World Cup 2018
What A Start It Has Been
The 2014 World Cup was watched by over 3.2 billion people. Just so we’re clear, that’s almost half of the global population. Hearts are broken, glory is won, and at the end of it all, we are waiting four years for our team to get another chance.
This is a tournament of pure passion, and regrettably, sometimes in excess. The “big dogs” of the tournament have no choice but to win, others look to surprise, and some are just happy to be there. For many players, it’s a time to shine on the world stage, looking for a big contract with a big club. It’s a competition that can often times be more about the money, the media, and the drama, and less about the product on the field. Luckily, for those who want to watch soccer for the beauty of the sport, most world cups don’t fail to deliver.
The 2018 World Cup is being played throughout Russia, so think “home game” every time the Russia national team plays. So far the Russians, haven’t disappointed their homeland, although it must be said that they are in a fairly easy group.
I don’t want to bore you with all of the groups, current standings, and lame analysis comparing Messi and Ronaldo (I’ll save that for another post). Instead, I’m going to give you a couple big points to look out for during this beautiful, wonderful, entirely magical world cup.
In the world cup, it’s all about results. Analysts will talk about who is playing well and who is playing bad, fans will dub games as boring or non-essential. But what really matters is results. Essentially, two wins get you out of the group stage(usually) and after that, it’s all must win games.
Soccer is a game that can vary, either within the same game or between games. It’s hard to say that because one team played well in a game, they will inevitably play well in another. All that matters is results, so ignore anyone who gives an analysis of a winning team along the lines of “they didn’t impress me”, or “they should be worried if they play like that again”.
Yes, that analysis can be important when talking about personnel or system changes, but if a team wins, they win. So let us get on to some things to look out for in the rest of this world cup.
Argentina — At the time of writing, Argentina is in a bad spot. They have 1 point through two games (each team plays 3 games in the group stage). They have been relying on Messi like Portugal with Ronaldo, except it hasn’t worked. They have dropped points and they are in trouble. They aren’t eliminated yet, but their continuation in the World Cup is not in their hands.
Russia — They have played two games and have already punched their ticket to the next round. Russia will most likely rest some players in their last group stage game, so look for dropped points against Uruguay. Russia will most likely finish second in their group lining them up for a round of 16 battle against Spain or Portugal. As I mentioned before, Russia is in a relatively easy group, so don’t count on them going much further, even with the home support.
Portugal (Ronaldo) — Ronaldo has shown up so far. Portugal didn’t play well against an exciting Morocco side, but as I said all that matters is results and Portugal have gotten them to this point, having claimed a hard-fought point against Spain and the win against Morocco. Portugal plays Iran next, Spain plays Morocco, so it’s going to come down to the last day to see who finishes on top of the group. Moral of the story is, Portugal has gotten it done so far, and as long as Ronaldo keeps producing they will be a tough opponent in the round of 16.
Croatia — Full disclosure, I am half Croatian so there is a bit of bias here. However, it must be said that Croatia has shown up to this world cup, already guaranteeing their spot in the round of 16 for the first time since their historic 3rd place run in 1998. This is most likely the golden generations last chance at a world cup, and they are playing like they really want it. Croatia has all the talent but usually struggles to be disciplined and play as a team. Their new found team effort has given two great results, beating a young Nigeria team and putting down Argentina. Look for them to finish top of the group and play either France or Denmark in the round of 16.
Mexico — Up against the reigning champions, Germany, packed with world-class players, Mexico shocked the world. Literally causing seismic activity in Mexico City during the game. Mexico played well and got an absolutely fantastic result going forward. Mexico’s group has only played 1 game at this point so the group is still up for grabs, but getting the win against the groups toughest opponent puts them in an excellent spot. Mexico has to play South Korea and Sweden still. I expect Mexico to get it done against South Korea, and they need to. Sweden is a good team that can cause them a lot of trouble, putting away South Korea first will allow them to have a commanding position on the group.
To this point, the 2018 World Cup has been fantastic, and the group stage is still going on. There will be glory found, heartbreak spread. There is no better summer than one with a World Cup.
