The draw for the groups was conducted today. Group A Chile, Croatia, Nigeria, United States Group B England, Guinea, Brazil, South Korea Group C Australia, Germany, Mexico, Argentina Group D Belgium, Mali, Honduras, Ecuador Group E South Africa, Costa Rica, North Korea, Russia Group F New Zealand, France, Syria, Paraguay
Just realized this was starting today... in about 15 minutes if I'm not mistaken! Good memories attending the final 2 years ago in Abu Dhabi.... And we (USA) are playing holders Nigeria in the opener. Ps, hosts and holders not separated in the draw?
Opening day fixtures: Group A: Chile 1-1 Croatia Nigeria 2-0 USA Group B: South Korea 1-0 Brazil Guinea 1-1 England Nigeria looking strong as always and a great result for South Korea! USA's terrible week continues....
Today's final scores: Australia 1:4 Germany Belgium 0:0 Mali Mexico 2:0 Argentina Honduras 1:3 Ecuador
Mali completely owned Belgium, outshooting them 26-2. But Mali's finishing was horrid Should have been 3 or 4 goals.
That game was shockingly one-sided.... To be honest they did score a goal, but the referee was a bit to stringent with applying the offside rule.
Korea continues to impress folks, securing its spot at the knock-out stage just in first two ties. Another late match-winning goal boosted the Koreans over Guinea 1-0.
Argentina has terrible coaching, what a disappointment with all that talent. The player seem to give up easy.
Is there so much talent? They were lucky to qualify to begin with. Bad crop of youngsters happen sometimes.
I wish all South American teams are eliminated in first stage. None of them supported Uruguay in its complaint against Ecuador, who qualified for this World Cup with half a dozen players over 17 years old.
I've seen both of their games, IMO they lack discipline ,tactical awareness. There is no doubt about their technical skills as individuals, Thats what's sad to see these kids are good players without much coaching support.
Very poor tournament so far by South America. 6 losses, 1 draw and 3 wins. Guess it could be worse, but not looking good. So far the most impressive teams have been Nigeria, France and Germany. I would also normally add Mali to the list but there finishing has been abysmal - almost 50 shots on goal and just 2 goals? Those 4 teams seem be on an entirely different level though and it looks like the title should be decided between them.
Group B is the first group finished: Brazil 3-1 Guinea South Korea 0-0 England So Brazil qualify for the next round, but South Korea hold out to win the group and avoid Nigeria's bracket. There's the potential of Nigeria vs. Brazil in the quarterfinals. Guinea become the first team eliminated, but England still could qualify as a third placed team. Actually the England draw was a bad result for my USA, as should we draw with Chile that's one team we couldn't get third over. Tbh tough, I'm not even keeping my hopes up for that even after watching the Croatian team bombard our goal in the 2nd half as if it was Mostar Bridge... Anyhoo, South Korea, Brazil, and Nigeria officially through... Guinea the first team to be officially eliminated....
Looks like 4 of 5 South American will advance to next round. Chile, Brazil, and Ecuador already in. Arg out. Would take a miracle for Paraguay not to advance. While most are not impressing, they are getting the job done. I would now add Mexico and Paraguay to the impressive teams, both showed their worth against France and Germany respectively.
They looked pretty mediocre against Australia, but their win against Germany today has definitely brought them into the spotlight. England has a high chance of progressing despite only 2 points. That is if all the expected results occur tomorrow, but it can be expected that either North Korea or South Africa will scrape through ahead of England. Neither Syria nor New Zealand are capable of winning their last game, so its safe to count them out. As it stands these should be the brackets: Germany vs Croatia Mali vs South Africa / North Korea or England South Korea vs Belgium France vs Russia --- Costa Rice vs Paraguay Mexico vs Chile Brasil vs Paraguay Nigeria vs Australia One half with possibly all 6 European teams plus South Korea and Mali. The other half all-American plus Australia and Nigeria.
Croatia's win vs Nigeria in a very tough group shows they are pretty strong as well. Brasil vs Nigeria in the 1/4 final would normally be a superb matchup, but this Brasil team is way off the quality they have prepared is for. Lets not exaggerate about Paraguay. They have a very easy group and despite a nice game vs the French I'm not sold on them. Mexico looks like they will struggle against physical sides, but their bracket looks very winnable. That is until the semis with Nigeria probably en route. --- One more thing: The bracket with Mali, Croatia and Germany brings together the three most physical teams...
Yes, I meant to add Croatia, but it slipped my mind while typing. Both France and Paraguay dominated their minnow in the first game and basically played each other even in the second game. Anything said about Paraguay at this point would apply to France also based on the games they have each played. Not knocking France, just think that Paraguay is only at most a smidge behind France and Germany at this point. I have not looked at the bracket, but I think the commentary during the match said Mexico would have gotten Croatia had Mexico finished second. Avoiding such a large talented team really helps them. They did hold up pretty well against Germany, but Nigeria and Mali could be too much with their extra speed. Mexico did a good job of not letting Germany get behind them.
I know that folks rate Paraguay but surely they don't deserve 2 spots in the R-16. I think you meant that Ecuador will play against Costa Rica (though I'm not sure if they will top their group ahead of Russia.)
Well... now that was unexpected... New Zealand beat Paraguay. Now Paraguay has to wait whether they qualify as third best team... England has been eliminated. Brackets are now: Germany vs Croatia Mali vs 3 E or F South Korea vs Belgium France vs Russia (?) --- Costa Rica (?) vs Ecuador Mexico vs Chile Brasil vs New Zealand Nigeria vs Australia
If South Africa beats Russia by any margin they will advance. If North Korea beats Costa Rica by 2 goals (or more), they will advance; if by 1 goal, they will also advance as long as S. Africa fails to beat Russia.