WC 2022: Bless the rains down in Africa

Switzerland - Serbia 3-2

Brazil - Cameroon 0-1

Netherlands - USA 3-1

Argentina - Australia 2-1

France - Poland 3-1

England - Senegal 3-0

Well, Group G finished relatively uneventful at least in terms of the qualifying teams. Brazil wins the group despite a defeat against Cameroon, the first against an African nation. Inconsequential, and I haven't watched the game to know how the Selecaos approached it, but it gave us the memorable moment of Aboubakar's joy and elimination. Not the most worthy African team, but Cameroon always looks like the most lovable.

Switzerland - Serbia sealed what was expected, but wow, that first half was the most spectacular yet at this World Cup. The Serbs showed there's some life in their team, some of their attacks were extremely cutting and they scored two beautiful goals, but for some reason the generation of Dusan Tadic and Mitrovic bows out without making much of a blip in the otherwise great history of Serbian football. Is it politics that's kept the breaks on this generation of Serbian footballers? I don't know. I would like to know how the Serb supporters feel about an Albanian and a black guy scoring the first two goals against them.

Now, let's see how the last 16 compare to my predictions from the beginning of the tournament:

Group A: I was mostly bang on, though I didn't expect Ecuador to be as good as they have been. And Senegal have not been as good as I pumped them up to be and they're already out at the hands of England. Though, by God, they can dance!

Group B: Almost! Wales was piss-poor and nobody expected it. Good job USA, although Iran would have been more deserving to qualify.

Group C: Yeah, Mexico have not been quite there. They've done one of the three things I asked them to, so this group was a rather predictable Argentina & Poland.

Group D: It wasn't a clear case of France & Denmark, good job Aussie! I said before, Tunisia beating France was a favor, luckily a useless one.

Group E: See, I thought Spain will be the weakest of the two, but Germany has been a no-show. Well done Japan, the crazy bunch of this tournament, whatever happens. Will they pull one against Croatia too?

Group F: Right, my euro-centrism is showing. I didn't fancy Belgium past the first knock-out game, but even that was too big an ask for them. Well done Morocco for winning the group, and who knows? Spain is a difficult, but not impossible proposition.

Group G: Uh, I have been bang on here. Therefore, here's another prediction: Brazil to win it, with about 70 percent certainty. France might trouble them, unless England troubles France.

Group H: Umm, I was wrong about South Korea, but I think qualifying was unexpected even for them. Portugal are heading towards Switzerland, then Spain. The path is getting rocky.

The first four QF deciders have been extremely predictable. The Netherlands don't have a stellar team like they usually do, but they're highly practical and very organized. I see them as fully capable of taking out Argentina, especially that Argentina has been panting heavily to get here.

The Aussies bow out with their head high, and it's only naivete that stopped them from pulling level against Argentina with less than 10 minutes to go, on two occasions: the left back dribbling through half the Argentinian team first, and the Baccus kid missing a sitter from 10 yards. Ok, the Messi goal was a good one, and I think - much as I dislike him - this is the type of action he likes best and he is best at: coming from the right, finding a shot through the defenders and hitting a really hard, precise ball from about 15 yards out. It's the same kind of goal he scored against Nigeria in 2018 and yes, against United in the 2011 Champions League final. He is obsessed with that movement, that's why he wasted a very promising ball in the closing minutes of the game against Saudi Arabia.

Regardless, my money's on Netherlands.

France versus Poland was a tilted affair from the off, all that was left to find out was how it's gonna happen. Poland have brought the boredom factor to this World Cup. As a team, they have been spectacularly unexciting, though not entirely bad. They are swimming at the edge of mediocrity, with an aging Lewandowski that can still be dangerous, and a relatively well-balanced team who play well together and can be organized and awkward for the opponents, but doesn't quite have a spark to push them towards actually winning football games. Sure, Lewandowski is one of the biggest stars of the game, but for some reason, he isn't - or is no longer - the talent that can carry the team. Case in point, the penalty he needed two attempts to convert.

France, on the other hand, didn't quite shine, but they still won convincingly. Giroud is, by some weirdness of nature, France's top scorer, and this video is bang on. So is the urban tale that Mbappe only scores when the game has already been decided. Although both his goals were pretty cool. Now, can he do it on a hot dry evening in Qatar against England?

England who do look like a serious proposition. Easy dispatch of Senegal tonight, but now comes the real test. If they beat France, they'll probably make the final. Big if there though. Looked good so far, but that's not to say they can't crumble at any point. And they haven't met tough opposition yet.

Senegal going out sadly means there will be no African success story at this World Cup. Morocco is the only team left in the competition and even if they do beat Spain, personally I make a clear distinction between North Africa, which is closer in style and philosophy to the Middle East, and sub-Saharan Africa, where football is played with a smile and in front of a dancing audience. Thank you for the memories Senegal, Cameroon, and Ghana, sorry that this dance is over. But surely, see you in 2026 for more fun!