Mexico Stuns Germany In 1-0 World Cup Victory
(CBS Sports) - The 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia has its first absolute stunner.
Mexico Beats Germany, 1-0
Mexico, behind a first-half goal from Hirving Lozano, upset reigning champs Germany in the group stage opener, 1-0. In a tense, hectic match that would make anybody shake from the nerves, El Tri bent but did not break in the second half, withstanding chance after chance from the European giants for arguably its greatest World Cup victory ever.
A massive, world-shaking goal that Lozano said after the match was the most important of his young, sparkling career. After the match, Lozano put all the praise on his coach Juan Carlos Osorio.
"He told us to keep playing like we were playing. To come out 100 percent ... He saw the game well," Lozano said in the post-match press conference. "To start off on the right foot against the best team in the world, it's a huge result and great work from the team."
Guillermo Ochoa was huge in goal for El Tri as well, making save after save to keep the mighty Germans out. Germany had 60 percent of the possession, 25 shots, nine on target, yet couldn't crack El Tri's defense.
The win gives Mexico three points and puts them in a golden spot to move on, while Germany now can't afford another slip up with South Korea and Sweden to come.
Serbia Beats Costa Rico, 1-0
Serbia opened up its World Cup campaign on Sunday with a 1-0 victory over Costa Rica in Group E thanks to a delightful free-kick goal from Aleksandar Kolarov in the second half. The Roma man beat Real Madrid goalkeeper Keylor Navas with a curling free kick into the upper corner, giving the Serbians three vital points and putting Costa Rica in a tough spot to qualify from the group.
It's a sad result for Los Ticos, who feel like they deserved more. They split possession with Serbia, had 10 shots just like their opponents and the same amount of efforts on target (three), but just couldn't create good enough chances to really threaten. And now, the pressure is on right away. Costa Rica faces Brazil on Friday, and it is likely going to need at least a draw to have any shot of moving on from the group stage.
Serbia, meanwhile, can pretty much book its spot in the round of 16 with a win over Switzerland on Friday.
Switzerland Holds Brazil To Draw, 1-1
Add Brazil to the list of World Cup contenders that ran into a roadblock in the opening match of the tournament. After Argentina failed to beat Iceland and Germany lost to Mexico, Brazil, one of the tournament favorites, drew Switzerland 1-1 on Sunday despite creating a boatload of chances to secure three points. The South Americans had 20 shots but could only put four on frame, seeing the Swiss hold them in the second half to split one point apiece.
Switzerland played physical, fouled plenty to try and slow down Brazil's rhythm, and it earned a surprising result that puts them in a great spot moving forward. The match was pretty much all Brazil from the beginning, but outside of its lone goal, the ball just didn't want to go in.