World Cup 2022 thread

[Trollheart]

Day 13

Group G

Cameroon v Brazil (Result: 0-1; Cameroon go out)

Nobody had ever expected Brazil to have any trouble progressing, nor had they, while for Cameroon it was all or nothing - only a win would allow them to go further. Against a rampant Brazil, who never like to lose, even when it doesn’t mean anything, not the idea situation for the Africans. Unsurprisingly, all the play went the Brazilians’ way, Cameroon finding it hard to even get the ball in the first half, though they did manage to keep Brazil out, which was an achievement in itself. They even had a good shot in the last minutes of the first half but the keeper hacked it away.

Cameroon played much better in the second half, a few decent chances as Brazil seemed to take their hand off the throttle and ease back, though they came back into it from the 56th on, the keeper even spilling a shot but no goal for Brazil. Cameroon continued to threaten down their half, Brazil’s keeper quite busy, and with only one goal needed they eventually scored when it looked like they were going out. Brazil almost spoiled the party literally in the last minute but the ball bounced high and over the top, and Cameroon held on for a historic win. They were in touching distance now of the round of sixteen, but it all depended on the result of the other match in the group.

And here it is.

Serbia v Switzerland (Result:2-3; Switzerland go through )

Cameroon’s fate lay in the hands of both these teams. If Switzerland won, they would go through instead of Cameroon, but if Serbia won by at least two goals, they would be the ones to go through. A lot of other permutations, but I can’t be bothered. Look it up if you want. Basically, after their last-gasp win, Cameroon could still find themselves going home, depending on how this game ended. Three shots for the Swiss missed (sorry) but I can’t tell you at what time because yadda yadda yadda you know what I’m going to say. Serbia had a corner but didn’t score either. At this point, Cameroon must have been hoping it would keep going like this; a nil-nil draw would certainly send them through. But someone was bound to score, and it was Switzerland, no doubt prompting groans from the Cameroon team.

Then Serbia netted, and a draw, again, would have given Cameroon hope. Such a result would not help either of the teams playing though, and neither were likely to settle for that. It was Serbia who sent Cameroon hearts fluttering, scoring a second and now edging closer to qualification for the next round. Switzerland levelled it just before half-time, which would have made the Cameroon ECG calm down again for a while. Second half saw Switzerland take the lead, with little chance for the Africans now unless Serbia scored again, and the Swiss did not. A free for Switzerland almost saw them snuff out both Serbia and Cameroon’s hopes, but it went just wide, then in added time Serbia nearly did it, but the Swiss held on to go through, and break Cameroon hearts. And Serbian ones too.

Group H

Korea Republic v Portugal (Result: 2-1; Korea go through )

With Portugal already qualified, Korea needed a win to have any chance of getting through at all, and even then, that might not be enough, as they would need to depend on the other result in their group as Ghana took on Uruguay. Facing the mercurial Ronaldo was probably not a great factor for the Koreans, nor was the fact that again we have no times on screen, but at any rate Portugal scored in the first five minutes, I’m reliably informed. Not a good start for Korea, and surely made their job, if not impossible, much more improbable than it had seemed at the start. Portugal in fact had a record of their own to reach; they wanted to be the first team to win all matches in their group, and they weren’t about to take their foot off the gas here. Korea managed to get one back, but it was flagged offside,

A long free kick ended up as a corner for them and this time it was in, though this would not be enough for them to qualify as they had to win. Only the 27th minute, the announcer said, so time yet to capitalise on that one goal, that depending of course on Portugal not scoring again, which they seemed likely to do, never letting up on the pressure. Korea hung on though right to the death, however they had not added to their tally. Six minutes of extra time saw them finally achieve what might be the impossible and score in the dying minutes with a lovely breakaway after a Portuguese corner went nowhere. And that was it. Korea beat Portugal. Now they just had to see how the other game went; they’d done all they could do and it was out of their hands.

Ghana v Uruguay (Result:0-2; Both go out )

Ghana had to lose for Korea to go through, even a draw would be enough for the Africans to make it to the next stages. Uruguay needed a staggering three goals to make it, so this would be a real scrap, and Korea would be watching anxiously. In the 16th minute Ghana player sent sprawling in the box, a penalty resulting. Saved though, a bad penalty and Ghana must have thought luck was against them. Especially when they lost possession in the box in the 22nd and only just cut out the Uruguay shot, which was goal-bound. After such a scare though it wasn’t long, another three minutes, before the South Americans were netting their first goal in the tournament, followed quickly on 31 minutes by their second, a real class goal. Ghana’s heads surely dipping now.

Uruguay looked like they would get a penalty then in the second half, but the ref said no, even though it seemed a stonewall to everyone else, but no dice. One more goal was all they needed, so they must have been really annoyed. Into minute 80 and Ghana were surely out and Korea going through, but Uruguay still searching for that elusive and vital third goal. Another penalty shout for Uruguay in added time at the end of the match, and were they going to be cheated again? Seemed they were. Again, no penalty. Four minutes left of the extra time and Uruguay were pushing hard. A free in the dying seconds went straight into the keeper’s arms and it ended in misery for both sides.

Group G
1st: Brazil (6 points)
2nd: Switzerland (6 points)
3rd: Cameroon (4 points)
4th: Serbia (1 point)

Brazil and Switzerland go through; Cameroon and Serbia are out.

Group H
1st: Portugal (6 points)
2nd: Korea Republic (4 points)
3rd: Uruguay (4 points)
4th: Ghana (3 points)

Portugal and Korea go through; Uruguay and Ghana go out.

The Round of Sixteen

All groups finished now, all matches played, here’s how it shapes up for the next stage:

Netherlands v USA

England v Senegal

Argentina v Australia

Japan v Croatia

France v Poland

Morocco v Spain

Portugal v Switzerland

Brazil v Korea Republic

Tomorrow’s matches

Tomorrow sees the first of those matches in the round of sixteen, as four teams bid for a place in the quarter-finals:

Netherlands v USA

Argentina v Australia

I’ll have my Week 2 roundup tomorrow.

[Trollheart]

Trollheart’s 2022 World Cup Roundup: Week Two

The second and final week of the group stages saw things kick into higher gear. Disappointments, triumphs, surprises, giant-killings; the easy stride into the next round of those who were expected to progress, the often surprising qualification of those who had not, and the uncertainty as poor initial performances told against teams, and goal difference began to look critical. Those who had stamped their authority on the tournament from the first continued to move forward, while those who had fallen behind had to quite literally up their game. This was the last chance, and failure here meant a short and subdued trip to the airport and a long and morose plane trip home. Over this week, titans would fall, Davids would topple Goliaths, and two teams would wait anxiously till the very last whistle to see if their slim hopes of progressing were to be realised.

But before we get to my roundup of the second week of group matches, there are some results from the first week, that spilled into the second, that we need to take care of, as they gave us potentially huge results.

Japan met Costa Rica on Sunday, and to everyone’s surprise - especially the Japanese, who were riding high on an unexpected victory themselves over Germany in the first match - the Costa Ricans beat them, while two megastars of the competition went head to head, Spain and Germany drawing 1-1, a better result for Spain, with their seven-goal demolition of Costa Rica, while Germany were struggling to make up the deficit after having suffered a somewhat ignoble defeat at the hands of Japan. Of course, nobody would have counted the Germans out at this stage, but they were going to have to make up some ground if they wanted to avoid a humiliating group exit. Belgium were doing badly, having failed to realise the potential of their squad and again came up empty against Morocco, being beaten 2-0, while Croatia breezed past the fledgling Canada, thumping them 4-1 and putting them well on course for the next stages.

Monday saw Cameroon and Serbia play out a gritty thrilling 3-3 draw, good for the goal difference, if it should play a part, but nil points for either team in terms of moving ahead, one point each. Both teams were in dire need of points, Serbia in need after their 2-0 kicking by Brazil and desperate to qualify, Cameroon also smarting from a 1-0 defeat by the Swiss. Brazil put Switzerland to the sword, while Ghana pulled off an unlikely victory against Korea, leaving them with just the one point after their scoreless draw with Uruguay. Their opponent in that game didn’t do well either, failing to score against Portugal, who took them for 2-0 and raced to the top of the group and qualification.

And so we moved into Tuesday, Day 10 of the competition and the final round of matches in the group stages. As always, things got going with Group A, where Ecuador found themselves the second team to go out as Senegal took them 2-1 and assured their own qualification to the next stage. Qatar were of course the first time to go, and the first ever holders of the tournament, but Netherlands did not allow them to go gently into the quiet night, blasting two goals past them on their way, which certainly lifted them into the qualification places. In Group B the USA beat Iran by a single goal and sent them out of the competition, while in the home countries clash it was the lion who savaged the dragon, England kicking Wales 3-0 and assuring their own qualification at the top of their group while also sending Wales back to the valleys.

Wednesday saw another giant take their place as Argentina went up against Poland in Group C, a 2-0 victory for the South Americans and a place in the round of sixteen for them, while Poland, despite losing, still qualified in second place on superior goal difference to Mexico, who went out at their expense. So despite a 2-1 victory over Saudi Arabia, both teams were eliminated, while there was a shock in the Australia v Denmark match as the Danes, unable to score, went down to a single goal from the Aussies, who went through and Denmark were ringing for taxis to the airport. As expected, France went through at the top of their group, but not before they had their tails singed by Tunisia, who departed with a warning shot perhaps for next tournament, beating the French 1-0.

Thursday was a major shock. Costa Rica did not beat Germany - in fact, the Germans thrashed them 4-2, though it was a close-run thing and they did look like they were going out till near the end, when they started playing. The shock was that, even after their last-ditch and totally traditionally German heroics, having seemed to have turned it around, Germany were still eliminated due to similar heroics by Japan in their game against Spain. The Spanish were of course already through with minimal effort, but Japan were fighting for their lives, and won a deserved victory. That meant they moved above Germany in the group and the German were “was ist los?” as they found themselves on the bus heading for Qatar International Airport, or No Gays International, or whatever the hell it’s called.

In Group F, then, Croatia played out a scoreless draw against Belgium, but it was enough to send the Belgians, who had disappointed and not scored once, back home, while Canada went down 2-1 to Morocco, and out of the tournament. This left the final eight teams to play in the last two groups, and this played out on Friday.

Group G saw Cameroon able to dream of making it through, as they beat the mighty Brazil by a goal to nil, but sadly their hopes were comprehensively crushed by the teams in the other crucial match, as Serbia and Switzerland played a game of “my goal, your goal” until finally the Swiss knocked out Serbia, going through and in the process also ending Cameroon’s hopes and sending them home. Talk about ecstasy to agony! In the final group game, then, Group H saw Korea pull an unexpected rabbit out of the hat and beat Portugal, but like Cameroon, qualification for them depended on the result of the other match. In the end, Uruguay won but could not get the precious third goal they needed to assure their progress, so both went home and Korea go through.