The Latest: Geiger to referee England-Colombia at World Cup
By Associated Press
Jul 1, 2018 8:23 AM CDT
Spain's Andres Iniesta lies on the ground during the group B match between Spain and Morocco at the 2018 soccer World Cup at the Kaliningrad Stadium in Kaliningrad, Russia, Monday, June 25, 2018. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)   (Associated Press)

MOSCOW (AP) — The Latest on Sunday at the World Cup (all times local):

4:20 p.m.

Mark Geiger has been assigned to referee Tuesday's World Cup round of 16 match between England and Colombia, four years after he became the first American to officiate in the knockout stage of soccer's showcase.

This will be the sixth World Cup match for the 43-year-old former math teacher from Beachwood, New Jersey, and the third at this tournament. He refereed Portugal's 1-0 win over Morocco and Germany's 2-0 loss to South Korea, which eliminated the defending champions.

Four years ago in Brazil, Geiger worked Chile's 2-0 win over Spain and Colombia's 3-0 victory against Greece in the group stage, and France's 2-0 win over Nigeria in the round of 16.

The U.S. is the only nation with two referees at the World Cup. Jair Murrufo officiated Belgium's 5-2 victory over Tunisia.

___

4 p.m.

Spain is starting without Andres Iniesta against Russia in the last 16 of the World Cup.

Coach Fernando Hierro makes three changes from the lineup which drew 2-2 with Morocco in the last game of the group stage, bringing in Nacho Fernandez, Jorge "Koke" Resurreccion and Marco Asensio.

Up front in a 4-2-3-1 formation, Diego Costa is likely to try to open up space in Russia's five-man defensive line for David Silva and Isco to threaten the goal.

Spain lineup: David de Gea, Nacho, Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets, Koke, Marco Asensio, Sergio Ramos, Jordi Alba, Diego Costa, David Silva, Isco.

___

3:50 p.m.

Russia is set to switch to five at the back for its World Cup round of 16 game against Spain on Sunday.

Fyodor Kudryashov will join Sergei Ignashevich and Ilya Kutepov in the center of defense, with Mario Fernandes and Yuri Zhirkov on the flanks. Russia used a four-man back line in its three group games. In midfield Daler Kuzyaev, who came on as a substitute in all three group games, gets his first World Cup start in place of the dropped Yuri Gazinsky.

The winger Denis Cheryshev, who was raised in Spain, is on the bench despite having scored three goals so far, while backup right-back Igor Smolnikov is suspended after being red carded in Monday's 3-0 group-stage loss to Uruguay.

Russia is playing its first World Cup knockout game in the post-Soviet era. The winner will play either Croatia or Denmark in Sochi on July 7.

Russia lineup: Igor Akinfeev, Mario Fernandes, Ilya Kutepov, Sergei Ignashevich, Fyodor Kudryashov, Yuri Zhirkov, Roman Zobnin, Alexander Golovin, Daler Kuzyaev, Alexander Samedov, Artyom Dzyuba.

See 2 more photos