World Cup 2018: countdown begins to final weekend in Russia – live!

• All the build-up to Belgium v England and France v Croatia
• Has the penny finally dropped for newly-disciplined Paul Pogba?
• Kane declares himself fit for third-place play-off with Belgium
• Any thoughts? Email Richard or tweet @rrjparkin

6.59am BST

A massive talking point pre-tournament was of course the introduction of VAR, and as an inveterate opponent of video technology (football fans from around the world please watch the A-League grand final and tell me VAR is a boon for the game) – it both pains and delights me to say that after all the hoo-haa, perhaps (*touches wood, World Cup final pending*) it hasn’t been the utter debacle many feared?

A key difference between, say, the VARs rollout in Australia and at the World Cup might be perhaps the advantage of having multiple VARs – when two or three extra pairs of eyes are watching it knocks out the possibility of bizarre subjective decisions, requiring an aspect of conference taking place between the video referees over some of the more “interpretative” takes on what constitutes a “clear and obvious error”?

“…it’s even-handedness…”

VAR on that apostrophe, please.

6.48am BST

Some wonderful selections there – the Japanese fans cleaning the stadium after the match (as did the Senegalese) a lovely touch; especially after that terrific round of 16 match against Belgium. Wasn’t that one of the corkers of the tournament; and to think one of our semi-finalists could have gone home nearly two weeks ago.

Spain-Portugal, what a match. Also Portugal-Iran, which maybe it was the early signs of time-zone-related fatigue setting in for yours truly but I did get surprisingly emotional at full-time for that one; I think because of the utter heartbreak for the Iranian players who had given absolutely everything.

*Batshuayi not included… pic.twitter.com/Rmatt8jTRb

Continue reading…