An engrossing four days of final group stage games. I don't remember it ever being this tight but maybe I just didn't have as much information. So many places in the knockout stage were in doubt until the final whistle.
Group A - Let's Go Dutch
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| Aliou Cisse - Leading Senegal to knockout stage and gathering some Best Hair votes at 6911 |
Qatar found out that you can buy the rights to host the World Cup, but not the World Cup itself. They finished with three losses and a -6 goal differential, the worst performance by a host country in WC history. Can't say I'm too broken up by that.
Group B - What's a Guy Gotta Do to Get a Goal Around Here?
Apparently sustain a pelvic bruise and spend the night in the hospital. The USMNT, needing a win over Iran to advance, were doing some, but not enough, of the right things. According to 538, after 37 minutes, the US had seven shots, five chances and .42 expected goals; Iran's numbers to that point were 0, 0 and 0 respectively. In the 38th minute they got the breakthrough. You can see the play here on this week's easy choice for YouTubeableMoment. A great forward ball from McKennie, then a pinpoint header from Dest right onto the "damn the torpedoes run" from Christian Pulisic. That is giving it up for your team. After some treatment, Pulisic did finish out the half but was replaced by Aaronson at the start of the second half. Technically, I suppose Dest's pass was a "hospital ball" because that's where Pulisic ended up, though the phrase is usually only applied to terrible passes.
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| Left in the Dest: Iran spend much of the night chasing him Showkat Shafi/Al Jazeera |
The tally for the group stage was one win and two draws. Light on goals scored (2), but very stingy on goals allowed (1 - and that was a PK so there were no goals allowed from the run of play).
Group C - Poland Had A Yellow Card to Give
In some ways, this was the craziest of the eight groups. At one point, second place in the group belonged to Poland because they had two fewer yellow cards than Mexico. Stuart Holden reminded us that his mother said "it doesn't cost you anything to be nice" and later that "Poland had a yellow card to give." For Poland, this slim advantage, meant that even as they were losing to Argentina, they did not need to gamble for a goal. For Mexico it was the opposite, despite a 2-0 lead, they needed a third goal to advance. In the end, Saudi Arabia put one away in stoppage time so Poland advanced based on a superior goal differential. Argentina, despite losing the opener, won the group.
Group D - This Could Have Been A Real Mess
France were already in but Denmark and Australia had all to play for. The Aussies had a slight advantage in that they could advance with a draw as long as France beat Tunisia. Oops. Australia did take a 1-0 lead in the 60th minute. which was fortunate for them because Tunisia were up 1-0 on France, who had kept many first teamers on the bench. So it was critical for the Aussies to hold that lead until the final whistle, which they did.
Which also saved officials from what would have been an ugly situation. In the 98th minute of the France Tunisia match Griezmann scored to level things for France. Play was restarted and within seconds, referee Matthew Conger blew the whistle for full time. He then got the message from the VAR that he needed to check Griezmann's goal for offside. You can see the play here (should open to the correct time). In Conger's judgment, the Tunisian defender's touch on the ball did not constitute a "deliberate play" and therefore Griezmann was offside on the original cross into the box. If the referee had determined it was a deliberate play, then it wouldn't be offside. We can debate that part of the call; for me, that sure looks deliberate but at least we are in the interpretative part of the problem. The much bigger issue is that you can't go to VAR after play has been restarted (except in very limited circumstances like mistaken identity or violent conduct). Not a subjective call that one. The review should not have happened. Note that it wasn't because the final whistle had blown but because play had been restarted. Good explanation from ESPN here.
In the end, it made no difference because Australia hung onto their slim lead. If they had given up the tying goal, then Tunisia would have advanced based on a better goal differential. Except, of course, France - Tunisia match should have ended in a draw. Can you imagine the outrage if Australia had been eliminated? Interestingly, though "it all worked out," France have still appealed to FIFA. Good luck with that.
Group E - What About the Transitive Property?
You know, if A beats B and B beats C, then A should beat C. Not in this group. Costa Rica beat Japan, Spain beat Costa Rica so Spain should beat Japan. Nope. Japan beat Germany, Germany beat Costa Rica, Japan should beat Costa Rica. Again, nope. And so on. At halftime on Thursday, Spain and Germany had one goal leads over Japan and Costa Rica respectively and were advancing out of Group E. Japan scored twice and now it's Spain and Japan advancing. Costa Rica score twice and for three minutes and it's Japan and Costa Rica. Germany levelled, then added couple more and it was back to Spain and Japan. But a goal from Spain in the closing minutes would have turned it back to Spain and Germany. Just nuts.
Group F - Long in the Tooth
long in the tooth
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| Belgium's long run may be over without a trophy |
Group G - Keep Your Shirt On
In the end it didn't matter but it could have. Vincent Aboubakar scored a goal in second half stoppage time, allowing Cameroon to steal a 1-0 win over Brazil, who had already clinched a spot in the knockout stage. He took off his jersey in celebration. As you know, that's an automatic yellow card. Problem was he'd been booked earlier so he was sent off for his second yellow. Meanwhile, Switzerland held on to for 3-2 win over Serbia in an entertaining, if testy, match, which got them second in the group. But, a late levelling goal by Serbia would have left Switzerland and Cameroon tied on points, goal differential, goals scored and goals allowed. The deciding tiebreaker would have been Switzerland's win over Cameroon in match one of the group stage. But Aboubaker is lucky. If it had gone to Fair Play Points, his strip tease act would have been the difference and Switzerland would have advanced. Seeing a yellow for shirt removal is common but not sure I've seen it happen for a second yellow and sending off.
Group H - Another Late Reversal of Fortune
Uruguay held a 2-0 lead over Ghana and looked headed for the second spot behind Portugal, who were locked at 1-1 with South Korea. Then, Son made a lung-busting run in stoppage time and sent a perfectly timed pass to Hwang, who scored the game winner for South Korea. You can see the play here; yeah, I know he got a yellow for taking his jersey off but he hadn't already been booked. You could see the disappointment on the Uruguay bench when they got the word that they needed another goal that wasn't forthcoming. Cruel reversal of fortune. Hmmm, the three countries (France, Brazil, Portugal) who came into match three with a spot already clinched all lost.
Christian Dating Services
Doesn't mean what some people think it might mean.
Electric Balls
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| These balls don't charge themselves |
Knockout Participants by Continent
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| Hopefully we do not see a lot of this from Gakpo |
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