England 6-1 Panama
>> Living up to the standard set by Saturday’s seven-goal Belgium-Tunisia game, England on Sunday scored six goals against Panama’s one. Southgate’s men are now through to the knockout stage while Panama is out for good.
>> Harry Kane scored a hat-trick, putting him on the top of the list of the top-scorers of the tournament. Other contenders include Cristiano Ronaldo and Romelu Lukaku with four goals each. Kane is also the first England player to score a World Cup since Gary Linekar in 1986.
>> At half-time, the goal line was an impressive 5-0. It is the first time in history that England has scored six goals in a World Cup game. The earlier record was 3-0, against Poland and Paraguay in 1986 and Denmark in 2002.
>> Panama scored its first World Cup goal of the tournament in the 78’ with a goal from Felipe Baloy.
>> England had seven shots on target in that match, and scored six goals. Panama had two shots on target, and scored one. Both conceded 13 free kicks.
>> According to statistician OptaJoe, there were 25 uninterrupted passes played by England before their 6th goal today; the longest sequence for a World Cup goal since 1966 & one more pass than Esteban Cambiasso’s goal for Argentina v Serbia in 2006 (24).
>> Possession of ball: England 59%, Panama 41%
Japan 2-2 Senegal
>> When asked about Japanese team’s strategy against Senegal, coach Akira Nishino had joked: “I’ve been telling (players) they need to put on five kilograms and grow five centimeters, but they couldn’t do that and we just have to figure out something else.”
>> Senegal’s Sadio Mané scored the first goal in the 11’ which Japan’s Takashi Inui leveled in the 34’. Two more goals, by Molla Wagué and Keisuke Honda kept the scoreline a safe 2-2, ensuring that the Group H qualification remains up for grabs.
>> Only two African nations have ever won both of their opening two matches to a World Cup tournament – Cameroon in 1990 and Nigeria in 1998. Japan haven’t won consecutive games at the World Cup since 2002, when they co-hosted the tournament with South Korea.
>> Possession of ball: Japan 57% Senegal 43%
Poland 0-3 Colombia
>> It was a busy day for physios with Poland’s Michał Pazdan and Colombia’s Yerry Mina going down one after the other and Abel Aguilar getting stretchered off the field with a leg injury.
>> Colombia quickly set the mood for the night with three stylish goals from Yerry Mina, captain Radamel Falcao and Juan Cuadrado, two of the thanks to assists from the 2014 Golden Boot winner James Rodriguez. The Colombian attacking midfielder has scored six goals out of seven World Cup appearances and has been involved in three assists.
>> Colombia coach Jose Pekerman dedicated the victory to midfielder Carlos Sanchez who received death threats after he was sent off with a red card in their earlier match against Japan, which they lost 2-1. The threat, made on social media, is being investigated by authorities, especially considering the chilling murder of Andres Escobar who was shot dead days after scoring an own goal against United States in the 1994 World Cup.
>> Possession of ball: Poland 45% Colombia 55%
A whooping 14 goals were scored from the three games on Sunday — the most on a single day of action since 10th June 1990 (also 14). This World Cup is also the longest without any goalless starts draws from the start since 1954!
