No event escalates individuals to the status of national hero or global villain as dramatically as the World Cup. The idolatry that follows success and the stigma that follows failure are woven into the fabric of history, and the repercussions will typically follow footballers for the rest of their lives. Daily, we’ll take a look at who played the role of hero and who played the role of villain at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Poland and Senegal play on the final day of matchday one at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and it looks set to be an absolute goal fest with both teams possessing plenty of firepower upfront.
PREDICTED POLAND LINEUP (4-2-3-1): Szczęsny; Piszczek, Pazdan, Bednarek, Rybus; Krychowiak, Linetty; Grosicki, Zieliński, Błaszczykowski; Lewandowski
Day five saw two heavyweights, Belgium and England, secure victories but not without some nervy moments. Twitter was on call for reactions to all of the day's action.
This definitely wasn't the most exciting game of the tournament, and there wasn't much flow to the game. The internet took note of that.
When people start tweeting about the Sweden vs South Korea game pic.twitter.com/LEB2bUp7KM
Poland and Senegal highlight some big matches on day six of the World Cup. Robert Lewandowski will look to show the world he's one of the premier strikers and can deliver on the biggest stage. In a massive match for Egypt, will Mohamed Salah return? How will Russia tactically match up with Egypt knowing a draw is a huge result? Radamel Falcao will make his long-awaited World Cup debut, so will Colombia dismantle Japan like they did at the 2014 World Cup?
There's a reason he's wearing the captain's armband. The Harry Kane goal in stoppage time could be looked back on as the turning point for England in this World Cup. Plagued by a recent history of underperforming on the sport's biggest stage, it looked like England was destined for a disappointing draw against Tunisia.
After a second half played almost entirely in the Tunisia half, Kane broke a 1-1 deadlock in stoppage time with a back post header off a corner.
Three inch-perfect free kicks from Cristiano Ronaldo, Aleksandar Kolarov and Aleksandr Golovin are among the best World Cup goals of the tournament thus far. Each free kick cleared the wall from roughly 25 yards out and left the goalkeepers no chance of making a save.
Kolarov's free kick was all Serbia needed to earn three points from its opening Group E match against Costa Rica. Serbia's captain and 32-year-old left back could not have hit this one any sweeter.
France kicked off its World Cup campaign with a very unconvincing 2-1 win over Australia. Les Bleus manager Didier Deschamps decided that his entire 23-man squad needed to remain match fit, so he organised a friendly for the players who got a few minutes in the match against the Socceroos as well as players who did not get to play at all. The results were nearly disastrous.