which is a hallmark of a team capable of going all the way.

The only disappointing aspect of the game was yet another Neymar playacting. He screamed in pain when he had a soft touch with Mexico's Miguel Layun in the touchline. Layun was actually trying to collect the ball from Neymar with his hand so that he could take a quick throw. But the way Neymar reacted it was as if he was kicked, which was not the case. He was jeered by the Mexican fans after that, something he can't complain about.