Matchday Three in Groups E-H

Brazil went into their match against Serbia knowing that a draw would suffice, but were without a couple of key players through injury. Serbia needed the win to qualify, and went out attacking straight away. Brazil opened the scoring with a deft rich from Paulinho after a fantastic through ball from Coutinho. Serbia continued to look a threat from set pieces, but it would be the South Americans who would score from one, with Thiago Silva powering a header past the goalkeeper to seal Serbia’s fate. Switzerland took on already eliminated Costa Rica in the other match in Group E, and took the lead through Blerim Dzemaili. Costa Rica have looked a shadow of their former self, but did manage to score their first goal of the tournament through Kendall Waston. The Swiss retook the lead through substitute Josip Drmic, but Joel Campbell earned the Costa Rican’s a late penalty, which Bryan Ruiz dispatched courtesy of Yann Sommer’s back. A truly bizarre goal, and an entertaining 2-2 draw, which gets Switzerland through in second place in the group. Costa Rica have woken up as the tournament has progressed, with some sparks of excellence from players like Ruiz all game long. After their huge success in Brazil in 2014, their opening fixture defeats came as quite the disappointment. Luckily, they came together to salvage some pride, and gave the world a glimpse of the talent and teamwork that graces their roster. They should be proud. Contrastingly, Serbia seem to have slowed down as the tournament has gone on. After an opening match win, and a stellar first half against Switzerland in Game Two, something just stopped clicking. The normally exemplary Nemanja Matic and Sergei Milinkovic-Savic just couldn’t connect passes, and Aleksandar Mitrovic’s goals dried up. A bright spark was probably Vladimir Stojkovic in goal, but not even he could stop Brazil and Switzerland’s firepower, and the result comes as a disappointing end for the Balkan side. As said, Brazil go through as group winners, and will maintain their status as favorites for success in Russia. Their backline continues to look strong, despite Marcelo going off injured. They have depth, with players like Fagner, Filipe Luis, and Fernandinho all looking solid when given the opportunity to play, and players like Neymar and Coutinho look dangerous going forward. Perhaps one criticism for both Brazil and Switzerland as they progress in the competition would be that their star players, and their forwards, are absent for long periods of the game. Gabriel Jesus and Haris Seferovic have looked less than impressive, and as dangerous as Neymar and Xherdan Shaqiri have appeared, these threats have come very sporadically. Both teams will look for deep runs in the tournament but will need to keep their heads in the right place, get their key men more involved, and continue to play as a team, to achieve this. 

In Group F, Mexico just needed a point against Sweden to top the group. The Scandinavians, who not only needed a win but also to better the Germany-Korea scoreline, opened the scoring through Ludwig Augustinsson, and doubled their lead from the spot. Mexico had a majority of the possession but simply could do nothing with it, with Robin Olsen looking confident and untroubled all game long. Sweden completed their rout through an own goal; an amazing performance from the Swedes and a night to forget for El Tri. As said, the reigning champions Germany needed a result after losing their opening match to Mexico and only narrowly beating Sweden. South Korea, playing for pride, frustrated Die Mannschaft all game long, and knowing they needed a goal, Germany threw everyone forward, with Korea goalkeeper Jo Hyun Woo making save after save to keep the game close. Young-Gwon Kim scored a goal in stoppage time to stun the champs, and doubled the lead through a breakaway goal from Heung-Min Son. A dagger to the heart for the Germans. Korean fans won’t forget this one for a while, and as always, Korea play very well at the World Cup. The team is always well drilled and works hard for all 90 minutes, and this time around, they might not have reached the knockout stages, but they did achieve a huge win against the reigning world champions. Korea should be proud. Sweden top the group, and Mexico finish second despite their frankly awful performance. Sweden have quickly become a dark horse, playing with passion and grit during every match, and whilst not having many technically gifted players, have utilized teamwork and hustle for all 90 minutes to grind out results that should put fear into any opponent. El Tri, whilst looking fantastic in their opening matches, simply did not turn up against the Swedes, and were punished. They must improve defensively, as well as take more of their chances, in order to break the so called “Game Four Curse”. Germany miss out on the knockout stages for the first time ever, just showing how amazing, unpredictable, and competitive this World Cup has been. Almost nobody would have predicted that Germany would miss out, let alone finish last in the group. Mexico in the opening match, and Sweden and Korea all tournament long, played with so much more passion and desire than the Germans. All over the field, Germany looked a step behind. Offensively, they struggled to convert, in midfield they couldn’t make their passes hit their target, and defensively they were a shambles. It’s almost like Germany were just going through the motions, expecting to advance. They have certainly been brought down a peg or two, and Joachim Loew and his star players will have some real questions to answer after three shocking performances, becoming the fourth champion out of the past five to not make it through the group at the next tournament. This is all truly stunning, and this is the beauty of the game. 

Panama and Tunisia were playing for pride in their Group E fixture. Panama took the lead through an own goal, and held onto the lead until just after half time, when Fakhereedine Ben Youssef equalized. Wahbi Khazri was Tunisia’s best player in Russia, and it was he who hit the winner minutes later to condemn Panama to their third defeat. Both teams bow out of the tournament, but neither should be ashamed of how they performed. In a group with England and Belgium, neither were expected to advance, and both played their hearts out against the big guns. Panamanians will never forget Felipe Baloy’s goal against England, the nation’s first at a World Cup, and the whole team played with grit and passion in each game, winning the hearts of neutral fans worldwide. Tunisia didn’t really have a problem scoring goals, but both they and Panama conceded many. Like Panama, they too played hard all tournament long, and next time, maybe they will be stronger defensively and could cause a bigger problem for their opponents. Congratulations to both nations. England finish second, behind the Belgians, after a 1-0 defeat in their game. Adnan Januzaj, who interestingly could’ve played for England, hit a curling effort past Jordan Pickford in the second half, and the Three Lions seemed content with the defeat, as they allowed players to get runs out and avoided injuries or needless bookings. Between the teams, they made seventeen changes to the starting lineups from Matchday Two, and the game never really took off. Marcus Rashford and Youri Tielemans impressed for England and Belgium respectively, and might just force their way into the starting squad for the last sixteen match for their team. Both will be expected to reach the latter stages of the competition, particularly due to their squad depth and individual talents, and hopefully we can see one of these teams, who have been absent from semi finals and finals in recent time, reach the late stages and maybe even leave Russia with silverware.

In Group H, Poland looked to ruin someone’s day with all three other teams still able to advance. The Poles took on Japan, who topped the group before kickoff. Japan made numerous changes, but still looked very threatening, almost scoring numerous times in the first half, which were thwarted by Lukasz Fabianski. Poland took the lead through Jan Bednarek in the second half, and Japan would slip to second place in the group unless they could find an equalizer. Despite pressing, Poland would get the win, appeasing fans a little after have an abysmal tournament as a whole. Colombia and Senegal faced off, with the South Americans knowing only a win would do. Yerry Mina scored a towering header, his second of the tournament, to give Colombia the lead, and Senegal just could not find an equalizer. Colombia goalkeeper David Ospina has had a fantastic tournament, and broke Senegalese hearts with some fantastic saves. Colombia top the group, and Japan finish in second, facing England and Belgium respectively. Both sides look very strong, and could threaten their knockout round opponents for very different reasons. The South American’s have flair all over the field, and often utilize playmaker James Rodriguez to create chances for other influential players. Rodriguez actually went off injured against Senegal, so we will see how this affects the team going forward. The Colombia-England match is one of the more intriguing games, with two quality teams with very different strategies facing each other. For Japan, hard work is the key to success, and the Samurai Blue will run any opponent into the ground, which will certainly be needed when playing a team like Belgium. Despite making several changes against Poland, Japan looked threatening against this strong team despite missing key players like Shinji Kagawa and Keisuke Honda. Don’t rule out the Japanese making a deep run into the tournament, particularly if they can squeeze past the Red Devils who go in as huge favorites. Commiserations for both Senegal and Poland. The African side misses out on a spot in the knockout round through FIFA FairPlay points, meaning that discipline was the only reason they didn’t make it. Senegal and their fans lit up this tournament, and it will be sad to see them go. Coach Aliou Cisse and his squad should be proud of all they have achieved in Russia. They really made their country, and the whole continent of Africa, proud. There will certainly be more Senegal fans at the next World Cup should they make it. Poland finish with points after losing their first two matches, and it’s definitely possible to say that those who featured against Japan should have played more in the other matches. Kamil Glik and Fabianski were rocks at the back, and Rafal Kurzawa was a threat on the wing. Poland’s main downfall was that they struggled going forward, and couldn’t score enough goals. Robert Lewandowski was a real disappointment at the tournament, just unable to find a way to be effective in each match. It is possible to say that he was starved of service, but good forwards all find a way, any way, to be effective in dire times. Lewandowski will bounce back as he is a real talent, but it is a shame that he and Poland didn’t perform as well as we know they can in Russia this time around.

The knockout stage is upon us, and sixteen teams will be moving on in the competition. The other sixteen will be watching the remainder of the tournament from home, but none should be too disappointed in how they performed. Every team scored at least one goal, and pretty much every player gave their all for their nation. Sadly, not all teams can advance, but everyone who has been eliminated can leave Russia with their heads held high. Thank you for making the group stage truly special. This will be an unforgettable tournament to say the least. Bring one the knockout round!