The show goes on: FIFA World Cup matchday two roundup

After the excitement of matchday one of this World Cup, matchday two has now been and gone, giving us even more spectacle to talk about. From great goals to controversial hydration breaks, only this competition can get people talking in the way it does. This article will provide a summary of all the drama that the greatest show on earth had to offer this matchday.

Group A: Hard-fought points

Czechia vs South Africa kicked things off for this matchday and saw Czechia score early on through some good team play and awful defending from South Africa. It was clear that Czechia had the better-quality players out of the two, but South Africa showed great determination, growing into the game as it went on. This determination led to them winning a penalty which Mokoena converted in the 83^rd minute to salvage a draw, which ended up being a fair result.

The three points catapulted the hosts Mexico to the top of the group, confirming their place in the knockout stages

The hosts Mexico played out a similarly cagey affair against South Korea where both teams had to fight hard to get anything from the game. The Mexicans came out on top thanks to a miscommunication from the Korean goalkeeper and centre back, which ended up being the only goal of the game. Both sides tried to play direct football to make a mark on the game, but aside from that mistake and Mexico goal in the 50^th minute there weren’t many chances to go around. Either way, the three points catapulted the hosts Mexico to the top of the group, confirming their place in the knockout stages, with South Korea in second.

Group B: Goals galore

Switzerland vs Bosnia and Herzegovina proved to be one of the best games of the tournament so far, but it began as quite an uneventful affair with the Swiss dominating possession and the Bosnians sitting back. The Swiss subs Vargas and Manzambi in the 72^nd minute completely changed the game though, as the floodgates then opened, with Manzambi making it 1-0 shortly after. Things went from bad to worse for Bosnia at this point as they got a red card in the 80^th minute, after which Vargas and Manzambi scored. The game ended 4-1 as Xhaka scored a penalty and Mahmic scored a consolation for Bosnia, who saw their usually solid defence comprehensively broken down in this game.

Canada vs Qatar was similarly entertaining, with Canada playing with high energy from the get-go, cutting through Qatar’s hopeless defence in the 16^th minute as Larin scored. Jonathan David scored his first of the game before Elamin got sent off for Qatar in the 33^rd minute, which he would turn into a hat trick by scoring two more goals, one just before half time and another at the very end of the game. Nathan Saliba scored a free kick in the 64^th minute and a very unfortunate own goal meant that Canada won the game 6-0 against nine men, as Qatar had yet another player sent off in the 51^st minute. Canada can be proud of their performance, but Qatar put up arguably the worst display of the tournament so far.

Group C: To the favourites go the spoils

A great goal from Saibari in the first minute was all that was needed to separate Morocco and Scotland, with the Scots knocking on the door a few times but being unable to score.

Morocco weren’t at their best but still won, and the same could be said of Brazil, who breezed past Haiti 3-0 with star man Vini Jr getting a goal as well as an assist and Matheus Cunha scoring two. Yet the Brazil of old may have scored even more against such a poor Haiti defence. There were no shocks in this group as the favourites Brazil and Morocco now sit first and second.

Group D: The first elimination

Hosts USA continued their impressive start to the tournament with a 2-0 win against Australia courtesy of an own goal forced by star man Balogun and a Freeman header. Australia had a couple of chances on the counter, but the USA dominated the game and were the deserved winners.

There was a big shock in this group as Turkey became one of the first teams to be eliminated from the competition

Meanwhile, there was a big shock in this group as Turkey became one of the first teams to be eliminated from the competition as they lost 1-0 to Paraguay. Turkey had been picked as dark horses by some, but they were unable to score against a Paraguay team who had ten men for the second half and were able to sit on a great early goal from Galarza in the 2^nd minute. Turkey will rue the fact they had 32 shots but still couldn’t get past the Paraguayans.

Group E: Super-sub and super goalkeeper

Germany were shocked by a Kessie goal for the Ivory Coast in the 30^th minute, and the Ivorians were able to keep them out for much of the game. However, the Germans hit their stride after Deniz Undav came on and scored in the 68^th and 94^th minute to ensure a comeback.

Ecuador vs Curacao ended 0-0 and was defined by the performance of Curacao’s goalkeeper Eloy Room, who made 15 saves in a fantastic performance, earning Curacao their first ever World Cup point.

Group F: Offence is the best defence

The matchup between the Netherlands and Sweden was a great attacking display, with the Dutch scoring five goals: two for Gakpo, two for Brobbey and one for the substitute Summerville. The Netherlands looked great in this game, cutting through a poor Sweden defence time and time again. However, despite their poor defending, Sweden also looked decent in attacking areas, with strikers Isak and Gyokores playing well and Elanga coming on and scoring in the 55^th minute.

Meanwhile, Japan put up a truly dominant performance against Tunisia, scoring two goals in either half. Striker Ayase Ueda was a standout, getting two goals and an assist. Japan used a lot of quick transitions to devastate the Tunisians who had no response, with the game ending 4-0.

Group G: A tale of two stars

In Belgium vs Iran, star man Kevin De Bruyne was unable to fashion a chance good enough to get past the solidity of Iran’s goalkeeper and centre backs, leading to a frustrating 0-0 draw that leaves his Belgium side third in their group. Striker Lukaku was also unable to get any shots on target, and Nathan Ngoy’s red card in the 66^th minute only made things more difficult for the Belgians.

Elsewhere, Mo Salah produced a great performance for Egypt against New Zealand, scoring and assisting in a game which ended 3-1 in the Egyptian’s favour, putting them unexpectedly top of group G.

Group H: Two four-goal games

Spain were able to put four past Saudi Arabia in a quality display, with their striker Mikel Oyarzabal getting two goals and an assist. This was enough to put them top of the group, and they looked much more like the Spain everyone expected to see than they did last matchday.

Cape Verde continued their incredible underdog story by picking up their second ever World Cup point, this time in a thrilling 2-2 game against Uruguay which saw Kevin Pina score a great free kick for them in the first half. Uruguay responded to the free kick with two goals of their own, but a terrible defensive miscommunication allowed Cape Verde to equalise.

Group I: Stars at the double

Kylian Mbappe scored a brilliant outside the box goal in the 14^th minute, and from that point France dominated the first half so much that Iran did very well to keep them out any further before half time. The game was interrupted because of a storm, but when it came back on France were more capable of getting through the Iraqi defence, who couldn’t keep up the concentration they had in the first half. Mbappe scored again in the 54^th muinute, and then Dembele scored his first World Cup goal in the 66^th.

The inevitable Haaland scored again in the 58^th minute, a goal that would prove to win the day for Norway

A thoroughly entertaining game between Norway and Senegal saw Pedersen score for Norway in the first half, then Haaland and Sarr to score for each country at the start of the second. The inevitable Haaland scored again in the 58^th minute, a goal that would prove to win the day for Norway as Sarr scored again late on for Senegal to make the final score 3-2.

Group J: More Messi magic

Messi uncharacteristically missed a penalty for Argentina early on against Austria, but he made up for it by placing the ball in the bottom corner in the 38^th minute, becoming the all-time top World Cup goalscorer. Messi capped off a special day with another goal in the 94^th minute to put the 2-0 win to bed for Argentina.

Elsewhere, Algeria were the better team against Jordan but needed two late goals to secure the three points.

Group K: Ronaldo silences critics

Porugal vs Uzbekistan saw Portugal put up a great five goal performance while Uzbekistan looked powerless to stop them. Cristiano Ronaldo got a lot of criticism for his performance against the DRC last time, but he opened things up with a good finish in the 6^th minute. Nuno Mendes then scored a great free kick that took everyone, including the opposing defenders, by surprise as Ronaldo was expected to take it, which was a very good set piece tactic from Portugal. Ronaldo then scored another in the 38^th minute and Portugal would score twice in the second half to cap off a great display all round.

Columbia would, however, find themselves top of the group after beating DR Congo 1-0 courtesy of a Munoz goal which broke through in the 76^th minute to reward the Columbians for a fairly dominant performance.

Group L: A victory for defenders

Finally, we can talk about the England game, although truthfully there wasn’t much to talk about in what was a very frustrating 0-0 affair. England dominated possession but spent the first half trying to break the solidity of Ghana down, having few clear-cut chances. The frustration continued into the second half, with chances from Saka, Guehi and O’Reilly being unable to hit the back of the net, and Kane being unable to get the best chance of the game on target. Ghana can be happy with their defensive work as their game plan was clearly to play for a 0-0, but England should have played with more bravery and been more clinical with their finishing. It isn’t the end of the world as England are still top of the group, but this performance may be a slight worry as they struggled to take hold of a less open game.

Panama will be looking ahead towards their game with England, where they will probably use Ghana as a blueprint

In Panama vs Croatia, both teams came close to scoring in the first half but were denied by the goalkeepers. A goal early in the second half from Croatia was enough to win them the game, putting them third in the group behind England and Ghana. Panama will be looking ahead towards their game with England, where they will probably use Ghana as a blueprint to try and sit back and frustrate the English attack.

Top 5 goals of the matchday:

1. Kevin Pina’s free kick for Cape Verde against Uruguay
2. Nuno Mendes’ free kick against Uzbekistan
3. Kylian Mbappe’s 14^th minute strike against Iraq
4. Jonathan David’s 29^th minute volley against Qatar
5. Crysencio Summerville’s outside-the-box goal against Sweden