Group A is over, and Group B is played.

At 8 p.m. on the 22nd, the two matches were played at the Pieter Mokaba Stadium and the Durban Stadium respectively. Argentina, who had won two of their previous two games, faced Greece at the Pietro Mokaba Stadium.

Greece have a previous record of one win and one loss, and as long as they can beat Argentina, they have a good chance of progressing from the group. And even if South Korea win, they will have to look at the faces of the Greeks, who are behind on goal difference.

At eight o'clock in the evening, both games started at the same time at both stadiums. At the Durban Stadium, South Korea played against the African Eagles Nigeria, who had lost hope of qualifying. However, what people didn't expect was that it was not South Korea, who had the hope of qualifying, who scored first, but Nigeria.

Nigeria took the lead in the 12th minute, Odia barely crossed past two people on the right, but the two central defenders of the South Korean defence were out of position, and Uche scrambled to shoot before Cheduri from 10 yards!

The score became 1-0!

Falling behind by one goal put South Korea at a disadvantage, they stepped up their attack and significantly increased the tempo of the game, but the attacking efficiency was low and many chances were wasted. South Korea finally equalized in the 38th minute, Obasi was yellow carded for a foul on Lee Young-pyo, Ji Sung-yong crossed a free kick from the left, and Lee Jung-so scored from a small angle from a distance.

At the end of the first half, Argentina and Greece were tied 0-0, and Nigeria, who were fighting for glory, were tied 1-1 with South Korea.

In the second half, South Korea overtook the score in the 49th minute, and Xitu fouled Park Joo-young on the edge of the penalty area. Park Joo-young's free-kick from 25 yards on the left was a direct shot that bounced off the side of the wall and into the far corner. 2-1！

Nigeria equalized in the 69th minute, Kim Nam was fouled in the penalty area by Obasi and was given a yellow card, Yakubu took a penalty and shot low into the bottom left corner of the net, 2-2!

Another piece of turf, Argentina broke the deadlock in the 77th minute! Di Maria took a corner kick from the left, Demichelis bounced off teammate Milito's chest with a header from seven yards in front of goal, and he fired a left-footed shot into the top of the net from the edge of the six-yard box, 1-0!

Argentina sealed the victory in the 89th minute, Pastore made a direct pass, and Messi took the ball in the right rib to dodge the defense. A left-footed volley from 18 yards in front of goal caused Tsovas to get out of his hands. Palermo pushes his right foot into the far corner from nine meters from the goal on the left side, 2-0!

Under the leadership of Maradona, Argentina became the first team in the tournament to win all three of their group games, scoring a total of seven goals. Lose a ball. Shows a powerful attack.

Maradona's rare praise from the media. Previously, many people doubted his coaching skills. Raising his eyebrows, he said to the reporters who questioned him after the game: "You should apologize to the Argentine team!" ”

"It turns out that what you said is wrong and you don't show the players the respect they deserve. Those who criticize us owe an apology to the players, we did our job very well. Defend the dignity of Argentina. Sometimes my players do make mistakes, but the people who fall into the trap and criticize us make mistakes more often and they should stand up and admit their mistakes. ”

The two teams that qualified from Group B were Argentina and South Korea.

……

On the 23rd, the final round of matches in Groups C and D was staged. At 4 p.m., the Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth will face off between England and Slovenia; At the Loftos Stadium in Pretoria, the United States and Algeria will fight to qualify.

The situation in this group is more complicated, after two rounds, Slovenia has four points with one win and one draw, temporarily ranking first in the group, the United States and England have won two draws and accumulated two points, the United States is in second place with more goals, and Algeria is in fourth place with one draw and one loss.

Theoretically, all four teams have hopes of qualifying.

At four o'clock in the afternoon, the two life-and-death battles began, and they were both very focused on defense. Whoever makes fewer mistakes in this kind of competition has a chance to win the final victory. At the Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth, the Englishman scored in the 22nd minute.

Barry split the ball, Milner crossed from the right, Defoe got on the edge of the six-yard box and volleyed in before Schuller, Handanovic saved the ball but couldn't prevent the goalkeeper from being lost.

The score became 1-0!

Ingora's morale was then boosted, and they launched an onslaught on each other. In the 26th minute, Handanovic narrowly saved the ball before Defoe could cross from the right, but Lampard slotted the ball away with his left foot on the edge of the box.

In the 30th minute, Gerrard passed the ball and Defoe's powerful shot from 20 yards was saved by Handanovic. Two minutes later, Gerrard combined with Wayne Rooney to kick the wall and fired a low shot from 16 yards, which Handanovic saved and then turned back to dispossess.

At the end of the first half, England temporarily took a 1-0 lead thanks to a goal from the new Defoe, while the United States and Algeria played a 0-0 draw.

The second half was a decisive moment in the game, and at the Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth, England played with more confidence as they took the lead.

England came close to doubling their lead after just 30 seconds in the second half, when Wayne Rooney's quick corner was saved by Handanovic, Barry's header was headed back in front of goal and Defoe's instep shot from eight yards out went wide of the right-hand post.

England missed a chance in the 58th minute when Frank Lampard's pinpoint long pass was met by Wayne Rooney's one-on-one shot from 12 yards that bounced off the left-hand post.

In the final period, England defended solidly and did not give their opponents a chance while ensuring qualification. They kept the score 1-0 until the end of the game.

On the other turf, after 90 minutes of regular play, the two sides were still 0-0. At this scoreline, Group C will be qualified by England and their losers Slovenia. And both teams on the field will be eliminated.

In the second minute of stoppage time, Donovan counterattacked, Altidore made a low cross from the right side of the penalty area, Dempsey's push from the edge of the small penalty area was saved by Mpleshi, and Donovan shot into the bottom left corner from seven meters in front of the goal!

The United States defeated Algeria 1-0!

They grabbed fate by the throat and thrilled to victory at the last moment. And entered the round of 16 as the group leader. And Slovenia, which had a chance to advance, fell from heaven to hell, and they came in third place and were eliminated.

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton went to the locker room after watching the game to comfort the winning U.S. players.

This match made people see the charm of football again - no one knows the winner or loser until the whistle blows at the end of the game, and no one knows their fate!

Only those who never give up can control their own destiny!

At eight o'clock that night, the two matches in Group D began. Ghana and Germany, who are ranked first and second, will battle it out for top of the group. Germany only needs a draw. It is possible to advance to the knockout stage on goal difference.

Third-placed Australia also have hopes of qualifying, as long as they can beat Serbia and Ghana beat Germany to finish second in their group.

Ninety minutes of fierce battle ended. Germany won with Mesut Ozil's volley in the 60th minute. 1-0 win over Ghana. They have completed their self-redemption. In the other game, Australia beat Serbia 2-1, but they finished third in the group on goal difference. Eliminated miserably.

The last teams to advance from Group D were Germany and Ghana, who qualified as group winners and runners-up respectively.

……

Group E and Group F will be played on the 24th. The two matches in Group F kicked off at 4 p.m. The situation in Group F is somewhat similar to Group C, with all four teams hoping to advance.

The most notable was the match between Italy and Slovakia, which had previously drawn two with the same New Zealand. The last runner-up has to fight to the death, and only by winning can they have a chance to qualify, and a draw depends on luck.

At 4 p.m., the two games were played at Ellis Park and Peter Mokaba in Johannesburg. After 90 minutes of fierce battle, Paraguay, who had previously been in first place, drew 0-0 with New Zealand. On the other turf, Italy lost 3-2 to Slovakia.

So far, the two teams that have qualified from Group F have been produced, Paraguay is ranked first with one win and two draws, Slovakia is second with one win, one draw and one loss, and Italy is at the bottom of the group with two draws and one loss. The first traditional giants to be eliminated were produced, and Italian fans shed tears of sadness.

Italy believes that the aging of the team is the biggest reason for the decline in the level, and when a group of veterans such as Cannavaro are no longer in their prime, it is only a matter of time before Italy is eliminated.

Group E is a clearer place, with the Netherlands, who have won both games, qualifying, leaving one place to qualify, between Japan and Denmark, who are also one win and one loss, and they will directly compete for the last chance to qualify.

At 8 p.m., at the Royal Bamferken Stadium in Rustenburg, the match between Japan and Denmark began.

Japan took the lead in the 17th minute, C-Paulson fouled Makoto Hasebe, Keisuke Honda took a free kick from 30 meters on the right side and shot directly, the ball went around the wall and went straight to the left side of the gate, and the score became 1-0!

Japan expanded the score in the 30th minute, Claudroup pulled down Yoshito Okubo in front of the penalty area and was warned with a yellow card, and Endo took a free kick from 28 meters to shoot directly, and the ball went around the wall and entered the right side of the gate, and the score became 2-0!

Denmark pulled one back in the 81st minute when Makoto Hasebe pushed Ager behind his back, and Tomasson's penalty was saved by Kawashima Eiji, who then fired into the back of the net. It was his 52nd goal for his country, equalling Paul Nelson's record for goals scored by his country.

As the referee's whistle blew at the end of the match, Japan won the do-or-die battle with two free kicks to finish second in their group and advance to the round of 16.

On the other side of the turf, the Netherlands defeated Cameroon, who had lost their hopes of qualifying, 2-1 thanks to goals from Robin van Persie and Huntelaar.

In this way, the Netherlands became the second team to win all three games and advance to the round of 16 as group winners.

……

On the 25th, the last match day of the group stage, Group G and Group H will face off in the final matchup.

The Group G match of the Group of Death will be the first to start at 4 p.m. With the exception of Brazil, who have already appeared early, Portugal have the best chance of qualifying as they finish second in the group with a draw against Brazil. Of course, if they can beat Brazil, they will be top of the group on goal difference.

Even if Portugal loses to Brazil, they still have a chance to qualify, after all, they have a goal difference of six against North Korea, and it will be too difficult for Ivory Coast to surpass Portugal!

In other words, the result of the match between Portugal and Brazil will directly affect the ranking of Group G. The match attracted a lot of media and fan attention.

In order for Ivory Coast to qualify, in addition to beating North Korea, they will have to expect Brazil to beat Portugal by a big margin, which is almost unlikely. Of course, they can already get a clean sheet against North Korea, but that will be based on Brazil's victory.

At four o'clock in the afternoon, the two matches started, and after 90 minutes of fierce battle, Brazil and Portugal played a 0-0 draw, and both teams were happy to advance to the round of 16 together. Despite Ivory Coast's 3-0 win over North Korea, they were unable to secure a ticket to the knockout rounds and had to go home.

At 8 p.m., the Group H match will begin. The situation in Group H is more complicated, with Chile still at risk of disqualification despite winning both games, as Spain and Switzerland would have six points on goal difference if they both won their last game.

Honduras, who were previously fourth in the group, also have theoretical hopes of qualifying, which means that all four teams have a chance in theory.

After 90 minutes of fierce battle, Spain won 2-1 against Chile with a pass and a shot from Villa, and with a goal difference, they were ahead of the Chilean team, and the Chilean fans began to worry.

Luckily, Switzerland and Honduras drew 0-0 to finish Chile. The two teams that qualified from Group H were Spain and Chile, with Spain taking their own destiny into their own hands thanks to their wins in the next two games. (To be continued......)