The completion of the second round of group games means we are halfway into this year's Draft World Cup!
Already, three teams have had their elimination confirmed, whilst another three are sure of a knockout spot:
Already, three teams have had their elimination confirmed, whilst another three are sure of a knockout spot:
Realistically, England and Italy are also through. That will be confirmed today, as we conclude Groups A & B. But who will join them? Everybody else today is still in the hunt, with varying degrees of optimism.
Group A
England's title defence is going swimmingly so far, with two easy victories. Nigeria put the cat among the pigeons when they beat Qatar early on, but a heavy loss to Ukraine may prove costly:
Nigeria have to avoid defeat against England to have a chance of qualifying; they need to better Ukraine's result. If they get at least a draw, Qatar are eliminated. But if Nigeria lose, then Qatar would sneak through should they produce a two-goal win over Ukraine.
Team news: England vs Nigeria
Whilst their qualification isn't technically certain, in reality it is. As a result England make a full 11 changes, giving almost everybody in the squad the chance to impress. Nigeria try to lock everything down by switching to a 4-1-4-1, with Olakunle Olusegun replaced by Josh Onomah. Ebube Duru also comes in for Brian Idowu.
Whilst their qualification isn't technically certain, in reality it is. As a result England make a full 11 changes, giving almost everybody in the squad the chance to impress. Nigeria try to lock everything down by switching to a 4-1-4-1, with Olakunle Olusegun replaced by Josh Onomah. Ebube Duru also comes in for Brian Idowu.
Team news: Ukraine vs Qatar
After levelling Nigeria with three goals in the opening 20 mins, and another one in the first half, Ukraine obviously keep the same starting XI. Qatar match Ukraine's 4-2-3-1, despite that shape not working out against Nigeria. Róger Guedes comes back in for Kim Moon-Hwan.
After levelling Nigeria with three goals in the opening 20 mins, and another one in the first half, Ukraine obviously keep the same starting XI. Qatar match Ukraine's 4-2-3-1, despite that shape not working out against Nigeria. Róger Guedes comes back in for Kim Moon-Hwan.
Kick off
ENGvNGA (3 mins): Nigeria's plan to shut out England for as long as possible... doesn't succeed. It's Declan Rice who opens them up with a terrific first-time pass into the path of Andrew Robertson. The Scot actually holds the DWC record for most matches without scoring, but he finally gets off the mark with a confident finish at the near post!
UKRvQAT (15 mins): Mateus Uribe nearly gets Qatar off to a flyer with a header wide in the second minute, whilst at the other end Meshaal Barsham produces a good stop when Ruslan Malinovskyi's shot is deflected. Ukraine will be happy with how the game is fairly even and played in midfield. But then out of nowhere Oleksandr Tymchyk hacks Philippe Coutinho down near the centre circle and it's a red card! The door has been opened for Qatar, can they find a way through?
ENGvNGA (17 mins): It hasn't been as bad for Nigeria as the early goal threatened, with just a saved Bruno Fernandes shot from England. And then, from an England corner Nigeria counter. Victor Moses cuts it inside to Ademola Lookman who plays it into the path of Ibrahim Rabiu charging past the outnumbered Robertson. From the corner of the six yard box he goes for power, beats Ederson and the ball goes in via the underside of the bar!
UKRvQAT (25 mins): From the free kick following the red Qatar lose the ball, and Artem Dovbyk should score from Viktor Tsygankov's pass but he fires wide. Malinovskyi is sacrificed for right back Yukhym Konoplia, and soon after Qatar are having to make a change of their own after Paulo Otávio tweaks his hamstring. Kim comes on.
ENGvNGA (28 mins): Robertson nearly gets a surprise second from the edge of the box straight after Nigeria's equaliser, whilst Harry Kane flashes a shot wide. It is very hard for Nigeria to surpress the many creative stars in the England team, and Phil Foden carves out a bit of space and finds Fernandes in the box, who lashes a shot across Olorunleke Ojo and in to restore England's lead!
ENGvNGA (43 mins): England are creating more and more chances. Ojo produces a brilliant close-range stop from Fernandes, and Kane heads wide from the corner. And eventually the pressure tells. In a move that will have Spurs fans feeling nostalgic, Heung-Min Son breezes past Manuel Akanji and finds Kane in the box to place a shot in the bottom corner!
UKRvQAT (44 mins): Despite their numerical advantage, Qatar haven't had a single shot since Uribe's early effort. Ukraine aren't creating a lot either, although Mykhaylo Mudryk goes close after intercepting a pass and racing through. But just as it looks like a scoreless half, Rafinha shows a deft touch to get into the box away from three defenders, and finds the bottom corner! Qatar lead, and now just need one more goal to move into second! They survive a scare right at the end of the half as Dovbyk wastes another good chance, and at half time it's very finely poised.
Half time
ENGvNGA (57 mins): With Nigeria sitting so deep, John Stones has been asked to push into midfield, which in turn pushes Fernandes up near to Kane. It leads to a couple of efforts from Fernandes, one saved by Ojo and the other just wide. But just when it looks like England have total domination, one long ball from Duru catches William Saliba half-asleep. Somehow he is beaten to it by Stefano Okaka (pace: 11), and his low shot beats Ederson to bring it back to 3-2!
UKRvQAT (62 mins): It is very tense here. Ukraine find themselves defending quite deep, but so far succeeding in staving Qatar off. The best Qatari chances both fall to Abdou Diallo, a header from a corner and a shot from the edge of the box both saved by Andriy Lunin.
ENGvNGA (69 mins): Martin Odegaard nearly gives England an immediate reply with a shot that clips the outside of the post. But Nigeria don't heed the warning, and ten minutes later leave Odegaard in plenty of space on the edge of the box again. This time he makes no mistake, bending his shot past Ojo to restore England's two-goal advantage!
UKRvQAT (74 mins): A second Qatar goal feels less inevitable (more evitable?) than it did at the time of the last update, but Ukraine are beginning to tire. However, when a ross is cleared to Tsygankov he is able to drive upfield and lay it off to Mudryk. Kim presses him but he is able to come infield, and his shot from 25 yards out beats Barsham! Out of nowhere Mudryk brings the game level, and puts Ukraine back into a great position! Qatar need to find two goals pronto!
ENGvNGA (90+5 mins): Substitute Virgil van Dijk nearly adds another for England as his header at a corner hits the post, but other than that there's not too much action as England happily see out a comfortable win.
UKRvQAT (90+5 mins): Scoring goals has been a persistent issue for Qatar, and other than a shot over from Julian Draxler, they offer no real evidence that this is going to change. After going ahead Ukrained had taken off Tsygankov and Mudryk, retreated into a 5-3-1 and hold on for the draw to see them through!
Final scores:
England 4 (Robertson 3', Fernandes 28', Kane 42', Odegaard 69') Nigeria 2 (Rabiu 17', Okaka 57') Player of the match: Heung-Min Son (ENG) | Ukraine 1 (Mudryk 74') Qatar 1 (Rafinha 44') Player of the match: Mykhaylo Mudryk (UKR) |
Ukraine's red card after quarter of an hour handed Qatar a golden chance to find the result they needed to rescue themselves, and they flatly refused to take it. A brave battling performance from Ukraine who feel like the deserved runners-up in this group.
Meanwhile, it was a typically dominant match for England, made to look closer because Nigeria scored from their only two shots.
Meanwhile, it was a typically dominant match for England, made to look closer because Nigeria scored from their only two shots.
Qatar may have avoided the dreaded triple-L on their DWC debut, but they still finish bottom of a group they were hoping to progress from. With England in ominous form, Ukraine will be perfectly happy to just get through alongside them.
Group B
Italy got the tournament off to a bang with an 8-2 dismantling of Iran. As those two teams followed that result with a second win and loss respectively, this group is realistically just about the other two teams now, Canada and Cameroon:
With just one goal difference between them, it appears like this should be close. But Cameroon have to better Canada's score whilst playing Italy, with Canada taking on Iran. Speaking of Iran, they need a three-goal win over Canada - and Cameroon to lose by at least two - to produce the greatest of all escapes.
Team news: Cameroon vs Italy
Cameroon keep the same XI that beat Iran, whilst Italy - like England - make a full 11 changes.
Cameroon keep the same XI that beat Iran, whilst Italy - like England - make a full 11 changes.
Team news: Canada vs Iran
Canada make two changes, both enforced. Joel Waterman has picked up a yellow in each game so far and is suspended, but more worryingly Alphonso Davies injured his heel against Italy. Mathías Laborda and Sam Adekugbe are direct replacements. Iran change shape to a 3-4-1-2, with Sardar Azmoun and Mehdi Taremi united up front at last whilst Mehdi Torabi is replaced by Aref Aghasi.
Canada make two changes, both enforced. Joel Waterman has picked up a yellow in each game so far and is suspended, but more worryingly Alphonso Davies injured his heel against Italy. Mathías Laborda and Sam Adekugbe are direct replacements. Iran change shape to a 3-4-1-2, with Sardar Azmoun and Mehdi Taremi united up front at last whilst Mehdi Torabi is replaced by Aref Aghasi.
Kick off
CANvIRN (12 mins): Canada start on top, with Lorenzo Insigne denied by Alireza Beiranvand and Jonathan David curling a shot over the bar.
CMRvITA (20 mins): With Italy's replacement full backs Danilo and Federico Dimarco inclined to support the midfield, they are playing a more patient game than usual, a style largely matched by Cameroon. The result is a slow start, but twenty minutes in André-Franck Zambo Anguissa plays it forward to Adrien Rabiot, whose first touch brings him goal-side of Adolphe Teikeu, and he fires the ball past Devis Epassy to put Italy ahead!
CMRvITA (38 mins): Cameroon have a brief spell where they keep Italy pinned back with successive corners, but it comes to nothing. And whilst Italy haven't been rampant, they open up Cameroon again. And again, it's Rabiot the recipient as his well-timed run is picked out by Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. This time Rabiot plays it across to the middle of the box where Lautaro Martínez is waiting to side-foot a simple finish home!
CMRvITA (42 mins): Martínez picks the ball up halfway into the Cameroonian box, looks up and sees Joel Matip in front of him. He decides to just charge past him as if he wasn't there, and Cameroon's best defender can't get near him. Through on goal, there is no hesitation as Martínez fires the ball in the top corner! That's a brilliant goal! At half time the shot count is actually 6-5 in Cameroon's favour, but it's Italy who are flying at 3-0 up.
CANvIRN (43 mins): Ali Adnan had been lucky to keep his place in Iran's team after two shaky showings, and after half an hour he ends up replaced here after an ankle knock. Iran have been slowly growing into the game, but just before the break Canada twice go close with Ryan Gauld's volley and Bryan Cristante's long range effort both saved by Beiranvand. It's scoreless at the break, which suits Canada just fine.
Half time
CANvIRN (64 mins): The change to a back five has helped Iran improve on their porous defence, but they will be disappointed with how inactive their front two have been in this game. Tristan Blackmon curls a shot over the bar as Canada continue to (very) gently probe for the opening goal.
CMRvITA (66 mins): Cameroon don't change much, as they have actually dealt with Italy pretty well, except for the goals. But it means Italy remain in charge, with Kvaratskhelia and Martínez going close.
CANvIRN (87 mins): Still a lot of nothing here. David has a decent chance but his header is at Beiranvand, whilst at the other end Taremi lets fly but clears the bar. But just when it looks like we're headed to the tournament's second scoreless draw Iran get a free kick just outside the D. Abdelkarim Hassan - Adnan's replacement - doesn't quite clear the wall, but the contact with Victor Wanyama sends it spinning into the bottom corner! It's probably too late to send Iran towards the three-goal win they need, but they are on course for a first DWC victory!
CMRvITA (90+4 mins): This half has been a complete washout. Nicolo Barella, on off the bench, injects some late excitement with a long-range shot that hit the post, but that was it.
CANvIRN (90+4 mins): By the time of Iran's goal Canada had taken off all of their front four, and their replacements can't force an equaliser.
Final score:
Cameroon 0 Italy 3 (Rabiot 20', Martínez 38', 42') Player of the match: Adrien Rabiot (ITA) | Canada 0 Iran 1 (Hassan 87') Player of the match: Abdelkarim Hassan (IRN) |
As noted during the game, Italy didn't do a lot, but when they did do something it usually lead to a goal. For Cameroon, it wasn't that dissimilar to their loss to Canada by the same scoreline.
I wouldn't quite say that Iran executed a smash-and-grab, but they did produce a win out of nowhere. Italy's first half flurry meant that Canada were playing without much pressure, but they would have wanted a better performance.
I wouldn't quite say that Iran executed a smash-and-grab, but they did produce a win out of nowhere. Italy's first half flurry meant that Canada were playing without much pressure, but they would have wanted a better performance.
I can't be bothered to check the archives, but I would be surprised if Italy's three wins with a goal difference of 13 has been beaten many times before. Ultimately, the other three teams each beat one another, with Canada's big win over Cameroon being the most important one.
So we have two groups completed, and that also fills in two ties for the knockout stages: England versus Canada and Italy versus Ukraine. On the evidence of today it's hard to see last year's finalists ending their terrific starts to the tournament.
Groups C & D next, which have provided a lot of great games so far, will the groups go to the wire?
Groups C & D next, which have provided a lot of great games so far, will the groups go to the wire?