The first round of fixtures at the World Cup is done and dusted, and we’ve had some very interesting results already. Two Adidas heavyweights suffered surprise first week reverses (both took the lead in their respective games and still lost!)
Despite it being a winter WC, the weather conditions in Qatar might be having a big say as well. The last tournament had only one 0-0 draw; this one has already had four of them, and that too in Week 1!
Qatar (Nike) 0-2 Ecuador (Marathon)
Senegal (Puma) 0-2 Netherlands (Nike)
England (Nike) 6-2 Iran (Merooj)
USA (Nike) 1-1 Wales (Adidas)
Argentina (Adidas) 1-2 Saudi Arabia (Nike)
Mexico (Adidas) 0-0 Poland (Nike)
Denmark (Hummel) 0-0 Tunisia (Kappa)
France (Nike) 4-1 Australia (Nike)
Germany (Adidas) 1-2 Japan (Adidas)
Spain (Adidas) 7-0 Costa Rica (New Balance)
Morocco (Puma) 0-0 Croatia (Nike)
Belgium (Adidas) 1-0 Canada (Nike)
Uruguay (Puma) 0-0 Korea (Nike)
Portugal (Nike) 3-2 Ghana (Puma)
Switzerland (Puma) 1-0 Cameroon (One All)
Brazil (Nike) 2-0 Serbia (Nike)
The round started with hosts Qatar going down to Marathon outfitted Ecuador- the first host to lose the opening game of a tournament, and finished with an all-Nike derby between Tite’s Brazil and Serbia in front of a 88,103 strong crowd.
Both games in Group A ended in identical 2-0 scorelines, with the Netherlands also seeing off African champions Senegal thanks to late goals from Cody Gakpo and Davy Klaassen (the latter is wearing the famous No.14 jersey for the Oranje in this tournament)
England almost equalled their highest win in a WC (6-1 v Panama in 2018), but conceded a late spot kick which allowed Iran to pull another goal back against the Three Lions. Some of England’s finishing was top notch though, and Gareth Southgate would’ve been very pleased with the performance of his charges.
Argentina were one of the pre-tournament favourites, but their shock loss to Herve Renard’s Saudi Arabia took everyone by surprise, with the latter even going on to declare a public holiday to celebrate a famous win over Lionel Messi and co. However, Mexico and Poland’s 0-0 stalemate means that Argentina’s fate is still in their own hands- beat both El Tri and the Poles, and they’ll be in the Round of 16. If you’re one of those punters who believe that the Albiceleste will bounce back from this early defeat and can still go all the way, this handy little full guide could come in quite useful.
The’other big upset came in Group E, where Japan came from behind to beat Germany 2-1. The loss was a tough one to stomach for German fans- they dominated the first half, had over 70% of possession in the game, but were simply undone by Japan’s efficiency in front of goal in the final quarter.
New Balance outfitted Costa Rica were expected to be dark horses, but were uncharacteristically poor against Spain, losing 7-0 and failing to register even a single shot (not even off target!)
Defending champions France laid down a marker as they ran out comfortable 4-1 winners against Australia. The only negative in that game for manager Didier Deschamps was the ACL injury to left back Lucas Hernandez that has ruled him out of the tournament and left Les Bleus short on cover in his position.
Canada should’ve really beaten Belgium- Bayern star Alphonso Davies had an early penalty saved by Thibault Courtois, and they went down 1-0 instead. Like Senegal, fellow African side Ghana also had their chances against Portugal but some amateurish defending saw them end up on the wrong side of a 3-2 scoreline.