Romelu Lukaku and Robert Lewandowski furthered their cases for inclusion in World Cup Fantasy squads with braces in their final warm-up matches.
Elsewhere, Japan’s modestly-priced differentials finally got a win under their new manager ahead of competing in Group H.
We’ve got all the goals and assists from the latest and final international matches before the World Cup begins.
BELGIUM 4-1 COSTA RICA
Romelu Lukaku scored twice and registered an assist as a strong Belgium team came from behind to thrash Costa Rica.
The Manchester United forward put the home side in front after Bryan Ruiz had netted Costa Rica’s opener and Dries Mertens had equalised. Eden Hazard provided the assist for Merten’s strike.
Mertens then became the provider in the 42nd minute when Lukaku scored his first of the night. Substitute Nacer Chadli registered the assist for his second.
Lukaku capped off his performance by assisting Michy Batshuauyi’s strike just after the hour.
BELGIUM XI (3-4-2-1): Courtois; Vertonghen, Boyata (Dendoncker 66’), Alderweireld; Carrasco, Witsel, De Bruyne (Tielemans 71’), Meunier (Chadli 46’); E Hazard (Dembele 70’), Mertens (Batshuayi 52’); Lukaku (T Hazard 65’).
COSTA RICA XI (3-4-2-1): Navas; Duarte, Gonzalez, Acosta; Oviedo (Calvo 46’), Tejeda, Borges (Azofeifa 76’), Gamboa (Smith 66’); Bolanos (Guzman 62’), Ruiz (Campbell 66’); Urena (Venegas 46’).
POLAND 4-0 LITHUNIA
Robert Lewandowski scored a brace in Poland’s thrashing of Lithuania to take his record to 37 goals in 37 games under national manager Adam Nawalka.
He fired in the opener after 19 minutes after a cross from defender Maciej Rybus before doubling the leading in the 32nd with a free-kick which hit the bar on its way in.
The Bayern Munich forward was substituted at half-time, replaced by Lukasz Teodorczyk, but Poland did not lose any potency going forward.
21-year-old Dawid Kownachi made it 3-0 in the 71st minute with his first international goal since earning a call-up to the senior team.
Jakub Blaszczykowski rounded off the rout in the 82nd minute converting a penalty in the absence of Lewandowski.
Lukasz Fabianski started the game in goal but was replaced by Wojciech Szczesny at half-time.
POLAND XI (4-4-1-1): Fabianski (Szczesny 46’); Rybus (Blaszczykowski 70’), Cionek, Bednarek (Pazdan 53’), Jedrzejczyk (Piszczek 46’); Kownacki, Goralski, Krychowiak (Zielinski 77’), Bereszynski; Milik; Lewandowski (Teodorczyk 46’).
JAPAN 4-2 PARAGUAY
Shinji Kagawa was the star of the show as Japan got their first win under new manager Akira Nishino.
The midfielder started his first match in any competition since February.
Paraguay took the lead when Oscar Romero converted Antonio Bareiro’s pass in the 32nd minute and went into half-time still in the lead.
A 12-minute brace from Takashi Inui got things back on track for Japan, with former Manchester United man Kagawa providing the assist for both goals.
The Samurai Blue extended their lead in the 77th minute when Gaku Shibasaki’s corner was deflected into the net by Federico Santander.
Richard Ortiz pulled one back for the visitors in the 90th minute but Kagawa got his deserved goal in stoppage time to round the scoring off.
Shinji Okazaki enjoyed a rare start and played 74 minutes while regular at the back Maya Yoshida was an unused substitute.
Elsewhere left-back Hiroki Sakai, who has three assists in the build-up to the World Cup, missed out on a starting place again but did feature as a second-half substitute.
JAPAN XI (4-2-3-1): Higashiguchi (Nakamura 46’); G Sakai, Shoji, Ueda, Endo (H Sakai 46’); Yamaguchi, Shibashaki; Inui (Usami 79’), Kagawa, Muto (Osaka 64’); Okazaki (Haraguchi 74’).
SENEGAL 2-0 SOUTH KOREA
Moussa Konate’s second-half penalty sealed Senegal’s first win since their World Cup qualification campaign ended in November.
The defeat was Korea’s third in their last five matches, having also only won just once since booking a place in Russia.
Senegal took the lead in the 67th minute after Kim Young-gwon turned into his own net.
Both Sadio Mane and Son Heung-min started the match for their respective nations and both lasted the full 90 minutes.
SENEGAL XI (4-4-2): K N’Diaye; Koulibaly, Sabaly, Sane, Wague; Sakho, Kouyate, A N’Diaye, Sarr; Mane, Niang (Konate 46’).
SOUTH KOREA XI (4-4-2): Cho; Jang, Kim Y-G, Kim M-W, Lee Y; Son, Koo, Ki, Lee J-S; Lee S-W, Kim S-W.
Further Analysis
Our comprehensive World Cup guide can be found here.
Group A – Egypt, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay
Group B – Iran, Morocco, Portugal, Spain
Group C – Australia, Peru, France, Denmark
Group D – Argentina, Iceland, Croatia, Nigeria
Group E – Brazil, Costa Rica, Switzerland, Serbia
Group F – Mexico, Germany, Sweden, South Korea
Group G – Belgium, Panama, Tunisia, England
Our editor’s Fantasy World Cup tips as told to Proper Sport
Fantasy iTeam
Fantasy Football Scout is supporting Fantasy iTeam, a free World Cup game available on a number of mobile devices, including iPhone, iPad, iPodTouch and Android. We have an official Fantasy Football Scout League open to UK users only, with a £1000 of Amazon vouchers to give out, split between the top three performers. There’s also the small matter of £10k worth of prizes available in the main competitions: Overall World Championship and Manager of the Gameround.
Click here for details and here to sign up.
Our League name is Fantasy Football Scout and the pin is 1887.
Please note, users must be over 18 and based in the UK to join our league.
World Cup Data
We’re delighted to offer World Cup data as an early addition to our regular season offering to help those playing Fantasy games over the summer.
We’ve secured Opta data, not only for the tournament itself, which begins on June 14 but also from the Qualifying Rounds for Europe and South America and for international friendlies involving the participating nations. This includes all the matches played right up to the tournament kick-off.
Just to stress, this World Cup offering comes packaged with the regular Fantasy Football Scout membership.
Check out this new trailer previewing the World Cup content below…
