[Archive 2018-06-19] FIFA World Cup 2018 day four: Mexico beats Germany; Serbia leads Group E, Brazil shares the spoils with Swiss

Historical archive — originally published 2018-06-19. This report records what was known on that date. It is not current news; subsequent events may have changed the situation. Wikinews closed in May 2026.

On Sunday, day four of the 2018 FIFA football World Cup, Serbia defeated Costa Rica 1–0, Brazil drew 1–1 against Switzerland, and defending champions Germany lost 1–0 against Mexico.

In the first game of Group E, Costa Rica faced Serbia at the Samara Arena. Costa Rica's Giancarlo González got an opportunity to score from a header in the 12th minute but the ball went over the crossbar. A minute later, on Serbia's attack, Aleksandar Mitrovic's chance to put Serbia in the lead was saved. The first half ended with 0–0 on the scoreboard.

In the second half, Serbia won a free kick in the 55th minute because of a foul by David Guzmán. Serbia's captain Aleksandar Kolarov scored from the free kick in the top right corner, which proved to be the winning goal of the match. Nemanja Matić's attempt in the 77th minute to double the lead was blocked. Costa Rica had a few attempts as the match proceeded, but none were converted into a goal. The match ended 1–0 as the Serbian side climbed to the top spot in the group.

The defending champions Germany took on Mexico in the first game of Group F in Moscow. Germany had greater ball possession in the match. Héctor Herrera's 10th minute attempt from outside the goal was blocked by Manuel Neuer. Both sides had multiple attempts for opening the scoring. In the 35th minute, Hirving Lozano scored a goal from a right-footed shot, from Chicharito's assist, putting the Mexicans in the lead. The first half ended with Mexico leading 1–0.

In the second half, multiple attempts by Joshua Kimmich, Julian Draxler, Toni Kroos, and Timo Werner went wide or were blocked. Though with the greater all possession, Germany lost 1–0 to Mexico.

This was the fifth World Cup tournament for Rafael Márquez; only two other players have played five. In the last six World Cup tournaments, Mexico has never lost their first game, winning five of those. It was the first defeat for Germany since losing to France in the UEFA Euro 2016's semi-finals.

In the last match on the day, Brazil faced Switzerland at Rostov-on-Don. Brazil had greater ball possession and more attempts. In the 11th minute, Paulinho missed just in front of the goal to put Brazil in the lead. However, Brazil got a 1–0 lead in the 20th minute when Philippe Coutinho scored from outside the box. Switzerland's Stephan Lichtsteiner was the only one to be booked in the first half as it ended 1–0 with Brazil leading.

Two minutes into the second half, Casemiro was shown the yellow card for a bad foul. Switzerland won a corner in the 50th minute. Steven Zuber scored a header from Xherdan Shaqiri and equalised for the Swiss side. Multiple attempts by Neymar, Thiago Silva, Casemiro, and Coutinho came through, but none succeeded. The match ended 1–1 as both countries won one point.

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