It was the second to last day of the group stages for this World Cup. Groups G, H, and I were settled by the end of the night. We were provided with goals, drama, and incredible stories. What more could we ask for? Here’s how it all went down:

Group I

France 4-1 Norway

When I woke up this morning one of my first thoughts was “oh yeah, we get to see Mbappe vs Haaland today for the top spot in Group I”. As it turns out we did not in fact get to see it. Norway decided that they didn’t care enough about this game to play virtually any of their starters. I do understand it. Both of these teams were through to the next round and it was always going to be a tough game for Norway to win. Resting players might be the best option for the next round. We’ll have to wait and see how Norway fare.

As for the actual game, France got a first half hat trick from Ousmane Dembele. That pretty much put the game away early. Norway did score straight from kickoff after Dembele’s second, but they were very clearly overmatched in this one and never looked like they had a shot of getting anything out of the game. Jorgen Strand Larsen took an awful penalty in the second half and Desire Doue scored in stoppage time to seal the 4-1 France win.

Senegal 5-0 Iraq

Both of these teams were on zero points heading into this one. That meant that they both needed to win and win big. On paper it was Senegal who seemed more likely to pull it off. And pull it off they did.

The game could not have started any better for Senegal. They scored less than five minutes in and then Iraq got a red card in the 13th minute. Everything was set up for Senegal to explode with a ton of goals. They weren’t able to get any more before halftime though and you had to wonder if Iraq were going to continue to frustrate Senegal in the second half. The floodgates would finally open in the 56th minute though when Ismaila Sarr got Senegal’s second. They would get three more, all fantastic strikes (two from Pape Gueye and one from Iliman Ndiaye). It was about the best possible outcome Senegal could have expected.

Final Group Standings

France winning this group and Iraq finishing bottom was what I think we all expected. For me, the critical game was Senegal vs Norway where the Norwegians came away with a 3-2 win. That ended up being the difference between them and Senegal, who I thought would finish second. Senegal’s win today getting them to 3 points and a +2 goal difference is likely enough to get them through as one of the third placed teams.

Group H

Spain 1-0 Uruguay

Spain were looking for a win to guarantee first in the group or a draw that would realistically guarantee first. For Uruguay, a draw would give them a decent shot of going through while a win would guarantee it. They weren’t able to get it done. Alex Baena scored the lone goal in this one just before halftime. It was an awful goalkeeping error from Fernando Muslera that ended up sealing Uruguay’s fate. It was so bad that he was taken off at halftime. A late red card put a further stain on a poor game for Uruguay.

There isn’t a lot to say about this one from a Spanish perspective. They never really got out of first gear but looked comfortable in getting their win. Uruguay on the other hand were a mess. They looked toothless in attack and never looked like they had a shot to get the result they needed.

Cape Verde 0-0 Saudi Arabia

What a result this was for Cape Verde. A draw was always likely to be enough for them to get through and they got their point. They were the better team throughout and looked the more likely team to score as the game went on. It was actually a bit bizarre seeing how Saudi Arabia were playing. They needed a win to advance but as the game went on, they looked comfortable playing for a draw. There was very little urgency to get forward and push for a win. Really strange.

Final Group Standings

As expected, Spain finished top of the group. The shock here was of course Cape Verde. What an unbelievable story. Getting a single point this tournament would have been an accomplishment so to come out of the group unbeaten, albeit with three draws, is remarkable.

Uruguay also had a remarkable tournament…..just in a bad way. When these groups were drawn it was assumed that Uruguay would easily finish second. Instead, they only got two points and have been eliminated. I already spoke about Marcelo Bielsa in one of the earlier blogs but I’m going to take one last opportunity to do it again. I think Bielsa is one of the most overrated managers of all time. This was yet another spectacular disaster for him. There have been multiple stories about turmoil in the Uruguay camp and I believe them. Just a total mess.

Group G

Belgium 5-1 New Zealand

After drawing their first two games, Belgium needed to come out strong here.  New Zealand needed a win if they were to advance.  It was the Belgians who finally showed their class.

Belgium absolutely dominated this game and got their well deserved breakthrough in the 28th minute.  It was Leandro Trossard who got the goal from close range following a corner.  He got a second in the 50th and Kevin De Bruyne got Belgium’s third in the 66th.  New Zealand did pull one back in the 84th through Elijah Just but less than two minutes later, Romelu Lukaku restored Belgium’s three goal lead. Alexis Saelemaekers would add a fifth in stoppage time to secure the 5-1 victory.

Egypt 1-1 Iran

Egypt needed a win to ensure they would finish first in the group. A draw would possibly do it depending on the Belgium result. For Iran, they needed a win to guarantee they would advance out of the group with a draw possibly getting them through as a third placed team. What we ended up getting in this one was some incredible drama.

Egypt scored just five minutes into the game through Mahmoud Saber. The goal put Egypt on top of the group for the time being. Iran won a penalty just a few minutes later but failed to convert. They would get their goal anyway in the 14th minute when Ramin Rezaeian scored from a ridiculously tight angle. The drama ramped up in the second half due to what was going on with Belgium and New Zealand.

Belgium’s third goal moved them ahead of Egypt on goal difference and into first place. New Zealand’s goal in the 84th put Egypt back in first on goals scored but Belgium’s goal just two minutes later put them back into first for good. And as if the back and forth battle for first place in the group wasn’t enough, Iran nearly won this game and moved into second place in stoppage time. Shoja Khalilzadeh had the ball in the back of the net after a scramble in the box following a free kick. Wild celebrations ensued but VAR would eventually overturn the goal for an offside. Astonishing drama.

Final Group Standings

This group ended up probably as expected as far as the standings. But certainly not how we got there. Belgium did not look like the dominant team I expected. But their result against New Zealand should give them momentum heading into the knockouts. Egypt have looked good so far and had every chance of winning this group. Iran have likely done enough to advance by simply drawing all three of their games. Lastly, New Zealand just simply aren’t good enough. It’s not surprising that they finished at the bottom of the group.

Final Thoughts

How could you not love the World Cup? There was some concern about how the new format would affect the last group games. With head to head being the first tiebreaker, we had some teams already advancing as group winners after two games. But we still got to see some dramatic moments. I can’t wait for tomorrow where we get to close out the group stage and get everything set for the knockouts. On a personal level, it’ll also be much easier to blog when we don’t have these six games per day. It has been a bit tough but I still love it. I’ll see you tomorrow!