Qatar is a socially backwards country but FIFA doesn’t care because they have money. There is nothing FIFA loves more than money.
Group D
Winners – France
Runners Up – Australia
Eliminated – Tunisia, Denmark
The French knew they were already through to the next round, so manager Didier Deschamps changed up his team significantly for this final group match against Tunisia. France are so deep in talent though that starting some bench players doesn’t necessarily mean a big drop off in quality for them. Tunisia needed a win from this match and then for the Denmark/Australia match to go their way as well. Even against a rotated side, Tunisia were still heavy underdogs.
But all credit to Tunisia for going out and earning themselves a famous 1-0 victory. France defended well in this match generally, but were rather toothless going forward until it was already late on in the match. Tunisian attacking midfielder Wahbi Khazri got what was ultimately the winner on 58 minutes, after he went on a long run with the ball in the center of the park. France did not get a challenge in until he was already in a position to shoot, and although his effort was rather tame it fooled France keeper Steve Mandanda just enough. It rolled over the line and the Tunisians were ecstatic.
Make no mistake – France were outplayed today. Tunisia were the ones playing the ball forward the most and had the most attacking intent. Les Bleus did have an Antoine Griezmann goal ruled out for offside late on, but that was their deadliest attack. France will need to be better in the Round of 16, especially going forward.
Tunisia did their part to advance, but needed a draw between Australia and Denmark to secure progression. After their final whistle blew, the Tunisians flocked to video monitors to see the final few minutes of the other match.
Australia/Denmark was a much more intense affair, probably because both sides were fighting for their World Cup survival instead of just the one. Both sides really went for the winning goal, but it was Australia that came away with the surprising, maybe even shocking, 1-0 victory.
Denmark were the better side for the opening 45 minutes, as they created most of the chances. Aussie keeper Matthew Ryan made 2-3 fine saves to stop them, and on other occasions his defenders made a last-ditch tackle to help him out. They improved and started creating half-chances of their own in the second half, and it was on the hour mark that they finally got their breakthrough. They recovered the ball in their own final third, and it was eventually collected by attacking midfielder Riley McGree. He spotted striker Matthew Leckie in front of him making a run between two defenders. He played the ball to Leckie, who brought it forward while being closely marked by a single Danish defender. Leckie was allowed to carry the ball into shooting distance, and after some nifty dribbling he got a low shot away from just inside the Danish box that nutmegged his marker and beat Danish keeper Kasper Schmeichel at the far corner. It was a well-worked counter-attack that could go down as one of the most famous goals in Australian history.
The Danish had more possession after that and tried to find a winner, but their finishing was truly woeful. Headers going wide or high every single time. Well done to Australia for holding on, but Denmark were just as poor today as they have been the whole tournament. A team with that level of quality in it should not be struggling as much as they are. They had a lot of injuries pre-tournament and several of the players were rusty as a result, but that’s not really an excuse. Against Australia and Tunisia at least, the Danish should be winning. Very toothless in attack for all three of their matches.
But Australia’s famous win sees them through to the knockouts for the first time since 2006. They can defend well and got just enough offense to progress. The win wasn’t without drama though. Had Leckie not scored and the match ended 0-0, it would have been Tunisia going through instead. Well done to the north Africans for getting a famous victory as well, but it wasn’t enough to secure progression. If such a thing as a “bittersweet victory” exists, this one for Tunisia was one of them.
Group C
Winners – Argentina
Runners Up – Poland
Eliminated – Mexico, Saudi Arabia
There was even more drama in this group than there was in Group D! Argentina beat Poland 2-0 today thanks to goals from midfielder Alexis Mac Allister and striker Julian Alvarez. Poland were in this match until the Mac Allister goal just after half time, as keeper Wojciech Szczęsny had saved a penalty from Lionel Messi on 39 minutes. The Poles were struggling in attack, but Szczęsny did well to make the save and keep his team in it for a little while longer. Poland looked rather toothless today, but I think that’s because psychologically they knew they were in a good place to advance, even with a loss. They went through today as runners’ up, but they will need to play much better in attack to have any chance at winning their next match. Credit to Argentina for improving over the past two games and getting the results needed to win their group. Their defense in particular has looked much stronger.
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The high drama was in the Mexico vs. Saudi Arabia match. The Mexicans were desperate for a victory, and needed not only to win but to do so by several goals to overtake Poland on goal difference. Saudi Arabia knew that a draw might be enough for them to go through, but realistically they needed to win to guarantee progression.
Mexico were the better team in this match, although it was 0-0 at halftime again. Carlos Vega had the best chance early on, although his effort after being through on goal was snuffed out by Saudi keeper Mohammad Alowais. The Mexicans kept their impetus though and found the back of the net (for the first time at this World Cup) just after halftime thanks to a header from forward Henry Martín. 1-0 wasn’t enough though, as they needed at least two more to overcome the goal difference tiebreaker. They either needed to score themselves or hope that Argentina could get a third against Poland. The Mexicans got their second however just 6 minutes later from a thunderous free kick from midfielder Luis Chavez. This was another Goal of the Tournament candidate, given that he was almost 30 yards out and still placed it into the top corner. World-class strike!
For the next 30-35 minutes or so, Poland and Mexico were level on points, goal differential, and goals scored. The final tiebreaker kept Poland ahead though, and much to my surprise that tiebreaker was/is yellow card accumulation. Poland had two fewer yellow cards at that point, so they were placed ahead of Mexico in the standings. That rule needs to be changed. Instead of punishing teams that are playing aggressively, why not have shots on target be the final tiebreaker? The rules of the game should be set up to reward attacking football, after all.
Ultimately however the yellow card tiebreaker did not matter, as the Saudis got a goal back in stoppage time from attacking midfielder Salem Al-Dawsari. That was a hammer blow to Mexico, as it largely ruined their chances of overcoming their negative goal difference. Mexico had the ball in the back of the net twice after they got their second, but each was called back for offside. The second decision was correct, but Hirving Lozano’s run and shot just a few minutes after the second goal was a much closer call. In all reality, it was too little too late for El Tri.
I think Mexico’s fate at this World Cup was sealed before a ball was even kicked though. There was no call up for Javier Hernandez or Carlos Vela by manager Tata Martino, and it was clear that Martino would be fired once Mexico’s World Cup run ended due to his contract situation. Martino is positively reviled by the Mexican media, and I can’t say as I blame them. His failures here are numerous. He did not call up two of Mexico’s best players, and no one seems to know why. He did not set up his team to win with his tactics, and he did not make the right substitutions when needed. Mexico have a fair amount of talent, but they need play in a tactical system that suits them. They did not do that until the second half of today’s match, when it was far too late to start doing so. If this is the last World Cup for legendary keeper Guillermo “Memo” Ochoa, it is a rather lackluster way to go out.
The Saudis got off to a fantastic start in this tournament, and their upset of Argentina in the opening group game is probably the most famous one in their history. They did not do enough in the other two group games, and were particularly poor today against Mexico. They can take pride in their improvement, but they ultimately will need more talent to make a deep run at any World Cup going forward.
Argentina vs. Australia – Saturday December 3 at 11 am PST
France vs. Poland – Sunday December 4 at 7 am PST
4-4-2 