Saransk, Russia: Neatly-taken second-half goals by Fakhreddine Ben Yousseff and Wahbi Khazri gave Tunisia a 2-1 victory over Panama in their final Group G match in Saransk on Thursday and secured the North Africans their first World Cup finals win in 40 years.

Tunisia, playing fluent and composed football, dominated the match but were trailing 1-0 at halftime after a shot by Panama’s Jose Luis Rodriguez took a deflection off Tunisian defender Yassine Meriah in 33rd minute.

Khazri, who had always looked dangerous, obliged in the 66th minute, running unmarked on to a low cross from defender Oussama Haddadi to tap into an open goal.

Panama pushed hard and caused anxious moments for Tunisia, but lacked killer instinct.

The North Africans, making their fifth appearance in the World Cup finals, had not won a game since beating Mexico in Argentina in 1978 to become the first African country to win a match at the tournament.

Panama were making their debut and will go home disappointed, having declared their dream of making history by taking at least a point.

Belgium scores 1-0 win over England

Belgium finished top of Group G after a 1-0 win over England in Kaliningrad, but find themselves in the tougher side of the knockout draw — containing the likes of Brazil, Portugal, Argentina and France — and face Japan in the round of 16.

Finishing second, England take on Colombia, with a potential quarterfinal against the winner of Sweden Vs Switzerland.

Going into the game knowing that qualification was already assured, England manager Gareth Southgate made a number of changes, including dropping captain Harry Kane to the bench and starting Trent Alexander- Arnold at right wing-back.

England made a bright start as Jamie Vardy raced down the right only to see his low cross well deflected by goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. But Belgium, who also started without Eden Hazard or Romelu Lukaku, had the first real chance as midfielder Youri Tielemans smashed an effort from 25 yards out which was well parried by Jordan Pickford.

Inside 10 minutes, Gary Cahill had to clear the ball off the line as Michy Batshuayi seemed to knock it out of Pickford’s grasp in the six-yard box and England’s set-piece success almost came to the fore again as Cahill headed wide from a corner.

Alexander-Arnold’s surging run down the right saw him deliver a fine cross which Vardy couldn’t direct on target.

With both teams not keen to take any risks, little happened before Batshuayi forced a corner which then saw a shot from Marouane Fellaini blocked by Alexander-Arnold on the line.

Harry Maguire came on for John Stones at the break, with the Manchester City defender requiring an ice pack on his leg while on the bench.

Vardy did well to win the ball from Mousa Dembele and it broke for Marcus Rashford, but the forward skewed his shot wide. Rashford then showed off some nice skills in the box but fouled Dendoncker while trying to create an opening. Then Belgium took the lead.

Japan lose to Poland

Japan lost to Poland but qualified for the World Cup round of 16 by virtue of a better disciplinary record than Group F rivals Senegal. On an incredible final day in the group stage, Japan looked to be heading home after Jan Bednarek’s 60th-minute opener for Poland in Volgograd. That would have put them out, but Japan coach Akira Nishino — who made six changes to his lineup — was indebted to Yerry Mina’s goal in Colombia’s win over Senegal.

Colombia beat Senegal

Colombia defeated Senegal 1-0 to advance to the World Cup round of 16 as Group H winners in a result that sent the African side out of the competition on the fair play ranking.

Yerry Mina’s 74th-minute header allowed Colombia to top the group on six points, while Senegal finished level on four points with Japan, who lost 1-0 to already-eliminated Poland in the other group game played simultaneously.

Both Japan and Senegal had even goal differences and had scored four goals each, but Japan advanced as runners-up because they only picked up four yellow cards in the group stage, while Senegal had six.

The fair play ranking is being used as a tiebreaker for the first time at a World Cup.