Roll on football. Today we start the second round of the World Cup group stage, another cycle of 24 matches. After this round we’ll start to get a clearer sense of who’s likely to qualify from the groups, and who might have to sneak through the back door as a top third place finisher. I also wonder if some of the big favorites might take the latter path.
Here’s your daily recap and upcoming matches for today.
Day 7 Recap
Portugal 1-1 DR Congo (Group K)
Goals: Nevez (7’) | Wissa (45+6’)
Two things: DR Congo are a LOT better than people gave them
credit for, and Cristiano Ronaldo is utterly washed. The guy can’t run, can’t get his feet sorted, and was a massive liability for Portugal. They were practically playing with 10 men, that’s how irrelevant he was to the state of play. There’s no contrast between him and Messi because they aren’t even in the same league ability-wise. (Plus Ronaldo is a sexual abuser and Messi is not)
England 4-2 Croatia (Group L)
Goals: Kane (12’ [PK], 42’), Bellingham (46’), Rashford (85’) | Baturina (36’), Musa (45’)
Harry Kane is very good at football. He scored two goals – a penalty kick that he got two attempts at after the first one missed — and a thumping header off of a meatwall corner. He could’ve scored more. He also saved a goal by making a goal line clearance in injury time of the second half. Djed Spence — with red hair! — came on as a late-game substitute. Croatia came back twice to level the game twice but couldn’t hang with Engerland’s offense, though there were warning signs about the Three Lions’ defense. Luka Vuskovic became the youngest starter (so far) at this World Cup and was a bit up and down — showed some real tenacity and aggression but also had some issues with marking and physicality. Is he ready for the Premier League? I’d say not yet, based on this match; he was hooked midway through the second half.
Ghana 1-0 Panama (Group L)
Goals: Yirenkyi (90+5’)
This game was pretty dull and even, and looked like it was destined to a dishwater 0-0 draw until injury time in the second half when Ghana scored a great team goal. There were scuffles afterwards. Panama tried desperately to CONCACAF the crap out of this match, playing extremely physical and choosing violence whenever possible. Not my favorite match to watch, tbh, but Ghana set themselves up nicely to be the other team to progress automatically from this group, along with England.
Uzbekistan 1-3 Colombia (Group K)
Goals: Fayzullayev (60’) | Muñoz (40’), Luis Diaz (65’), Campaz (90+9’)
I watched the first half of this match before going to bed; these days your Benevolent Dictator turns into a pumpkin about 10 pm. First — Fabio Cannavaro is Uzbekistan’s head coach?! Second — Uzbekistan isn’t very good despite a couple of recognizable names in their roster. Third — I was very confused by Luis Suarez playing for Colombia until realizing that it’s a different Luis Suarez. I’m not sure how good Colombia really is but having Luis Diaz and Luis Suarez in dual free roles is going to make them difficult to beat.
Day 8 Matches
Czechia vs. South Africa (Group A)
12 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. BST
Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
TV: FOX (USA), Telemundo (USA – Español), BBC One (UK)
Stream: Fox One, Peacock (Español)
Current/former Tottenham players involved: none
Switzerland vs. Bosnia Herzegovina (Group B)
3 p.m. ET / 8 p.m. BST
SoFi Stadium Los Angeles, Calfiornia, USA
TV: FOX (USA), Telemundo (USA – Español), ITV 1 (UK)
Stream: Fox One, Peacock (Español)
Current/former Tottenham players involved: none
Canada vs. Qatar (Group B)
6 p.m. ET / 11 p.m. BST
BC Place, Vancouver, Canada
TV: Fox Sports 1 (USA), Telemundo (USA – Español), ITV 1 (UK)
Stream: Fox One, Peacock (Español)
Current/former Tottenham players involved: none
Mexico vs. South Korea (Group A)
9 p.m. ET / 2 a.m. (Thursday) BST
Estadio Akron, Guadalajara, Mexico
TV: FOX (USA), Telemundo (USA – Español), BBC Two (UK)
Stream: Fox One, Peacock (Español)
Current/former Tottenham players involved: Son Heung-Min (South Korea)
