This World Cup featured the craziest group stage I’ve ever seen. I don’t know if it was the VAR, something in the Russian water or if Putin's cronies were up to something, but the 2018 edition of the world’s greatest sporting event will forever live on as one of the best.
With all of the group stage matches finished, the attention now focuses on the Round of 16. This next stage will now see the loser eliminated from the World Cup. Harsh, we know. But that’s just how the cookie crumbles. Here's the World Cup Round of 16 schedule with the dates, times and the stadium it will be played at. Strap yourself in, because the World Cup is about to get even better.
If England and Belgium had played in the first match day for Group G, it probably would’ve been one of the best matches of the group stage. Instead, as the final match of the group stage, it turned into a bit of a bore. Belgium forward Michy Batshuayi perfectly summed up the feelings of fans everywhere with a celebration gone wrong.
Wayne Rooney is currently embarking on his journey to Major League Soccer — DC United to be exact. The Manchester United and England legend has been a rumored transfer target of the MLS club for a couple months now, but there was always a chance that the 32-year-old would elect to stay with Everton in the Premier League.
How time flies when you're having fun. Thursday is the last day of the group stage, which means Groups H and G are in action! Group G is already wrapped up. England and Belgium have already advanced but will need to duke it out for the honor of winning the group (let's be honest, you don't want to win the group with the way the bracket is looking). Group H on the other hand sees Japan, Colombia and Senegal vying for the last two spots.
England vs Belgium kicks off Thursday, June 28, at 2:00 p.m. ET on FOX and Telemundo, with the winner taking top spot in Group G. With both nations sitting on six points and with a goal difference of +6, it’s possible a draw could see FIFA fair-play points determine who wins the group. (England currently has one less yellow card than Belgium.)
Today marked the begining of the end for the group stage. Groups A and B played their final games, which is always a cause for drama because most of these games will decide who advances to the Round of 16. There was an enormous amount of people claiming that the refs and the use of VAR was very one-sided in almost every match, which goes to show how big these games were today.