The 2022 World Cup in Qatar will be remembered for many things, and one of those will be the large number of surprises it had in the group stage, where we had unexpected victories and eliminations.
World Cup Group Stage Roundup – Group A
Group A may be one where there were no surprises. The Netherlands arrived as the strongest National Team and it was, although not as much as expected. They beat Senegal (2-0) and Qatar (2-0) and tied with Ecuador (1-1), but the fans know that they need to continue improving if they aspire to be champions. In the round of 16, they will face the United States.
The other qualified was Senegal, who in the last game beat Ecuador (2-1) and snatched second place. Despite not having Sadio Mané, the Africans showed that they have more attributes and relied heavily on their order and physical power. Now they will play against England.
Ecuador, for its part, was left sad after its elimination despite playing a great game against the Netherlands, while the local team, Qatar, did not add any points and only scored 1 goal in its World Cup debut, and left a bad image after having been champion of the Asian Cup.
World Cup Group Stage Roundup – Group B
In Group B we didn’t have many emotions either after England went through without problems as first after their thrashings against Iran (6-2) and Wales (3-0). With the United States, it did not go beyond a goalless tie and in that game, the team had some shortcomings. Harry Kane still hasn’t been able to score and the youngsters are the ones who have stood up for the team on offense. They will have to battle a lot against Senegal and the Africans are very physical.
The United States achieved their spot thanks to a goal by Captain America, Christian Pulisic, in the game against Iran (1-0). The North American team has the best generation in its history and does not want to miss out on the opportunity. However, it has had problems scoring goals: they have only been able to score two. We must also highlight the team’s defense since they only conceded 1 goal and it was a penalty. They will face the Netherlands in the round of 16 and do not know if they can count on Pulisic, who is still injure.
Among those eliminated, Iran left a good feeling and fought until the end to reach the round of 16, but lost to the United States. Wales for their part was one of the great disappointments, only achieving 1 point and 1 goal by Gareth Bale from a penalty.
World Cup Group Stage Roundup – Group C
Group C was the one that began with surprises since in the first game Saudi Arabia came back to beat Argentina by 2-1. Then the ‘Albiceleste’ recovered in the following games, beating Mexico and Poland, both 2-0, thus qualifying as first in the group and improving every day. Young players like Enzo Fernández, Alexis Mac Allister, and Julián Álvarez have been the stars of the team. Lionel Messi had a good World Cup and scored 2 goals, although he also missed a penalty. They will now face Australia in the round of 16 and should advance smoothly.
The second qualified was Poland, who suffered a lot in the last game to keep their place. It was losing 2-0 with Argentina and Mexico was beating Saudi Arabia 2-0, and these two teams were equal in all tiebreaker items, so it had to go to yellow cards and the Poles had less than the Mexicans. The European team dedicated itself more than anything to not making fouls to qualify. However, Saudi Arabia scored a goal and ensured their passage. Poland advances as one of the weakest rivals in the round of 16, but they have a great scorer in Robert Lewandowski and the best goalkeeper until now in Wojciech Szczesny, who has saved 2 penalties. Their rival will be France.
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Mexico will leave Qatar by just a measly difference. However, they did not have a good World Cup, showing a very bad game against Poland and Argentina, and only remembered to attack in the last match against Saudi Arabia. They scored 2 goals, both against the Arabs, and conceded 3. The team’s best player in the tournament was its goalkeeper, Guillermo Ochoa.
Despite being last, Saudi Arabia surprised everyone in the World Cup, especially with its victory against Argentina (2-1). They were a stone in the shoe with their style of play, getting ahead of defenses a lot and playing on the counterattack.
World Cup Group Stage Roundup – Group D
France was one of the first teams to qualify thanks to their victories against Australia (4-1) and Denmark (2-1), and for that reason, they decided to put substitute players against Tunisia (0-1), a game they lost. Didier Deschamps’ team has played very well, and players like Kylian Mbappé and Antoine Griezmann are in good shape, as well as the midfield pairing of Adrien Rabiot and Aurélien Tchouaméni. To take into account that they always received a goal. Poland will be their rival in the round of 16 and we don’t think it will be hard for them.
Australia was one of the surprises of the World Cup by eliminating Denmark, beating them 1-0 in the last game, and taking second place. In addition, the Australians beat Tunisia 1-0 and lost to France 4-1, so they can say that they are effective in scoring in each of the matches, but honestly what they have shown is very poor and we don’t think they are an opponent for Argentina.
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Tunisia decently said goodbye by beating France 1-0 and drawing with Denmark (0-0), playing very good football, and until the last moment they were dreaming of qualifying, but it did not depend on themselves.
If Tunisia said goodbye with its head held high, Denmark did it with its head bowed. They drew with Tunisia (0-0) and lost to France (2-1) and Australia (1-0). They became a team that touched and touched the ball, but lacked offensive ideas and lacked a weight forward to score goals. It was one of the great disappointments of Qatar 2022 since it arrived as a Eurocup semifinalist.
World Cup Group Stage Roundup – Group E
The group of surprises. Incredibly, Japan beat Spain and Germany, both 2-1, and after starting to lose, they took first place, eliminating the Germans. The Japanese team showed order and effectiveness, although it left doubts after their defeat against Costa Rica (1-0). It can be said that they did the most difficult and failed in the easiest. However, they will be a tough rival for Croatia and it is possible, a priori, the most even match in the round of 16.
Spain had a great first game where they crushed Costa Rica (7-0), but it was only a mirage. Then Luis Enrique’s team showed the same thing in recent years: a lot of possession but no goals. It was from more to less and lost in its last game and left a bad impression ahead of the round of 16, where they will have to fight against a surprising Morocco.
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Germany is out again in the group stage of a World Cup after their disastrous Russia 2018 and it is worrying. They lost to Japan (2-1), drew with Spain (1-1), and beat Costa Rica at the end (4-2), in addition to leaving a very bad image. Among the positive things is the young Jamal Musiala (19 years old), who had very good games and is one of the stars of the future. Likewise, some players like Thomas Müller put an end to their National Team careers.
Costa Rica got off to a dismal start, losing 7-0 to Spain, but then got better. They beat Japan 1-0, although they only had one shot on goal, and against Germany, although they lost (4-2), they left a very good image in the second half and that is the image that the Costa Ricans expect the fans to remember.
World Cup Group Stage Roundup – Group F
Morocco was another of the big surprises, playing a very good group stage where they beat Belgium (2-0) and Canada (2-1), and drew with Croatia (0-0). The Africans played very good football, with great players and led by Hakim Ziyech, leaving the Belgians, current number 2 in the world, on the road. The most important thing about this team is that they are very motivated, and they will face a special rival, with whom they have many political and historical differences. Thus, they will be much more eager to go out on the field and there may be another big surprise.
Croatia alternated good games with bad games but ended up qualifying partly due to the bad offense of Belgium, who forgave them in the last game (0-0). The Croatians, current runners-up in the world, could only beat Canada (4-1), and they have many shortcomings, so it will be difficult for them against Japan, who are more organized.
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Belgium was another of the great disappointments of the World Cup, being out in the first round. The Belgians came second in the world, but that was not shown on the pitch. They beat Canada (1-0) in the first game but they played badly, then they lost to Morocco (2-0) and when they needed it most, they played well (against Croatia), but it was too late. During the tournament, they had many problems within the team and it will surely be the end of their golden generation.
Canada showed good things but it was not enough and they said goodbye without points, although Alphonso Davies scored the first goal in the history of his country in a World Cup. The North Americans added an important experience for the next World Cup, which will be at home.
World Cup Group Stage Roundup – Group G
Brazil was not the overwhelming team that was expected but they won their first two games against Serbia (2-0) and Switzerland (1-0) and qualified for the round of 16. Against Cameroon they played with substitutes and lost 1-0, conceding a goal after a long time. Tité’s team continues to be the strongest candidate for the title, but they have already realized that things are not going to be easy and that they will have to work much harder. In the round of 16, they will face an orderly South Korea and will have Neymar back, who was injured after the first game.
Switzerland gave us a great game in the last match of the group stage and beat Serbia 3-2 to qualify for the round of 16. The Swiss also beat Cameroon (1-0) and had a great game against Brazil (0-1), showing that they are a strong rival to be reckoned with. Breel Embolo has scored 2 goals and is the team’s top scorer. Portugal will be their rival.
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Cameroon said goodbye by doing something that not many can say they did: beat Brazil. A goal from Vincent Aboubakar at minute 90+2 was enough for the Africans to triumph, but it wasn’t enough. Days before they had played a great game against Serbia, drawing 3-3, where Aboubakar himself was a figure. The Africans say goodbye to Qatar with a smile on their faces.
Contrary to that, Serbia, who despite having a great team and some great forwards, were last in their group with only 1 point. The Balkans had a bad defense, conceding many goals, and it took its toll on them. On the last day, they gave us a great match against Switzerland but it wasn’t enough and they lost 2-3, thus saying goodbye to this World Cup.
World Cup Group Stage Roundup – Group H
A group that was defined agonizingly. Portugal qualified first thanks to their victories against Ghana (3-2) and Uruguay (2-0) and reached the last game against South Korea (1-2) with a team of substitutes to be the judges. Regarding his level, Bruno Fernandes was the leader of this team and they play at the pace he sets. They are not the strongest team, but they are very united and that is very important. In the next round, they will play against Switzerland in a very tough match.
South Korea agonizingly achieved their qualification with a goal by Hee-Chan Hwang in the 90+1 minute after a great pass from Heung-Min Son that served to beat Portugal 2-1. The Koreans stayed on the court watching the other game that was being played at that time on a cell phone to celebrate, and they did. Like most Asian teams, the Koreans were very orderly and relied on counter-attacks to score. In the round of 16, they’ll have the rival that nobody wants: Brazil.
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The last image of Uruguay is to see Luis Suárez crying. The South American team beat Ghana 2-0 in the last game but it was not enough and they were third of the group for the number of goals scored (Korea had 4 and they had 2), but the truth is that they had a bad tournament and only in the last game they went out to play looking to win and settled for 2-0. The coach brought out the best players and then came the South Korean goal that forced them to score another, but it was too late and they returned home in the first round.
Ghana fought and fought but it was not enough. The African team lost to Portugal (2-3) and Uruguay (0-2) and beat South Korea (3-2). Their matches were very exciting and Mohammed Kudus had a great cup, but it wasn’t enough. They were a great entertainer but, like 12 years ago, Uruguay was their executioner again, beating them in the last match and eliminating them.
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