Good morning, TSF! I have a confession: the concurrent kickoffs overwhelmed me a bit. I tried to dual-screen it on monitors two and three and it was too much alongside my normal workday stuff on the main monitor. That’s saying something, too — the way my brain is wired can usually handle that much input. Did anybody manage the multi-screen setup yesterday?
Today’s matches:
Ecuador vs. Germany, 4 pm ET, FOX
Curacao vs. Ivory Coast, 4 pm ET, FS1
Germany have won their group. A result for Ivory Coast against
Curacao guarantees them second in the group. Ecuador need to beat Germany to avoid a disappointing early exit.
Tunisia vs. Netherlands, 7 pm ET, FS1
Japan vs. Sweden, 7 pm ET, FOX
Netherlands have all but clinched a spot in the knockouts, although they are not mathematically assured of a place. Sweden need to beat Japan to nab a guaranteed spot in the knockouts, whereas Japan need only to draw.
Turkiye vs. USA, 10 pm ET, FOX
Paraguay vs. Austria, 10 pm ET, FS1
USA have won the group, which means the match against Turkiye, who have already been eliminated, is a dead rubber. A result for Australia guarantees them a spot in the knockouts. Paraguay need to beat Australia to be assured of advancing, but a draw almost certainly puts them through as well.
Switzerland 2 – Canada 1
Bosnia and Herzegovina 3 – Qatar 1
Granit Xhaka ran the show against Canada, helping Switzerland claim top spot in the group. Johan Manzambi scored again. Canada advance but lose home field — they’ll have to travel out of Canada by virtue of finishing second in the group. They caught a big break with results elsewhere, though. Canada will face South Africa in the knockouts, who are ranked about 30 places below the teams they were most likely to face with a 2nd-place finish coming into yesterday. Bosnia will advance in a third place spot. They’re highly likely to be the USA’s knockout opponent. It’s about a 1-in-1,000 chance they won’t be. There exists a series of four or five different results, all of which have to happen, for that to change.
Brazil 3 – Scotland 0
Morocco 4 – Haiti 2
Brazil top the group, advancing over second-place Morocco on goal difference. It’s a disaster for Scotland, who gave away an early, cheap goal to Vini Jr. and were generally at 6’s and 7’s at the back. At the final whistle, they had a 50-50 shot to advance, which dropped to about 25% with South Africa’s surprise win over South Korea. Scotland’s -3 GD puts them in a tough spot.
Mexico 3 – Czechia 0
South Africa 1 – South Korea 0
Mexico had already won the group coming into MD3. South Africa’s shock win over South Korea means they’ve booked their spot in the knockouts for the first time in their nation’s history. The Koreans have been quite disappointing thus far but have about a 95% chance to nab one of the third place spots. Mexico gave 40-year old legendary goalkeeper Memo Ochoa a final World Cup appearance (barring injury to their no.1), a nice touch.
