World Cup 2018: 5 best goals from the first round of games
The greatest World Cup footballing extravaganza is up and running, providing some stunning results already for the fans to cherish. For the neutrals, this has to be the most entertaining first round in a very long time.
Spain, Brazil, Argentina, Portugal, Germany - Many touted them as the favorites to lift the trophy, but not one of these teams managed to amass three points in their opening encounter.
Maybe this is the season for the underdogs to have their say. Belgium crushed Panama 3-0 whilst some other highly rated sides like Croatia and Senegal are off to a decent start.
From Mexico's highly spirited performance against the defending champions to Iceland's heroic World Cup debut, a lot of amazing things have happened already, which just makes the tournament a lot more intriguing.
Another crucial facet to take note of is the quality of finishing. Whilst a few players have made the fans raise their eyebrows with some spectacular strikes, some of them made their fans react the same way for the wrong reasons.
Talking off some big misses, not many would be forgetting Lionel Messi's penalty miss against Iceland. Nevertheless, let's keep all the forgettable moments aside and relive some stupendous action that kept us on the edge of our seats.
The game between Senegal and Poland brought an end to an enthralling first round. Here are the five best strikes from these fixtures, which will be remembered for a long time to come.
#5 Aleksandar Kolarov (Serbia) vs Costa Rica
Talk about spotting the top right corner with surgical precision, you won't see many better examples than this amazing free-kick converted by Serbian skipper Aleksandar Kolarov.
The former Manchester City and current AS Roma defender, Kolarov has a particular proclivity to pull off some stunning goals. If one has to rank all of those amazing strikes, this has to be right up there in the top 3.
Costa Rica entered the game as the favorites to win it going by how well they performed in the previous edition. They were far away from pulling off something similar and fluffed some presentable chances as well.
Serbia earned a free-kick just 10 minutes into the second half. Although the angle was brilliant for any left-footed striker, he still had to hit the target. Kolarov hit the bullseye and the ball went past a diving Keylor Navas who had no chance to get a hand on it.
Talk about captains leading from the front, this was a very special moment for Kolarov and his goal earned Serbia three invaluable points. They still have some tough games against Brazil and Switzerland coming up, but that goal must have lifted their spirits big time.