20 June 2018
The final four teams to open FIFA World Cup play were in action on Tuesday with two of those featuring Bianconeri as Juan Cuadrado's Colombia opened against Japan while Wojciech Szczesny's Poland faced off against Senegal.
For Cuadrado and Colombia, Russia 2018 would get off to a nightmare start as after just three minutes midfielder Carlos Sanchez was whistled for handball in the box and shown a red card.
Shinji Kagawa slotted home the penalty to put Japan up 1-0 with a man advantage. Cuadrado's match would end early after 30 minutes as he was substituted in a tactical change. Juan Quintero equalized before the half for Colombia but a 73rd minute goal by Yuya Osako saw the Japanese side take a 2-1 win.
For Szczesny, the day wouldn't go much better as Poland fell to Senegal by the same 2-1 scoreline. An own goal in the first half and a strike by M'baye Niang in the second half was enough for Senegal as Szczesny played all 90 minutes.
Medhi Benatia and Morocco are back in action today looking to rebound from their opening-match loss to Iran.
They'll face a Portugal side that earned a point from their first match against Spain meaning each team really must win today to keep realistic hopes of advancing to the knockout round alive.
They'll kick off at 14.00 CEST at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.
Fresh off their opening-match win over Egypt, Rodrigo Bentancur and Uruguay will look to ensure passage to the knockout round today with a result today over Saudi Arabia.
The match at the Rostov Arena kicks off at 17.00 CEST.
