Spain's defeat clears path for fresh face in final

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Spain's dramatic defeat by Russia on penalties in the World Cup round of 16 on Sunday ensured that at least one of this year's finalists will not have reached the title decider for half a century, if at all.

Spain's defeat clears path for fresh face in final

(Reuters)





Former finalists England, who played their one final when they won the title in 1966, and Sweden, who lost to Brazil on home soil in the 1958 final, are still in the half of the draw vacated by the 2010 champions after their loss to the hosts.

The odds on England winning the World Cup for a second time were immediately cut from 6-1 to 5-1 after Russia's victory, making them third favourites behind France and Brazil with bookmaker William Hill.

Croatia's victory over Denmark in another penalty shootout later on Sunday kept them alive in the same section of the draw and saw England's odds drift slightly to 11-2.

The Croatians, whose best previous showing was a trip to the semi-finals in 1998, were also listed at 11-2 despite a much less impressive performance in Nizhny Novgorod than in their earlier group matches.

Russia will take on Croatia in Sochi on Saturday, hoping to continue to benefit from the hosts' dividend to better the single semi-final appearance that the Soviet Union achieved in 1966.

Switzerland, who have never done better than the spot in the last eight they achieved as hosts in 1954, take on the Swedes on Tuesday in St Petersburg with the winners going on to face England or Colombia.

Colombia, whose best finish was their run to the quarter-finals in Brazil four years ago, take on the English in the last round-of-16 match later the same night in Moscow.

The last addition to the elite group of 12 nations who have contested World Cup finals was Spain when they won the title for the first time in 2010.

France, the 1998 winners, beat Argentina to reach the quarter-finals on Saturday and are in the other half of the draw with fellow former champions Brazil and Uruguay, the three nations having competed in 11 finals between them.





Latest odds on winners of 2018 World Cup:

7-2 France, Brazil

11-2 England, Croatia

6-1 Belgium 

14-1 Uruguay

16-1  Colombia

20-1  Russia

33-1 Switzerland

40-1 Sweden

50-1 Mexico

200-1 Japan





(Source: William Hill)





(Writing by Nick Mulvenney in Kazan, editing by Clare Fallon)


Share
2 min read

Published

Source: Reuters


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world