Argentina edge Japan in Nantes thriller to reach last 8

A clinical hat-trick from winger Mateo Carreras helped hoist Argentina into the World Cup quarter-finals with a 39-27 victory over Japan in a winner-takes-all Pool D shootout at Stade de la Beaujoire on Sunday.

Argentina’s Santiago Chocobares scored a try after 67 seconds but that served only as an appetiser for a thrilling contest between two well-matched teams playing for the right to take on Wales in the last eight in Marseille next Saturday.