Japan and Sweden play to 1-1 draw as both advance to knockout round at the World Cup

Daizen Maeda gave Japan the lead and Anthony Elanga took it away six minutes later, helping Sweden to a 1-1 draw Thursday night that sent both teams to the knockout round of the World Cup.

Elanga’s impressive left-footed strike from just outside the right corner of the box in the 62nd minute was his second goal of this year’s tournament. Elanga has scored only three goals in 49 games for Newcastle, but zero in 32 Premier League matches.

Six minutes earlier, Maeda settled a nifty pass from Ritsu Doan with his left foot in the penalty area and easily beat Jacob Widell Zetterstrom with his right foot.

It was Japan’s seventh goal of the tournament, the country’s most for an entire World Cup. That topped the six the Japanese scored while reaching the round of 16 in Russia eight years ago.

Japan is advancing out of the group stage for the third consecutive World Cup and fifth time in seven tries since first reaching the round of 16 as co-hosts in 2002. The Japanese team finished second in Group F behind the Netherlands and will play Brazil in Houston on Monday.

The Swedes have advanced to the knockout round the past four times they’ve qualified for the World Cup going back to 1994 — when they reached the semifinals the last time the U.S. hosted soccer’s biggest event.

Elanga had another chance in injury time, with his right-footed attempted forcing goalkeeper Zion Suzuki to make a diving deflection.

On the ensuing corner kick, Suzuki deflected Alexander Isak’s header into the air and eventually ended the scoring chance with a leaping grab in a crowd of players.

Netherlands 3, Tunisia 1:

Brian Brobbey scored his third goal of the World Cup, and the Netherlands got a pair of goals that deflected off Tunisia and into its own net in a 3-1 victory that gave the Dutch the top spot in Group F. The Netherlands began the day tied with Japan, but its draw with Sweden left the Samurai Blue second in the group. That means the Netherlands gets to face Morocco while Japan has the tough task of playing powerful Brazil in the Round of 32. Tunisia had already been eliminated from the tournament before the game at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri.

Ecuador 2, Germany 1:

Gonzalo Plata poked the ball past Manuel Neuer in the 77th minute and Ecuador advanced to the knockout stage of the World Cup by rallying for a 2-1 win over Germany. The Germans, who clinched first place in Group E with victories in their first two games, went ahead on Leroy Sané’s second-minute goal. Nilson Angulo scored Ecuador’s first goal of the tournament in the ninth minute. Plata scored after a corner kick was nodded on by Kevin Rodríguez. Ecuador finished third in the group with four points and advanced past the group stage for the second time.

Ivory Coast 2, Curacao 0:

Ivory Coast advances to the World Cup knockout round for the first time in its history with a 2-0 victory over Curaçao. Nicolas Pépé scored in each half, securing the win for Les Éléphants. The team previously beat Ecuador and lost to Germany in Group E. The game took place in Philadelphia, where Ivory Coast has been training. Curaçao needed to win and instead failed to become the smallest nation to qualify for the knockout stages. Ivory Coast will play June 30 against either France or Norway — whichever is the runner-up in Group I.