World Cup 2018 - Games 47 & 48 - Belgium reluctantly beats England 1-0, Tunisia defeats Panama 2-1

Group G closed out the first round with Panama and Tunisia playing for something positive to say about their World Cup experience, and Belgium and England fighting for first, or was it second place? The talk going into the game was that neither team wanted to finish first because it meant the possibility of facing Brazil in the quarterfinals. The second place team had the possibility of facing the winner of Sweden v Switzerland. Second place looks like a much better place to be.

Panama - Tunisia 1-2
Panama got their first ever World Cup goal in their last game against England. Although they lost 6-1, their fans were elated with the goal. Both teams were looking to leave the tournament with at least a point. It would have meant more to Panama to get the point, but it didn't happen. Things looked promising at 33' when a José Luis Rodríguez shot deflected off Tunisia defender, Yassine Meriah for an own goal. The Panama fans went nuts, like they were playing in a final. Tunisia tied it up on a nice one, two, three goal that was scored by Fakhreddine Ben Youssef at 51'. Wahbi Khazri got the winner for Tunisia at 66'. Just like that, Tunisia had their first World Cup win since 1978 in Argentina.

England - Belgium 0-1
Both teams combined for seventeen lineup changes from their previous game. That's a World Cup record. Adnan Januzaj got the only goal of the game at 51' on a curling shot inside the box. Marcus Rashford had England's best two chances, but he couldn't convert. It wasn't the best game of the tournament. The lineups showed that both teams were content with whatever happened in this game, but you couldn't say either were tanking.

Belgium wins the group and England finish second. Belgium v Japan and Columbia v England in the round of 16. Both games are winnable by the Group G teams. Belgium and Croatia were (probably) the best two teams in round one. We'll see what happens in the knockout stage. Things change when it's one and done.

Group G:
Belgium 9 pts (+7)
England 6 pts (+5)
Tunisia 3 pts (-3)
Panama 0 pts (-9)