This was a day of decisive matches in groups F and D.
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Tunisia — Netherlands — 1:3
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Japan — Sweden — 1:1
Group D:
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USA — Turkey — 2:3
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Paraguay — Australia — 0:0
Group F: Goals and progression to the knockout stage
The most eye-catching events of the day took place in group F.
Netherlands crushed Tunisia and won the group. The Netherlands team confidently defeated Tunisia (3:1) and took first place in group F. By the 7th minute of the match, the "orange" team led 2:0:
- On the 3rd minute, a defender from Tunisia sliced the ball into his own goal.
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On the 7th minute Brian Brobbey scored the second goal (he was named the best player of the match and scored his third goal at the tournament).
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In the second half Jan Paul van Hekke settled the final score (3:1). The only goal of pride for Tunisia was scored by Hazem Mastouri (forward of the Makhachkala "Dinamo").
Japan and Sweden drew and progressed together
The match ended 1:1, and this result pleased both teams. Japan opened the scoring on the 43rd minute Daizen Maeda put his team ahead. However, on the 51st minute, the Swedish winger Anthony Elnega (named MVP of the match) equalized the score.
Final standings of the teams in group F:
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Netherlands — 7 points (progressed to the knockout stage from 1st place)
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Japan — 5 points (progressed to the knockout stage from 2nd place)
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Sweden — 4 points (progressed to the knockout stage from 3rd place)
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Tunisia — 0 points (eliminated)
Important: The Japanese team achieved its first ever undefeated record in the group stage of the World Cup, and 39-year-old veteran Yuto Nagatomo became the first Asian player to participate in five World Cups.
Group D: Turkey bids farewell with a win, Australia and Paraguay share points
In group D, the battle for progression to the knockout stage was intense.
Turkey defeated USA in a thrilling match
The Turkish team, already having lost its chances for progression to the knockout stage, powerfully bid farewell to the tournament, defeating USA 3:2. The match, in which the result had no tournament significance for the Turks, turned out to be very entertaining:
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USA opened the scoring already on the 6th minute (scored by Oston Trafti).
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Turkey equalized on the 10th minute (scored by Arda Güler, who was later named MVP of the match), and then took the lead thanks to a goal by Özkökçü.
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In the second half, the USA player Sebastian Berrhalter (2:2) equalized the score.
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The winning goal on the 90+8th minute was scored by the substitute Ayhan.
After the match, the head coach of the USA team Mauricio Pochettino ended the press conference early, stating that his team had won the group and the result of the match had no significance.
Australia and Paraguay didn't score and progressed together
The second match of group D between Australia and Paraguay ended in a 0:0 draw 0:0. This result pleased both teams, which were fighting for the second spot in the knockout stage. The Australian midfielder Aiden O'Neil was named the best player of the match.
Final standings of the teams in group D:
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USA — 7 points (progressed to the knockout stage from 1st place)
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Australia — 4 points (progressed to the knockout stage from 2nd place)
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Paraguay — 4 points (progressed to the knockout stage from 3rd place)
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Turkey — 3 points (eliminated)
Main record of the 16th day
On this day, an historic record for goal scoring was set at the World Cup. A total of 173 goals were scored on the tournament, which is one more than at the previous World Cup in Qatar (172 goals), despite several group stage matches still remaining.
Knockout stage matches
The following 1/16 final pairs were determined based on the match results:
- Japan (2nd place in F) — Brazil (1st place in C) — match on June 29.
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Netherlands (1st place in F) — Morocco (2nd place in C) — match on June 30.
- This was the key events and results of the 16th day of the World Cup, based exclusively on the information provided in your article.