Algeria through at Russia's expense

Algeria are through to the FIFA World Cup knockout phase for the first time following a 1-1 draw with Russia.

The African outfit headed into their final Group H fixture knowing a point would suffice to take them through along with Belgium. They fell behind to Aleksandr Kokorin's early effort but restored parity courtesy of Sporting Clube de Portugal forward Islam Slimani's 60th-minute goal and will now face three-time global champions Germany in the last 16 on Monday.

Fabio Capello's England drew 0-0 with Algeria in the group stage of the 2010 World Cup, but his current side took just six minutes to break the deadlock in Curitiba. Dmitri Kombarov's cross from the left picked out Kokorin perfectly and the FC Dinamo Moskva striker's firm header nestled neatly in the top corner.

Though Oleg Shatov's dipping effort was a whisker away from doing likewise on 26 minutes, Algeria went closest to adding to the first-half tally when Slimani's header was acrobatically turned behind by Igor Akinfeev.

However, the Russia goalkeeper failed to make contact with Yacine Brahimi's free-kick just after the hour and Slimani nodded into the unguarded net. Aleksandr Kerzhakov subsequently forced Raïs M'Bolhi into a smart stop, but the 2018 hosts rarely threatened to get the winner they required.