By Lewie Tilley
Welcome back to my series of World Cup round-ups with more drama, record-breaking moments and upsets. As the group stages begin to come to a close as some teams secure qualification and some are sent packing, who will take their chances and advance to the illustrious knockout rounds.
Co-hosts on fire
After the first week, surely it couldn’t get much better for Javier Aguirre’s Mexico after their opening win. Against a tough South Korea side, it could well have been a reality check with the Koreans also winning their opening fixture. However, the Mexicans stood firm and secure their qualification thanks to Luis Romo’s quick thinking to prod the ball home from a dropped cross from goalkeeper Seung-Gyu Kim.
After a slightly disappointing draw for the Canadians last week, it was complete bedlam for the side looking to claim their first ever win in the World Cup finals. For former Leeds United manager, Jesse Marsch, their 6-0 win against Qatar was a massive boost. Their prolific talisman Jonathon David was on-form once again, bagging a brilliant hat-trick as Nathan Saliba, an own-goal and another World Cup goal for Cyle Larkin topped off a spectacular showing.
However, there was one sour note as Ismael Kone’s tournament came to a hugely unfortunate end as he had to leave the pitch due to a suspected broken leg, which was later proved official. A real disappointment after his promising start to the tournament.
The perfect showing for the co-hosts was completed by the USA, who also secured their knockout place with an impressive 2-0 win against Australia in Seattle. A much tighter game than their opener against Paraguay proven their quality in the right areas with an own-goal by Swansea man Cameron Burgess prior to Alex Freeman’s header sealing the deal. Mauricio Pochettino’s side are all but likely to top their group now with only Turkey to play, meaning they could take on a third place qualifier in the first round of the knockouts, a massive boost for them.
The worst possible start…
It was a horror start for Steve Clarke and Scotland against Morocco, who took the lead after only 70 seconds when Ismael Saibari came up with another moment of magic. Poised for the get-go, the Moroccan star Brahim Diaz clipped a ball in behind for the striker, who had space after Grant Hanley had timed the offside trap wrong. The Bayern Munich target made no mistake of breaking the deadlock early with a wonderful volley into the top corner. It was a very poor attacking effort from Scotland, who couldn’t manage a shot to trouble Yasmine Bounou in the Moroccan goal, but they will feel they should have had two penalties, when John McGinn and Scott McTominay were challenged desperately in the box.
Scotland will now have a massive task of taking away from their final fixture against a Brazil side full of talent and beginning to click in all areas of the pitch after their much more convincing 3-0 win vs Haiti. Vinicius Junior will be a massive factor in that game and will be tough to stop, but will McTominay be able to come up with the goods for Scotland once again?
Top sides proving their worth
It was a Saturday to remember for each of Brazil, the Netherlands and Germany, who all picked up big wins in their respective groups. After their draw against Morocco in the first game, a win for Brazil would be ideal in their search to top the group. Coming up against a Haiti side on paper would be a walk in the park for them and so it was. Two goals from Manchester United attacker Matheus Cunha followed by Vinicius Jr topped off a brilliant free-flowing win after many doubted their team against Morocco.
And the same could be said for the Netherlands after their draw against Japan gave some doubts to their chances. But they were quickly withdrawn after a massive 5-1 win against Sweden, who managed the same result in their opening win against Tunisia. It was a great showing for the Premier League with all six goals coming from the leagues players. A brace from Sunderland’s Brian Brobbey and Liverpool’s Cody Gakpo gave the Dutch a big lead as Newcastle’s Anthony Elanga pulled one back for Sweden. But it was recently relegated West Ham United winger, Crysencio Summerville, who put the game to bed when his effort found the bottom left corner for a five star showing for Ronald Koeman.
Julian Nagelsmann’s Germany secured their place in the round of 32 with a brilliant comeback victory against potential tournament dark horses Ivory Coast. A stroke of future genius from Nagelsmann as second-half substitute Denis Undav took the most of his chance bagging a brace. Fellow substitute Nadiem Amiri whipped a delicious ball for Undav to attack and score in the box, something the Germans struggled to successfully manage throughout. That was before another magical moment gave the Germans a crucial win as Felix Nmecha, who has been a shining light in midfield, threaded a wonderful ball to Undav, who made no mistake in giving Yahia Fofana no chance in the 94th minute.
One of the pre-tournament favourites, Spain, who found themselves on the wrong side of history last week, put their campaign back on track with an emphatic win against Saudi Arabia. An impressive first 25 minutes for the Spaniards found themselves 3-0 up as Mikel Oyarzabal scored twice before the big moment finally came as Lamine Yamal scored his first ever World Cup goal. The match ended with Spain adding another as Saudi Arabia defender Hassan Al Tambakti turned into his own net. Back on track for Spain, but can they continue their push with a crunch match against Uruguay in the final week to top the group?
Debutants making headlines again
Another week, another first for Curacao who managed their first ever point in the World Cup as they managed a 0-0 draw vs Ecuador. The country with a population similar to that of Oxford will have Eloy Room to thank, who put in a magnificent performance in goal to keep the scores level. The Miami FC goalkeeper made a near record breaking 15 saves in the game, preventing Ecuador from scoring despite having 27 shots at the Curacao goal, generating six big chances. A truly remarkable showing from the World Cup debutants.
As for Cape Verde, it was another week to remember as they also picked up another point, this time against Uruguay. However, this one will be even more special for the smallest country in the tournament as they managed to score two wonderful goals that will go down in country folklore, even holding the lead for twenty minutes as Kevin Pina thundered a free-kick from miles out before Helio Varela pounced on poor defending at the back from Uruguay to bring the scores level in the second half. With two points from a possible six so far, 56-year-old Bubista and Cape Verde could well find themselves in the round of 32 with a win or even draw against Saudi Arabia, and after their two performances so far, I would more than give them a chance at going on to qualify.
Mbappe vs Messi 2
The battle of Messi and Mbappe looks like it will have a sequel in this World Cup as the two proved themselves as ultimate players once again this week. Messi was pivotal in Argentina’s 2-0 win vs Austria, scoring two goals that would go on to make him the highest World Cup goalscorer ever, breaking Miroslav Klose’s record of 16 goals. However, it could have been back to back hat-tricks for the magician, who missed a penalty in the early stages of the game, but I’m sure he’ll be let off after scoring two later on.
So, over to you Kylian Mbappe. Well, the French superstar came up with the goods for Didier Deschamps once again as a wonderful outside the box finish and tap in goal for Mbappe took his tally in the World Cup up to 16, meaning he could go on to break Lionel Messi’s most recent record within this tournament. Aside from Mbappe, it was Ousmane Dembele who finally got out of hos slump for France, scoring his first goal in 20 games at a major international tournament. The French will still need to beat Norway in the final game of the group stages and will feel confident going into it as favourites. But the Norwegians will be no push over, as they too have won both their games so far scoring seven goals in two matches, a brilliant start to their World Cup. Can the French defence be the first to halt to Erling Haaland storm?
Portugal kicking on and the new ‘dark horses’
The final day of fixtures saw both Portugal, England and Norway take to the stage, with each team looking to secure qualification early. Portugal opted to keep Ronaldo in the starting eleven after a disappointing performance against DR Congo, where he didn’t manage a shot on target. However, he sure made up for this time around, scoring twice in a 5-0 win with the Portuguese 3-0 up at half time. With Colombia their final game in the group stages, a win would give them a huge boost in confidence going into the knockout rounds, as the Uzbekistan side were clearly no competition and were distinctly second best throughout.
The competition’s best candidates for the ‘dark horse’ tagline, Norway, were at it again with another good win against Senegal. The Norwegian’s kept up their run of scoring three or more goals with Manchester City superstar Erling Haaland adding another two goals to his tally in his debut World Cup. For them, the knockout round awaits, but a tough fixture against France is still to come, a great fixture on paper with the Norwegians looking to cause another shock and top the group.
Frustration in Foxborough
Thomas Tuchel’s England side were held to a 0-0 draw against Ghana, who were absolutely magnificent defensively throughout and deserved something from the game. However, for the millions watching from home for England, it was a massive reality check and their poor run of drawing second games of tournaments continues. Most notably, Harry Kane missed a golden opportunity to take the win with a volleyed effort in the 86th minute, which he agonisingly blazed over the bar with the goal at his mercy. For England, a win against Panama would almost certainly give them the group winners status, but this was a massive setback for them and one that will not be forgotten if the result against Panama isn’t much much better.
Although for the Ghanaians, it was a brilliant point and puts them in the same position as England on four points. It was a defensive masterclass, and a point that was deserved from it, Marvin Senaya, who successfully kept £80million man Anthony Gordon at bay, and Gideon Mensah, who managed 16 defensive contributions, were at the heart of a classic performance from the Black Stars.
How can England improve and ensure a win against Panama?
Player of the Week: Week 2
Player of the week: Eloy Room
A special performance gave one of the smallest ever countries to compete in the tournament a historic point in the World Cup. The goalkeeper made 15 saves in this game, preventing an expected goals statistic of 2.3 as Ecuador could not get past him. The record for most saves in a game at the World Cup without extra time is 15, so for Room, it was a goalkeeping masterclass and one that will not be forgotten any time soon. Yet another sensational story for Curacao in their first tournament ever.
As the round of 32 begins to set itself, which teams will take their chances and go one step further, writing their names in history and which will be sent packing, returning with their heads held high?
One more week of the group stages, then the main event gets under way, that’s all for this week, see you next week…
Lewie Tilley Sports News 
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