Mbappe puts France in last-16

YEKATERINBURG, June 21 

France beat Peru 1-0 with a goal from Kylian Mbappe on Thursday to book their place in the last-16 and crush the South Americans' hopes of progressing in their first appearance at the tournament for 36 years. Mbappe's 34th-minute goal made him France's youngest scorer in the competition, at 19 years of age — beating the record of David Trezeguet (20) — and took them to two wins from two games in Group C.

When Olivier Giroud's shot took a deflection off a defender and looped over goalkeeper Pedro Gallese, the teenager was on hand to tap in a simple chance. But Les Bleus failed to convert several other first-half chances and rarely threatened their opponents' goal after the break, as they struggled for the second game running to justify their status as one of the pre-tournament favourites.

Coach Didier Deschamps responded testily "there's always an opponent" when asked by reporters about France's failure to dominate and also about the strong pressure the Peruvians exerted in the second half. "I wasn't nervous but I wasn't totally satisfied. We had 25 minutes when we defended too much, certainly, although we did it well. It's something we have to improve." 

Spain survive heart attack

Kazan: Spain had to throw their usual game plan out of the window against doggedly defensive Iran in Group B but they felt all the stronger after grabbing a scrappy 1-0 victory on Wednesday. 

“It’s so difficult to play against a team that only wants to close you down, but these are the types of games that win you a World Cup,” said defender Dani Carvajal after Diego Costa’s goal took them level with Portugal on top of Group B. — Reuters

Man of the match

Kylian Mbappe: The teenager was a lively presence in the forward line

Man of the match

Diego costa

Minutes played  Total passes  goals scored shots on goal

92 11 1 3

Today Live on Sony Ten 2, 3

5.30 PM Brazil vs Costa Rica  

8.30 PM Nigeria vs Iceland  

11.30 PM Serbia vs Switzerland

Fun fact of the day

Denmark striker Andreas Cornelius came on during the match against Australia wearing the No. 21 jersey in the 21st match of the 21st World Cup on June 21

1 million and counting!

The tournament crossed the one million milestone during the Australia-Denmark match in Samara. Over the first 21 contests, over 1,011,000 have attended the matches. Fan Fest sites were visited by 2.5 million in the first seven days