One of the misunderstood ramifications of an expanded 48 team World Cup is that there are just So. Many. Games. Holy crap, so damn many. Five matches yesterday, four today. And we’re not even through the first round of matches! Seriously, FIFA — think of the underpaid, part time soccer bloggers who are doing this as a side hustle, please. This pace is unsustainable.
Here’s your daily recap and upcoming matches for today, Monday.
Day 4 Recap
Germany 7-1 Curaçao (Group E)
Goals: Nmecha (6’), Schlotterbeck (38’), Havertz (45+5’ [Pen]), 88’, Musiala
(47’), Brown (68’), Undav (78’) | Comencia (21’)
Curacao is a good World Cup story. Their team however, didn’t follow the script. The Blue Wave ran into a German buzz-saw on Sunday, though they did manage to score a pretty neat goal to make their fans happy. It’s nice that they get to play in a World Cup though I bet FIFA and Gianni Infantino are happy with the extra ticket money they got from Curacao’s inclusion.
Netherlands 2-2 Japan (Group F)
Goals: Van Dijk (50’), Summerville (64’) | Nakamura (57’), Kamada (89’)
Holy moly, what a match! Two teams very different in style (and height) played to a scintillating draw, with four second half goals after a scoreless first half. Liverpool’s Virgil Van Dijk scored a lovely looping header, while Crysensio Summerville managed to forget he still plays for West Ham with low shot that went in off the post. But Japan would not be denied, coming back from behind twice to level twice — one by Nakamura with a long range shot past Verbruggen, and a late equalizer by Kamada, who headed in off a corner. Japan is not known for its height so it’s impressive to head in the equalizer among the Dutch trees. Not, however, the best match for Dutch defender Jan Paul van Hecke, who deflected both goals into the net — Spurs should drop their asking price by £10m. A super entertaining match and a deserved draw, would that they all were this good!
Cote d’Ivoire 1-0 Ecuador (Group E)
Goals: Diallo (90’)
Busy bloggers can’t watch every match, but based on the highlights Yan Diomande is LEGIT. Unfortunately, he’s also almost certainly out of Tottenham’s price range. Should’ve bought him in January. Ecuador were one of the dark horses to make a deep run in this World Cup, but they’ve got a tough road ahead. They can beat Curacao, but Germany’s a tough nut to crack. Thankfully, a narrow 1-0 loss means they could still squeak in as one of the top third place finishers.
Sweden 5-1 Tunisia (Group F)
Goals: Ayari (7’, 90+6’), Isak (30’), Gyokeres (59’), Svanberg (84’) | Rekik (43’)
I expected this to be a relatively close match, not an utter blowout. Tunisia’s Rekik made things interesting after his first half goal cut Sweden’s deficit to 2-1, but Sweden put the match beyond doubt in the second half. Tunisia’s goalkeeper was uhhhhhhh not good and made a number of basic errors that led to goals. Tottenham’s Lucas Bergvall was a second half substitute in this one, his World Cup debut.
Day 5 Matches
Spain vs. Cape Verde (Group H)
1 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. BST
NRG Park, Houston, Texas, USA
TV: FOX (USA), Telemundo (USA – Español), ITV 1 (UK)
Stream: Fox One, Peacock (Español)
Current/former Tottenham players involved: Pedro Porro (Spain)
Belgium vs. Egypt (Group G)
4 p.m. ET / 9 p.m. BST
AT&T Stadium, Dallas, Texas, USA
TV: FOX (USA), Telemundo (USA – Español), BBC One (UK)
Stream: Fox One, Peacock (Español)
Current/former Tottenham players involved: none
Saudi Arabia vs. Uruguay (Group H)
7 p.m. ET / 12 a.m. (Monday) BST
One Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, USA
TV: Fox Sports 1 (USA), Telemundo (USA – Español), ITV 1 (UK)
Stream: Fox One, Peacock (Español)
Current/former Tottenham players involved: Rodrigo Bentancur (Uruguay)
Iran vs. New Zealand (Group G)
10 p.m. ET / 3 a.m. (Monday) BST
Estadio Monterrey, Monterrey, Mexico
TV: Fox Sports 1 (USA), Telemundo (USA – Español), BBC One (UK)
Stream: Fox One, Peacock (Español)
Current/former Tottenham players involved: none
