Sweden 1-0 South Korea
Sweden have marked their long-awaited return to the World Cup with a 1-0 win over South Korea in Nizhny Novgorod.
A 65th muinute penalty by captain Andreas Granqvist was the difference between the two sides, a decision that came as a result of a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) review.
There was only a brief delay for the VAR to adjudge that Kim Min-woo had fouled Viktor Claesson, with Granqvist then stepping up to calmly convert from the spot.
South Korea struggled to create any goal-scoring opportunities, with only one genuine chance that was sprayed wide off the head of Hwang Hee-chan in the dying moments of the game.
The result gives Mexico and Sweden a three-point lead atop Group F.
Belgium 3-0 Panama
Highly vaunted Belgium have kicked off their campaign with a 3-0 demolition of Panama, led by star striker Romelu Lukaku.
After Dries Mertens snatched a lead early in the second half with a stunning volley, the Manchester United forward followed suit with two gems of his own to secure a comfortable victory for the Belgians in Sochi.
Lukaku headed home from an exquisite cross from Kevin de Bruyne in the 69th minute and followed up six minutes later to finish a swift counter-attacking move.
Belgium will square off next with Tunisia on Sunday (NZ time).
England 2-1 Tunisia
England left it late to ensure a victorious start to their World Cup campaign, with captain Harry Kane's heroics securing a 2-1 win over Tunisia in their Group G clash in Volgograd.
Kane headed home his second goal in the 91st minute to ignite celebrations and ease the nerves among the vocal English faithful.
England played with plenty of purpose in the early stages, creating several opportunities, only to be denied by some scrambling Tunisian defence.
After a period of prolonged pressure, the defence finally caved, Kane was on the spot to nudge home a deflection from a brilliantly saved John Stones header in the 11th minute.
In the 35th minute, a rare foray by the Tunisians into enemy territory resulted in a foul by Kyle Walker in the box, which was confirmed by the Video Assistant Referee and duly converted by Ferjani Sassi.
Ultimately, another corner produced the match-winner, with Kane on the end of another close-range header.
Newshub.
