By Lewie Tilley
The first-ever round of 32: A great addition?
When the World Cup was announced to have an additional 16 teams, taking the number from 32 to 48, there was scepticism about the ability of the smaller, less well-known countries and how they would be able to compete with the big teams. From what we have seen in this year’s round of 32, anyone can keep up with any team on their day.
The first instalment of this round of fixtures saw the co-hosts Canada take on South Africa, who took on another co-host in Mexico in the opening fixture. However, this time around there was a much better performance from the South Africans, but it wasn’t enough to see them through to the round of 16. A late winner from Stephen Eustaquio sparked delirium throughout the Los Angeles Stadium as Canada made history once again, setting up another monster task against one of Africa’s best sides in Morocco.
A big upset as European giants eliminated
One of the biggest shocks of the tournament so far came in just the third game of the round of fixtures: Paraguay beat Germany on penalties. A first-half goal from former Brighton attacker Julian Enciso saw the South American side in the lead at half-time. However, their lead wouldn’t last long, as the Germans equalised ten minutes into the second half as Kai Havertz headed past Orlando Gill to level it up.
The Germans dominated the rest of the proceedings but couldn’t get through the Paraguayan defence in 90 minutes, and extra-time was no different. Extra time told the same story as Paraguay didn’t manage a single shot throughout the half an hour, a showing of great defence as they made it through to penalties. Although it was the Germans who felt hard done by as Jonathan Tah’s late header was chalked out by VAR for a controversial foul in the box.
So, penalties it was, and could the underdogs cause a huge upset? Yes, they did.
Gill was at the heart of the underdog story, saving penalties from both Havertz and Nick Woltemade before Tah had another moment of drama as he blazed his penalty over the bar. Manuel Neuer did his best to spare the blushes of his teammates, saving a penalty that gave the Germans a lifeline. It was Paraguay who would go on to steal the spotlight as Jose Canale finished emphatically, sending Neuer the wrong way to make history for Paraguay.
World Cup contenders march on to round of 16.
Brazil took on an impressive Japan side in their round of 32 fixture, a team praised for their organisation throughout the group stages. The Japanese would go on to take the lead within the first 30 minutes, beating Alisson from distance following a fast break that would see them take the lead.
It took Brazil just ten minutes into the second half as Casemiro added another goal to his stellar goal-scoring season with another header from inside the box, something we’ve seen on multiple occasions this season. The Brazilians took a dramatic lead in the 95th minute to break Japanese hearts as Gabriel Martinelli just managed to slot it past Zion Suzuki, who could only save onto the post and into the net. They would go on to take on dark horses Norway, led by Erling Haaland, a contender for the golden boot in the tournament with five goals.
Didier Deschamps’ Les Bleus cruised through to the round of 16 with an emphatic 3-0 win over Graham Potter’s Sweden as Kylian Mbappe added another two goals to his tally either side of another goal from Bradley Barcola. Michael Olise almost scored one of the goals of the year, demonstrating an acrobatic effort from inside the box that agonisingly hit the post, a testament to his incredible talent and showing in this World Cup.
It was a very close call for Thomas Tuchel and England in Atlanta as the DR Congo almost took out one of FIFA’s top 5-ranked countries in the tournament. An early goal from a Spanish second-tier player sent shockwaves across the country as Brian Cipenga scored his first international goal, beating Jordan Pickford at the near post in the 7th minute of the match.
Before this game, England had only produced one comeback win in a World Cup match, all the way back in 1966, when they last won the tournament. So it felt like an impossible task for England to replicate their own history makers back then to make it to the round of 16. It wasn’t pretty for a long period of the game as England kept knocking on the door, but when you have a Ballon d’Or contender in Harry Kane, anything can be turned around.
However, much of the momentum swung England’s way after Anthony Gordon was brought on for Marcus Rashford on the hour mark. The new Barcelona signing proved his 80-million-pound price tag, providing two assists that would turn the game around. Kane finally managed to beat Lionel Mpasi, who denied England on multiple occasions in the first half. The striker headed into the bottom corner to give a massive sense of relief to England fans across the world, before unleashing a wonderful strike into the top of the net to complete the comeback and set up a round of 16 tie at the Azteca vs Mexico, who beat Ecuador 2-0 in their round of 32 tie with their star players, Julian Quinones and Raul Jimenez scoring again.
The last dance goes on for longer… just.
Both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo were on the scoresheet in the round of 32, helping their sides to reach the round of 16 once again. But it wasn’t an easy task for Argentina and Portugal, who were both really tested by their opponents in both matches.
For Argentina, it was a story of David and Goliath as Cape Verde almost took them to penalties in a World Cup classic that will be remembered for years to come.
Who else would it be to open the scoring apart from Lionel Messi in the 29th minute as the magician produced a wonderful touch from a Lisandro Martinez long ball before smashing it into the net from close range to make it 1-0.
Cape Verde shocked the world as they cancelled out Messi’s early goal with a goal of their own from Deroy Duarte when his low effort squeezed past Emi Martinez into the bottom corner, starting the drama that would unfold later in the game.
It was already history made for the Blue Sharks when they reached the knockout rounds; now they managed to take the reigning World Cup Champions to extra time, and what a half an hour of football it was.
Martinez, who now turned goal-scorer, rifled an effort into the roof of the net within two minutes of the restart to bring Cape Verde back down to earth, but they didn’t give up and produced one of the moments of the tournament so far, a goal that will be remembered in their country forever.
Step up Sidny Lopes Cabral…
However, it wasn’t meant to be for the smallest country in the tournament as Cristian Romero headed past Vozinha to make it 3-2 to Argentina late in the second half of extra time, a real sense of relief matched with heartbreak for Cape Verdeans. The end of the road for Bubista’s side, but what a World Cup they have had.
For Ronaldo and Portugal, it was a much tougher test on paper as they faced Croatia, who haven’t managed a win against their opponents in a competitive match in history.
It looked like the Croatians could well break their duck of wins against the Portuguese when Ivan Perisic opened the scoring early in the second half, with a low effort past Diogo Costa.
An unwanted record was finally broken by Ronaldo when he scored his first knockout round goal in the World Cup from the penalty spot to level the scores, but it wouldn’t be him who had the spotlight come the full-time whistle.
In fact, it was his replacement Goncalo Ramos who won it for Portugal in the 94th minute with a wonderful header after Rafael Leao put in a wonderful cross into the box. However, the job almost wasn’t over for Roberto Martinez’s side as Croatia looked to have equalised through Josko Gvardiol. Unfortunately for them, their goal was ruled out for the slightest of touches leading to an offside, so slight that the new technology of a snick meter had to be used to rule it out. A huge let-off for Portugal, who advance.
Player of the Week: Round of 32.
Player of the Week: Kylian Mbappe
The Real Madrid superstar was at the forefront of France’s emphatic win once again as he bagged a brace in an important fixture for Les Bleus.
If France are to go on to win the World Cup once again, you can’t help but think it will be him who will play a massive part in their victory. With six goals up to the round of 32, it’s safe to say he is on fire in the tournament and will be huge in France’s chances of winning it all once again.
That’s all for the round of 32, see you for the round of 16 as the tournament heats up even more!
Lewie Tilley Sports News 
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