Russia is on the brink of of the World Cup round of 16 after defeating Egypt.
The match marked the first of the second round of group matches and came days after Russia opened the tournament with a 5-0 win over Saudi Arabia.
The two other matches on day six saw upset wins for Japan and Senegal.
Russia 3 - 1 Egypt
World Cup hosts Russia virtually booked their place in the second round with a 3-1 win over Egypt on Tuesday that moved them to top of Group A with six points from two games.
Three goals in the space of 15 minutes early in the second half put the Russians firmly in command before Egypt's Mohamed Salah, who had a subdued game on his return from injury, struck from a penalty, awarded after a video review.
Should Uruguay (3 points) beat Saudi Arabia (0 points) on Wednesday it will ensure the South Americans and the Russians go through to the round of 16 with a game to spare.
After a tight first half Russia's breakthrough came just two minutes after the restart.
Aleksandr Golovin's cross was punched out by Egyptian keeper Mohamed El-Shenawy, only as far as Roman Zobnin whose low drive was heading wide until Ahmed Fathi's outstretched leg turned the ball into his own net.
Remarkably, it was the fifth own goal of the tournament so far. The record amount for a tournament is six in 1998.
If there was some good fortune to the opener, the Russians' second was pure quality.
Artem Dzyuba of Russia celebrates scoring a goal to make it 3-0 Source: Getty Images
Alexander Samedov pushed the ball out wide to Mario Fernandes, the Brazilian born right back who had powered forward from deep to deliver a perfect pull-back into the path of Denis Cheryshev who slotted home his third goal of the tournament.
Two minutes later it was 3-0 via a route one play, as target man Artem Dzyuba chested down a long ball, bustled past Ali Gabr and drove home.
Salah, who had not played since going off injured in Liverpool's Champions League final defeat to Real Madrid last month, managed some consolation when he converted from the spot after a video assistant referee (VAR) ruling that he had been brought down by Zobnin inside the area.
Senegal 2 - 1 Poland
Senegal took full advantage of their opponents' errors to beat Poland 2-1 in their opening Group H match, finally giving Africa something to cheer about at the World Cup as the group favourites failed to fire.
Leading thanks to a clumsy Thiago Cionek own-goal in a poor first half, M'Baye Niang put the game beyond the disjointed Poles on the hour, seizing on goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny's decision to race out of his area to gather a long back pass. Niang showed pace and control to beat the keeper and covering defender Jan Bednarek before slotting home in an empty net.
Grzegorz Krychowiak, author of the wayward back pass, made partial amends with a header five minutes from time but it was too late.
The result leaves Senegal, famous winners over defending champions France in the opening match of their last World Cup appearance in 2002, level with Japan.
The Asian team overcame Colombia by the same score earlier in the day. The last of five African teams to play in the tournament, Senegal are the only ones not to lose.
Poland have now gone six successive World Cups without scoring in their opening match and last won one in 1974.
FIFA World Cup Russia group H match between Poland and Senegal at Spartak Stadium on June 19, 2018 in Moscow, Russia. Source: Getty Images
Japan 2 - 1 Colombia
Japan beat 10-man Colombia 2-1 in Group H on Tuesday to become the first Asian side to beat a South American one at the World Cup.
Asian teams had managed three draws in 17 matches against South American sides but the four-times Asian champions made their extra man count after Colombia midfielder Carlos Sanchez became the first player to get a red card in Russia.
Japan beat 10-man Colombia 2-1 in another World Cup upset Source: Reuters
His sending-off in the third minute, for a deliberate handball, was the second fastest in World Cup history after Uruguay's Jose Batista was dismissed after 55 seconds against Scotland in 1986.
Shinji Kagawa scored from the resulting penalty to give Japan the lead.
Juan Quintero's clever low free kick in the 39th minute brought Colombia's equaliser but Yuya Osako leapt above his marker to head a corner into the net for the 73rd-minute winner.
It was sweet revenge for Japan, who were thumped 4-1 by Colombia in Brazil four years ago, but they wasted plenty of chances to kill the game off.
Kagawa went close in the 16th minute but his shot rolled past the post and Osako fired against the face of goal from a dangerous position in the box.
With Japan dominating in midfield, Colombia's Argentine coach Jose Pekerman opted to sacrifice Juan Cuadrado around the half hour mark to send on defensive midfielder Wilmar Barrios.
That gave Colombia extra control and their all-time leading scorer and captain Radamel Falcao came more into the game.
Falcao, making his World Cup debut after missing the last tournament in Brazil due to injury, showed his hunger when he stretched full length to get his foot to an overhead cross but did not have the power to beat the goalkeeper.
Genki Haraguchi's foul on Falcao earned Colombia a foul on the edge of the box and Quintero fired a low free kick under the leaping wall. Japan goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima reacted late and by the time he got his hands to the ball, it had crossed the line.
Pekerman introduced James Rodriguez, who did not start due to a calf problem, in the 59th minute but the Golden Boot winner in Brazil was unable to change the course of the match.
What's coming up on day seven
Three matches will feature on day seven, including a clash between Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal against Morocco (10pm AEST), Uruguay playing Saudi Arabia (Thursday 1am AEST), and Spain up against Iran (4am AEST Thursday).
Spain came through a tough World Cup opener against Portugal in impressive style as the aftershocks of the sacking of their coach were still reverberating and they will need to keep the pedal firmly to the floor when they meet Iran on Wednesday.
The thrilling 3-3 draw with Portugal in Sochi eased concerns that Julen Lopetegui's sudden departure would derail Spain's campaign and reports coming out of the camp indicate an upbeat mood under his makeshift replacement Fernando Hierro.
Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates a goal during Portugal’s match against Spain at Sochi Stadium during the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Source: AAP
On paper, Spain should be able to deal comfortably with Iran in the first meeting between the two countries but Germany's loss to Mexico in the first match of their title defence on Sunday was a warning to all the game's heavyweights.
"What happened to Germany could happen to anyone," Hierro told reporters on Monday.
"The 32 teams here are very good and the first game is always tough. Anxiety plays a big role. We got a point against the European champions and now we've got Iran ..."
If there were causes of anxiety for Hierro they might be in the form of goalkeeper David de Gea, who made an uncharacteristic blunder to gift Cristiano Ronaldo one of his three goals in Sochi.
After sneaking past Egypt in their World Cup opener with a stoppage-time winner, Uruguay will field a veteran side containing seven players aged 31 or over against Saudi Arabia as they seek a victory that would seal their place in the last 16.
With the hour mark approaching against Egypt and his side struggling to create chances, coach Oscar Tabarez removed young wingers Nahitan Nandez and Giorgian De Arrascaeta, aged 22 and 24 respectively, replacing them with hardened veterans Cristian Rodriguez, 32, and Carlos Sanchez, 33.
The South Americans instantly had more strength and power down the flanks and created a string of chances before defender Jose Gimenez rose to head in an arching cross from a free kick from Sanchez to snatch all three points. Tabarez confirmed that he will reward the evergreen wingers with starting berths against Saudi Arabia, the second lowest ranked team in the tournament who were thrashed 5-0 by Russia in their opener.
"It's not about being young or experienced it's due to the needs of the team for this game, and according to my information this is the line-up which will best suit us," Tabarez told a news conference on Tuesday.
Rodriguez will make his 107th appearance for Uruguay on Wednesday, prolific striker Luis Suarez will rack up a century of appearances for the national team and goalkeeper Fernando Muslera will reach 99 games.
