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Two World Cup semifinalists play a match in front of nobody, while Salah scores golazo, then gets hurt

England and Croatia played behind closed doors. But why? (Getty)
England and Croatia played behind closed doors. But why? (Getty)

Nobody scored in England’s international match against Croatia on Friday.

That’s OK, because nobody was there to see it.

Because a swastika was marked on Croatia’s pitch before a Euro 2016 qualifier nearly three years ago, FIFA punished the federation by telling it the next two home international games would have to be played behind closed doors.

If that seems like a long time for the punishment to play out, well, it’s because Croatia hasn’t had any international home matches since the first sanctioned match was played vs. Bulgaria in 2015.

Rather remarkable. So are the images from Friday’s scoreless draw. See some more for yourself (all via Getty):

After the game, the England players spoke about the atmosphere against the 2018 World Cup runners-up.

“It was strange,” said midfielder Eric Dier. “It was the first experience of it for all of us, a strange atmosphere. But once the game started we put it in the back of our minds. And we heard the supporters up on the hill, because they were the only ones.”

Salah scores directly from corner kick, then gets hurt

Late in the first half, Liverpool star Mohamed Salah swooped in a left-footed corner kick and scored Egypt’s fourth and final goal of its 4-1 win over Swaziland in African Cup of Nations qualifying.

Did he mean to do it? We wouldn’t put it past him, but you tell us:

Unfortunately for Salah, he had to be subbed off late with an apparent muscle injury. Fortunately for Salah and fans of both Liverpool and Egypt, it doesn’t appear to be serious.

Star-laden Brazil pushes past Saudi Arabia

Late goals in both the first and second halves from Gabriel Jesus and Alex Sandro helped Brazil beat Saudi Arabia 2-0.

The Brazilians, who fielded a largely first-choice squad including Jesus, Neymar, Philippe Coutinho and Casemiro, found resistance from the host nation in sweltering Riyadh but still managed to win.

Joey Gulino is the editor of FC Yahoo and moonlights as a writer. Follow him on Twitter at @JGulinoYahoo.