The 2022 World Cup in Qatar is nearly out of the group stage. Thirty-two nations from all over the world have been competing over the past week playing a round-robin style of tournament at the moment to advance out of their group. The setup of the group stage is simple: there are eight groups each containing four nations. The top two nations from each group advance to the single elimination bracket of the World Cup. For those less familiar with the setup of the group stage, if a team wins a game they are awarded three points in their group, if they tie they are awarded one and if they lose they are awarded zero. If it so happens that two nations have the same amount of points at the end of the group stage then it is the goal differential which will determine which teams will move on and which teams will not.
The first 4 groups of the World Cup have all finished their matches while the last four are still waiting to play their final matches at the end of this week to determine who will move on. As of right now the nations which have solidified their spot in the single elimination bracket are the Netherlands, Senegal, England, the United States of America, Argentina, Poland, Australia and the 2018 Defender Of The World Cup, France. Those eight nations will be leaving behind Denmark, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Wales, Iran, Ecuador and the host country, Qatar. No nation to leave the group stage so far has won all three matches in their group. But, as it stands, Portugal and Brazil, who are waiting to play their final matches within their group, have an opportunity to be the only nations in this tournament which could win all of their group stage matches.
But the action from each group has been equally exciting and impressive! Starting with group A: the Netherlands, with one of the strongest teams in the tournament, went 2-1-0 to set the tone in their group as the definitive leaders behind Senegal who beat Qatar and very narrowly beat Ecuador to advance to the elimination stage. Unfortunately for the host nation of Qatar, their team was eliminated in the group stage, the first nation to be eliminated from the tournament in fact. As for Enner Valencia, the captain of Ecuador’s team, he leaves the tournament as the leader of his team who scored the goal which allowed them to tie the Netherlands to keep them in contention.
In group B, England took a commanding lead by beating Wales and Iran but the United States put up a tough fight, tying them in the second game for the group. The United States had a shocking and impressive performance to advance out of the group stage. The United States tied Wales, which could have been a win had the defenseman Zimmerman not fouled star striker of Wales, Gareth Bale, in the 18-yard box. And the win over Iran, which was made at the cost of Christian Pulisic’s future generations, earned the team the right to move on in the tournament after not qualifying for the World Cup in 2018. The United States has the youngest team in the World Cup and has been impressing nations left and right so far.
In group C, Argentina and Poland will move on even after Saudi Arabia pulled off a shocking upset victory over Argentina earlier in the tournament. All four teams in group C which comprised Argentina, Poland Mexico and Saudi Arabia played incredibly high level soccer. Ochoa, the goalie for Mexico, performed at his best when he was needed most by his country when he was staring down Polish striker Robert Lewandowski for a penalty kick which he was able to save. But unfortunately, Mexico could not score the amount of goals they needed against Suadi Arabia to move on in the tournament.
In group D, France and Australia will move on after Australia pulled out an absolute shocker of a win over Denmark. Denmark, ranked as the 13th best team by FIFA, had sports reporters convinced that they would obtain a spot in the round of 16 for their group. However, Australia, known as the “socceroos,” have not qualified for the elimination stage of the World Cup since 2006. But in group D they were able to finish second in the group as Australia was tied for points with France; both teams having six points and Australia only trailing behind France by a goal differential of one.
Group E has seen some of the most shocking games yet in the World Cup. With the most surprising coming from Japan who was able to pull off a victory over Germany in their first game of the World Cup. On top of that, Costa Rica was also able to beat Japan while Germany and Spain tied each other. This has left the group almost entirely open with no team yet being definitively eliminated from the World Cup. Germany with only one point needs a win and three goals scored over Costa Rica to advance to the Round of 16 but Japan, Spain and Costa Rica all very much have an opportunity to make it into the elimination stage of the tournament. This is the first group which will be finishing its matches in the coming days.
The following group which needs to finish their matches is group F, where Croatia and Morocco hold four Points to Belgium’s three and Canada’s zero. While Morocco has the ability to keep Belgium out of the Round of 16 and advance with Croatia into the elimination stage; group F has largely been seen not as the group in which Morocco upset the other teams but the group in which Canada proved itself on the world stage! Despite the Canadian team having zero points, this is their first World Cup qualifying ever. Meaning that for the Canadian program it was a huge accomplishment simply to make it to the World Cup and qualify out of the CONCACAF qualifying tournaments.
Group G has been dominated by Brazil. As one of two teams that has the opportunity to leave the group stage with three wins, the South American nation has been dominating the World Cup so far. Led by veteran striker Neymar Jr. and midfield phenom Cazimero, Brazil’s program is incredibly strong this year. Yet the moments which have defined Brazil’s performance so far at the World Cup have not come from either of those players. While Neymar Jr. received a lot of attention for his injured ankle which was swollen to the point where it looked like a watermelon, most of the focus was on Richarlison. In Brazil’s match against Serbia Richarlison received a cross that was less than ideal. It bounced off of his heel and into the air but he was able in that split second to score a goal with one of the most acrobatic bicycle kicks the tournament and FIFA has ever seen! It is now up to Switzerland to ensure that with their three points that they also advance out of the group stage with Brazil but all it would take is one loss to Serbia for them to be eliminated.
And finally there is group H. Led by Portugal and their world famous striker Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal has already qualified for the elimination stage with their two wins against Ghana and Uruguay. Cristiano Ronaldo has caused quite a controversy at the 2022 World Cup after he made particularly harsh comments about his current coach Erik ten Hag at Manchester United. Due to this disruptive conduct Manchester United released Cristiano Ronaldo from his multimillion-dollar contract and have now placed him into the transfer market. Cristiano Ronaldo is the only player to play in the 2022 World Cup as a free agent and is only one of three players to ever be in this position at a World Cup. While Cristiano Ronaldo has said in interviews that if he wins this World Cup he will retire at the end of it, it is highly unlikely as teams such as Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and even one Saudi Arabian team have been sending him massive offers to play at their clubs after the World Cup. But this group is not over yet. If Uruguay can win over Ghana they will move on and out of the group stage but if Ghana can hold on with a draw then they will move on over South Korea and Uruguay to the elimination stage.
The World Cup is only heating up at the moment as teams are preparing now to play full matches, not just tie, but go to overtime and then penalty shootouts to advance in the tournament. The United States’ next game against the Netherlands will be on Saturday, Dec. 3 at 10 a.m.
