Happy Friday, TSFers! Yesterday’s World Cup action was a bit of a bore, despite all the goals. The football wasn’t particularly high-quality. Now that we’ve been through all the sides once, we can start to get a handle on who is for real and who isn’t.
One of the things that has stuck out at me was the difference in pace of play between teams. England, perhaps unsurprisingly because of the pace and physicality of the Premier League, played at such a high tempo. Switzerland, by comparison, were so plodding
in their buildup and possession for much of yesterday’s match. They’ve not been the only ones.
Tony is putting together a post on the Premier League fixture release from this morning, so be on the lookout for that! He also went to South Africa-Czechia — I’ll let him tell y’all about that. Has anyone else been to a match so far? Going to one later in the tournament?
Today’s fixtures, points in parentheses:
USA (3) – Australia (3), 3 pm ET, FOX
Scotland (3) – Morocco (1), 6 pm ET, FOX
Brazil (1) – Haiti (0), 8:30 pm ET, FOX
Turkiye (0) – Paraguay (0), 11 pm ET, FOX
Czechia 1 – South Africa 1
The Czechs took the lead inside 10 minutes but a late South African penalty split the points. A draw is an acceptable result for both sides, although it suits Czechia a little better. The Czechs face Mexico, who have already won the group and guaranteed staying in Mexico for their knockout match. The South Africans face South Korea, who’ll need a result to guarantee a spot in the knockouts.
Switzerland 4 – Bosnia and Herzegovina 1
A late barrage of goals from the Swiss sparked by substitute Johan Manzambi after the second half hydration break claimed full points. The 20-year old attacker scored, assisted, and scored from the 74th to the 90th minute to bring life to an otherwise plodding match. I mentioned pace of play earlier — the Swiss played really slowly until Manzambi came on and changed the game with his speed and direct play. I don’t think Manzambi will be at Freiburg much longer! Our boy Granit Xhaka converted a very late penalty.
Canada 6 – Qatar 0
A triumphant performance from the Canadians was marred by Ismael Kone’s broken leg on a terrible challenge from Assim Madibo that earned a straight red card. Cyle Larin, who scored the equalizer against Bosnia on MD1, opened the scoring in the 16th minute, but it was Jonathan David’s day to shine brightest with a hat trick. Both Larin and David had been criticized for subpar performances and scoring droughts for the national team coming into the World Cup.
Mexico 1 – South Korea 0
A surprisingly dull match given the quality that (we think) both sides are capable of showing. It almost felt as if South Korea kept things in second gear with three points in the bank and an eye to their final group stage match. Son Heung-min was a non-factor and came off early in the second half with his side down a goal. Mexican goalkeeper Raul Rangel made a great save late in the match to preserve the lead.
Then the internet had fun. ICYMI, that’s Merlin the Duck, who went viral for a video of him waddling along the road in a Mexico jersey with fans heading to their opening match.
