Paraguay's coach really screwed the pooch. He started a lot of bench players (including probably the worst goalie in the tournament) and they had not yet qualified for the second round. If they do manage to advance now, they get Mali instead of Brazil. Brazil must be smiling to get NZ instead of Paraguay.
There is also the issue of by how much Russia or Costa Rica lose. If South Africa beat Russia by a large margin then North Korea may also progress.
Yes assuming North Korea beats Costa Rica. And NK will automatically advance (regardless of what happens with Russia/SA match) if they beat Costa by 2 goals (or more).
Hmm so I see the winner of Ro16 games Brazil vs. New Zealand + Nigeria vs Australia play each other... so... I guess we're going to have an Anzac quarterfinal to got with the rugby world cup final!
Ends up: Germany vs Croatia Mali vs Paraguay South Korea vs Belgium France vs Costa Rica --- Russia vs Ecuador Mexico vs Chile Brasil vs New Zealand Nigeria vs Australia
Nope, North Korea got in winner in added time, which eliminated Paraguay. The Paraguay coach should be fired immediately for playing his reserves before they had qualified and thus eliminating his team. The Costa Rican goalie has now cost his team 4 points in the last two games, by giving up identical rebounds on identical shots he should have either caught or pushed out of bounds.
Spoke too soon!!! Germany vs Croatia Mali vs North Korea South Korea vs Belgium France vs Costa Rica --- Russia vs Ecuador Mexico vs Chile Brasil vs New Zealand Nigeria vs Australia North Korea vs South Korea semi-final is a given!!!
Pretty even performance of the confederations. CAF - Two group winners, but also two teams who ended dead last. Nigeria and Mali look like favorites to win the whole thing, though. AFC - One group winner, two thirds and one team dead last. It was pretty close for North Korea and Australia, and I do not think they will proceed any further. South Korea looked pretty good and can reach the quarterfinals. CONCACAF - One group winner, one second, two dead last. Mexico are really good in this age group and I think they are among the favorites. CONMEBOL - A little bit disappointing. No group winners, two second, two third, one dead last. Only three teams advanced. But one should never count out the Brazilians, so I still count them among the favorites to win it. New Zealand - They managed to finish second after their heavy defeat on MD1, but I think it will be over in the Ro16 UEFA - Two group winners, two second, two thirds. 5 teams proceeded to the next round. France looked impressive (and already were at the EUROs), Germany and Croatia were pretty good, Belgium still dont know how they got the point against Mali and Russia won an incredibly easy group not very convincingly. England had a difficult group but also at the same time did not play that well. My predictions for the semifinals: Mali (will be tough against Cro/Ger, though) France Mexico Nigeria (will be tough against most likely Brazil in the quarters, though)
In hindsight ROTFL at the Paraguay hype... Pretty uneven brackts. The first bracket has three title contenders in Mali, Croatia and Germany. The second bracket will likely be all about France. The third bracket is mid-range with Mexico the slight standout and Chile not to be underestimated as the host nation. The fourth bracket is weak again and should be Nigeria's, but maybe Brasil will make a comeback?
Mexico does have the most accessible quarter of the draw. I think their best chance if they get to the semis is for Brazil to defeat Nigeria before then. For whatever reason, Mexico has had amazing success against Brazil in the last 10-15 years. Nigeria's size and speed was way too much for them 2 years ago. Though this Mexico looks better than that one and this Nigeria is not as good as two years ago. I was impressed with how Mexico played Germany. But Germany was not as big as I had expected. I could see Croatia being a contender if they keep up the level they showed against Nigeria.
Brazil - New Zealand 1:0 Mexico - Chile 4:1 Nigeria - Australia 6:0 South Korea - Belgium 0:2 Mostly expected results, although I didn't expect Nigeria to score that many goals. Also Belgium had an easier time than I thought, even after being reduced to ten men. Grats to their goalkeeper for saving the penalty. Brazil really wasted their chances and even needed New Zealand to miss a penalty. They need to improve their finishing if they want to stand a chance against Nigeria. Mexico with another nice display. It's always difficult to beat the hosts, especially in such a convincing manner.
Croatia - Germany 2:0 Mali - North Korea 3:0 Croatia bunkered the hell out of Germany, but did so rather comfortably. The 2:0 win is very flattering though. Mexico, Mali and Nigeria remain the standouts. France will likely join the four favorites.... We have two very intriguing 1/4 finals already lining up: Mali vs Croatia - Can Croatia do the same that they did to Nigeria? No team so far has managed to impose their game on Mali (Belgium, Ecuador, Honduras, North Korea) and the only thing keeping Mali from massive wins is their finishing. Croatia will probably attempt a repeat of the Nigeria tactics, but I think they'll find out that Mali won't let them off so easily. Still should be a very close game... Brasil - Nigeria - Normally at any U17 World Cup this would be a dream final. Nigeria is no doubt a strong side, even if not at the level of the 2013 squad. But Brasil... What is wrong with them? They seriously need to up their game, or they will lose. And honestly I wouldn't be surprised if Nigeria mobilizes Brasil to play much better football. They hate to be overshadowed in pure talent...
Oh... And I think its safe to say that Victor Osimhen will be bringing home the Golden Boot. 7 goals already with his nearest closest rival Egglesten with 4 goals already out of the competition... His closest rival still in competition is Samuel Chukwueze with 3 goals.
Ecuador vs Mexico is a somewhat surprising turn of events. Did expect Russia to progress... Now France at risk of not making it through and Costa Rica taking them to penalties...
And France are out!!! That means the three most impressive European teams in the group stage all stumble. Mali vs Croatia (winner to make the final) Costa Rica vs Belgium (winner should be 1/2 final fodder) Mexico vs Ecuador Brasil vs Nigeria (two deceptively tough games with Mexico and Nigera hot favorites, but the South Americans could surprise) Asia lose all their teams. 2 CAF, 2 CONMEBOL, 2 UEFA, 2 CONCACAF As I see it - chances of winning the whole thing: 1. Nigeria 2. Mali 3. Mexico 4. Croatia 5. Brasil 6. Ecuador 7. Costa Rica 8. Belgium
Croatia looks good, but I expected better performances as it's made up of only Dinamo Zagreb players - they play each weekend together, they should be smashing their opponents. Only thing that is problem there is back line, they are not challenged in domestic league so they are in problems against stronger oppostion. I expect goals against Mali, let's say 3-2, 3-3 or somethin like that.
Mali backline has been relatively firm. They have only conceeded 1 goals and that was from a penalty. They have only allowed 32 shots on goal against them (an avergae of 8 per game) while shooting 92 themselves. Mali's finishing is atrocious but I see no rational reason why the best defence of the tournament would suddenly ship 3 goals... Its not impossible, but Mali has dominated in defence and in midfield.
Nigeria wins a very even game with Brazil 3-0. I expected them to be more dominant. Brazil missed some decent chances, then Nigeria scored 3 quick goals on deflected shot, a fortunate miskick into the ground that bounced into top corner of the goal, and hard low shot from outside the box that went right through the goalie's hands.
That's the way the ball bounce sometimes. After those three goals Brazil looked deflated. Brazil couldn't muster any serious effort at scoring and the game appeared over after 60 minutes. Nigeria's only blight is the midfielder Bamgboye missing the semis due to a second yellow.
Brasil started better, but the series of goals meant it was game over. Very mature second half by Nigeria, who basically shut shop. But had Brasil finished one of those cahnces we would have had a different ball-game. Osimhen was a monster.
Surprisingly easy game for Mali, even if they were a bit jittery by the end, only leading 1:0. Croatia failed to test the keeper even once, which reminded me of the Belgium game. Mali dominant in the air, on the ground, physically, speedwise, technically... The only thing keeping Mali down is their finishing, which is inferior to that of Nigeria (BTW Anyone remember the Mali U20 side? The exact opposite - sublime finishing). The situation from extra time, where they failed to score into a wide open goal... Mali progress 1:0 after a single goal. Looks like an all-African final is on the cards, only Mexico can cause an upset. The rest just simply isn't good enough.
Poor performance by Dinamo Zagreb U17. Congrats to Mali, great team, hope to see them do well in senior categories, I am already sick of Cameroons and Cote dIvoires going to the WC and doing nothing.