France and Denmark provided this World Cup with it's very first scoreless tie. This was strange, because this is the latest that any World Cup tournament went without one. Also, it was a bit strange, because this was good news for both sides involved. Both France and Denmark got what they wanted, as France clinched the group, and Denmark clinched an appearance in the elimination round. That said, maybe it was not so much fun for the fans.
Meanwhile, almost every team in group D except Croatia had their backs to the wall. But this time, in a World Cup filled with surprises, the team most expected to advance got the job done, as Argentina recovered from a brutal and sobering loss to beat Nigeria and advance, dashing Nigeria's own hopes. And tiny Iceland is out, despite how impressive they have been in recent years.
Let's take a closer look at all of the action:
Meanwhile, almost every team in group D except Croatia had their backs to the wall. But this time, in a World Cup filled with surprises, the team most expected to advance got the job done, as Argentina recovered from a brutal and sobering loss to beat Nigeria and advance, dashing Nigeria's own hopes. And tiny Iceland is out, despite how impressive they have been in recent years.
Let's take a closer look at all of the action:
France 0, Denmark 0 - Yes, France and Denmark put together the first scoreless draw of this World Cup tournament. It might have been boring for the fans to watch, but it seems that both sides are satisfied, and got what they wanted from this result.
France just needed one point to win the group outright, and Denmark needed just one point to advance to the elimination round, and both of those things happened.
“We just needed one point, right?” Denmark Coach Age Hareide acknowledged afterward. “We were up against one of the best teams in the world at counterattacks, and we would have been stupid to open up spaces. So we played back whenever we could.”
France was happy about the results, too:
“What we wanted tonight was to get in the round of 16 and get to the top of the group, and this is what we managed,” said France’s pint-size midfield destroyer N’Golo Kanté, whose selection as man of the (drowsy) match was perhaps the best symbol of how the 90 minutes had gone.
Maybe it was not the most exciting way to achieve it, but winning the group was a huge feat for the French side. There had been some skepticism towards this team before this tournament, including from Hareide. Hereide has claimed that the French players were “nothing special” and “unable to play as a team” in an interview. He had also jokingly compared this France team to the 1998 World Cup champions, and had even criticized France’s star midfielder Paul Pogba, suggesting that he was too focused on his hairstyle.
France's coach, Didier Deschamps, who was a member of that 1998 World Cup championship team for France, said this about Hereide's comments:
“It is not nice for him to say that. My players know and remember what he said.”
Deschamps added:
"It’s not been a very exciting match at the end, because the Danish team was O.K. with having a draw because they would qualify. One point for the draw was good enough for them, and we didn’t have to take risks to do better because this result was good for everyone.”
Winning the division is no small feat for France, because it often seems like France has feast or famine World Cup results. They had a very talented team for the 1982 and 1986 World Cups, finishing fourth and then third, respectively. Then, they failed to even qualify for the World Cup in either 1990 or 1994. They won it all in 1998, when they hosted, but then had the worst title defense in World Cup history in 2002. In 2006, they rebounded, with an amazing run and made it all the way to the final, coming close to winning it, before star Zinedine Zidane headbutted an Italian player and was ejected in his final game. Then in 2010, France had such a bad tournament, that they made all the wrong kinds of headlines and were the butt of jokes worldwide with their disunity and poor results. In 2014, they were stronger, qualifying for the quarterfinals before bowing to eventual champions, Germany. So, winning this group seems like a positive outcome, and a promising one.
France will gladly take this scoreless tie as a positive result.
All quotes used above were taken from the following article (see link):
France and Denmark Advance After World Cup’s First 0-0 Draw By Andrew Das of the New York Times, June 26, 2018:
Peru 2, Australia 0 - Peru had played poorly during their first two matches, but they finally put it all together for this contest. It was not enough to qualify for later rounds, but at least they can leave Russia feeling good about themselves, and their performance here.
Australia? Not so much.
But then again, it had not been 36 years - the better part of four decades - since Australia had last qualified, like it had been for Peru.
André Carrillo scored the first goal in the game's 18th minute, and Paolo Guerrero gave Peru it's second goal, for the game's final 2-0 margin. It was Peru's first victory in the World Cup since a decisive 4-1 win over Iran in 1978.
For Australia, this was a fifth ever World Cup appearance, but it was also a third time that the Socceroos failed to win a single match during the tourney.
Argentina 2, Nigeria 1 - Argentina absolutely had to find a way to win this game for any chance to avoid disaster and historic letdown, and advance.
They managed to do exactly that, and eliminated Nigeria in the process.
It all began with Lionel Messi scoring a beautiful goal in the 14th minute to give Argentina the early 1-0 lead. That was an important goal, because Argentina is currently on 40-game win streak in World Cup games after scoring the first goal.
Victor Moses scored a goal for Nigeria in the 51st minute to tie it back up again.
But then, Marcos Rojo managed to score for Argentina very late in the game, in the 86th minute, for the dagger in the heart, game winning goal that sent Argentina on to the next round. It was the fourth straight World Cup that saw Argentina advance to at least the second round.
Nigeria, meanwhile, have been eliminated in the group stage in three of their last four World Cup tournaments.
Argentina now will play France next in the elimination round.
Croatia 2, Iceland 1 - Tiny Iceland has won the hearts of many people around the world with their trmeendous showing in international tournament the past few years. They were making their first appearance in the World Cup, and opened in dramatic fashion, tying mighty Argentina.
But then they lost a heartbreaker to Nigeria, in a game perhaps defined by their early missed opportunities, and then being worn down and ultimately beaten later in the game. Entering this game, Iceland had their backs to the wall, and desperately needed a win.
But Croatia has been one of the hottest teams in this World Cup, so it was definitely going to be a tall order.
Still, Iceland had some good looks and, arguably, the better opportunities through the first half, much like they did in their previous match against Nigeria. However, it just did not go in for them.
Then in the second half, Iceland felt more pressure than ever when Milan Badelj broke through for Croatia in the 53rd minute.
However, unlike with the Nigeria game, Iceland did come back to life, when Gylfi Sigurðsson broke through with a penalty kick in the 76th minute.
But any hopes of a miracle comeback were squelched when Ivan Perišić scored the goal that broke Iceland's back and crushed their hopes in the 90th minute. It was the third World Cup goal that Perišić has scored for Croatia, behind only Davor Šuker.
This marks the first time that Croatia has won three straight World Cup games. They also have been mighty impressive against Iceland, specifically, having won five of the seven meetings between the two sides. Iceland have only managed one win and one draw in the rivalry.
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