FIFA WORLD CUP 2018: Matchday Three Predictions for Groups C and D

Plus, a recap of Groups A and B

What a fun, interesting, and surprising Matchday Three in Groups A and B!  Uruguay’s whooping of Russia went as expected (at least by me), but that’s about all that went as I expected.[1]  I predicted a scoreless tie between Egypt and Saudi Arabia, saying that if anyone scored, it would be Egypt.  (Buzzer sound)  Wrong!  Saudi Arabia won, 2-1.  It was nice to see that Egypt’s goal came from Mohamed Salah, but that is small consolation to him.  He certainly wanted to be part of the very first Egypt squad to win a World Cup game, but that will have to happen in a different tournament.[2]

The Group B games were complete surprises.  Iran played valiantly once again, but this time, they at least had a point to show for it.[3]  Morocco outplayed Spain and deserved to win, but blew the game in the very end.  Had Morocco hung on, Portugal would have won the group, and Spain would have tied Iran for second place.  Spain then would have won the tiebreaker, and they would be playing Uruguay in the Round of 16.  Instead, Spain and Portugal have tied for first, with Spain winning the tiebreaker,[4] making Spain face Russia and Portugal face a dangerous Uruguay squad who has yet to allow a goal this calendar year.

Portugal is LUCKY that referee Enrique Cáceres gave Cristiano Ronaldo a break.[5]  After consulting VAR, Ronaldo was given a yellow card for landing an elbow on Iran’s Morteza Pouraliganji.  Quite frankly, he deserved a red.  Speaking of the VAR, why are players getting away with following the referee to the sideline as he’s consulting the monitor?  Why aren’t the referees sticking up for themselves more when they’re talking to the VAR room through the earpiece and players are surrounding them?  It’s hard enough to hear through those earpieces when you don’t have several people bickering at you.  And finally, why do they allow ANYONE to argue/complain after a decision has been made?  This nonsense has to stop.  In Major League Baseball, if anyone argues a decision after it has been reviewed by video, it is an automatic ejection.  In soccer, it needs to be an automatic yellow.

Group C:  France, once again, won their game, but they should have won by more than just 1-0.  They’re facing a Denmark squad that tied Australia in a very exciting, evenly matched game.  Today, France and Denmark are facing off in what should be another close, exciting match.  Australia faces Peru in a game that they should win.  I see France beating Denmark and Australia beating Peru, both by a final score of 1-0.[6]  This will make France win the group with nine points and Australia and Denmark tie for second.  Both teams will have a goal differential of zero, but Australia will have scored three goals as opposed to two for Denmark.  This will put Australia through to the Round of 16.

Group D:  This group has gone against the expectations of many.  Croatia is downright scary.  I don’t think anyone wants to face them right now.  Argentina is playing like utter garbage, which, in retrospect, should have been expected, given the fact that their roster is Lionel Messi – who truly looks like he doesn’t want to be there – and a bunch of either washed-up or overrated players.  Manager Jorge Sampaoli has absolutely no pull over his guys, either.  They didn’t seem to listen to him during the games, and then, in practice, there was a mutiny, although to a lesser extent than the French team’s complete meltdown in South Africa in 2010.

Croatia – who split with Iceland in qualification, with each team winning at home – will beat Iceland, probably 2-0, to win the group.  Nigeria will beat that mess of a squad from Argentina, 2-0, mercifully sending Messi home for a much-needed break.  This will pit France against Nigeria and Croatia against Australia in the Round of 16.

I’m going back to bed.  I’ll watch the replays when I wake up.  In the meantime, enjoy the games!  Leave any comments that you have.

Tuesday, June 26, 2018, 7:25 am MST

[1] Certainly worth mentioning: Russia’s Denis Chereshev has scored goals in every one of Russia’s games!  Not good when one of those was a 3-0 loss.  That’s right – Chereshev scored an own-goal yesterday.

[2] How crazy is this – Egypt has won the African Cup of Nations a record seven times, yet they’ve only made the World Cup three times and have yet to win a game there.

[3] They also were quite lucky that Cristiano Ronaldo blew his penalty kick.

[4] The two teams have an identical goal differential at +1.  Spain, however, has scored six goals, while Portugal has scored five, giving Spain the edge in the tiebreaker.

[5] Let’s be honest, though – Cáceres was less than impressive.  I think he’s going to be sent home.

[6] Hopefully for Australia they will score on something other than a penalty kick by Mile Jedinak, since that’s been their only scoring thus far.