I have been watching the World Cup since 1998 where you had the world class Brazil and France face off against each other in the finals. France were the host nation and they brought the World Cup home with a 3-0 final. Ever since then I have seen Brazil come back with vengeance, then Italy dominate with their defensive style, then Spain introduce everyone to tika-taka, and then Germany with their fluid attack. Each World Cup has had their own story lines and surprises, but this one feels different. Maybe because it is in Russia or maybe because we are in the world of social media so we get instant reaction to every foul call and every goal, but whatever it is this has been one of the best World Cups / sports tournaments ever.
Group A started off with a bang as host nation Russia drop a 5 bomb on Saudi Arabia in the opening game. Egypt looked a shell of themselves without Salah operating at 100%, which Uruguay took advantage of. Uruguay easily topped the group, going unbeaten, and not giving up a goal. Russia won their first 2 games and secured the 2nd seed in the group to advance to the knockout stage.
Group B did not disappoint as well as Cristiano Ronaldo showed off his world class status by scoring a hat trick against Spain to obtain a 3-3 draw for Portugal. Spain and Portugal squeek out wins against Iran and Morocco in the 2nd games and they continued to show up in the last game as Spain and Portugal advance to the knockout stage with another draw. Neither team looked as explosive as the 3-3 draw in their 1st game.
Group C was less exciting with France and a group of 3 defensive nations: Denmark, Peru, and Australia. France easily controlled the group with 2 wins to start and Denmark were also unbeaten with 1 win and 1 draw. France had the 1st seed almost secured and Denmark were satisfied with the 2nd seed, so their final game was a boring 0-0 draw. This was the first scoreless match of the entire tournament.
Group D proved to be dramatic as Argentina started off the tournament with a surprising draw to the pesky Iceland. They literally had the entire nation supporting them as 99.9% of Iceland were watching the ARG-ISL game. Croatia beat Nigeria handily and then handed Argentina their 2nd surprising result with a 3-0 thrashing. Argentina had to pray for Nigeria to beat Iceland and they did their part to keep Argentina's hope alive. They had 1pt after 2 games, but as long as they beat Nigeria, they somewhat controlled their own destiny. Messi gave Argentina an early lead against Nigeria, but then gave up an equalizer penalty in the 2nd half. A draw would have seen Argentina crash out of the World Cup, but then they were saved by a miracle volley off a cross by Rojo. It felt like finally someone stepped up to help out Messi. Croatia also stepped up by beating Iceland to finish with a perfect 9pt and allowing Argentina to advance with only 4pt.
Group E was Brazil's to lose with Switzerland following them as the 2nd best in the group. There were no surprises in this group as Brazil and Switzerland drew their game, but then Brazil took control by beating a tough Serbia and Costa Rica group. Brazil finished with 7pt and Switzerland followed them with 5pt comfortably advancing.
Group F looked strong but no one would have called it the group of death. The first match was just a precursor to all the craziness that was about to happen. Mexico displayed a masterclass defense and counterattack beating Germany 1-0. Mexico followed that up with a strong win 2-1 against Korea. Germany had to bounce back against Sweden, who beat Korea 1-0 in their first match. Sweden held strong, holding Germany to a 1-1 draw until a miracle winning free kick at the 94th minute to save their tournament. Going into the 3rd matches of the groups, all teams technically had a chance to advance to the knockout stage. Korea has proven to be a tough opponent who are organized and Germany found that out first hand as they could not find the back of the net. The game looked like it was going to be a draw but Korea were gifted 2 late goals to give them a chance at advancing. The defending champions Germany were officially eliminated! The other match saw Sweden blast Mexico 3-0 to steal 1st seed and drop Mexico to the 2nd seed.
Group G saw Belgium dominate in their first 2 games against Tunisia and Panama as they scored 8 goals. England also scored 8 goals in their first 2 games, but it wasn't as easy as they needed a stoppage time winner by captain Harry Kane to squeak by Tunisia in the first game 2-1 before smashing Panama 6-1. Going into the 3rd and last match of the group, the majority of the knockout stage bracket was already known, so when Belgium and England faced off against each other, some would say that a loss would be more beneficial as you would fall onto the side of the bracket with Russia, Denmark, Sweden, and Switzerland while avoiding Uruguay, France, Brazil, and Argentina. Both teams field a B-side full of subs as neither team wanted to risk injury or suspension and in the end, Belgium won the "meaningless" game 1-0.
Group H was one of the strangest groups and results in the history of the world cup. It started with a 5th minute red card on Columbia for hand ball in the box, Japan scored the penalty and took control of the game. They let in an equalizer but then scored the go ahead goal to win the game 2-1. Senegal came out running around Poland and they won their game 2-1 as well. Columbia and Poland were supposedly the favourites to advance from this group, so their next match up would be key. Japan and Senegal played an entertaining match to draw 2-2. In somewhat of a surprise, Columbia on the back of James Rodriguez blew Poland out of the tournament with a 3-0 thrashing. In the last set of matches, Columbia experienced a setback as James went off injured early in the 1st half, so they tightened up and played a more defensive game. They eventually took a 1-0 lead against Senegal. In the other match, Poland were looking to not be embarrassed and wanted to get at least 1 win in this world cup, which showed in their free flowing play and eventual goal. Japan pressed to get the equalizer, but when they found out that Senegal was also losing 1-0 and that they would advance based on FIFA Fair Play Points, they tightened up and played for the 0-1 loss. It was a strange sight to see as the losing team was time wasting and the winning team wasn't really looking to press to get the ball back as they had their goal and their win. Both games ended 1-0 and Japan and Senegal tied in points, total goal differential, and total goals scored, which is why FIFA Fair Play Points came into play. Japan had 4 yellow cards to Senegal's 6 yellow cards, so Japan advanced.
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