FIFA World Cup 2022 Day 16 Highlights: Brazil take on Korea, Japan lock horns against Croatia – The Indian Express

FIFA World Cup 2022 Day 16 Highlights: With the France and England besting Poland and Senegal to make it to the quarter finals, the Round of 16 action on day 16 of the World Cup will feature Group E and G toppers Japan and Brazil face Group F and H runner ups Croatia and South Korea.
On Sunday, England extended their unbeaten record against African teams with a 3-0 victory over Senegal which included a first goal at this World Cup from captain Harry Kane as they set up a quarter-final clash with holders France.  Jordan Henderson settled England’s nerves in the 38th minute, stroking the ball home after being played in by Jude Bellingham at the end of a lovely passing move. Kane struck a ferocious shot past goalkeeper Edouard Mendy with the last kick of the first half, leaving him one goal behind Wayne Rooney’s record of 53 goals for England. Nippy winger Bukayo Saka bagged the third with a neat chip over Mendy after a cross by Phil Foden in the 57th minute.
In the other match, Olivier Giroud opened the scoring and Kylian Mbappe tallied twice to lead France into the World Cup quarterfinals with a 3-1 win  against Poland in Doha, Qatar. Giroud’s strike in the 44th minute was his 52nd for France, surpassing Thierry Henry as the nation’s all-time leading men’s scorer. Mbappe made it 2-0 in the 75th minute and curled a shot into the top-right corner in the first minute of stoppage time to make it 3-0.

France’s Antoine Griezmann has yet to score as he toils away at this World Cup, but the attacking midfielder could not care less as he is enjoying his comeback at the highest level with the defending champions.
Griezmann, whose job is to link the midfield and the front line in a role where he defends as much as he goes forward, is a happy man on and off the pitch.(read more)

As soon as the referee blew the whistle to start the game between Argentina and Australia, the chants began in the stands and went around like an aural tidal wave: “”I was born in Argentina, the land of Diego and Lionel.” 
The song “Muchachos” that references Messi, Maradona, and Argentina’s hopes erupted into a viral song ever since Messi himself said on a TV channel that it was one of his favourite football songs – he even sang a bit live.(read more)
𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗼𝘁𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 😊 #FIFAWorldCup #Qatar2022

Two daughters and one grandson of Brazilian soccer great Pelé said the three-time World Cup winner has been hospitalized since Tuesday to treat a respiratory infection aggravated by COVID-19. They added that the 82-year-old is under no imminent risk of death.
Kely and Flavia Nascimento and Arthur Arantes do Nascimento said in an interview aired Sunday night that Pelé, who is also undergoing chemotherapy in his fight against cancer, is expected to leave the Albert Einstein hospital in Sao Paulo once he fully recovers from the respiratory infection. Neither the family nor the hospital have any predictions in that regard.(read more)

In one of the most emotional off-field moments at this FIFA World Cup, Poland goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny was seen comforting his son Liam after they were knocked out of the World Cup following a 3-1 defeat by France on Sunday.
After the full-time whistle, the goalkeeper’s son was in tears after seeing his father bow out of the tournament rather early than he might have expected.(read more)

England manager Gareth Southgate already knew Jude Bellingham was something special but even he has been surprised at how the 19-year-old has taken the World Cup by the scruff of the neck.
After his goalscoring World Cup debut against Iran two weeks ago, Bellingham drove England into the quarter-finals with a commanding display in Sunday’s 3-0 win over Senegal.(read more)

Jules Koundé played with a necklace for a while in France’s game against Poland until an assistant coach removed it mid-match. TV cameras caught France’s coach Deschamps looking angry.
He was in violation of Rule 4 of IFAB regulations, which state: “All items of jewellery (necklaces, rings, bracelets, earrings, leather bands, rubber bands, etc.) are forbidden and must be removed. Using tape to cover jewellery is not permitted.”(read more)

England football team has released a video on social media of their squad receiving a warm welcome to basecamp at after their 3-0 win over Senegal in the Round Of 16 at Al Bayt stadium in Qatar.
The video was captioned as “What a welcome back at basecamp!” in which Declan Rice, Jack Grealish and Kyle Walker were seen celebrating with the fans.(read more)

The 1990 US Open champion Gabriela Sabatini reacted after Argentina’s 2-1 win over Australia in the round of 16 match in the ongoing FIFA World Cup.
“Siiiiiiii VAMOOOOSS🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼🇦🇷🇦🇷🇦🇷🇦🇷🇦🇷 @Argentina #WorldCup #WorldcupQatar2022,” tweeted Sabatini, former world No 3, was one of the biggest tennis names in the late 1980s and early 1990s.(read more)

Former Arsenal playmaker Mesut Ozil tweeted a hilarious text along with a gif after France’s Olivier Giroud scored the goal (52) that took him past Thierry Henry’s record for France.
When Mbappe’s pass came along, Giroud hooked his left foot and hit it in such a way that the ball bounced on the ground and chipped over the charging goalkeeper(read more)

A survey carried out by the Portuguese sports newspaper A Bola reveals that 70% of the fans do not want Cristiano Ronaldo in the starting eleven of the national team against Switzerland in the final 16 game.
And the cookie crumbles. Ronaldo might have been divisive figure elsewhere in the world but seemed to always have the confidence of his country. This world cup, things have been unravelling a touch. First it was the sports writers who began to question his presence, nitpick. And how the fans too(read more)

It always seems to start with Jude Bellingham for England. The Three Lions’ opening scorer, was at it once again this time jamming with Jordan Henderson for the first of their 3 goals against Senegal in the Round of 16. In what was a momentum-reorienting pass, Bellingham set up his senior teammate for his first, charging forward and passing the ball back as Henderson showed hot heels to deflect the ball into the goal.
The smooth unfussed move of the tandem, set the tone for the rest of what was a rather rare stress-free knockout game for England. It was a stub of Bellingham’s initial creative genius that would give England their second goal as well, putting captain Harry Kane on the scoreboard. That Bellingham spark of a pass came from deep in the midfield.(read more)

As captain, Aliou Cisse led Senegal to victory over the defending World Cup champions and all the way to the quarterfinals, matching Africa’s best run in its first appearance at the tournament.
As coach, Cisse is finding the World Cup much, much tougher.(read more)

Ahead of this World Cup, South Korea had been labelled the ‘Son Heung-min team’. Their chances this year, as a side that is not quite close to the 2002 team that reached the semifinal as co-hosts, largely hinged on their talisman, who suffered an eye socket injury and faced a race against time to be fit for the first match.
Son played despite being in recovery mode and not at his best, but his side played solid football, well-structured in defence with plenty of patterns of play to create attacks. They were arguably the best team of their group, which contained Portugal, Uruguay, and Ghana, but still needed a last-minute winner and results elsewhere to go their way to seal their place in the knockout phase.(read more)
Hello and welcome to our day-long live blog on the FIFA World Cup. Japan will take on Croatia, while Brazil go up against South Korea in the second set of Round of 16 matches. 
Under-appreciated Giroud’s goes past Henry’s French record as Les Bleus outclass Poland for World Cup quarterfinal spot
France’s Olivier Giroud, left, and France’s Kylian Mbappe celebrate after scoring their side’s second goal during the World Cup round of 16 soccer match between France and Poland, at the Al Thumama Stadium in Doha, Qatar, Sunday, Dec. 4, 2022. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
The night, undeniably, belonged to Kylian Mbappe. But it also belonged to Olivier Giroud. Years later, when one revisits the match, hymns would be sung in praise of Mbappe, his greatness reasserted. Giroud would then be a footnote, or an afterthought. But that has been Giroud’s fate. To be, literally and metaphorically, operating in the shadows.
Even the moment he went past Thierry Henry as France’s most prolific goalscorer would be forgotten. But that was perhaps the most emotional moment of the game, besides being its most definitive moment, in that it released the nervous tension that was simmering among the French. (READ MORE)

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