Kane’s hat trick lifts England past Panama, 6-1
Colombia wins; Japan, Senegal tie
NIZHNY NOVGOROD, Russia — With two penalties and an accidental deflection, Harry Kane moved ahead of David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo and put England into the round of 16 at the World Cup.
Kane scored half of England’s goals Sunday in a 6-1 rout of Panama, the national team’s largest-ever margin of victory at the World Cup.
“The third one is probably one of the luckiest ones of my career,” said Kane, who took the game ball to the locker room. “Sometimes you go through spells where you are scoring and sometimes it doesn’t fall for you.
“Not many players get to score a hat trick in a World Cup.”
Kane has scored a tournament-leading five goals at the World Cup in Russia, one more than Ronaldo and Romelu Lukaku. He also has 18 for England’s national team, one more than Beckham.
Not since the 4-2 victory over Germany in the 1966 final has England scored as many goals at the World Cup.
The ruthlessness of the display
in the sweltering heat of Nizhny Novgorod showed just how far England has been transformed in the four years since an older, more experienced squad couldn’t even manage a win when it exited the World Cup in the group stage.
In 2014, England complained about the heat in Brazil — particularly the humidity of the Amazonian jungle in the team’s opening loss to Italy.
Kane scored two in the opening 2-1 victory over Tunisia, including a header in injury time.
Now England is sure of a spot in the round of 16 with a game to spare in Group G. Panama, which offered little resistance, is leaving the tournament early after being eliminated along with Tunisia.
In Kazan, Russia, four years after Radamel Falcao was supposed to lead Colombia at the World Cup, he’s doing just that.
Falcao missed the tournament in Brazil with a knee injury and had to wait until arriving in Russia to score his first World Cup goal. It came in Colombia’s victory over Poland.
“It’s a dream goal,” Falcao said. “I’m happy for the victory, for the team’s performance and the goal that I scored, which I’ve been waiting for for many years.”
The victory kept Colombia in the running for a spot in the round of 16 and knocked out Poland, the first European country to be eliminated.
Falcao, Colombia’s alltime leading scorer with 30 goals, made sure he would stay healthy for this year’s World Cup by sitting out several matches with his Monaco club this season. So far, so good. “We always hope that he can score and hope that he can be fit as he was today, and we want to help him,” Colombia coach Jose Pekerman said. “I think the fact that he scored was very important, not just for today but for the matches to come.
“He is a symbol of the national team. He is a symbol of Colombian football.”
Playing some scintillating soccer in Kazan, Falcao scored with the outside of his foot in the 70th minute after a superb pass from playmaker Juan Quintero in the back of the defense.
Yerry Mina scored the first goal in the 40th and Juan Cuadrado completed the win in the 75th.
Both teams lost their Group H openers and knew another loss would end their hopes of advancing. Colombia will next face Senegal on Thursday in Samara with a chance to win the group, while Poland will play Japan in Volgograd.
Senegal and Japan drew 2-2 earlier Sunday and lead the group with four points each.
Mina out-jumped the Poland defense to head in the opening goal from James Rodriguez’s cross, rewarding a spell of domination by the Colombians.
Rodriguez’s through ball after Poland lost possession in midfield led to the final goal. Cuadrado collected the pass and rushed toward the box, timing his shot perfectly to beat goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny.
Poland got off to an aggressive start in the hot and humid Tatarstan capital, pressing high and winning most of the duels in the opening minutes.
Colombia gradually settled in, though, with Quintero providing attacking width and Cuadrado proving dangerous with his subtle moves on the edge of the box. JAPAN 2, SENEGAL 2: In Yekaterinburg, Russia, Keisuke Honda sat on the bench for 72 minutes, knowing a goal would make him the first Japanese player to score at three World Cups.
Six minutes later, it was a done deal.
The former AC Milan forward scored in the 78th minute, knocking the ball past two defenders standing on the goal line, to give Japan a 2-2 draw with Senegal.
The 32-year-old Honda also scored at the 2010 and 2014 World Cups. He has 37 international goals in his career.
“I believe I used substitutions very well in looking back,” said Japan coach Akira Nishino, who took over shortly before the tournament started. “Honda was moved from center to the wide side and he was very versatile at adapting to that position.
“We really wanted to win, we wanted to equalize and also take the lead even though there was only a short period of time left.”
The draw keeps both teams at the top of Group H ahead of their final matches. Japan will next face Poland in Volgograd on Thursday while Senegal faces Colombia in Samara.
Sadio Mane gave Senegal the lead in the 11th minute with his first World Cup goal.
The Liverpool forward tapped the ball into the net after goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima was unable to control a shot from Youssouf Sabaly.
“The ball touched my foot and went into the net,” Mane said. “It was really just the foot on the ball.”
Japan struck back in the 34th minute when Takashi Inui scored with Japan’s first shot on goal, but Moussa Wague restored the lead with a shot high into the net in the 71st.
A minute later, Nishino sent on Honda and striker Shinji Okazaki.
Senegal outshot Japan 14-7 and had five shots on target. Japan had only two.
Who’s in and who’s out
GROUP A: Russia and Uruguay have clinched berths in the round of 16 and play each other Monday to determine who wins the group. Egypt and Saudi Arabia have been eliminated.
GROUP B: Morocco has been eliminated, leaving Portugal and Spain (four points each) and Iran (three) to compete for two spots. Spain plays Morocco on Monday, when Portugal meets Iran.
GROUP C: France has advanced and leads with six points. Denmark is second with four after a 1-1 draw against Australia, which has one point. Peru has been eliminated. Denmark plays France on Tuesday, when Australia takes on Peru.
GROUP D: Croatia has secured a trip to the second round and tops the group with six points. Nigeria (three points) will advance with a win over Argentina (one point) on Tuesday, when Iceland plays Croatia. But Iceland (one point) or the last-place Argentines could survive with a win and a Nigeria loss or tie, depending on goal difference.
GROUP Brazil and Switzerland have four points apiece, Serbia has three, and any of them could grab one of the group’s two spots in the knockout stage. Serbia meets Brazil on Wednesday, likely needing a win. Switzerland plays Costa Rica at the same time. Costa Rica has been eliminated.
GROUP F: Mexico leads with six points but isn’t safe yet. If defending champion Germany defeats South Korea on Wednesday and Sweden simultaneously tops Mexico, three teams would finish with six points, sending it to tiebreakers that start with the best goal differential. If Mexico and South Korea win, Mexico would win the group and the other three teams would be tied.
GROUP G: Belgium and England moved to the second round emphatically — Belgium with a 5-2 drubbing of Tunisia and England with a 6-1 thrashing of Panama. They play each other on Thursday to determine who wins the group. Tunisia and Panama have been eliminated.
GROUP H: Japan and Senegal lead the group with four points apiece after their 2-2 draw on Sunday. Colombia beat Poland 3-0 to keep it in the running for a spot in the knockout round. Poland was eliminated.