On a sweltering evening full of twists and turns Japan scrambled into the knockout stage of the World Cup in rather undignified fashion, courtesy of a goal scored 400 miles away in Samara by Colombia’s Yerry Mina and by virtue of the fact they accrued two yellow cards fewer than Senegal.
That is how tight the margins were in Group H, where Japan and Senegal finished with identical records: level on points, goal difference and goals scored. Japan accumulated four bookings compared with Senegal’s six and that – Fifa’s fair-play rule – ended up being the deciding factor that also contributed to a bizarre finish to the match.
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