FAVORITE TEAMS

The World Cup group matches were really interesting. The Arabian magic is in the air after upsets and surprise finishes. We will see some new blood in the knockout stage and hopefully some anticipated matchups in the upcoming days too (I’m looking at you England and France, and Argentina and Brazil). It’ll be interesting to see if Switzerland, Morocco, Japan, Australia, and USA can surprise too. I can’t wait for the knockout stage!

GROUP A

This was the easiest group for the Netherlands. The runner-up position came down to Ecuador and Senegal, and Senegal triumphed as one of the two African Nations that will participate in the Round of 16. Qatar had a nice run making history, but they were the obvious out in their home country.

GROUP B

It was obvious that England and USA were advancing out of the group. Some never believed that USA would beat or even draw with England, but I did months in advance after the group stage announcement. Outside of Wales finishing last and Iran finishing third, I drew everything up perfectly, and now USA will stay for another day in Qatar. If you want proof, clicking the link and check it out:

https://lonewolf1225.wordpress.com/2022/11/15/world-cup-22-group-b-preview/

GROUP C

This group brought some surprises. Argentina lost to Saudi Arabia at the beginning. Then Poland advances by goal differential, which boots Mexico out of the group stage. Argentina was resilient in their last two wins while Mexico couldn’t survive the group. Would Chicharito’s presence for Mexico have made the difference? No one will ever know.

GROUP D

France broke the curse of recent World Cup winners that got knocked out of the group stage in the following World Cup, including their own curse as a club. What we didn’t expect was Denmark to be out of the group stage in last place. They were expected as the dark horse for the title, but now they won’t even see the knockout stage. Meanwhile, the Aussies won their last two to advance as the runner-up. Tunisia didn’t make it, but they got a meaningful win over France in the last match.

GROUP E

This was part one of an upset special on Thursday. Japan won the group and were the better team. Not Spain nor Germany, it was Japan. The whole day was a wild ride of drama and the results kept shifting until the end. Costa Rica gave Germany one heck of a battle despite the loss, but they did enough to drag Germany down with them while Spain survived despite the loss to Japan.

GROUP F

Here is part two of an upset special on Thursday. Outside of Canada, there was plenty of drama happening for Belgium. After the loss to Morocco, the town rioted and burned a car and more. Then, Belgium had several opportunities to score against Croatia and survive the group. Lukaku was on the front end of those opportunities but failed every single one. Those missed opportunities led to Belgium’s boot out of the group. It was a nightmare to watch and now I’m curious on what the town did after the team was eliminated. Also, congrats to Morocco. They played well from start to finish in the group stage and will be the other African Nation in the Round of 16.

GROUP G

Brazil needs no detail. Even with Neymar injured, he’ll return for the knockout stage. The others stepped up in the second game, but Richarlison showed up in the first match with two goals and his second score is the highlight of the tournament so far. Switzerland, Serbia, and Cameroon battled for the runner-up spot, but the Swiss came out as the victor. However, Vincent Aboubakar received a nice send off from the group stage for Cameroon with a goal that won the game against Brazil…and also a red card for his extracurricular activity that even the referee couldn’t help but applaud for too lol

GROUP H

Portugal won the group with no issue. However, the issue shifted to Uruguay. Like Germany, Uruguay desperately needed goals against Ghana to advance past the group stage. Since Portugal didn’t give a dang since they’re in the knockout stage, South Korea stole the win for themselves and watched Uruguay sweat for a long time. Unfortunately, Uruguay didn’t have enough points to make the goal differential for the club to advance. It was controversial, but what can you do when Uruguay played subpar in the group stage?

EXPECTATIONS IN THE KNOCKOUT STAGE

France and Brazil will go the distance. USA, Australia, Morocco, Japan, and Switzerland could surprise. There’s also a potential rivalry matchup in the semifinals for Brazil and Argentina and the quarterfinals for England and France. England might play a bit more motivated after the Queen of England passed away. Finally, there will be at least three penalty kick-offs involved.