Toni Kroos hits a stunning late winner as 10-man Germany beat Sweden 2-1

Kroos thundered in a phenomenal shot at the dying moments of the match helping World Cup holders Germany come back from the brink of elimination with a hard-earned victory against Sweden

1 / 6

Gary Lineker famously said that "Football is a simple game. Twenty-two men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans always win." His words echoed in the Fisht Arena on Saturday night as Toni Kroos rescued Germany from the brink of an unthinkable early World Cup exit with a sensational winner in the fifth minute of stoppage time to seal a 2-1 win over Sweden.

2 / 6

The 10-man reigning champions were in deep trouble when Kroos stepped up to steer in his dramatic winner in the final minute of time added on at Sochi's Fisht Stadium yesterday.

3 / 6

There is still no guarantee that they will avoid the fate of the last two World Cup holders. Spain four years ago and Italy in 2010 were knocked out in the group stage.

4 / 6

Mexico's 2-1 win over South Korea earlier on Saturday had ensured that Germany would be out if defeated. Germany coach Joachim Loew wielded the axe following the shambolic 1-0 loss at the hands of Mexico, the game that started their defence of the trophy, with the much-criticised Mesut Ozil and Sami Khedira dropped while Mats Hummels missed out due to injury.

5 / 6

Sweden should have had an early penalty when Marcus Berg was released on goal and, at the point of shooting, was fouled by Boateng.

6 / 6

Low sent on Mario Gomez in place of Julian Draxler at half-time, and it took just three minutes of the second half for Germany to get their equaliser. Timo Werner's low centre from the left was behind Gomez, who got a touch but not enough to put off Reus from bundling it in.