>> As Colombia filed out for their first game against Japan, conspicuous by his absence was their star player and 2014 Golden Boot winner James Rodriguez who was out due to muscle fatigue . He, however, comes in at a 59' substitution.
>> Colombian midfielder Carlos Sanchez set a new record — he is now the player to get the second-fastest World Cup red card . Sanchez was sent off by Slovenian referee Damir Skomina for touching the ball with his hand in the third minute. The 32-year-old had struck out his arm to stop a shot that looked bound for the Colombian net at the Mordovia Arena in Saransk.
>> The fastest red card ever handed out in the tournament is to the Uruguay defender Jose Batista. Batista was shown the red card against Scotland at the 1986 World Cup inside the first minute.
>> It took until the 15th game of the tournament for the first red card to be issued, for Colombia’s Carlos Sánchez. That is the cleanest start to a World Cup since 1986.
>> Japan's Shinji Kagawa scored in 6' in the penalty following the red card. Juan Quintero equalizes this in a 39' free kick— the goalkeeper catches the ball just as it crossed the line, but goal line technology confirms that it is, indeed, a goal.
>> Yuya Osako leads the Asian side to victory with a 73' goal.
>> Possession of ball: Colombia 39% Japan 61%
>> The Poland vs Senegal game saw two miserable mistakes by Poland , one of which resulted in an own goal. Poland's Thiago Cionek scored an own goal in the 37th minute, this edition's fifth one and the entire tournament's 45th own goal.
>> The African side scores again in the 60' in another error — the goalkeeper rushes forward to defend, but horribly misjudges the distance leaving an open net for M'Baye Niang to nudge the ball into. Though Poland tries to play catch up by converting a free kick into the goal in the 86', it is too little too late.
>> Senegal is the first African team to win at this year’s World Cup after Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria and Tunisia were outscored 6-1 in losses.
>> Possession of ball: Poland 61% Senegal 39%
>> Another own goal by Egypt's Ahmed Fathi in the 49' pretty much seals Egypt's fate. If Uruguay win's today's match against Saudi Arabia, Egypt will be eliminated in the Group Stage.
>> Russia scores twice in two minutes - in 59' and 62'.
>> VAR used in the 73' as Egypt's Mohammed Salah is fouled in the box. Though Mo Salah scores his first goal in this World Cup amidst fears that he has not fully recovered from his UEFA injury, Egypt loses 1-3 to the host nation.
>> Possession of ball: Russia 49% Egypt 51%
Read key moments from Day 1, Day 2 , Day 3 , Day 4 , and Day 5 . Follow The Hindu's comprehensive coverage of the World Cup here .
