Match Day 3 virtually was a pre-quarterfinal stage for many of the teams. Some of the them like Uruguay, Russia, France, Croatia, Belgium and England had already qualified for the knock-out stages after having won both of their first 2 matches. But for others the fight for survival was still on. Teams with large following like Argentina and Germany were still on the brink of an early exit.
The last 4 days of the competition generated quite a few surprises. And its time to take a stock of those before we start the Quarter Finals from tomorrow.
Group A: With Egypt and Saudi Arabia already eliminated it was left to Uruguay and Russia to sort out who would be taking first position. Russia being the hosts and considering the overwhelmingly aggressive football they had so far played in the tournament were considered favorites to win.
Uruguay displayed that they are not to be written off considering the strikers they have in Cavani and Suarez. But the manner in which they thrashed Russia was quite surprising.
Group B: In this group Morocco’s elimination was confirmed while both Spain and Portugal were evenly placed to qualify. But there was still an outside chance for Iran to play the spoilsport and ruining either of their chances.
Against Iran Portugal took the lead with a beautiful out-step from Quaresma, Iran was still pressing hard. Morocco had taken a lead against Spain. And in the meantime, Ronaldo had also missed a penalty leaving Iran with still the chance to qualify if Spain lost and they could equalize or better win. However, Spain was saved by VAR; a late extra time goal which was first disallowed by the linesman but overruled by VAR. The decision seemed contentious considering the player partially offside but Spain was rewarded the benefit of doubt.
Thus even though Iran equalized late they couldn’t progress as Spain drew Morocco. No upsets.
Group C: Here France had already qualified and Peru were already eliminated. So the fight was left between Denmark and Australia. There was a remote chance for Australia to advance if Denmark lost to France and Australia could beat Peru by a handsome margin.
But again there no surprises here. Denmark drew France and Peru beat Australia comfortably; Denmark advanced along with France.
Group D: This was clearly the group of Death. Croatia had qualified but the dagger hang on the heads of Argentina. Argentina could face an early elimination and Nigeria looked most favorable to grab the second spot; they just needed a draw. There was a glimmer of hope if Croatia could beat or at least drew Iceland while Argentina could beat Nigeria.
Argentina had so far had a disappointing tournament having been held by Iceland and lost miserably to Croatia; a loss which even dealt severe blow to the goal difference equation. Messi did nothing to dazzle and even missed a crucial penalty against Iceland. There were rumors of differences between players and coach Sampaoli. And news floated that coach’s power was curbed and the players themselves were doing the team selection. Overall the situation was quite messed up.
For Messi this seemed to be last chance for a redemption. His last goal in the world cup was against Nigeria in 2014 and he has been goalless since. Messi obliged. He opened the scoring against Nigeria and even though Nigeria equalized, a last minute strike from Rojo sunk their hopes. On the other side Croatia beat Iceland thus keeping Argentina’s hopes of getting a third crown alive.
Group E: In this group Coasta Rica was already eliminated. Brazil and Switzerland were well positioned to qualify. Serbia only had a chance if they could beat Brazil. But that was not to be. Brazil was too good for Serbia. On the other hand while no one gave Costa Rica a chance, they came back strongly by clinching a respectable draw against Switzerland.
Group F: This was the group where mishap was waiting to happen; a least expected at that. In this group Mexico was well positioned to qualify and by the team game they had displayed in the first two matches, specially beating Germany, they were the favorites against Sweden. Germany was expected to beat South Korea, thus leaving out the winner of Mexico-Sweden to occupy the other slot from the group.
But South Korea was no mood to comply. I was watching the Mexico – Sweden match and Sweden kept on pumping one goal after the other. South Korea was on the other hand was holding Germany to a goalless draw. Camera tracked the Mexico supporters as they tracked the score of the other match on their mobile phones. There was no chance for Mexico to equalize and if Germany won they were to be thrown out.
And then unthinkable happened. South Korea scored against Germany in the extra time and the Mexico supporters erupted in joy. As the Mexico match ended I switched my channel to the other match and was quite baffled that there were 10 minutes for extra time added; as if a last ditch attempt to make Germany win. While still down 0-1 the German goal-keeper Neuer tried to do something novel, left his post and was masquerading as a forward in the Korean half. Unfortunately, he was smartly dis-possessed and the second goal scored by Koreans. This ended the complete humiliation of the defending champions and their exit from world cup.
I later saw a video which shows Mexicans coaxing the South Korean ambassador out of his office and requesting him to share a drink with them; the ambassador happily obliged. A great sign of the penetration FIFA World Cup has beyond just football.
Group G: This was again a straightforward group with both England and Belgium having qualified by virtue of their wins in the first two matches. The fight was just for group supremacy in which Belgium group.
Group H: This group was quite open with Japan, Senegal and Colombia all having equal chances of qualifying. Colombia made their equation clear by winning against Senegal. But Japan complicated their chances by losing to Poland. A peculiar situation aroused wherein Japan and Senegal were tied on all factors; points, goal difference, goals scored and head-to-head. Japan moved to next round by virtue of fair play criteria having been at the receiving end of lesser number of cards than Senegal; the first team to do so in World Cup history.
Thus ended the group stages of FIFA World Cup 2018. The most notable teams to miss out on the knock-out stages are Germany and Poland.
Tomorrow onwards the knock-out stages start. Because of some odd FIFA ranking Uruguay, Portugal, France, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and Belgium are all draw into the same half. That would mean only one of these teams would be see in the final in Moscow.
The other half of the draw includes notably Spain, Russia, Croatia, Sweden, Switzerland, England and Colombia. Which means the odds are very much in favor of a first time winner in this world cup; if not Spain or England.
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