Strong opening
Belgium easily beats Panama; England’s Kane scores twice in win over Tunisia
Dries Mertens’ perfectly struck volley finally opened up Panama and allowed Romelu Lukaku to take full advantage.
Lukaku scored two goals in a six-minute span in the second half as Belgium earned a 3-0 victory over Panama in its World Cup opener on Monday.
Saddled with massive expectations and a lineup of talent the envy of other teams in the tournament, Belgium finally showed flashes of being the dominant team worthy of title consideration.
The two goals from Lukaku came shortly after Mertens scored from about 18 yards in the opening moments of the second half, finally relieving some pressure after Belgium was unable to break down Panama for the first 45 minutes.
Lukaku’s first goal came 20 minutes later, but the pass from Kevin De Bruyne made it possible. Rather than shooting through a crowd of Panama defenders, De Bruyne cut a pass with the outside of his right foot onto Lukaku’s head and into the net.
Lukaku added a second on a breakaway minutes later, chipping Panama goalkeeper Jaime Penedo as he left his net.
Belgium is now unbeaten in its last six World Cup openers, dating back to 1986.
Panama was unable to duplicate what Senegal accomplished in 2002 as the last team to win in its World Cup debut. The Central Americans played their style - physical, aggressive, sometimes looking more like wrestling than soccer - and managed to hang with the Red Devils for more than an hour.
England 2 Tunisia 1
VOLGOGRAD, Russia - Twice wrestled to the ground during the match, England captain Harry Kane finally evaded the Tunisian defence just as time was running out.
Kane found an open area of space at the far post and used his head to meet Harry Maguire’s flick-on, scoring the winning goal Monday in a 2-1 victory at the World Cup.
It was relief for Kane and Gareth Southgate, who leapt into the air in delight as his World Cup debut as a coach got off to a winning start.
England shouldn’t have found it so tough in its Group G opener against such opposition. Not after Kane got England off to a perfect start with an 11th-minute tap in. But after Kyle Walker softly conceded a penalty that Ferjani Sassi converted in the 35th, many of the fouls went against England.
“Maybe there was a bit of justice at the end,” Kane said.
After a scoreless run at the 2016 European Championship, Kane is finally showing the predatory instinct in front of goal that has served Tottenham so well.
Sweden 1 South Korea 0 NIZHNY NOVGOROD, Russia - Sweden got the break it needed from the video review system, and team captain Andreas Granqvist didn’t waste the chance.
Granqvist slid his penalty kick into the bottom right corner of the net in the 65th minute to give Sweden a 1-0 victory over South Korea on Monday at the World Cup.
“I was calm. I waited for the goalie and then I put it in the corner,” said Granqvist, a central defender. “We got the penalty, we scored, and then it was just a fight to the end.”
The Swedes, playing in their first World Cup since 2006, were awarded the penalty after Salvadoran referee Joel Aguilar consulted a video screen on the sideline. Aguilar had originally waved play on after South Korea substitute Kim Min-woo slid into a tackle and collided with Viktor Claesson. But he took another look and decided Kim had tripped Claesson as he tried to clear the ball.