World Cup 2018 Russia Update for June 24, 2018: The Favorites All Win (Again)

I got to watch most of all three games on Saturday, along with my girlfriend. 

Yes, it was a lazy Saturday for the two of us.

But what an exciting day of football! That, despite this being a rather unusual day, when all of the favorites actually won their matches.

Belgium got off to a quick start and showed off their firepower against Tunisia in what has to be the highest scoring game of this tournament thus far. Then, Mexico followed up on their shocking defeat of Germany with a sound victory over South Korea. Finally, for a little while, it looked like Sweden just might pull off an upset for the ages, but the Germans broke through right at the end - but not without some controversy.

Let's take a closer look at each of Saturday's games:

Belgium 5, Tunisia 2 - Eden Hazard broke through first in the sixth minute, giving the Belgian side an early 1-0 lead. Not the start that the Tunisians envisioned, certainly.

But they were just getting warmed up. Romelu Lukaku scored for Belgium in the 16th minute, and suddenly, with a 2-0 lead, it looked to all watching that we were about to see a rout.

Give Tunisia credit, though, because they kept fighting. Tunisia's Dylan Bronn scored a goal to answer Belgium, and the complexion of the game changed for almost the rest of the first half.

However, Lukaku scored again in the third minute of extra time in the first half, literally just before the players walked off the field for halftime. That had to be a heartbreaker for Tunisia, who had fought hard to stave off what felt like an inevitable explosion of points by the Belgians. Yet, they were down by two again, despite all of their hard world.

Interestingly, Lukaku has now scored four goals in this tournament, and is tied with Cristiano Rinaldo for the most so far. He also became the first man in decades to score multiple goals in consecutive World Cup games. Also, he now is the leading scorer for Belgium in major international tournaments. 

Hazard scored again in the 51st minute, giving Belgium a decisive 4-1 lead early in the second half, and making a comeback by Tunisia feel unrealistic and out of reach. At least with the way the Belgians were playing, it was.

Belgium's Michy Batshuayi managed to score an impressive goal in the 90th minute, giving Belgium an impressive 5-1 lead.

Still, Tunisia was fighting. Wahbi Khazri scored in the third minute of extra time, for the game's final 5-2 margin.

An impressive win for Belgium, who secured a berth into the second round. As for Tunisia, they will not be advancing, but they acquitted themselves impressively in this one.

Tunisia now have a 13 game winless streak, following a win in their first ever World Cup game. They also now have lost their last four outright.

Mexico 2, South Korea 1 - Mexico wanted to avoid a letdown at all costs. That would defeat the purpose of having defeated the Germans in their opening match, and would compromise their chances of advancing and being regarded as one of the teams to watch during this tournament.

For most of the game, the Mexicans tried to spread the ball around the field, in hopes of stretching the South Korean defense, and forcing them to run and defend from side to side, perhaps tiring them out, but also increasing the chances of catching or forcing some holes in the defense.

South Korea proved tough, however. Their defense was tough, and the team fought Mexico hard right to the very end of this contest. 

Carlos Vela opened up the scoring, getting a goal for Mexico in the 26th minute. 

Still, it remained a tight game, until Mexican veteran striker Javier Hernández scored in th 66th minute to give Mexico a cushion with a 2-0 lead. It was the 50th goal in international competition that Hernández scored for the Mexican side.

Yet, South Korea showed heart as they still fought. Son Heung-min scored on an absolutely beautiful goal in the 3rd minute of extra time, giving South Korea a sudden ray of hope, although time was quickly expiring.

Mexico did not have to score again, and so they essentially played keep away for the next few minutes, running out the clock on the South Koreans.

Germany 2, Sweden 1 - Sweden’s Ola Toivonen scored in the 32nd minute to give Sweden an improbable 1-0 lead against mighty Germany. Rather amazingly, Toivonen had not scored in 19 shots through 23 games in Ligue 1 play in France for Toulouse, yet he scored on only his second shot in World Cup action. 

German defender Jérôme Boateng should have received a red card in the first half for a foul committed in the penalty box. It likely would have given Sweden a penalty kick, which they would have had a good chance of converting into a goal. Had this happened, and had all other things remained the same and they gotten that other goal for a 2-0 lead, that would have changed the whole complexion of the game, and indeed, we might be talking about Germany's shocking collapse in this World Cup. As it is, though, Boateng received a red card in the 82nd minute, leaving Germany one man down for the duration of the contest. 

But since the foul was not called, Sweden's first half goal was the only one that they scored, and the game was 1-0 in favor of Sweden by halftime. Sweden narrowly missed what would have been a truly incredibly goal right before the half. It seemed that they had the momentum, and that things were working well for them to that point.

However, Marco Reus scored the equalizer for Germany in the 48th minute, and the game began to feel incredibly tight and high pressured. Things remained tense throughout the duration of regulation time.  

Remember, Jérôme Boateng had received the red card in the 82nd minute, and things looked relatively bleak for the German side. That seemed true, at least, until Toni Kroos scored the winning goal in the 5th minute of extra time, leaving Sweden with virtually no time to work with to try and rally. Suddenly, Germany looked like the same old Germany, while the Swedish looked completely crushed.

Historically, that was the latest that the Germans had ever scored a goal in a World Cup game, excluding extra time during the elimination games. It also marked the first time that Germany had rallied from behind at halftime to win since 1974, when they were also down 1-0 to Sweden. They wound up winning that one, 4-2.

During a span of mere minutes, Germany had gone from looking surprisingly weak and on the brink of virtual elimination, to the kind of incredible rally and comeback that can sometimes trigger a deep run into the elimination round. These are the kinds of tight, character defining comebacks that championship teams usually wind up pulling off, and which contribute to overcoming the obstacles later on that allow them to win the championship. That is not to say that Germany will surely go on to win this Word Cup, but only that if they do in fact win it all later on in a few weeks, you can return back to this game as the turning point. 

For fans of Sweden, and those who are less than thrilled with the German side (my brother counts among the latter number), there are questions, however. Because indeed, the German side often seems to get breaks - disproportionately more breaks in their favor than perhaps any other team in the sport. They too often seem to be the beneficiaries of non-calls to what might seem obvious foul situations, such as the red card that Boateng earned in the first half, but which he instead actually received for a second infraction deep in the second half. As I understand it, the foul was in the box, and should have given Sweden a penalty shot. It also would have left the Germans down one man for most of the game, and indeed, the complexion of the game would have been entirely different.