The final elimination games of the group stage of the World Cup were played Thursday, with Senegal becoming the first team in the tournament's history to be eliminated on a fair play tiebreaker, SB Nation reports. The games ended with Poland beating Japan 1-0 and Colombia besting Senegal by the same score, leaving Senegal and Japan tied on total points. The next several tiebreakers were also even — the teams finished with the same goal differential, goals scored, and head-to-head — meaning that the advancing team was decided for the first time ever by the fair play rule, with Japan moving on because it tallied only four yellow cards to Senegal's six.
The final group games are Thursday afternoon, and the Round of 16 begins Saturday with elimination games between France and Argentina and Uruguay and Portugal.