Soccer World Cup: Day 12 match reports
Both Germany and Belgium have been booted out before the knockout stage. Here is what happened in yesterday’s matches:

Late hero ‘Zorro’ slides the glitter off the golden generation of Belgium
Nil-nil it ended and Belgium pack their bags with regrets.
Romelu Lukaku could and should have had a hat trick after he came on for Belgium in the second half of the crucial Group F encounter with Croatia.
A win for either side would have sent them through to the knockout stage.
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Bono puts on an okay show as Atlas Lions bleed Canada dry
Morocco took just three minutes to get on the scoreboard in their Group F game against Canada.
A poor clearance from the Canada keeper Milan Borjan was played right into the path of Hakim Ziyech and the Chelsea forward chipped it into the net from distance.
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Group E losers can share tissues at the airport terminal
The game was handled by the first female Soccer World Cup referee.
Germany beat Costa Rica 4-2 in their Group E encounter on Thursday evening.
In the end, it didn’t matter to either nation as their fate was out of their own hands, thanks to the situation in the other match in their group.
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Japan and Spain stay in World Cup contention
Spain and (especially) Japan celebrate staying in the competition.
I would not have been surprised on waking this morning to find that the sun had risen in the west rather than the east. After all, anyone watching the Group E and F games last night could be forgiven for believing that the natural order of things had been reversed.
Read more here.
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