World Cup 2022 (Group Stages Review)
Group A
In group A, we have witnessed the worst performing host nation in World Cup history. Despite the money pumped into football ahead of the tournament, Qatar failed to put up a fight in any of their group games, losing all 3, and only managing 1 goal. Losing every game by 2 goals, they had little to show for their efforts, and looking in an unbiased perspective, they should never have been in the tournament.
Ecuador looked lively in the opener as they got the tournament underway with a big showing from their captain Enner Valencia. Winning the opener comfortably, and then even hanging on for a draw with the Netherlands, qualification was in their hands, however in their final group game, they couldn’t hold on to the draw which would have seen them going through.
Senegal’s headlines prior to the tournament had been all about Sadio Mane. The AFCON champions struggled against the Netherlands to start their campaign off poorly. A confident 3-1 victory over Qatar helped the alleviate the growing pressure and set them up for a final ‘crunch’ game with Ecuador. They needed big names to step up, and they certainly did, as Sarr and Koulibaly got their crucial goals.
Louis van Gaal will want to put up a great showing as he has in previous efforts with his Dutch sides. This generation does have some huge talents in the squad, however they are missing a finished of supreme quality to get them to the top-tier bracket. Memphis could do that, however he has started 2 of the 3 group games from the bench, and failed to score thus far. Instead, Cody Gakpo has taken the plaudits, netting 3 in 3, earning crucial wins over Senegal and Qatar and also securing the draw with Ecuador which saw the Netherlands top Group A.
Final Standings:
1. Netherlands
2. Senegal
3. Ecuador
4. Qatar
Group B
Group B of course had the spotlight firmly placed upon it in the UK, as Wales and England were battling it out with Iran and the USA for the top 2 spots. England truly impressed in their huge opener with a 6-2 win over Iran. Although many felt like it could have been even more, it was a remarkable start to the tournament. This excitement soon dampened with a 0-0 bore draw against the US. which had many questioning how a side could go from such dominance in the first game to the attacking struggles of the second. Things became balanced in the 3rd, as they comfortably beat Wales 3-0 to secure top spot and move onto Senegal in the knockout rounds.
Wales had a different experience. although just happy enough to be there, their opening draw with the US made some feel like they could go further, until the late loss to Iran pulled the plug on that and essentially saw them home, with only the England loss to put the final nail in the coffin. Perhaps this is the final tournament for Bale, but we will see this Wales side at big tournaments again very soon.
The USA and Iran sides took their fate to the final game as the two sides came face to face. The US wanting to live up to the hype around their young and exciting squad, Iran fuelled by the issues at home appeared to defy many expectations and qualify from this tough group, however it was the US’ star man Pulisic who scraped his nation through to the knockout stages where a tough encounter with the Netherlands was their prize.
Final Standings:
1. England
2. USA
3. Iran
4. Wales
Group C
Group C contained arguably one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history, as Saudi Arabia went in 1-0 down at half-time of their first game against favourites for the whole tournament Argentina, only to turn the game on it’s head in the second-half to claim a momentous 2-1 victory. This left Argentina, and the whole footballing world stunned, as Messi and co were forced to battle through their remaining games to even just qualify out of their group. They did manage to win their remaining fixtures, despite facing struggles at points, and Argentina topped the group.
For Saudi Arabia, they couldn’t capitalise on this historic win, and despite being a tricky opponent for Mexico and Poland, they couldn’t claim any further results that would keep them in contention, but I doubt they’ll mind too much, as that win over Argentina will go down in the history books and World Cup folklore.
Mexico and Poland both failed to wow and their fate came down to goal difference, as Mexico conceded a late goal against Saudi Arabia which meant their goal difference was 1 less than Poland’s, and we were denied seeing a team qualify through the fair play ruling which would have been highly controversial. Nevertheless, Poland went through, Lewandowski finally got his World Cup goal and went on to face a huge challenge in the form of France in the next round.
Final Standings:
1. Argentina
2. Poland
3. Mexico
4. Saudi Arabia
Group D
Group D saw reigning champions France come up against many people’s dark horses Denmark, Tunisia and Australia. As happened throughout this tournament, there were some big shocks, surprises and disappointments as unlikely qualifiers Australia overcame the odds to finish second, France were hugely impressive once again as they won their first 2 before making changes for the final game in which Tunisia picked up a famous victory. Meanwhile, Denmark were largely disappointing as they failed to build on their Euro 2020 success, finishing 4th in their group with only a 0-0 draw with Tunisia to brag about.
This group had been one that aside from France had been unexpected, as Australia played with such belief as they edged past Denmark and Tunisia and even opened the scoring against France in their opener, until the reigning World champions came back into it. Although not packed with goals and excitement (with 3 1-0 results and a 0-O draw), it was a case of the underdogs overperforming, as Graham Arnold got his side to play with belief, and we saw from the great pictures from Australia, that the country really got behind the team.
France will have gotten through this group feeling fairly unchallenged, but with 2/3 of the same opposition they faced in their 2018 group, they will have been hoping for a repeat of history in more ways than one
Final Standings:
1. France
2. Australia
3. Tunisia
4. Denmark
Group E
Group E saw probably the most exciting group in the whole tournament, as qualification went down to the last game, and change completely all the way throughout. Spain and Germany will have felt confident in getting past Japan and Costa Rica, however with Japan recording famous results against Spain and Germany, they topped the ‘group of death’. Costa Rica nearly produced some shocks, however they were overrun by the favourites.
Germany have had another tournament to remember, and since their success in 2014, they are in dire need of a reset on their national setup. As it’s normally England on the wrong end of these matchups, we had better make sure we make the most of these disappointments before they return to their usual winning ways.
With a shootout between Spain and Germany coming down to goal difference, the huge opening 7-0 win over Costa Rica made the difference in the long-run, and could serve as a lesson to the top teams in future tournaments.
Final Standings:
1. Japan
2. Spain
3. Germany
4. Costa Rica
Group F
Group F saw Belgium’s ‘golden generation’ play out their likely final tournament as a side as they once again crashed and burned as they failed to qualify ahead of Morocco and Croatia, who both played out a hugely impressive run in the tournament.
With Canada providing hopes of some underdog results, they failed in the end to pick up any points, although put in a decent shift but just couldn’t get the most out of their star names. Belgium also hugely disappointed, with a fortunate win in their opener against Canada when they really had been outplayed, they couldn’t follow up on this as they lost to Morocco and drew with Croatia to settle into 3rd spot.
Croatia did the job as they have so often in recent tournaments, playing out 2 0-0 draws and a dominant win over Canada, and looked like they could repeat the successful run of the 2018 edition. Morocco were certainly the stand-outs from the group, as they drew with Croatia in the opener, then upped their game from there with wins over Belgium and Canada. In a massively successful run in the tournament, they certainly became a fan-favourite for their efforts
Final Standings:
1. Morocco
2. Croatia
3. Belgium
4. Canada
Group G
Group G saw many people’s favourites for the whole tournament, Brazil, arrive in the tournament as they cruised to their 2 opening wins before resting and rotating their side for the final game against Cameroon, setting up a famous win for the African side with Vincent Aboubakar going out of the tournament in style, receiving a red card for his celebration after bagging the winner. The rest of the group was heavily contested, with Switzerland overcoming Serbia in the closing group game to secure 2nd spot while Cameroon settled for 3rd and Serbia in 4th.
Final Standings:
1. Brazil
2. Switzerland
3. Cameroon
4. Serbia
Group H
Group H saw some hard fought matches as Portugal, South Korea, Uruguay and Ghana battled it out in one of the closest to call groups of the tournament. With Ronaldo’s last dance driving Portugal to victory, they secured top spot, while Ghana took revenge on Uruguay on the last day as despite going 2-0 down, South Korea did enough in their final game to secure 2nd spot.
Final Standings:
1. Portugal
2. South Korea
3. Uruguay
4. Ghana