Roundup: Colombia wins Group H, Japan advances on fair play

Yerry Mina’s 74th-minute header led Colombia past Senegal 1-0 at Samara, Russia on Thursday and to the round of 16 as Group H winners.

Colombia finished atop the group with six points, while Senegal (four points) was eliminated on fair play for having more yellow cards than Japan, which also had four points.

This marks the first time since 1982 that no African nation will advance to the knockout stage.

Senegal had eight shots to Colombia’s four. All three Senegal shots on goals were stopped by Colombian goalkeeper David Ospina.

Poland 1, Japan 0

Jan Bednarek’s 59th-minute tally gave already eliminated Poland the victory over Japan at Volvograd.

Fair play was introduced as a tiebreaker for this year’s World Cup. Japan’s four yellow cards beat Senegal’s six, paving the way for coach Akira Nishino’s squad to advance to the next round.

Poland’s Kamil Grosicki nearly scored on a header in the 32nd minute, but a spectacular save by Japan goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima stymied him.

Poland had an 11-10 edge in shots.

–Field Level Media