England 6-1 Panama
England's young and free-flowing team banished the ghost of past international failures with a record 6-1 thrashing of Panama that included a hat-trick by Harry Kane and eased them into the last 16.
England's biggest-ever World Cup win, featuring two penalties by Kane, then a fortuitous deflection off his heel, also guaranteed Belgium's berth in the next round.
"Not many players score a hat-trick at a World Cup, so I'm proud of it," Kane said, calling his third "one of the luckiest goals of my life".
"We had fun out there too."
Before Friday's (NZ time) meeting to decide who tops Group G, England and Belgium are level on points, goal difference and goals scored.
Monday's game resulted in the shell-shocked Central Americans being bundled out of their debut tournament and also eliminated Tunisia.
Gareth Southgate's team romped to a 5-0 lead at halftime to the delight of England's travelling fans in attendance.
Defender John Stones headed England in front in the eighth minute from a corner, losing his marker to angle home, before captain Kane made it 2-0 in the 22nd minute with a penalty, after Jesse Lingard was pushed in the box by Fidel Escobar.
Lingard made it 3-0 in the 36th minute with a beautiful strike from just outside the area, before Stones nodded in his second and England's fourth, after a cleverly worked free-kick routine.
Kane scored another penalty just before the break, when he was dragged to the ground at a corner.
He bagged his third after a 61st minute shot by Ruben Loftus-Cheek hit his foot and bounced over Panama goalkeeper Jaime Penedo.
World Cup top scorer on five goals after two games, Kane was then replaced by Jaime Vardy up front, to a standing ovation from the nearly 2500 England fans at Nizhny Novgorod.
Kane became the third England player to score a hat-trick in a World Cup game, after Geoff Hurst in the 1966 final and Gary Lineker against Poland in the 1986 tournament.
Columbia 3-0 Poland
Colombia’s World Cup campaign roared back into life with a 3-0 win over Poland in Group H on a sweltering evening at the Kazan Arena - a result that sent the Poles tumbling out of the tournament.
Defender Yerry Mina opened the scoring in the 40th minute, with captain Radamel Falcao and winger Juan Cuadrado sealing a deserved victory with two goals in five minutes, as the desperate Poles chased the game in the last quarter.
Midfielder James Rodriguez, winner of the Golden Boot at the last World Cup, returned to the starting line-up after injury and played a part in two of the goals, as Colombia got back on track, after their opening loss to Japan.
The victory puts Colombia in third place in the group on three points behind the Japanese and Senegal.
A victory over the Africans in their final first-round match in Samara on Friday (NZ time) would secure Colombia a spot in the last 16, as they target at least matching their charge to the quarter-finals in Brazil four years ago.
JAPAN 2-2 SENEGAL
Midfielder Keisuke Honda came off the bench to salvage a 2-2 draw for Japan against Senegal, as both teams were locked at the top of Group H, following an entertaining encounter at the Ekaterinburg Arena.
Veteran Honda, 32, who became the first Japanese player to score in three different World Cups, replaced Shinji Kagawa in the second half with his team down 2-1 and fired the equaliser in 12 minutes from time, after a bad error by Senegal goalkeeper Khadim N’Diaye.
Senegal thought they had won the match, as Moussa Wague drilled the ball into the top of the net on 71 minutes to make it 2-1, after Sadio Mane’s fortuitous first-half opener was canceled out by Takashi Inui’s curling shot.
But Honda ensured things ended level and deservedly so.
The result leaves both teams, who beat Colombia and Poland respectively in their opening matches, on four points from two games and within reach of a spot in the last 16.
Reuters
