Red

Portugal - Spain 0-1

The Iberain derby is a weird affair. Either a spectacular affair of no consequence, or a drab game that consignes one side to underachievemnt for a generation.

Yesterday's one was one of the latter. The force that can't move anything versus the object that immediately folds. The amount of talent on the pitch is riduculous, including two of what are universally acknoledged as the best footballers on the planet: one of the greatest ever at the zenith of his career, and the 18 year old superstar, mature beyond his years and set to become one of the greatest of his generations. The clash should have been epic.

Well, it wasn't. It was a slow leak of enthusiasm over the course of 90 minutes in which, when normal time was heading to a close, the objectiev viewers were begging for a goal, any goal, just so we don't have to watch another 30 minutes of this. Enter Merino of Arsenal, specifically for this purpose. Good goal, but by that point it didn't even matter.

Ronaldo has been an immense footballer, but never great for his country. They won the Euro in 2008 without him on the pitch, and hopefully they'll have a better run without him in the next world cup, on home soil. I want a good run for Bruno.

USA - Belgium 1-4

This game was meant ot be dominated by the talk around the cancelled red card to Folarin Balogun, but was instead dominated by Belgium, and thank fuck for that.

The issue with Balogun's red card cancellation was not the deed in itself, after all, it would not be the first nor last injustice in football. The issue is the blatant disregard for rules, common sense, or supporters with which it's been done. An affair between two strongmen heading highly corrupt organizations, both highly disliked, and both oblivious to it. People like Trump or Infantino make me wish there was a hell.

And annoyingly, Pochettino didn't have the common sense to keep the American forward on the bench. Had he scored, the scandal would've been even bigger, so thank fuck Belgium dominated in such a categorical manner.

Belgium did not deserve to beat Senegal, but I dare say Senegal would not have beaten USA. So maybe somewhere on a higher plane things are being arranged. Now Belgium will face Spain, and I don't even know. Sounds like a good game on paper, and one that Spain should win. But who knows what the gods of football have in store for us?

Never heard of Ketelaere before yesterday, but kid has done amazing. Happy for big Rom too, 3 goals at a World Cup is not too shabby for a 37yo, and I still don't get why he doesn't start. And a good fucking thing Trump will no longer be president (or alive, God willing) next time USA will play in a World Cup. I tried hard to like them, they tried hard to make it difficult. But now it's over.

Bellingham from Birmingham

Canada - Morocco 0-3

Paraguay - France 0-1

I won't say much about these two games as I couldn;t watch any football on Saturday. The needs of the farm called for more urgency than those of my heart.

People surprised at the big Morocco win have not been paying attention lately. Canada have had an amazing tournament, but Morocco is an established powerhouse.

France needed a penalty to edge Paraguay, strong 1998 vibes. I will watch the highlights, but talking points seem to be how brutal the Paraguayan defending has been. To which I say... what other chance did they have?

It's funny that in this day and age you don't really need to watch a football game anymore. Livescore will show you the goal clips and the internet memes will tell you how it went. That is, of course, missing the point of watching a game of football, though it increasingly looks like we're heading towards a world where we're all missing the point of things, or - more likely - it's just me understanding less and less of the world we live in.

Alright, that went philosophical really fast, let's take a quick look at the magnificent day of football we've had yesterday.

Brazil - Norway 1-2

Even on paper this game looked tight, so Norway defeating Brazil is not that big of a surprise. What's surprising is the relaxed, confident, comfortable manner in which they've done it. 

Brazil is flashy, but Norway has been the better team since the off. Even when they conceded the penalty, Nyland looked calm and secure. Not so Bruno Guimaraes, who did a piss poor job of it. And from here on, the flow was clear.

I was thinking at half time, I should be really supporting Brazil. They have Casemiro and Cunha, whereas Norway have Odegaard and Haaland. But there wasn't much to Brazil's game to draw me their way. Flashiness, but without substance. Norway, on the other hand, always looked comfortable in posesion, solid, composed and calm.

And the goals, poster shots, both of them! The first, training pitch header and I pity the fool who dares jump with Haaland. The guy doesn't even need to move, and it would still be a challenge to match him in height. And you can see in the replay, his body is almost twice as wide as the defender's.

The second looked simple, but there was so much power in that shot, and it went so close to the post, Alisson stood no chance. Big beast didn't even celebrated, this is how routine he thought his world stopping shot was.

Rare to see Ancelotti running out of ideas, but throwing Neymar in the game felt like it's only to shame him. And shame him it did, for even if he scored a questionable penalty deep in injury time when it didn't matter anyway, we've had plenty of time to see that not only has Neymar no fight in him, he doesn't even seem to care all that much. Which, between you and me, it's not even that new. Possibly the most overrated player in the history of the game has kicked his last on the international stage, and I'm hoping that a refreshed Brazil will become the footballing power it once was again.

Mexico - England 2-3

Boy, was this an adventure!

Starting with the one-hour postponement, and the hype on all media channels in England, every aspect of the game has been over-analyzed before the game even started. Yet no one quite got it correctly.

Bellingham hit two almost identical goals 2 minutes of each other, and yet no one was convinced it's enough to see England through. It's been enough. Mexico pulled one back quickly to go into half time only 1-2 down. But this is where it went wrong for them. 

Even though they came out dominating the play in the second half too, and had England play with 10 men in the last 40 minutes, something of the energy from the first half was missing. And this was mental more than anything. Mexico have lost the game in their heads, not in their feet.

One penalty each in the second half made the scoring line look a bit bigger, and there was plenty drama, but none of it helpful to see Mexico through. Good team Mexico, but not good enough to take out the big boys in the manner Norway has dispatched Brazil.

Norway - England is gonna be a really interesting game to watch, and I'm beginning to look like the kid in Sixty Six, always betting against England, but I swear, I'm over my grudge once they got out of the group stage. I genuinely fancy Norway. Besides, England always loses in the quarters, no?

Iconic

Australia - Egypt 1 - 1 (2 - 4 pen.)

Didn't watch this game (couldn't, really), but I thought Egypt was gonna win easily in 90 minutes. I discounted the Aussies pretty hard, but they did come to this World Cup to play. Beating Turkey is remarkable, and yaking Egypt to penalties makes for an honorable World Cup exit for them. See you in 4 years, Oz!

Argentina - Cape Verde 3-2

The most anticipated game of the round of 32 did not disappoint. Of course, we were all rooting for Cape Verde, but the big upset ws not to be. It is annoying when glory is all you take from a game of football, but this is what the tiny nation of Cape Verde will have to contend with.

Still, beyond the Hollywood drama and in pure footballing terms, they are faultless. Pushing the world champions to extra time and levelling them twice is not for everyone, and it's certainly more than just capitulating, which is what teams playing Argentina so far have done.

Messi's first goal was divine. The run, the stop, the shot, everything was perfection. Compare to an attempted Lautaro Martinez stop in a similar position in the second half. It pains me to praise Messi, but I really don't have a choice. I'm actually wondering how many great moments like these I've missed for being a Messi hater for the past 17 years? 

Vozinha is definetly one of this World Cup's heroes, but he could do nothing for the first goal. He did a lot in the game anyway, includign blocking Messi one a few occasions, shots that most keepers would have let in. It's amazing that he's out of contract, but this tournament surely must've won him another year or two on a good contract somewhere in Europe, even if as a back-up goalkeeper. And that would be fully deserved!

I have criticised Cape Verde before for relying too much on individual executions and not playing like a team enough. They did a lot better in this regard last night, but my God, it will be the individual executions that stand out.

The first equaliser is a shot along the face of goal, through Lucha Martinez's legs and stretching Emi Martinez all of his length to no avail. Lukaku and Ronaldo scored similar in this tournament, and that's good company to be in. It bothers me somewhat that it was a United defender who let in the shot, but Lucha Martinez made up for it by scoring Argentina's second, 2 minutes into extra time. And that should've done it, really. Alright Cape Verde, you pushed the World Champions into extra time, 2-1 is an honourable scoreline, let life take its natural course.

Well, Sidny Cabral thought differently. What a brilliant execution for Cape Verde's second equalizer! The kind that only works one time in a hundred, and it would certainly be a contender for goal of the tournament if it wasn't of course for Messi's first goal.

In the end Argentina did win, good, decent goal from a corner with Messi curling the cross in, and a fought out header that neither the defenders nor the keeper could do much about. If I was more into conspiracy theories, I'd say it worked out almost too neatly for the film.

Argentina through, to Cape Verde be the glory, and if Argentina wins the tournament it would be only the second time in history when a team has won it back to back. Plus, Italy in '34 and '38... maybe we shouldn't talk about that. Although word is that the team was good too.

Colombia - Ghana 1-0

In all honesty, I was hopeful, but I expected Argentina to beat Cape Verde, with a thrashing not being completely out of the equation. But Colombia - Ghana is where it's at, and it is what the World Cup is about: two exciting, evenly match teams, battling it out for glory and for the chance to take on one of the giants.

I found it hard to call, but I was leaning slightly towards Colombia. Colmbia have the experience and the football tradition on their side, while Ghana are one of the new footballing powers of the world, have the 2010 elimination at the hand of Uruguay to revenge and get over, and an enormous amount of worldwide sympathy which I don't fully understand (something about the black star?).

In the end, it was an ok game, but fairly anticlimactic for the expectations, and especially when compared to the earlier one. Incredibly one sided, I barely remember Ghana attacking at all, and the keeper is their most proeminent figure in the game. Colombia's goal came early, 14 minutes in, and the Africans had more than 70 minutes to do something about it, but they never seemed willing. Which is probably a sign they were never able. 

Insult to injury, Jhon Arias was completely unbothered when he scored from inside the box, for some reason Yikenikyi completed switches off.

I thought Luis's Diaz goal was phenomenal, the speed and the precision with which Bayern's striker hits the ball is outwordly, but he was clearly off-side and the ref did good to cancel the goal. Shame though.

And then... this was it. Colombia goes through and Ghana has nothing to say about it. I'm sorry for Carlos Queiros, there is a lot of love for him within the United fandom and last night's performance does not speak well for him.

This Colombian team looks a lot less glamorous than others (including the 1994 one with Asprilla, Valencia and Rincon), but a lot more solid and mature. And this is the type of team that brought them the best result - QF in Brazil in 2014. This will probably be equalled this time round - if they beat Switzerland they'll face Argentina in the quarters. I'm rooting for them, I really enjoyed their games so far, especially the 0-0 draw with Portugal. And they have something else on their side. 

Alright, with the round of 32 now over, time for another prediction round? I got 5/12 groups right, which is... ok, I suppose? For the rfound of 16 I'm going with:

Morocco to beat Canada

France to beat Paraguay

Brazil to beat Norway

Mexico to beat England

Spain to beat Portugal

USA to beat Belgium

Argentina to beat Egypt

Colombia to beat Switzerland

Which would result in France v Spain and Brazil v Argentina in the semis. Yep, it's a deja vu, France v Argentina in the final.

Late drama

England - Congo DR 2 - 1

Clearly one for the underdog, it wasn't even my anti-English sentiment that made me happy about Congo taking the lead. They had a couple more chances before half time, and it didn't really look like England was gonna trouble them.

But, of course, pressure intensified somewhat in the second half. A few saves from Mpasi, but it felt like Congo can still fob England off. Well, they couldn't. As soon as the first Harry Kane goal went in, it became a case of Congo needing to hold on until the end. England is not really a team to amp up the pressure, but they did so on this occasion. It was mostly driven by Harry Kane, and it feels right that it was him again who scored the winning goal, 5 minutes from time.

Also, because I saw some debate on the internet: was there a penalty on Mpasi stopping Harry Kane? Easy one. Clearly not. It doesn't matter in the end, but it would have become a national injustice had England gone out. And... it was a correct decision not to award a penalty.

Heartbreak for Congo, who had a great tournament, and they played really well against England, but it is massively important to know how to deal with advantage against a better team. It worked for Paraguay against Germany, it didn't work for Congo. Easy for me to say, but not much more to do now, but wait for the next time.

Belgium - Senegal 3 - 2

Speaking of game management, it did look like Senegal took a sheet out of that book. Cruising comfortably against Belgium, 2-0 at half time and being the more attacking team. Flirting very closely with 3-0 on a couple of occasions in the second half. Them all of a sudden...

BAM BAM! Super-gol from Lukaku, and a keeper goal to draw it level. 86' and 89', 2-2. Lukaku's goal can be forgiven, it's a brilliant execution from Belgium's best player this tournament. It is baffling to me that Lukaku doesn't start for Belgium, he carried them almost single-handedly so far and he'd be in the league with Haaland, Ronaldo or Harry Kane is they'd make place for him in the starting line-up.

The second goal was very much a keeper mistake, coming out but missing the ball, thus leaving Tielemans to send it into the open net. It will be very much a case of FMM Prunea in Senegal in the coming years. But yeah, 5 minutes slip-up and all the good work done in the first 80 minutes of the game stands for nowt.

Belgium did not deserve to go into extra time, but sometimes they squeezed through, and the rest is history. Penalty in the 120+5 minute, and the latest goal ever at a World Cup sends Senegal home. Was it a penalty? Well... kind of. It wasn't given on field, and VAR said it's worth another look. There was contact, the defender touches Tielemans' foot, but by that time the ball has gone. Reason enough for a penalty, but, had it not been a foul, that would have been a ball of no consequence. And, it being the 120th minute of a World Cup knock-out game, I feel more consideration should be given to the idea that the game should be decided by the action on the pitch rather than by official decisions. 

With all the evidence considered, I would not have given a penalty. But the ref did, and Tielemans made it 3-2 with virtually no time for Senegal to do anything about it. More than heartbreak, Senegal will feel hard done by, and not without reason if you ask me. Plus, it further enforces the narrative of FIFA having an agenda against African countries. Not a stretch to believe this to be true.

USA - Bosnia 2-0

This being the late game, like all late games, I've struggled with. So seen very little of it, and only scattered bits, and now I wonder if it isn't by design that we only get big drama for the prime time games. But 2-0 USA, with the second goal scored while haivng played in 10 for 20 minutes, does not say a flattering story about Bosnia. They slogged through the group and capsized in front of half-decent opposition. Not a great story for a team that left Italy home.

Spain - Austria 3-0 

Once again, a game without much of a story. Spain dominating beginning to end with Austria never looking like they stand a change of progressing. Comfortable win for a Spanish team that hasn't yet been properly tested. They will now face Portugal, who is at the opposite end of the spectrum, having been put through the grinder a few times already. That will be am amazing game. 

Portugal - Croatia 2-1

What a game! I have said before the torunament, Portugal are my favourites, and I genuinely believed they can win it. I'm a lot less sure now, but they have delivered some of the best games in the tournament so far, and this one was certainly the most dramatic.

I had lost count of the amount of goals cancelled, and it decided by a VAR call once again in the dying moments. Perisic opened the scoring, only for Ronaldo to have two goals cancelled for offside on either side of the penalty he levelled from. Penalty that, once again, was not given on field, but came from a VAR review.

Then Portugal scores from a cross in the 90'+4' minute. Uncontested by technology, for once. Deep into injury time, Croatia scores again, which is a bit of a house specialty. Then VAR called it off. Debate about offside, and apparently IT WAS offside, but only decided by the sensor inside the ball, explained by FIFA and based on data that is not publicly available.

Talk about hard done-by. To be fair, had the goal had stood, game would have gone to penalties, and that's as much a lottery, as this VAR malarkey. Only that's more out in the open.

But I feel for Croatia, I really do. People slagging them off as a past-it team, all of the 'Modric's last stand' bullshit that's been going on for more than 5 years now, and yet they really did pull some performances! I thought they're past it myself after the England game, but it turns out that was the outlier. If I was to be conspirational I could even say that was a write-ff, knowing they only need 4 points from games against Panama and Ghana. They are tough motherfuckers, always fearsome as an opponent, and they are right to feel done-by. The match with Portugal was pretty even, either of the team could have won it, despite the very different styles of play. It was Portugal on this one occasion, but Croatia will be back. The idea that they're going home while Belgium, for instance, is still in the torunament - pretty hard to digest.

Switzerland  - Algeria 2-0

Another late game, another failed attempt to watch it, though the result was a bit of a given from the off. Algeria only qualified because they had Jordan in their group, one of the weakest teams of the torunament, and because they held Austria to that crazy 3-3 draw that I didn't see. But they couldn't have hoped for much more, even if Switzerland is probably one of the easier draws they could've had. The buck will stop here for Switzerland too, they are to play either Columbia (most likely) or Ghana, and wither of those is favourite ahead of them. 

Round of 32 will be completed today with Egypt beating Australia, Colombia and Ghana offering us a very entertaining and evenly matched game and... how amazing would be if Cape Verde goes through? Vozinha vs Messi is the ultimate David v Goliath fight, and I know who I'll be rooting for.

Anyone for tennis?

Ivory Coast - Norway 1-2

This is a match I really wanted to see. Ivory Coast it can be opportunistic, solid and mature in a game, taking advantage of the snatched last-minute win against Ecuador to qualify without emotions despite losing to Germany. And that loss was not a match written off, they had the lead over Germany for quite a bit, and were only defeated by an injury time goal.

Norway, on the other side, are as scary as a Viking raid, and definitely one of the sensations of this World Cup. It must've been a great clash but, with tickets to Wimbledon in the inbox, watching the football was always gonna be a tall order. Wavrinka - Berettini was also a great game, but in regards to Ivory Coast - Norway, I'll have to settle for watching an empty scoreline and regret not having seen what was presumably a great goal from Amad.

France - Sweden 3-0

Ramenez

One of the more unbalanced games of the round of 32, though the impression is, pretty much all the games France will play in will be unbalanced. I did watch the second half on my phone in a taxi, but with 2-0 at half time, it promised little excitement. Saw a great goal by Mbappe (another one), and the Frenchman together with Messi have now left Mirko Klose's record of most goals scored at World Cups in the dust. Klose took 4 tournaments to get to 16, Messi is now on 19, with Mbappe closely trailing at 18, and having time on his side.

France is playing really well, Deschams has done a great job getting them to play like a team, with a chemistry that is almost club-level and certainly unmatched at this World Cup so far. They look more and more like favourites to win it, and yet Paraguay will still put them through the grinder. Try and hold Mbappe, though Mbappe is unholdable.

Mexico - Ecuador 2-0

It annoyed me that the game was postponed by an hour, I was getting ready to see it. But an extra hour after a long day - couldn't make it.

Mexico were slight favourites, lest we forget Ecuador beat Germany, but the victory was fairly categorical. And the Mexicans are creating the aura of invincibility at the Azteca which will serve them well. They have england next, so definetly a chance to move one more round.

Right-o, off to watch another host - USA. Which I think will go past Bosnia, only just.

Schaisse!

Brazil - Japan 2-1

Now this looks more like a World Cup, doesn't it?

It was expected fro Brazil - Japan to be a good game, and it was. Of course, Celecao were slight favourites, but everyone knew it's not a clear cut game. Japan scoring 5 minutes before half time and going in with an advantage only enforced that. I was travelling in the beginning of the second half and only saw highlights, but Brazil's attacks in the beginning of the second half looked furious. So again, no wonder they scored. Casemiro. I'm glad for him, and he'll always be a part of our folklore now, but you have to feel for Japan. Case was knocking on the door a few minutes before, and his perfectly placed headers are merciless.

Still, Japan were at least equal to Brazil all the way to the end. Martinelli's 95th minute goal was very fortuituos, but even after, the Japanese were pushing towards the Brazilian goal and they ended the game on the front foot.

One of those games in which no team deserves to lose, but it had to be one. I have to say, I have greatly enjoyed watching this Japonese team, perhaps even more so than Brazil, and would've loved to see them play at least one more game, but the draw was unlucky. Japan go home, but they've done themselves proud!

Germany - Paraguay 1-1 (3-4 pen.)

Now, this was a bit unexpected. Understatement of the century. After having just squished through a group from 3rd with 4 points, the expectation was that Germany would have a field day. We have, however, learned, as far back as the days of Chilavert, that if there's one thing Paraguayans do well, it's defending.

Even so, their goal was magnificently well constructed, with the German defense nowhere to be found, not in the pass to the covering winger, not to mark Enciso who got a free header from the middle of the box. Again, 1-0 at half time for the underdog, and the Germans came out blazing in the second half. They did score, weird goal but they all count.

As for the cancelled goal in the extra time: always a foul! The keeper was impeded to follow the ball, and was on the ground as Tah was getting ready to pounce. Do not touch the keeper in the 6y box, I tought this much is clear.

Orlando Gill, Paraguayan hero

And then, the more the Germans attacked as the game was getting close to penalties, the more the Paraguayan keeper's confidence grew. Bit of a bad idea if you ask me.

First penalty shoot-out of the tournament, and what an eventful one it was! Germany missing the first, Paraguay blowing to chances to win, only for the first round of 5 to end 3-3. But then Tah, sends one high over the bar, and Paraguay closes it, sending Germany packing.

Great underdog story, and Paraguay did not really deserve it, but my God did they defend solid! France is up next for them, and it took 114 minutes of play and a great strike from Laurent Blanc back in 1998 to beat them, but things might be different this time around. Against Mbappe, there's no defence.

Netherlands - Morocco 1-1 (2-3 pen.)

Morocoo eliminating Netherlands, if I'm honest, I don't even know if it's that much of a surprise. Again, 2 am game with a lot on my mind and a lot on my plate, try as I might I fell asleep throughout. Woke up in time to see the Moroccan goal, such a well hit header!

But Morocco is such a solid team, it's ridiculous. They have Canada on Saturday, and they should be brushing the hosts aside easily.

Done with groups

Panama - England 0-2

Croatia - Ghana 2-1

Colombia - Portugal 0-0

Congo - Uzbekistan 3-1

Jordan - Argentina 1-3

Algeria - Austria 3-3

This is it, the last 3 groups have been settled on a fairly uneventful Saturday. England has won their group, in a blatant disregard of my prediction. I have to say, after the Croatia game I thought the streets were fairly well behaved. The Ghana game was a damp squid, but already after the Panama game vandalism on the London Underground began to seep in.

If they must beat Congo, I hope it will be a squeaky bum, penalty after 0-0 affair, and I believe England can get past either Mexico or Ecuador, but they will lose to Netherlands in the quarters.

I'm glad to see Croatia came into their senses, they finish the group second and will play Portugal. I feel like Portugal will edge it, even if only because of the extra intensity.

Speaking of, Portugal - Colombia was a highly entertaining game, I'd venture to say it's the most entertaining 0-0 I remember maybe since the Champions League final in 2006, Arsenal - Barcelona. I didn't see Congo - Uzbekistan, when Uzbekistan scored first I thought we might be in for a more interesting end to this group, but the natural order was soon restored, and Congo goes forward as a well placed 3rd.

Argentina dared start without Messi, and he still scored! I thought this would be the more interesting games, but Jordan did not present serious opposition to Argentina, even without Messi. Algeria - Austria went a bit off the rails with a 3-3 draw, but how was I to know?

Canada - South Africa 0-1

The first of the knock-out games was a damp squid affair, exactly as I expected it to be. As it was slowly crawling towards the end of the 90, I prayed that one team scores so that we don't have to witness another half an hour of it. Canada did, pretty much at the death, so it saved us the pain. 

Also, only game of the day, felt a bit like a day off. Brazil - Japan (about to start) will be much more interesting of an affair.