Internationals – Richarlison qualifies, defeats for Bentancur and Son

Of our three players in action at the World Cup on Monday, Richarlison had the most to celebrate as his Brazil side qualified for the last 16 with a game to spare thanks to a 1-0 victory over Switzerland in Group G.

After a near miss at the front post following a cross from the right, Richy was the player deemed to have been offside when Vinicius Junior had a goal ruled out by VAR in the second half, but a late strike from Casemiro made it two wins out of two for the Seleção.

Richarlison once again started for Brazil before being withdrawn in the 73rd minute.

There was no such joy for Rodrigo Bentancur and Heung-Min Son, however, with both of their nations suffering defeat in Group H.

Rodrigo’s dazzling run almost led to a first-half opener for Uruguay against Portugal, but goalkeeper Diogo Costa saved the midfielder’s shot, with a Bruno Fernandes brace after the interval inflicting a 2-0 defeat on Uruguay and sending Portugal through to the round of 16.

Despite picking up an early booking, Rodrigo played the full game in Lusail.

Son was also ever-present for South Korea in their 3-2 defeat to Ghana. Having seen his side recover from two goals down and then fall behind once more, skipper Son had a couple of half-chances from the left angle inside the box in the closing stages as his nation tried desperately to salvage something from the game in Al Rayyan, but it wasn’t to be.

As a result, both South Korea and Uruguay are languishing outside the qualification places with a point apiece after two games and mathematically, only one of those teams can now go through, should Ghana drop points against Uruguay on Friday.

Tuesday afternoon will see Pape Matar Sarr’s Senegal try to leap into the top two in Group A when they take on Ecuador (kick-off 3pm UK), before Ben Davies and Joe Rodon’s Wales look to salvage their campaign when they meet Eric Dier and Harry Kane’s England in Group B (kick-off 7pm UK).