World Cup Group stage: A celebration of heart, grit, and the beautiful game

As football's quadrennial carnival heads into the Super-16 stage, all but 4 slots have been filled. The final four matches in Groups G and H will determine the last entrants into the knockout stage

It's 58 minutes into the match. Both teams have had their fair share of attempts at each other’s goalposts. France has four men lined up in defence only a few meters ahead of their goalie Steve Mandanda. Tunisia’s Aissa Laidouni meanwhile has flicked a loose ball over to his skipper Wahbi Khazri. The 44,000-odd attendees at Qatar’s Education City stadium — whether in the French blue or in the Tunisian red and white — will spend the next few seconds in shock and awe, as Khazri breaks into a blitz, ghosts past the French defence, and tucks away a beautiful,