Colombia booked the last place in the World Cup’s last 16 as they beat Ghana 1-0 in Kansas City. Jhon Arias grabbed the only goal after 14 minutes as they earned a meeting with Switzerland in Vancouver. Both sides were forced into early changes by injury, Luis Suarez coming on for Jhon Cordoba and making an instant impact – his cross being swept in by the unmarked Arias at the far post.
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A 111th-minute Diney Borges own goal saved holders Argentina from one of the biggest shocks in World Cup history as they scraped past heroic debutants Cape Verde in the last 32.
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Egypt recorded their first World Cup knockout victory as Australia’s decision to send on goalkeeper Mat Ryan specifically for the penalty shoot-out failed to pay off. Ryan replaced Patrick Beach with the score at 1-1 with 90 seconds remaining in a pre-determined tactic – however the former Brighton keeper failed to guess the right way, never mind get near any of Egypt’s attempts, as the African side prevailed 4-2 on spot-kicks.
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Switzerland progressed to the last 16 of the World Cup as they beat a below-par Algeria 2-0 in Vancouver. Breel Embolo and Dan Ndoye were on target for Switzerland, who dominated throughout to set up a clash with Colombia or Ghana. Ramiz Zerrouki had an early penalty appeal waved away for Algeria and that was as good as it got for the African side as Switzerland went ahead after 10 minutes.
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Goncalo Ramos headed a stoppage-time winner and Josko Gvardiol had an equaliser controversially disallowed as Portugal beat Croatia 2-1 in a thrilling World Cup last-32 contest in Toronto. Cristiano Ronaldo’s first World Cup knockout goal had cancelled out Ivan Perisic’s opener in a contest that saw four efforts ruled out for offside, including what would have been a goal of the tournament contender for the 41-year-old Ronaldo.
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