World Cup 2018: Top 5 Heart-breaking Late Goals

The FIFA World Cup 2018 has been a thriller; a flurry of late goals and heartbreaks saw to that. Stats show that this World Cup has seen more than 20 goals around the 90-minute mark which can take on the previous three World Cups combined.

While high-pressure drama brought joy for one, more often than not it was a tragedy in the form of elimination for the other team. Let us take a look at the 5 best late goals of the tournament.

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#5 Philippe Coutinho: Brazil vs Costa Rica (91')

Phillipe Coutinho scores for Brazil against Costa Rica

Brazil drew their first match against Switzerland in the group stages of the World Cup meaning that if they were held to a goalless draw against Costa Rica, they would certainly have to depend on the other teams to qualify.

Up to the 90 minute-mark, Costa Rica had been successful in holding up against the tournament favourites Brazil mostly due to their goalkeeper and captain, Keylor Navas.

However, in the first minute of injury time, Firmino crossed the ball across goal and Gabriel Jesus, under challenge, brought the ball down for Philippe Coutinho to come in and take a shot through the legs of Navas and break the deadlock.

Though there was another goal (90'+7') from Neymar to top off this one, that was a result of the counter-attacking opportunity produced from the Costa Rican team trying to get the earlier goal back.

#4 Toni Kroos: Germany vs Sweden (95')

Toni Kroos scores from a free kick for Germany against Sweden

Germany lost their first group stage match to Mexico which made their second game against Sweden a must-win fixture in order to go through to the Round of 16 without depending on other teams.

Sweden took the lead in the first half but Germany equalised early in the second. A nervous Sweden, under pressure from the German attackers, conceded a free kick on the left-edge of the box in the dying minutes of injury time.

Toni Kroos scored from the free kick from an extremely tight angle to keep the defending champions Germany alive in this tournament. It was both the drama and the beauty of the strike that made this goal special.

As it turned out later though, this goal did not hurt Sweden's qualification to the Round of 16.

#3 Mario Mandzukic: Croatia vs England (109')

Mario Mandzukic scores for Croatia against England in the semi-final

Croatia have been the surprise package of this FIFA World Cup making their way to the final for the first time. They went through the group stages comfortably winning everything but they had to go to the penalties twice in Round of 16 and the quarter-finals, emerging victorious in both.

England, on the other hand, had qualified for the semis after a long wait of 28 years and their fans were overly optimistic about the trophy "coming home".

At the end of 90 minutes in their semi-final clash against England, it looked like the Croats were headed for a penalty shootout for the third time in a row. However, Mario Mandzukic had other things in mind as he guided Ivan Perisic's back-header past Jordan Pickford in the second half of extra-time to score the winning goal.

This ensured their qualification and yet another English heartbreak at the World Cups.

#2 Kim Young-gwon: South Korea vs Germany (93')

Kim Young-Gwon scores for South Korea against Germany

Earlier, Germany had staved off elimination after only two matches with a win against Sweden but their joy did not last long as they faced a brave Korea Republic in the final group stage match.

90 minutes did not yield any result for either team as Germany kept pushing for a win that they needed to stay in the tournament. However, this was one of the greatest upsets of all time as Kim Young-gwon scored for Korea, three minutes into injury time.

Young-gwon was in an offside position to start with but as VAR revealed he was played onside when the ball came off the foot of a German defender which he then guided into the net.

There was another goal by Son Heung-min who scored in an open net as Neuer played the role of a struggling midfielder in the Korean half. The second goal ensured the Korean victory but with the limited time, the first goal itself was practically enough to knock out the Germans.

#1 Nacer Chadli: Belgium vs Japan (94')

Nacer Chadli scored the winner for Belgium against Japan

The Japanese team were supposed to be an easy opponent for the strong attackers of Belgium in the Round of 16 clash. But, they sure did prove to be a handful.

Japan had taken a two-goal lead through Haraguchi and Inui in the early minutes of the second half. However, Belgium found a reply and equalised through Jan Vertonghen and Marouane Fellaini.

Japan did not give up still and in the final minutes of injury time went looking for the winning goal from a corner. Japan failed to score from the corner and, in turn, provided the opportunity for Belgium to attack on the counter.

Kevin De Bruyne led the attack which finally led to Nacer Chadli scoring the decider with the last kick of the match ensuring Belgium's qualification to the quarterfinal stage. Japan were eliminated but they earned the respect of all football fans with their brave performance against the mighty Belgians.