WC 2022: Broken Axis

Belgium - Croatia 0-0

Morocco - Canada 2-1

Costa Rica - Germany 2-4

Japan - Spain 2-1

Turns out Fiago was right about Belgium going out in the group stages. Technically, it was tight and with a goal in the closing minutes against Croatia they could have qualified. While it was possible, it would have been hugely unfair. Belgium did not look for a moment like a team who's ready to win stuff, but rather like the Belgium of old, in the late 80s and early 90s when they had a lot of star players, but were not really a team.

I'm more disappointed with Croatia, who have put themselves in such a vulnerable position that a stray Belgian goal might've taken them out. I'm disappointed with them because they looked like Belgium's equals, and that's not gonna scare anyone. 

Well done Morocco for winning the group, for not getting scared of the opponent's name, and for building on the brilliant win against Belgium with a comfortable win against a naive and inexperienced Canada. Unfortunately for them, the weird results in Group E mean they will be facing Spain in the first knock-out game, in what will probably be a highly politically charged game.

Although, in all honesty, yeah, no one wants to face Spain, the game is by no means a clear-cut one. Morocco has the strength to beat Spain, and Spain - despite a 7-0 win, has not looked all that scary so far.

And Japan, oh, Japan. You know they're a weird country with their mix of traditional and hi-tech, the tradition of hardcore porn growing within a prude culture, their fetishization of Western culture, and the KFC dinner on Christmas Day. But beating Germany and Spain while losing to Costa Rica might top all of the aforementioned because no anthropologist can explain it.

For anyone who wonders how, there's a bunch of Spaniards ready to yell 'by cheating' but look, the ball was not fully out. We can moan about VAR as much as we want, goal-line technology is pretty precise. And even if the ball was out, seriously, you're Spain playing Japan. If you're gonna hang on for a draw and let a refereeing decision lose you the game, you sort of deserve what you get. I can't really believe Spain played to get second place and play Morocco rather than Croatia. That kind of thinking is small and unattractive and gets punished eventually. Besides, what if Costa Rica beat Germany? It's not like they didn't lead for a moment there.

As for Germany, there will be a lot of write-ups, mostly in German, about how and why they go out in the group stages. I'm just gonna say there is no such thing as 'too big to fail', and also, that I called it, didn't I?

Japan - Croatia is gonna be a tough one for the Asians, so my money is on Croatia. But it wouldn't be the first time they surprise me now, would it?