2 of the greatest World Cup games ever

Lots of things about this World Cup have sucked. There’s been quite a bit of blatant corruption and unequal sporting conditions. Iran got screwed, Cristiano Ronaldo was allowed to play through a suspension for some reason, Folarin Balogun is about to get away with the same thing, and there are a half-dozen alleged criminals playing while awaiting delayed trials.

And yet, they still can’t make the World Cup suck. We still got to watch two of the best games in the history of the tournament this weekend.

Cape Verde win everyone’s heart in all-time classic vs. Argentina

What was expected to be one of the most one-sided Round of 32 fixtures turned out to be an all-time classic.

Defending champions Argentina were pushed all the way to extra time and ultimately found themselves clinging on to a narrow lead against the unfancied World Cup debutantes, who had set up this clash by drawing all three group games and looking like a well-put-together side, both in and out of possession.

On a humid day in Miami, La Albiceleste began the game at walking pace. They took 15 minutes to register their first shot, and it would be almost another 15 minutes later that they would open the scoring with their third attempt. Lionel Scaloni’s side certainly didn’t build a lot of pressure in the lead-up to the goal, but when you have a player like Lionel Messi in your side, you often don’t need to.

From a tactical perspective, what is interesting to note here is how Argentina’s in-possession setup leaves the centre-backs with a good deal of playmaking responsibility. Lisandro Martínez’s assist there was one of his match-leading 15 progressive passes, with fellow centre-back Cristian Romero second with 10 ahead of Messi’s eight. The trio also occupied the podium in terms of progressive carries, with the legendary number 10 obviously doing most of his work higher up the pitch.

Scaloni has always set his side up to be quite fluid with the ball, utilising the natural dynamics of the players in his XI to form a balanced setup. Messi, of course, has remained the star of the show in a free role around the centre-right region in this World Cup, while Thiago Almada stays more positionally disciplined as he drifts infield from the left. The full-backs advance to provide width but are rarely sought with the ball — their job is to stretch the opposition defence and open up space for their more talented teammates in the middle. Alexis Mac Allister is the most centrally fixed midfielder as Enzo Fernández can provide extra support to the attack with forward runs in the opposition half, with Rodrigo De Paul dropping back more often.

Even against disciplined blocks, Argentina look to play their way through the middle. They don’t force the issue with an excessively high volume of incisive passing, instead keeping a slow tempo and only flicking the switch when they carve out an opening. The constant movement of the midfielders serves to open up passing lanes in the middle, with Messi often stationing himself at the end of them. This approach has been key to the all-time World Cup top-scorer’s success in this tournament, right from his very first strike against Algeria to his incredible take and finish here.

For all their quality in possession, though, Argentina are a flawed team without the ball. They can’t really commit to a high press due to Messi’s presence up front, but their midfield isn’t the most sturdy for a solid block either. Therefore, when they can’t control games with possession, things can start to get a little shaky. That is exactly what happened after half-time, as Cabo Verde fashioned a couple of openings before breaking through and equalising in the 59th minute.

Had such a situation arisen in 2022, Argentina would have gone into a frenzy in their quest for a winner. The game could then easily have opened up far too much, and a huge upset would very much have been on the cards. Having lifted the monkey off their back by winning the title last time, though, Scaloni's side comfortably kept their heads. They very much returned to the ascendancy and gradually upped the intensity of their play, all while ensuring that they didn’t give up anything silly. There were chances for Messi in particular to produce a moment of magic and win it, but he couldn’t quite manage it, and on we went to extra time.

Just a couple of minutes into extra time, the favourites retook the lead. Lisandro Martínez was the scorer this time, as he emphatically finished at the near post after collecting a loose ball from a corner. Incredibly, Cabo Verde still had it in them to fight back. Bubista sent on a second striker in the 100th minute, but it was two-footed left back Sidny Lopes Cabral who produced the goal of the tournament to make it 2-2.

Unfortunately for the romantics, the mother of all upsets was not to be. An own goal off a corner put Argentina back in front in the 111th minute. They still had to withstand seven more shots from Cabo Verde and certainly didn't cruise over the line, as the minnows fought to the very end in what will surely go down as one of the great underdog performances in World Cup history. —NS

Colombia make easy work of Ghana, further bolstering their credentials

Through the group stages, Colombia finished first in Group K with 7 points while outshooting opponents by 31. It’s not like their group was low in quality either. DR Congo performed better than expected, and although Colombia drew 0-0 with Portugal, few would argue Colombia weren’t the better team. It led to more plaudits thrown their direction, and a feeling they could equal or better the best run ever had by a Colombian side at a World Cup (quarterfinals in 2014).

While only a 1-0 victory on the scoreline over Ghana, Colombia were certainly the better team. The majority of the match saw Ghana concede territory to Colombia, allowing the South American side to establish territory. Different formations were concocted to try and break down the stubborn low-block, including a 3-1-6 which featured several positional changes. One example was James Rodríguez dropping deeper into pockets, while Gustavo Puerta would move into the frontline. All the while, there were enough depth runs provided by the likes of Luis Díaz and Daniel Muñoz.

Muñoz’s activity on the right side did help Colombia gain an early lead, although most of the credit goes to early substitute Luis Suárez (on for an injured Jhon Córdoba), who muscled past his marker to whip in a cross towards the far post. Jhon Arias got to it unmarked for an easy tap-in.

The rest of the match was weird in that despite being 1-0 down for over 75 minutes, Colombia still retained the majority of possession. It reflected their control in different phases of play. Ghana struggled with progressive passing, which fed into the pressing triggers Colombia had. The backline was still positioned high, and it led to several transition opportunities, especially in the second half (including a disallowed goal for Díaz). The final shot count was 20-8, with the quality of opportunities also in their favor. It was another piece of evidence towards Colombia being a dark horse contender, and their round of 16 match against Switzerland could be very fascinating. —MM

These dudes really put their center backs on their most crucial penalties

Egypt and Australia played a match fairly light on attacking quality, with both sides looking quite risk-averse after the 55th minute equalizer. It went all the way to penalties, with the Egyptians advancing thanks to a couple of misses by Australia’s central defenders.

Emam Ashour opened the scoring in the 13th minute, heading in a cross from Karim Hafez, and Egypt looked to be pretty well in control after that. But a 55th minute set piece saw Mohamed Hany — who previously suffered what appeared to be a nasty head injury and was allowed to continue after being examined — misjudge a header and redirect it into his own goal.

All of the big-looking chances that you see here from after that point had blocks or deflections that made them easy claims for the keeper, and made them not feel like dramatic moments at all. This one always felt like it was going to pens.

Extremely surprisingly, Australia sent out 6’6” center back Harry Souttar to take their first penalty, which he put over the bar. After making their next two, the Socceroos even more surprisingly picked 19-year-old center back Lucas Herrington for their 4th take, and he hit the crossbar. Egypt made all of their spot kicks and won the shootout 4-2 to progress to the next round.

The Australians made another unconventional move before the shootout began, subbing out goalkeeper Patrick Beach — who had an excellent tournament — for veteran Mat Ryan. This proved be a poor decision. Ryan guessed right on the first penalty, but wasn’t particularly close to saving it. On the other 3, he wasn’t anywhere close to making a save.

Shoutout to Egypt for the unconventional strategy of putting Mohamed Salah 3rd, which I like a lot. Teams have been burned by saving their star for last in shootouts on several occasions, most famously Portugal at Euro 2012. Lots of teams put their star 1st, which makes a lot of sense. But by placing your star taker 3rd, you ensure they’re going to take a pen before the shootout ends, but you potentially save them for a higher leverage kick. —KM

Canada run out of gas in the 2nd half vs Morocco

Canada had firmly reached the house money portion of their tournament run. After beating South Africa in the round of 32 (albeit in an uninspiring manner), their reward was meeting one of the semifinalists from the 2022 World Cup in Morocco. Although they were underdogs against Switzerland in the final group stage match, this was another level altogether given Morocco’s credentials.

To Canada’s credit, they played a really good first half and limited Morocco to only one shot, which was a long range attempt from Soufiane Rahimi in the 28th minute. Canada had a lot of success from the wide traps utilized within their 4-4-2 block, creating turnovers and trying to attack an unsettled Moroccan defense. The best chance for either side in the first half came from a misplaced pass by Neil El Aynaoui towards Richie Laryea around the halfway line, who then fizzed a floor pass towards the feet of a streaking Tani Oluwaseyi. He showed some nifty footwork to turn away from Redouane Halhal, before his shot was expertly saved by Yassine Bounou.

As has been the case in both domestic football and the international game, set-pieces help break games open. Unfortunately for Canada, they were on the receiving end as Morocco’s clever indirect free kick helped them gain the lead. Instead of delivering a cross from the right, the activity around the spot was a decoy so no Canadian player was anywhere near Azzedine Ounahi in the penalty arc when he drilled his low shot to the left of goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau.

From there, Canada had to chase the game and so their rest defense became increasingly shaky. Morocco were able to find joy on the counter, and eventually put the game to rest in the 81st minute with Ounahi’s 2nd. Morocco scored their third just before the final whistle for a 3-0 victory, although the scoreline does not accurately reflect either side’s performance. On the whole, Canada can take a lot of good from their showing in this World Cup, providing substantial hope for the men’s team going forward. —MM

France find a way past Paraguay

Having dumped Germany out on penalties in the Round of 32, Paraguay continued their incredible World Cup run with a Round of 16 matchup against favourites France.

La Albirroja didn’t quite play a particularly eye-catching brand of football throughout the tournament anyway, but they leaned fully into the ways of haramball for this game. Gustavo Alfaro switched to back five and got his side to drop way back into a 5-4-1 low block, ceding almost all possession and territory. Their plan seemed to be to frustrate France, take as long as permissible on goal kicks, send them long and hope to win a second ball or free-kick to make something happen.

France, for their part, were slow to start again. It took them 22 minutes to register the first attempt of the match — Manu Koné’s blocked long-range effort. Although they tried to push a bit more after the first hydration break, they couldn’t fire a meaningful shot from inside the box in the entirety of the first half.

The only positives for Les Bleus were that their elite defence ensured no noteworthy chances were given up, and they had some more elite attacking talent to send on off the bench. Ultimately, it was a substitute who produced the decisive moment. Désiré Doué embarked on a dribble into the box not long after coming on, but was again met by a swarm of Paraguayan defenders. He didn’t look to be going anywhere in particular as he cut inside and slalomed past them, but managed to draw a penalty as the referee decided he was unfairly brought down after a VAR review. Kylian Mbappé stepped up and scored, effectively sealing the game there and then.

This certainly wasn’t anywhere near as pretty as France’s exhibition-like Round of 32 win over Sweden, but all that matters is that they got over the line unscathed. The good news for Didier Deschamps’ side is that they won’t meet another team trying to minimise the amount of football played to such an extreme extent for the rest of the tournament. Morocco await them in the quarter-final and will be out to avenge their 2022 semi-final loss in what promises to be a cracking contest. —NS

Another disappointing World Cup exit for Brazil

Neither Brazil nor Norway came into the round of 16 in blistering form. Both needed late goals to defeat Japan and Côte d'Ivoire respectively in the previous round, after spending significant stretches of the match playing in an unconvincing manner. Two flawed teams matching up in a pivotal knockout encounter had the potential to deliver something worthwhile.

Instead, a lot of this match was played at a low intensity. Brazil continued their tendency to operate in a mid-block, hoping to create fast attacks. Meanwhile, Norway struggled to create threatening moments through the mid-block, and also were at their best during transitions through Erling Haaland and Alexander Sørloth. Even still, Brazil had a golden opportunity to get the early lead in the first half and play more on the counter, but Bruno Guimarães couldn’t convert on his penalty.

The second half was more of the same, as Brazil’s defend and counter strategy nearly got them the opener in the 58th minute. Vinícius Júnior found Endrick in behind with a clever toe poke through-ball, but a heavy touch at the end made the clear chance harder, eventually chipping it wide. Each side then traded chances and some nervy moments until we got to the home stretch of the second half.

A man by the name of Shaquille O’Neal once said, “just give it to the big man and let him dominate”. From about the 79th minute onwards, Erling Haaland essentially decided that Brazil’s World Cup journey would come to an end. Off of a cleverly disguised cross from Andreas Schjelderup, Haaland was able to beat Gabriel to the ball and head it past Alisson to take the 1-0 lead. It was quintessential striker play from one of the greats at that position. Brazil almost equalized from what would’ve been one of the most bizarre own goals ever. Haaland landed the final blow in the 89th minute with his second goal of the contest to make it 2-0, hammering a low shot from a standstill to Alisson’s left.

Brazil’s horrid run of World Cup eliminations continue with this loss to Norway. Since winning it in 2002, they’ve not reached the finals, getting the closest in 2014 with the infamous 7-1 defeat vs Germany in the semifinals. This iteration struggled in possession and relied heavily on counters to create chance. Out of possession, they did not show much in the moments earlier in the tournament when they tried to press, having to resort to a mid-block strategy. While you could argue in previous eliminations (mainly in 2018 and 2022) that they dealt with some bad finishing luck, what happened here was more a case of a limited side which wasn’t coached up by Carlo Ancelotti to be better than the sum of its parts. Haaland’s seven goals has Norway in uncharted territory, making the quarterfinals for the first time ever and facing off against England on Saturday. —MM

Aguirre falls into Tuchel's trap as England claim Azteca epic

Much has been made about how the concepts and structures in the club game are hard to carry over to national teams. There's not enough time to be as well-drilled on an intricate pressing scheme or attacking rotation, and you can't hit the transfer market to sign the perfect piece to your particular puzzle.

The thinking goes that international managers, especially at the top, are managing vibes as much as anything else. Set up a solid mid-block defensive structure, be sharp in attacking transition, work very hard at set pieces at both ends, get everyone to emotionally buy in, and get out of the way.

It's never that simple, but it is often tough for managers whose game model requires more intense study from players to transition into a national-team gig. However, England and Mexico both gave examples of how coaching does still matter, especially when it comes to in-game tactical changes.

Jarell Quansah's 53rd-minute red card required some kind of change out of Thomas Tuchel, given that leaving space for Julián Quiñónes was clearly the worst approach against this Mexico side. Bukayo Saka came off, but rather than inserting Djed Spence, Tuchel made a more conservative move, shifting Ezri Konsa to right back and inserting John Stones at center back. Further forward, England got narrow, with Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham tucking in to create more of a box shape in midfield at times, while Anthony Gordon was left up top to chase long balls.

Full credit to Tuchel: the change provoked a goal, as Raúl Rangel's moment of hesitation turned Kane's knockdown of a simple long ball into a 1v1 with Gordon bearing down. Going to a more conventional 4-4-1 with Gordon staying wide would have made this harder to pull off.

Down 3-1, Javier Aguirre had to do something, and his move was to swap out his 8 (Luis Romo) for a 10 (Brian Gutiérrez), and to replace his 10 (Gilberto Mora) with another striker (Santiago Giménez).

This was Aguirre tipping his hand. Instead of trying to break England down with combinations through the middle or a variety of interior movements, the objective was clear: get the ball into the box for the strikers. Suddenly Quiñónes had fewer spaces to run into, and more of an obligation to create for others when his specialty is going to goal himself. Mexico's best player was no longer central to their plans.

England did concede a penalty, and since it was Gutiérrez getting kicked by Kane, Aguirre might claim some credit. However, England still had the lead, and now they knew exactly how the game would play out.

WIthin five minutes, Dan Burn came in as a third center back, Djed Spence entered as a left wingback, and England set up in a 5-3-1 with three center backs and a fourth (Konsa) playing as a wingback. That's a look suited towards surviving in stoppage time as the opponent throws the kitchen sink your way, rather than a more modern approach based on defending higher up the pitch.

However, Tuchel correctly read that Mexico had nowhere else to go tactically other than leaning harder into getting it wide and hitting crosses. England's midfielders and Kane committed to putting in immense work — altitude is not "all in your head" as Owen Hargreaves claimed on U.S. television, and their work rate in the face of it was truly impressive — and Mexico gave them an assist by settling on "get it in the mixer."

Mexico compounded this by becoming progressively more one-sided, going up the right time and time again. Fotmob listed Mexico as having 11 successful crosses, and a 22% success rate, meaning El Tri lumped 50 crosses into the mixer. Roberto Alvarado whipped 23 attempts in by himself, connecting on just five. Meanwhile, Quiñónes was eventually removed for Guillermo Martínez, one more central striker to vaguely hope would end up finding a juicy rebound. It was, as a longtime friend called it, "desperate rather than urgent."

England's big lads are good at dealing with this kind of bombardment, and while there were some close calls, Mexico failed to really put Declan Rice (who was booked in the game's opening seconds) to the test in terms of defending as an individual. They failed at driving at the box and making England defend 1v1. The man advantage was there, and they ignored it to attempt what even a modest Ball Knower knows is a low-percentage approach.

So, credit to Tuchel for knowing what the game was, and what it would become. Aguirre has been so good for Mexico and elsewhere for a more international-friendly approach, but once it became time to really earn that paycheck and get El Tri into that elusive World Cup quarterfinal, the England boss had his number. —JA

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