The big news from this day was the shocking exit of the defending champions, Germany.
At first, it might not seem so shocking. After all, the defending World Cup champions have exited from the group stage in four of the past five World Cups.
However, this was different. Germany has been a model of consistency in international tournaments for many years now. The last time that Germany failed to qualify for the second round? That would be in 1978, when only 16 teams qualified for the entire tournament. And technically, they placed sixth in that tournament, regardless of not qualifying for the elimination rounds (only the top four teams did).
In fact, Germany has been among the last eight teams standing in each tournament since beyond even then, That means that the last time that Germany was not among the final eight teams in a World Cup would be back in 1950, when they were still banned from international play, just five years after the end of World War II.
When the Germans entered the next World Cup, they won it all. Part of the "German miracle" of the 1950's. And ever since, the German side has been a consistent source of positive results and pride during every international tournament, and particularly the World Cup,
At least, that is, until this one.
This has been a strange World Cup, and it just keeps getting stranger and stranger.
There was even a unified Korean celebration over this huge win against a nation that itself used to be divided, Germany.
Of course, this was not the only game yesterday. Let's take a look at all of yesterday's action in Russia:
Sweden 3, Mexico 0 - Despite Mexico's hot start, with two wins in their first two games, there still appeared to be a scenario where they might not even qualify for the elimination round.
Indeed, that scenario started to appear more and more likely as this game wore on, because Sweden really did a number on Mexico. Perhaps the Mexican side, and their fans, could take a lesson from their first opponents, Germany, who did not take the Mexican side seriously enough. Maybe the Mexicans were beginning to feel a little too much swagger themselves, and needed a good butt kicking, just to keep them honest.
If so, then this was it.
Sweden made Mexico look more than mortal, but downright weak and vulnerable on this day.
The game was scoreless through the first half. But in the second half, it was all Sweden, and the goals rained down almost like an avalanche on Mexico.
The first came in the 50th minute from Ludwig Augustinsson. The next came on a penalty kick in the 62nd minute, which Andreas Granqvist made for Sweden to take a 2-0 lead.
Suddenly, Mexico looked vulnerable. With Germany locked in a scoreless tie with South Korea, but all the world still expecting them to score and take the win, things seemed decidedly grim for the Mexican side.
Indeed, it got worse for them, to boot. It had taken Sweden 50 minutes to get the game's first goal, but they broke through again 12 minutes later. Then, 12 minutes after that, Mexico's Edson Álvarez scored an own goal against his side, and Sweden had a commanding 3-0 lead.
That was how it ended. Final score, Sweden 3, Mexico 0. It was the biggest margin of victory for Sweden in a World Cup since all the way back in 1994, when they defeated the Bulgarians (who had just knocked out the defending champs, Germany) in the consolation third place game. The win assures that for the fourth consecutive time in World Cup tournaments in which the Swedes have qualified for, they advance to the elimination round.
Mexico was not able to mount any kind of serious comeback, and Sweden cruised to a surprisingly easy victory, which clinched the group win for them. Meanwhile, though, a bit of good news for the Mexicans on a day when their team was humbled: Germany suffered a shocking defeat. Instead of replacing Mexico to qualify for the elimination round, Germany fell to last place, and Mexico's World Cup was saved. They managed to reach the elimination round in each of the last eight World Cups now that they have participated in.
How much did Mexico appreciate South Korea's win over Germany? A Mexican airline, Aeroméxico, is offering discount flights to South Korea for a limited time, with the hastag #graciascorea.
Gotta love it!
South Korea 2, Germany 0 - Germany needed a win, and that meant that they needed to have a breakthrough, to score a goal, at least. More than one would be better.
They had some good looks, some nice opportunities, and they came close. But not close enough to actually convert, to take a lead. The first half passed, and South Korea's defense remained stingy, so the game remained scoreless. This trend continued through the second half, too. It was assumed that the Germans would surely win, of course, because anyone with any knowledge of this sport on the international level, in these kinds of competitions, knew that Germany always seems to come through when they need it most, even in a game's final seconds. Just ask Sweden, the team that got burned by this German tendency days ago.
Something strange happened instead, though. South Korea's Kim Young-gwon got an all-too easy goal off of a corner kick in the second minute of extra time.
Now, Germany needed a miracle just not to lose.
And it got worse. Germany pressed, but it was South Korea who, once again, got the goal from Son Heung-min.
Ball game, as they say in America.
The victory was huge for South Korea, one of the biggest for that side, and surely the biggest win for them since their memorable run to the semifinals in 2002, when they were one of the hosts of the tournament. They also failed to advance, and in fact, this is the second consecutive World Cup where they fail to advance, marking the first time that they failed to advance in consecutive World Cup tournaments since the first five times that they managed to appear. A win like this, however, is huge consolation for them, and should help to take the sting from what otherwise might have been a very disappointing World Cup tournament.
For Germany, this was obviously a shocking defeat, and completely unlike them. They won it all four years ago, but do not even make it out of the qualifying round this time around. The future of German coach Joachim Löw is uncertain. Some are suggesting various reasons for Germany's shocking defeat and early exit from this World Cup. Arrogance. The pressure of being defending champions. Not enough fresh ideas, no new approach. A lack of intensity.
Whatever it was, they now have plenty of time to fix it before the next World Cup, because this tournament now obviously goes on without them.
Brazil 2, Serbia 0 - In a World Cup tournament that has been anything but conventional, the traditional favorites all seem to be on shaky ground. The Italians did not even qualify for the tournament, and neither did the Netherlands. Germany got knocked out in a true shocker. Argentina had to fight for their lives to barely qualify with a must win situation on the final day of group play for them.
Now, here was Brazil, also needing to play well to secure one of the top two spots in the group in order to advance to the elimination round.
Brazil wanted to leave no doubt, but the Serbians have been tough throughout the tournament. Trying to recover from a heartbreaking loss to the Swiss just days ago, they too had hopes of advancing, although they understood that doing so against the giants of the game, Brazil, would be a tall order indeed.
The game remained deadlocked in a scoreless tie, until Paulinho broke through in the 36th minute to give Brazil a 1-0 lead. They took that into the locker room for halftime.
Then, Brazil continued to control the tempo of the game, holding off Serbia, until Thiago Silva pounded a header in the 68th minute off of a corner kick to give Brazil a commanding 2-0 lead.
After that, Serbia had some chances, but were not able to capitalize. It is difficult to do much against Brazil, traditionally, but especially when you have spotted them a comfortable lead, like 2-0. It proved too much to overcome for a disappointed Serbian side, who had seemed confident following an early win against Costa Rica, and had looked like the better side until late in the match against Switzerland. They were a good team, perhaps even better than they looked. But this was a tough group to make serious noise in. Serbia has now qualified for the World Cup three times (2006, 2010, and now 2018), but they have failed to advance to the elimination rounds in any of those tournaments.
Brazil has qualified for the elimination round of the last 13 World Cups, a streak that dates back all the way to 1970. They did so by winning their first back-to-back group round games since 2010.
Switzerland 2, Costa Rica 2 - Costa Rica as struggled in this World Cup, while the Swiss have had a certain swagger that seems to border on arrogance. This seemed particularly true when Xherdan Shaqiri scored the winning goal late in the game against Serbia, and then took off his shirt and flexed his muscles in celebration.
Of course, the Swiss have a talented and highly regarded team, so that perhaps is part of the reason.
Still, there was a chance - however slim - that they could fail to reach the elimination round, and so they needed to get the job done. They needed at least not to lose, and that would likely be enough to get them through.
Blerim Džemaili scored in the 31st minute to give Switzerland the early 1-0 lead.
But Kendall Waston, a member of the Vancouver Whitecaps FC, managed to break through in the 56th minute for Costa Rica's first goal of the tournament to tie the game at 1-1.
Switzerland is nothing if not persistent this year, and so you kind of figured that they would score again, eventually. They did so when Josip Drmić scored in the 88th minute, for what appeared to be the winner.
Yet, we watch these games for a reason, because they do not always go the way we expect them to. That seems especially true with this World Cup. And so, when Costa Rica was awarded a penalty kick in the 93rd minute, who could be entirely surprised when midfielder Bryan Ruiz's shot first hit the crossbar, and then ricocheted off the back of Yann Sommer's head for an own goal?
Just like that, it was 2-2. And that is how it stayed.
Of course, Switzerland by then had already advanced, so it hardly could feel entirely discouraging. It was the fourth time in the last five tournaments in which the Swiss have qualified that they manage to advance to the elimination round. They also managed to avoid any losses in the group stage for the first time since 2006.
As for Costa Rica, this is the second time that the failed to win any matches at a World Cup. Still, though, they rebounded for a good, solid game following the two huge disappointments that they played in, as they leave the tournament on a relatively high note.
At first, it might not seem so shocking. After all, the defending World Cup champions have exited from the group stage in four of the past five World Cups.
However, this was different. Germany has been a model of consistency in international tournaments for many years now. The last time that Germany failed to qualify for the second round? That would be in 1978, when only 16 teams qualified for the entire tournament. And technically, they placed sixth in that tournament, regardless of not qualifying for the elimination rounds (only the top four teams did).
In fact, Germany has been among the last eight teams standing in each tournament since beyond even then, That means that the last time that Germany was not among the final eight teams in a World Cup would be back in 1950, when they were still banned from international play, just five years after the end of World War II.
When the Germans entered the next World Cup, they won it all. Part of the "German miracle" of the 1950's. And ever since, the German side has been a consistent source of positive results and pride during every international tournament, and particularly the World Cup,
At least, that is, until this one.
This has been a strange World Cup, and it just keeps getting stranger and stranger.
There was even a unified Korean celebration over this huge win against a nation that itself used to be divided, Germany.
Of course, this was not the only game yesterday. Let's take a look at all of yesterday's action in Russia:
Sweden 3, Mexico 0 - Despite Mexico's hot start, with two wins in their first two games, there still appeared to be a scenario where they might not even qualify for the elimination round.
Indeed, that scenario started to appear more and more likely as this game wore on, because Sweden really did a number on Mexico. Perhaps the Mexican side, and their fans, could take a lesson from their first opponents, Germany, who did not take the Mexican side seriously enough. Maybe the Mexicans were beginning to feel a little too much swagger themselves, and needed a good butt kicking, just to keep them honest.
If so, then this was it.
Sweden made Mexico look more than mortal, but downright weak and vulnerable on this day.
The game was scoreless through the first half. But in the second half, it was all Sweden, and the goals rained down almost like an avalanche on Mexico.
The first came in the 50th minute from Ludwig Augustinsson. The next came on a penalty kick in the 62nd minute, which Andreas Granqvist made for Sweden to take a 2-0 lead.
Suddenly, Mexico looked vulnerable. With Germany locked in a scoreless tie with South Korea, but all the world still expecting them to score and take the win, things seemed decidedly grim for the Mexican side.
Indeed, it got worse for them, to boot. It had taken Sweden 50 minutes to get the game's first goal, but they broke through again 12 minutes later. Then, 12 minutes after that, Mexico's Edson Álvarez scored an own goal against his side, and Sweden had a commanding 3-0 lead.
That was how it ended. Final score, Sweden 3, Mexico 0. It was the biggest margin of victory for Sweden in a World Cup since all the way back in 1994, when they defeated the Bulgarians (who had just knocked out the defending champs, Germany) in the consolation third place game. The win assures that for the fourth consecutive time in World Cup tournaments in which the Swedes have qualified for, they advance to the elimination round.
Mexico was not able to mount any kind of serious comeback, and Sweden cruised to a surprisingly easy victory, which clinched the group win for them. Meanwhile, though, a bit of good news for the Mexicans on a day when their team was humbled: Germany suffered a shocking defeat. Instead of replacing Mexico to qualify for the elimination round, Germany fell to last place, and Mexico's World Cup was saved. They managed to reach the elimination round in each of the last eight World Cups now that they have participated in.
How much did Mexico appreciate South Korea's win over Germany? A Mexican airline, Aeroméxico, is offering discount flights to South Korea for a limited time, with the hastag #graciascorea.
Gotta love it!
South Korea 2, Germany 0 - Germany needed a win, and that meant that they needed to have a breakthrough, to score a goal, at least. More than one would be better.
They had some good looks, some nice opportunities, and they came close. But not close enough to actually convert, to take a lead. The first half passed, and South Korea's defense remained stingy, so the game remained scoreless. This trend continued through the second half, too. It was assumed that the Germans would surely win, of course, because anyone with any knowledge of this sport on the international level, in these kinds of competitions, knew that Germany always seems to come through when they need it most, even in a game's final seconds. Just ask Sweden, the team that got burned by this German tendency days ago.
Something strange happened instead, though. South Korea's Kim Young-gwon got an all-too easy goal off of a corner kick in the second minute of extra time.
Now, Germany needed a miracle just not to lose.
And it got worse. Germany pressed, but it was South Korea who, once again, got the goal from Son Heung-min.
Ball game, as they say in America.
The victory was huge for South Korea, one of the biggest for that side, and surely the biggest win for them since their memorable run to the semifinals in 2002, when they were one of the hosts of the tournament. They also failed to advance, and in fact, this is the second consecutive World Cup where they fail to advance, marking the first time that they failed to advance in consecutive World Cup tournaments since the first five times that they managed to appear. A win like this, however, is huge consolation for them, and should help to take the sting from what otherwise might have been a very disappointing World Cup tournament.
For Germany, this was obviously a shocking defeat, and completely unlike them. They won it all four years ago, but do not even make it out of the qualifying round this time around. The future of German coach Joachim Löw is uncertain. Some are suggesting various reasons for Germany's shocking defeat and early exit from this World Cup. Arrogance. The pressure of being defending champions. Not enough fresh ideas, no new approach. A lack of intensity.
Whatever it was, they now have plenty of time to fix it before the next World Cup, because this tournament now obviously goes on without them.
Brazil 2, Serbia 0 - In a World Cup tournament that has been anything but conventional, the traditional favorites all seem to be on shaky ground. The Italians did not even qualify for the tournament, and neither did the Netherlands. Germany got knocked out in a true shocker. Argentina had to fight for their lives to barely qualify with a must win situation on the final day of group play for them.
Now, here was Brazil, also needing to play well to secure one of the top two spots in the group in order to advance to the elimination round.
Brazil wanted to leave no doubt, but the Serbians have been tough throughout the tournament. Trying to recover from a heartbreaking loss to the Swiss just days ago, they too had hopes of advancing, although they understood that doing so against the giants of the game, Brazil, would be a tall order indeed.
The game remained deadlocked in a scoreless tie, until Paulinho broke through in the 36th minute to give Brazil a 1-0 lead. They took that into the locker room for halftime.
Then, Brazil continued to control the tempo of the game, holding off Serbia, until Thiago Silva pounded a header in the 68th minute off of a corner kick to give Brazil a commanding 2-0 lead.
After that, Serbia had some chances, but were not able to capitalize. It is difficult to do much against Brazil, traditionally, but especially when you have spotted them a comfortable lead, like 2-0. It proved too much to overcome for a disappointed Serbian side, who had seemed confident following an early win against Costa Rica, and had looked like the better side until late in the match against Switzerland. They were a good team, perhaps even better than they looked. But this was a tough group to make serious noise in. Serbia has now qualified for the World Cup three times (2006, 2010, and now 2018), but they have failed to advance to the elimination rounds in any of those tournaments.
Brazil has qualified for the elimination round of the last 13 World Cups, a streak that dates back all the way to 1970. They did so by winning their first back-to-back group round games since 2010.
Switzerland 2, Costa Rica 2 - Costa Rica as struggled in this World Cup, while the Swiss have had a certain swagger that seems to border on arrogance. This seemed particularly true when Xherdan Shaqiri scored the winning goal late in the game against Serbia, and then took off his shirt and flexed his muscles in celebration.
Of course, the Swiss have a talented and highly regarded team, so that perhaps is part of the reason.
Still, there was a chance - however slim - that they could fail to reach the elimination round, and so they needed to get the job done. They needed at least not to lose, and that would likely be enough to get them through.
Blerim Džemaili scored in the 31st minute to give Switzerland the early 1-0 lead.
But Kendall Waston, a member of the Vancouver Whitecaps FC, managed to break through in the 56th minute for Costa Rica's first goal of the tournament to tie the game at 1-1.
Switzerland is nothing if not persistent this year, and so you kind of figured that they would score again, eventually. They did so when Josip Drmić scored in the 88th minute, for what appeared to be the winner.
Yet, we watch these games for a reason, because they do not always go the way we expect them to. That seems especially true with this World Cup. And so, when Costa Rica was awarded a penalty kick in the 93rd minute, who could be entirely surprised when midfielder Bryan Ruiz's shot first hit the crossbar, and then ricocheted off the back of Yann Sommer's head for an own goal?
Just like that, it was 2-2. And that is how it stayed.
Of course, Switzerland by then had already advanced, so it hardly could feel entirely discouraging. It was the fourth time in the last five tournaments in which the Swiss have qualified that they manage to advance to the elimination round. They also managed to avoid any losses in the group stage for the first time since 2006.
As for Costa Rica, this is the second time that the failed to win any matches at a World Cup. Still, though, they rebounded for a good, solid game following the two huge disappointments that they played in, as they leave the tournament on a relatively high note.
As you can well imagine, I was very happy to hear the news of Germany's embarrassing first round flameout. West Germany actually did make it past the first round in 1978, but they had a weird format back then wherein the second round also consisted of group play, and they failed to make it past that stage. The last time they literally failed to make it past the first round was 1938 – eighty years ago. Wikipedia "Germany at the FIFA World Cup". Congratulations to Sweden and Mexico for their well-deserved spots in the next round, and kudos to South Korea for not calling it in when all they had left to play for was pride. I suspect they salvaged some of that in their shocking upset of the Mannschaft. Now of course I'm mostly focused on the big Round of 16 Clash between Les Bleus and the Albicelestes, aka France vs Argentina. Allez les Bleus!
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