England vs Nigeria
N'Golo Kanté is a fairly prolific midfielder in DWC-land, compared to real life, and it was his 25-yard thunderbolt that blasted England into a 28th-minute lead here. However, Nigeria stayed disciplined and avoided conceding any more in the first half.
This continued in the second half, but England finally added a second 12 minutes from time when Trent Alexander-Arnold crossed for Sergio Aguero to poke home. And that finally did open the floodgates, as Virgil Van Dijk's header and a powerful shot from Andy Robertson rounded off a strong start for England.
Final score: England 4-0 Nigeria
Player of the match: Andy Robertson
It took under two minutes for Eden Hazard to fire Spain ahead, but Saudi Arabia soon levelled as Maicon headed in Sebastian Giovinco's free kick. And parity was maintained until the interval.
Spain once again took the lead early in the half, as Hazard beat Marcelo Grohe with a shot at the near post in the 50th minute. And this time they were able to add to their lead as José Gaya scored with a sensational volley from outside the box. And the left back made it a quickfire double after a mazy dribble and powerful shot into the bottom corner. That left both him and Hazard on hat tricks, and it was the Belgian who got the match ball when he tapped in Lionel Messi's low cross late on.
Final score: Saudi Arabia 1-5 Spain
Player of the match: Eden Hazard
Defeat effectively spelled elimination for the loser. It was Saudi Arabia who started on the front foot, and deservedly took the lead. Again it came from a Giovinco free kick, flicked on by Bafétimbi Gomis and volleyed home by Maicon for his second of the tournament. Nigeria came back, and Dennis Aogo nearly equalised with a good shot from range, but Grohe pushed it over.
Saudi Arabia nearly started the second half with a bang, as Karim El Ahmadi connected brilliantly with a Giovinco corner, but Sunday Rotimi spectacularly pushed it over the bar. Saudi Arabia controlled the second half, and nearly grabbed a late second when Gomis hit a shot against the post. However, they held on for victory, which is all that matters.
Final score: Nigeria 0-1 Saudi Arabia
Player of the match: Bafétimbi Gomis
In symmetry with the other game, this match sees the two favourites effectively playing for qualification. Gaya nearly added to his collection of goals after a neat passing move from Spain, but Alisson produced a fine block. Sadio Mané had England's first good chance, but he fired narrowly wide.
Early in the second half Kanté lined up another long-range effort, but it was deflected. Unfortunately for Spain it was straight into the path of Mo Salah, but he could only shoot straight at Jan Oblak. England kept up the pressure and Aguero got through one-on-one, but Gerard Piqué produced a stunning block tackle from nowhere. And Spain's resilience paid dividents when Koke beat Alisson with a brilliant first-time shot from 25 yards in the 82nd minute. It proved to be the winner, and that confirms Spain's qualification to the semi finals.
Final score: Spain 1-0 England
Player of the match: Sergio Busquets
Nigeria vs Spain
Can Nigeria end with win, a point... or even a goal? Well, it didn't start well as Hazard headed in his fourth goal of the tournament from Luka Modric's 9th-minute corner. Whilst the scoreline didn't get worse during the first half, a Nigerian goal continued to look unlikely.
Sergi Roberto put daylight between the teams as he arrowed in a fine low shot from a tough angle in the 53rd minute, and two minutes later Hazard slammed in Spain's third. This was the way the match remained until full time, a disappointing tournament for Nigeria who had the talent to do some damage.
Final score: Nigeria 0-3 Spain
Player of the match: Eden Hazard
England would have wanted an early goal to alleviate any nerves, and just 90 seconds in Robertson's low cross found Liverpool teammate Salah to slide England ahead. A very one-sided half ended with Salah doubling his and his side's tally with a simple header from Kevin De Bruyne's cross.
The second half saw England ramp up their domination of the game, and whilst they couldn't add to their lead there was no chance of Saudi Arabia staging a comeback, and the Nations Cup winners progress with little worries.
Final score: England 2-0 Saudi Arabia
Player of the match: Mo Salah
Next time out we're going to cover the rest of the tournament - the semis and the final. Four teams inside the world's top 7 battling it out for the newest trophy available, what's not to love?