Goals of the Russia 2018 World Cup - 6 Quiz

Answer: Both were scored in time added-on

Brazil was coming from a disappointing 1-1 tie with Switzerland, while Costa Rica had lost against Serbia, so both teams were motivated to make the most out of this match. The game was hard-fought by both squads, with Costa Rican goalkeeper Keylor Navas doing a lot of work to save his team throughout the match. The last 15 minutes of the match were especially contested. The referee had called a penalty for Brazil but backed down after VAR showed Neymar had dived (this was the first time in history that a World Cup penalty was called off by VAR). At the 90'+ 1 mark, Brazil finally found their goal when Philippe Coutinho surprised the Costa Rican defenders and scored. Four minutes later, Brazil sealed their win with another goal by Neymar.

This was the first time in World Cup history that a match which had been tied throughout was decided by a difference of two or more goals. Neymar's goal also became the latest goal ever scored in the tournament.

Answer: Ahmed Musa

The Nigeria-Iceland match drew interest from many Argentine fans because the score could largely determine the South American country's chances of advancing to the next round. Argentina lost to Croatia the day before, so they needed a Nigerian win to prevent Iceland from gaining more points (they already had 1 from their earlier draw with Argentina). Nigeria-Iceland was an interesting match with a lot of back-and-forth action. Ahmed Musa opened the match early in the second half with a powerful shot inside the box, and then scored again after beautifully dribbling the Icelandic goalkeeper. Iceland also missed a penalty toward the end of the match.

Ahmed Musa started his football career in his home country of Nigeria, and has since played for clubs in the Netherlands, Russia, England, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey. His time at Russian club CSKA Moscow was especially successful, as he scored more than 50 goals and won three Russian Premier League titles. With these two goals against Iceland, Musa became the highest-scoring Nigerian in a World Cup and the first Nigerian to score more than one goal in a World Cup match.

Answer: Head

Serbia v. Switzerland wrapped up the second round of Group E matches. From the start, the Serbian squad went on the offensive and managed to threaten the Swiss team several times within the first five minutes. Seconds after Swiss goalkeeper Sommer saved a dangerous header by Mitroviæ, the Serbian players recreated an almost identical play. Tadic crossed from the right side and Mitroviæ used his height to win the ball and score a tremendous goal with his head.

Aleksandar Mitroviæ was born in Smederevo, a city that was previously part of Yugoslavia. Before the World Cup, most of his career was spent outside of Serbia, although he did start out in the Serbian clubs Teleoptik and Partizan. Mitroviæ has also played for the Belgian club Anderlecht and the English teams of Newcastle United and Fulham.

Answer: Albania

Granit Xhaka scored Switzerland's first goal through a powerful strike from outside the box. When he scored, he immediately ran towards the stands and made an eagle gesture with his hands. When his teammate Xherdan Shaqiri scored at the very last minute to give the Swiss three points, he made the same eagle symbol immediately after the goal. The gesture is thought to have been a reference to the Albanian flag because both players have an ethnic Albanian background. Shaqiri was born in Yugoslavia and immigrated to Switzerland with his family while he was still a baby. Xhaka was born in Switzerland but his family was also from Kosovo, which was formerly part of Yugoslavia. Kosovo is at the center of a territorial dispute between ethnic Albanians who claim it is an independent country, and Serbia, which does not recognize it as an independent state.

After this controversial celebration happened, CNN and other news outlets reported that both players were fined approximately ten thousand Swiss Francs for their actions, as FIFA generally tries to appear politically neutral. Reports also stated that Shaqiri wore sneakers with the Swiss flag and the Kosovo emblem, drawing criticism from Switzerland's own coach Vladimir Petkovic. Indeed, Serbian football officials filed a complaint because of these incidents.

Answer: Eden Hazard

Belgium started the World Cup as a strong contender to win the trophy, and they certainly lived up to that expectation in this match. Very early in the game, American referee Jair Marrufo called a penalty for Belgium after a tackle by Tunisian defender Ben Youssef right on the edge of the box. Hazard kicked the ball in confidently, scoring Belgium's first World Cup goal via penalty since 1986. It was also Belgium's first penalty kick in a World Cup since 1990 when Enzo Scifo missed and hit the post in a match against Spain.

Eden Hazard is one of Belgium's best-known players. He started playing in Belgium but his youth career really took off in the French club Lille, which allowed him to develop in their youth academy. Hazard was promoted to the main team in 2007 and was transferred to Chelsea in 2012. With Chelsea, he won a number of individual and team accolades, including being recognized as Premier League Player of the Season and winning two Premier League titles. Hazard moved to Real Madrid in 2019.

Answer: Lukaku, assisted by Mertens

The Belgians showed the world that they were serious in their quest to win the World Cup. They had already decisively beaten Panama by 3-0, and sixteen minutes into their match with Tunisia, they were already ahead 2-0. This time, Mertens masterfully stole a ball in the midfield, dribbled the ball, and then passed to Lukaku. Quickly, Lukaku kicked the ball while it was in movement. This marked the first time ever that Belgium had an advantage by 2 goals in the first 20 minutes of a World Cup match. At the 45'+3 mark, the same scenario would play out: Mertens again served a great pass to Lukaku, who barely beat the goalkeeper to the ball, giving Belgium the 3-1 advantage just before the end of the first half.

Romelu Lukaku started his professional career with Belgian club Anderlecht, winning the Belgian Pro League that season. He then moved to Chelsea, where he had a rather unsuccessful couple of years. When he was loaned and then transferred to Everton, Lukaku became a prolific goal-scorer, which prompted Manchester United to sign him in 2017. After a brief two seasons in Italy's Inter Milan, Lukaku returned to Chelsea in 2021.

Dries Mertens, who provided the assist for Lukaku's goal, played for a couple of Belgian and Dutch clubs before moving to Napoli in 2013. He has scored more than 100 goals with the Italian team and was considered part of the Serie A Team of the Year for the 2016-17 season.

Answer: No

Dylan Bronn was born in Cannes, France and never played in a Tunisian club before this World Cup. However, his mother's Tunisian background made him eligible to play for this national team in 2017, and then in 2018 in Russia. Bronn played for two French clubs before moving to Belgium's Gent in 2017 and then returning to France in 2020 to play for Metz. Bronn's situation was not unique; in fact, eight other members of the Tunisian World Cup squad were born in France. Senegal also had nine foreign-born players in its squad, while Morocco had 17 players who were not born in that country representing them in the tournament.

Answer: Controlled the ball with the chest, dribbled the goalkeeper, scored

Hazard took advantage of the momentum he had built in the first half by putting together this beautiful goal, Belgium's fourth in the match. Hazard received a long pass from behind the middle of the field with his chest and was on side. He outran two Tunisian defenders and apparently caught the goalkeeper by surprise, as he was easily dribbled. Hazard then quickly reacted and struck the ball with his left foot into the net.

At this point, Hazard and Lukaku had scored two goals each. The last time that two teammates scored two goals each had been the infamous Germany 7-1 Brazil match in the 2014 Brazil World Cup, when Kroos and Schurrle scored two goals each.

Answer: Borussia Dortmund and Valencia

In the last minute of the second half, Batshuayi received a cross and pushed the ball in by sliding to make sure he caught the ball in time. Batshuayi started his career with Standard Liege and then moved to Marseille and Chelsea. Since he joined the "Blues", he has been loaned out several times. Some of the teams he has played in include Borussia Dortmund, Valencia, and Crystal Palace. While his time in those teams between 2018 and 2021 saw him score fewer goals than in his previous clubs, he broke a record for being the first player who has scored in the French, German, English, and Spanish leagues in the 21st century.

Borussia Dortmund is from Germany and is traditionally associated with yellow and black. Valencia is from Spain and has a more colorful logo and kits, which are usually a combination of yellow, red, and blue.

Answer: Quickly grabbed the ball away from the goal

Knowing there wasn't much to do at that point, Khazri immediately took the ball from the goal and back to the center of the field. This is very common when a team is losing and want to restart the match as soon as possible, though any hope for Tunisia to come back from the 5-2 score was practically unattainable. Khazri would score a second goal in the next match against Panama. He was born in France, and other than his time in Sunderland between 2016 and 2018, his entire career prior to the Russia World Cup was spent in French clubs.

The final score of 5-2 marked the ninth time such a result took place in a World Cup. Interestingly, the first time it happened also involved Belgium: it was a 5-2 loss against Germany in the 1934 edition of the tournament.