We had now seen Germany, Belgium, Denmark, and Mexico bow out at the World Cup 2022 Group stage. Argentina and even Spain had flirted with disaster. Had the lack of preparation time been a cause? Had players who were fighting for league points at big clubs a week before the World Cup kicked off been simply unable to switch their mindset to the demands of the international game?
Had the conditions in Qatar proved too difficult for some? Or, perhaps more fascinating, were we finally seeing a changing of the guard in world football? Were the nations from Africa and Asia, as well as the USA and Australia, finally ready to break through the glass ceiling and start to compete as equals in the latter stages of the World Cup?
Now that would be something worth seeing.
Australia 1 Denmark 0 (Group D)
Australia produced a mammoth performance to beat Denmark and book their place in the last 16. Although the Danes dominated possession, they could find no way through. The Aussies fought for every ball, chased down every tackle, and simply would not give way.
The longer the game went on, the more haggard the Danes looked. They endured a nightmarish World Cup to rank with that of Wales. They had plenty of the ball and got forward regularly. but were never really able to work Ryan in the Australian goal.
Within moments of Tunisia taking the lead over France and going second in the group, Australia had overtaken them. A brilliantly sprung counter-attack left Leckie bearing down on the Danish goal. After twisting and turning past two defenders, he speared his shot across Schmeichel and just inside the far post. From there, Denmark tried to find a way back into the game, but there was never any conviction to their play. It was no surprise to see them beaten. It had been a grim, surprisingly bloodless tournament for them.
Australia Face Argentina
For Australia, it’s a first knockout stage in 16 years. A step towards wrestling the mantle of best-ever Australian side from the Socceroos of 2006. That would be some achievement in Australian betting circles. It was their misfortune that lying in wait were the improving Argentines. For those of you who like your omens, when Australia reached the last 16 in 2006, they came up against Italy, losing 1-0. That Italian side went on to lift the trophy. Could Messi’s Argentina do the same? The odds were certainly shortening.
France 0 Tunisia 1 (Group D)
It doesn’t matter how good you are. No side can simply change pretty much all its players and hope to pick up from where the other lot left off. That was the lesson that France reminded us of during the early games today as they fell victim to Tunisia, losing the game 1-0. It appeared briefly as if they had snatched a draw at the death. But Griezmann’s goal was chalked off for offside by VAR. So Tunisia were able to enjoy the feeling of beating the reigning world champions.
From the French viewpoint, it didn’t really matter. They had already qualified for the next round as the group winners. Even so, no team likes to lose a game. The French underlined this when they brought on the cavalry midway through the second half after falling behind.
France Dig Deep
Giving minutes on the pitch to squad players may prove a masterstroke for the French. That is, if they were to go deeper and deeper into the tournament. Also, it was a useful reminder that victory should never be taken for granted.
For Tunisia, it was a memorable win from a game where only three points would do. Ghandri had a goal disallowed in the first half for a hairline offside call. Khazi gave them the lead just before the hour point. He wriggled past a couple of challenges before squeezing the ball just inside the post. From there, they hung on and hung on. It would have been a hard heart that begrudged them that win when Griezmann’s goal was dramatically ruled out. They’d earned it.
Saudi Arabia 1 Mexico 2 (Group C)
Mexico took the lead over the Saudis within a minute. Chavez made it 2-0 to Mexico. while in the other group C game, Alvarez made it 2-0 to Argentina. Now it was time to dig out the competition regulations. Locked together on points, goal difference, and goals scored, the only way of separating Mexico and Poland was on disciplinary points, the Poles keeping their noses in front.
Poland 0 Argentina 2 (Group C)
Argentina’s win over Mexico transformed everything, setting them up to qualify by beating Poland. Poland, on the other hand, topping the group as we went into the final games, seemed to have no ambition beyond a 0-0 draw. They kept 10 men behind the ball at all times, leaving Lewandowski to operate in the sort of isolation he won’t have experienced since the last Covid lockdown.
By the interval, it was so far, so good. Poland had offered nothing to the game. Thanks to Szczesny’s brilliant save from Messi’s penalty, the score was 0-0. A couple of half-time changes suggested a more proactive approach. That was pretty much down the drain within a minute of the restart as Mac Allister swept Argentina into the lead. Alvarez doubled the lead to wrap up the points and win the group.
Croatia 0 Belgium 0 (Group F)
A desperately out-of-sorts Belgium bowed out of the competition with barely a whimper. They paid the price for taking their ‘golden generation’ en masse to one tournament too many.
They were unable to raise a gallop, or seemingly any enthusiasm when it mattered. They completed a colourless competition with a desperately drab 0-0 draw with a Croatian side who didn’t offer much more. There’s little to suggest they can get anywhere near the final this time after their heroics of 2018. However, their mood might be buoyed by the thought of Japan in the next round. Similarly, Japan will already be planning on allowing Croatia to pass themselves to death before taking advantage of their exhaustion.
Canada 1 Morocco 2 (Group F)
Morocco topped the group, deservedly so, after defeating Canada 2-1 in their final game. Defensively, they were very sound. That would give Spain, their next opponents, pause for thought. Morocco knew exactly how they wanted to play the game. They didn’t deviate from it, and they had a side that believed in their plan implicitly, giving every last ounce of energy to it. In a normal World Cup, you would see their competition coming to a close against Spain, but this was not a normal World Cup.
Japan 2 Spain 1 (Group E)
“Well it was just 17, you know what I mean?” No, not The Beatles, but the percentage of possession it took Japan to defeat Spain and so knock Germany out of the World Cup. Somewhere, Tony Pulis and Sam Allardyce are both uncorking a very nice bottle in satisfaction that their methods have proved fruitful at the highest level.
Football, so said the mighty Pele, is the beautiful game. But there are days when it is also the bizarre one. Spain, so hugely impressive in their opening games, completely dominated Japan. They played something like 830 more passes during the game. They ended up beaten by a side that knew its limitations and played wholly within them. They never tried to get above themselves, arguably enjoyed one huge slice of luck from a refereeing decision in their second goal. They ultimately finished top of a group that contained two of the giants of world football, winners of two of the last three World Cups.
The simple facts are that on a night when Germany had to win, they did. Alas, they found it still wasn’t enough. On a night when all they had to do was draw to top the group, Spain couldn’t. They lost to Japan, and finished second. For a brief moment, as Costa Rica led Germany, Spain were also out. Costa Rica, the only team to beat group winners Japan, finished bottom. How can you not love a game like that?
Mathematically, in the end, it was resolved by Spain beating Costa Rica more convincingly than Germany did. Many would have imagined that might have been the way we’d have separated first and second in this group, not second from third.
Costa Rica 2 Germany 4 (Group E)
Germany would now slink home, the players back to their clubs. German football was stuck in three more weeks of hiatus until the Bundesliga restarted, with only the rest of the World Cup to watch. That, and the inquest into what went wrong yet again. Two straight group exits at the World Cup, with a dismal Euros in between, requires plenty of soul-searching. Coach Hansi Flick will surely be a victim of that.
With qualifying for the next Euros on the horizon, Germany, that most rigorous of nations, were in urgent need of a new plan.
Japan were, understandably, on cloud nine. They mustered two amazing wins by sticking to their, admittedly not always attractive, guns. Spain would be moderately satisfied to have advanced but will have questions to answer about how deep they can go into the tournament. They wasted so much possession against Japan and had failed to defeat Germany when they were there for the taking.
South Korea 2 Portugal 1 (Group H)
South Korea came from behind to beat a much-changed Portugal. Even then, the European side had started well. For much of the first half in particular, they looked the major threat in the game. Ricardo Horta gave them an early lead, and it wasn’t until Ronaldo produced a brilliant assist – at the wrong end of the pitch – that South Korea got back into the game.
All through the second half, with Uruguay having a solid lead over Ghana, South Korea were on the way out. But fittingly for this group stage, in the final seconds, Son produced a superb break and an inch-perfect pass for Hwang Hee-Chan to finish beautifully and send them through to the next round.
It was a bitter blow for Uruguay. They had done their part of the deal by beating a disappointing Ghana 2-0. inspired by Suarez, who had been the guiding force behind both de Arrascaeta goals. They looked set to progress until that final blow from the South Koreans, ending a few Uruguayan careers in the process.
Ghana 0 Uruguay 2 (Group H)
Magnificent footballer that Suarez has long been, to see him knocked out of the World Cup while playing against Ghana, who he had cheated out of the World Cup in 2010, was poetic justice of a kind. As he was in tears at the end of the game, it would have been a heart of stone that wasn’t moved to gales of laughter at his plight.
Cameroon 1 Brazil 0 (Group G)
Brazil made almost a team full of changes and paid the price by losing in the final minute to Cameroon. Not that it mattered much, for they still topped the group as Cameroon went out. Aboubakar grabbed the winner in time added on – or hours added on as if seems to be in this competition – and was then promptly sent off for taking off his shirt and getting a second yellow. That somehow summed up their hapless campaign.
Serbia 2 Switzerland 3 (Group G)
It was in the other group G game where progress was decided. The Swiss came through with a 3-2 win over Serbia. The game swung back and forth. Switzerland, who only needed a draw, took the lead, fell behind, and then went on to win again. Serbia will curse some profligate finishing, in this game and others. They exited from a competition that they looked equipped to go further in. But it was Switzerland who would get to try to deny Ronaldo his next aim of overtaking Eusebio as Portugal’s greatest World Cup goalscorer. South Korea’s prize was to take on Brazil.
Next up, the round of 16 at World Cup 2022. Who would persevere? Read what happened here.
Sir Alf Ramsey: England 1973 focuses on the final full year of Sir Alf’s reign as England boss. The nation that won the World Cup in 1966 failed to even qualify for the 1974 tournament. Ramsey was suddenly a man out of time, both on and off the pitch. The failing fortunes of the England team mirrored those of a post-Empire nation heading for its own fall.
A must read for all fans. Order your copy.