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The World Cup has been everything it was promised to be. There’s been drama and partying and Diego Maradona doing inappropriate things that are shown on world television. Wednesday was a pretty perfect day in the World Cup. Germany got knocked out by the best Concacaf team in the tournament when they lost to South Korea. As for our friends in Mexico, El Tri got stomped by Sweden. But they still get to go to the next round because Germany could only manage to score two goals in the entire thing.
And then there was the celebration - Korea may not be going to the next round, but that doesn’t mean that they didn’t get Mexico there. The Mexican fans were more than happy to impose a party upon their saviors.
The Mexicans found a South Korean outside the stadium pic.twitter.com/9gG7V9wtOd
— Siavoush Fallahi (@SiavoushF) June 27, 2018
Here’s the scene at the South Korean embassy...
That’s the Korean consul general to Mexico, Byoung-Jin Han, celebrating with grateful Mexican fans outside the Korea embassy here. One fan said he took a shot of tequila with them earlier. pic.twitter.com/NGWEmRADUW
— James Wagner (@ByJamesWagner) June 27, 2018
This is what the World Cup is all about. I may have to put in a word with Donald and Steph about making a one time switch to write for FMF State of Mind.
Here is what’s on for today:
Group H kicks things off with Colombia vs. Senegal and Japan vs. Poland. The former seems like it is going to set the stage for tragedy. This game is obviously some kind of sick Devil’s bargain where the inevitable result will be sadness - I really want both teams to go through. Colombia and Senegal have been fun to watch and this game should be amazing. A win puts Colombia through, if they draw, they need Japan to lose. Senegal is through with a win or draw, they can still lose but need Japan to score fewer goals to still get to the knockout round.
As for Japan and Poland, well Japan will need to win or draw to go through and Poland is out.
The next slate of games kicks off with the lowest stakes in the group stage. Belgium and England are both through and are playing each other. Winner takes the group and, ironically, is drawn into the harder side of the elimination rounds. As it stands, the teams are tied on everything, so if they draw the Fair Play rule determines the team that wins the group. Tunisia will take on Panama, who are both out, but it will be the world’s last chance for now to appreciate Roman Torres.
How to watch
Group G - England vs Belgium
Location: Kaliningrad Stadium, Kaliningrad
Kick-off time: 2 PM ET / 11 AM PT
Available TV: Telemundo (Spanish), FOX (English)
Available streaming: Fox Sports Go, Telemundo, FuboTV (Free trial)
Group G - Tunisia vs Panama
Location: Mordovia Arena, Saransk
Kick-off time: 2 PM ET / 11 AM ET
Available TV: NBC Universo (Spanish), FS1 (English)
Available streaming: Fox Sports Go, Telemundo, FuboTV (Free trial)
Group H - Senegal vs Colombia
Location: Samara Arena, Samara
Kick-off time: 10 AM ET / 7 AM PT
Available TV: NBC Universo (Spanish), FS1 (English)
Available streaming: Fox Sports Go, Telemundo, FuboTV (Free trial)
Group H - Japan vs Poland
Location: Volgograd Arena, Volgograd
Kick-off time: 10 AM ET / 7 AM PT
Available TV: Telemundo (Spanish), FOX (English)
Available streaming: Fox Sports Go, Telemundo, FuboTV (Free trial)
And then... the World Cup is taking a day off. WHAT AM I GOING TO DO WITH MYSELF UNTIL SATURDAY?
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