INSIDE QATAR 2022: BEYOND ARGENTINA’S DEFEAT

 

 

By Ekpor Temple

Obviously, there were plenty of drama and surprises in the games played yesterday. A solid Argentine side with captain fantastic Lionel Messi lost to Saudi –Arabia and Polish striker Robert Lewandoski squandered a penalty that would have seen Poland grap all three point against the El tri of Mexico.

But beyond these trending stories, let’s bring you titbits of all that played out yesterday in Qatar.

Eight games played so far with 22 scored, 16 Assist, 2 Goalless and one score draw. The Qatar world cup has recorded multiple goals from (Enner Valencia, Bukayo Saka and Olivier Giroud) all scoring a brace in their teams’ first game. As it stance now, 32 yellow cards have been shown to players for dissent and rough conduct in the field of play. And a critical analysis shows that Referee performance is rated above 74% with 89% credit to Video Assistant referee (VAR).

Review of yesterday’s Games

Saudi Arabia produced one of the biggest shocks in World Cup history as they came from behind to beat Argentina 2-1 in their Group C opener yesterday.

Coaches: Argentina – Lionel Sebastian Scaloni vs Saudi Arabia - Herve Renard

Match Referee: Slavko Vincic (Slovenia)

Venues and capacity: Lusail Iconic Stadium or Lusail Stadium is an 80,000 capacity stadium in Lusail, Qatar. The stadium will host the final game of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The Lusail Stadium, owned by the Qatar Football Association, is the biggest stadium in Qatar and one of eight stadiums being converted for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar.

Mexico 0-0 Poland: In Group C: Robert Lewandowski had a second-half penalty saved by Guillermo Ochoa as the sides shared the points at Stadium 974.

Coaches: Mexico – Gerardo Daniel Martino vs Poland - Czeslaw Michniewicz

Match Referee: Chris Beath (Australia)

Venues and capacity: The 40,000 Stadium 974 is a football stadium in Ras Abu Aboud, Doha, Qatar. Opened 30 November 2021, it is a temporary venue made from 974 recycled shipping containers that will host matches during the 2022 FIFA World Cup, after which it will be dismantled. It is the first temporary venue in FIFA World Cup history. 

GROUP D- Denmark 0-0 Tunisia: Christian Eriksen made his major tournament return 18 months after suffering a cardiac arrest at Euro 2020 – but his Denmark side were held to a frustrating 0-0 draw by Tunisia in Group D after some late VAR drama.

Coaches: Denmark – Kasper Hjulmand vs Tunisia - Jalel Kadri

Match Referee:  Cesar Ramos (Mexico)

Venues and capacity: The 40,000 Education City Stadium is a football stadium which is located in Al Rayyan, Qatar, and was built as a venue in time for the ongoing 2022 FIFA World Cup held in Qatar. The stadium is located within several university campuses at the Qatar Foundation's Education City.

GROUP D- France 0-0 Australia: Olivier Giroud scored twice as World Cup holders France recovered from the shock of going behind to thump Australia 4-1 in their opener in Qatar on yesterday. Veteran striker Giroud drew level with Thierry Henry’s all-time record of 51 goals for France and Adrien Rabiot and Kylian Mbappe also scored, after Australia took a surprise ninth-minute lead through Craig Goodwin.

Coaches: France – Didier Deschamps vs Australia- Graham Arnold

Match Referee:  Victor Gomes (South Africa)

Venues and capacity: Al-Janoub Stadium, formerly known as Al-Wakrah Stadium, is a retractable roof football stadium in Qatar that was inaugurated on 16 May 2019. This is the second among the eight stadiums for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, after the renovation of Khalifa International Stadium. It has 44,325 projected Capacity.

Preview of Today’s Games                                        

11am today in Nigeria, Hostilities will commence in Group F as Morocco will become the third African team to battle for honours against 2018 finalist Croatia.

Since the turn of the millennium, Morocco have failed to qualify for the World Cup on four of their five attempts, their only appearance coming in Russia in 2018. Morocco have under-performed at the Africa Cup of Nations, posting last 16 and quarter-final finishes, but they head into this competition on a five-match unbeaten streak. Victories have been posted against the likes of South Africa, Chile and Georgia, while they also collected a goalless draw against Paraguay in September.

With the nation now ranked 22nd in the FIFA World Rankings, head coach Walid Regragui will be delighted with the trajectory of his team, feeling that Belgium and Croatia should not necessarily expect to qualify for the knockout stages.

Meanwhile, Crotia will be playing their first World Cup fixture since losing in the final four years ago, going down by a 4-2 scoreline to France. Zlatko Dalic's side recently won four successive UEFA Nations League fixtures, a run which included an away victory over France, to top a group which also included Denmark and Austria. Since losing 5-3 to Spain at Euro 2020, Croatia have lost just once in 16 games, a defeat that they avenged by prevailing 3-1 in Austria in their most recent competitive outing.

The second game will see, Germany kick off their World Cup 2022 Group E campaign against Japan at the Khalifa International Stadium. Seeking to consign dismal memories of Russia 2018, they will hope to achieve something better like they did in 2014. While Japan who were on the verge of stunning Belgium in the last 16 before being eliminated will hope to use their attacking options to cause huge problems in this fixture.

5pm today, Spain will host Costa Rica as they bid to get their World Cup campaign off to the best possible start in their Group E opener. La Roja have found it difficult to impress in their two World Cups since lifting the trophy in 2010, but Costa Rica reached the quarter-final stage of the 2014 competition, which is their best performance in the finals.

And the last game today on match day four will see Canada play their first World Cup fixture in 36 years when they face Belgium at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium.

For Belgium, despite a tricky build up, this represents the final chance for a lot of their 'Golden Generation' to win a major tournament, and should have enough class in the side to beat an inexperienced Canadian outfit.

While Davies will be a big miss for Canada should he not feature, but there are goals in this Canada team and they have built brilliant defensive foundations in recent years, which could frustrate Belgium at times.

Actions continues tomorrow Thursday 24 November, and we hope to bring you preview of games between Switzerland -Cameroon, Uruguay-Korea Republic, Portugal-Ghana and Brazil-Serbia.