Japan draw 1-1 with Sweden at World Cup to finish second in Group F

Goals from Daizen Maeda and Anthony Elanga were enough to see both teams through to the Round of 32.Sweden salvaged a 1-1 draw with Japan as both sides confirmed their progress to the World Cup knockout rounds after Anthony Elanga curled in a 62nd-minute equaliser to earn his side a share of the points in Group F.Elanga struck six minutes after Daizen Maeda had finished off a team move of the highest quality for Japan, who finish second in the group with five points to set up a last 32 clash with five-time world champions Brazil.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Vinicius nets twice and Neymar returns as Brazil ease by Scotlandlist 2 of 4Morocco come back after historic Haiti goals to reach World Cup last 32list 3 of 4‘Incredibly proud moment’: South Africa fans hail historic World Cup runlist 4 of 4World Cup knockouts: Who has made it to the round of 32 stage?end of listThe Swedes remain third with four points, and that will be enough to secure one of the eight slots available in the next phase for the best third-placed teams across the 12 groups.The points were shared after a tepid first half that only showed signs of life moments before the interval on Thursday.Keito Nakamura went closest to opening the scoring, the Japan winger hitting a low first-time strike from Maeda’s layoff that forced Jacob Widell Zetterstrom into a full-stretch save to push the ball around his left post.Viktor Gyokeres then found space at the other end to drive towards goal, with a deflection from Shogo Taniguchi looping the resulting shot well wide of the target.The Japanese came out for the second half with intent, with Ao Tanaka’s wayward strike underlining that Hajime Moriyasu’s side would not be content to sit back and take a point.The dynamism of their play was rewarded when Maeda applied the finishing touch to an exquisite team goal instigated by Ritsu Doan.The winger received a return pass from Ayase Ueda as he cut in from the right and slid the ball into the space between the Swedish centre-backs for the unmarked Maeda to stroke his shot home.