Kroos saves Germany with last-gasp winner

A stunning last-gasp strike from Toni Kroos kept Germany's World Cup fate in their own hands after a dramatic 2-1 success over Sweden in Sochi.

The world champions, down to ten men following Jerome Boateng's red card, looked as if they would need help to stay in the competition until Kroos curled home a beautiful free kick to break Swedish hearts.

Germany had been 24 on Betfair to retain the trophy just before Kroos came up trumps and the impact of his goal was obvious as Joachim Low's men's odds tumbled down to 8.6 on the exchange.

They still need to beat South Korea to secure a last-16 spot, but Germany are 15-2 with Hills to win the World Cup and 1-8 with the same firm to qualify for the knockout stage.

Finishing second in Group F is likely to mean a date with Brazil so there looks to be mileage in topping the section with Germany 7-2 to hit the summit with Mexico 3-10 favourites with Paddy Power.

Mexico are 1-6 to qualify and their final opponents Sweden are 2-1. South Korea can be backed at 35-1.

It will surely be difficult for Sweden to pick themselves up after blowing a golden chance to put Germany out.

They led 1-0 at the break thanks to Ola Toivonen's delicate flick and were still in an excellent position despite Marco Reus levelling matters early in the second half, particularly when Boateng was sent off but Kroos changed everything in the fifth minute of injury time.

The Germany win saw bookmakers report huge losses on the day with all three favourites - Belgium and Mexico also justified their odds-on status in matches where both teams scored.

Bet365's Steve Freeth said: "We are still adding it all up but we estimate we have been hit for eight figures. It had been going great for us this World Cup but everything landed with all the favourites winning, both teams scoring and over 2.5 goals plus the Germany money in-play too."

William Hill's Joe Crilly added: "We were looking at a £2.5m win from the Germany game but it ended up in a £1.3m loss."