It’s day 3 of the Round of 32. We got to see Haaland and Diomande, France’s superstars, and a host country looking to keep their tournament rolling.  Here are my thoughts on how it all went down:

Norway 2-1 Ivory Coast

Ivory Coast started as the much better team in this one. Norway understandably put a lot of focus on slowing down Yan Diomande but the side effect of that was leaving more opportunities for the other Ivorian attackers. In particular, it was Nicolas Pepe on the opposite wing who was giving the Norwegian defense all sorts of problems. While they looked much more likely to score over the first half hour, Ivory Coast were unable to do so. They were made to pay in the 39th minute when Antonio Nusa curled a shot into the far corner past Ivorian goalkeeper Yahia Fofana. It was completely against the run of play but Nusa’s finish secured Norway a 1-0 lead heading into the half.

The second half continued much like the first, with the Ivorians having the much better play. Pepe was again dangerous down the right side of the attack. In the 74th minute, second half substitute Amad Diallo played a one-two with Pepe and glided past some Norwegian defenders on his way to placing a perfect shot past the goalkeeper. Based on the balance of play the equalizer was well deserved. Unfortunately for the Ivorians, there was a guy playing for Norway named Haaland. In the 86th minute, Oscar Bobb played a great pass to slide through Patrick Berg, who played a ball across the box that Haaland got on the end of and put into the back of the net. To be fair, Haaland probably didn’t know much about it. It looked like the ball went off of him more than him actually playing the ball. But they all count. And Norway would hang on to get the 2-1 win and advance to the Round of 16.

Ok so first off, I have to pat myself on the back here for getting this one right. I predicted a 2-1 Norway win with a Haaland winner. I did say it would be in extra time so I wasn’t totally spot on. But still pretty good in my opinion. Much more importantly though, coming out of this one I feel a little bad for Ivory Coast. They were in all four of their games this tournament. They beat Ecuador 1-0 behind a late goal, were up 1-0 on Germany before giving up two second half goals (one in stoppage time) to lose 2-1, and easily handled Curaçao 2-0. And then today I thought they were the better team overall but weren’t able to convert their chances. Tough way to go out.

For Norway, this team will still go as far as Erling Braut Haaland takes them. They do have other good players, don’t get me wrong. Obviously we saw a fantastic goal from Nusa today. But Haaland has now scored in 13 straight games for his country with a staggering 25 goals in those 13 games. He didn’t get many chances today but all it takes is one for him to make the difference.

France 3-0 Sweden

France are my favorite to win this competition. Today they provided further proof as to why. They dominated Sweden from start to finish. In the first half, the only question was when they were going to score the first goal. Kylian Mbappe had the ball in the back of the net in the 20th minute but was just offside. He hit the post in the 32nd and four minutes later, Michael Olise would also hit the post after an acrobatic overhead kick. Olise narrowly missed again in the 42nd minute. Finally, Mbappe got his goal in the 45th to take it into halftime 1-0.

The second half was more of the same and Bradley Barcola got France’s second in the 53rd minute. Olise provided the assist with a nice pass to slide Barcola through. France had several more chances to score but waited until the 74th to get their third through Mbappe. They honestly could have had 7 or 8 goals today. But 3 was more than enough.

This was another one I got somewhat right. I did have France winning by three goals but I thought it would be 4-1. I really don’t know what I can say about France that hasn’t already been said. They have the best attack on the international stage that I’ve ever seen. It’s what I imagine some of those old Brazil teams were like. They also have a solid midfield and great defense to go with it. The bracket is setting up for a France vs Morocco quarterfinal, which could be an all-time game.

For Sweden, their tournament was really up and down. They destroyed Tunisia 5-1, lost 5-1 to the Netherlands, and drew Japan 1-1 before this 3-0 loss. I’ve been saying all tournament that Isak and Gyokeres were an unbelievable strike partnership but the team didn’t have enough in midfield or defense. That ended up holding true. Even if they hadn’t played France, there were several other teams I think they would have lost to this round.

Mexico 2-0 Ecuador

Shame on me for underestimating the power of the Azteca. Mexico came out on fire in this one. They were all over Ecuador who were just trying to hang on and weather the storm. The Ecuadorians weren’t able to. Julian Quiñones burst forward in the 22nd minute, staying onside by being just inside his own half when the ball was played, and rifled a shot into the back of the net. Less than ten minutes later, Raul Jimenez would add a second and Ecuador were completely overwhelmed.

Mexico were much more subdued in the second half but they didn’t need to bring the energy from the first half. They were comfortable sitting back and protecting the lead, knowing that Ecuador likely weren’t going to have enough to get back into it. And Mexico were right. Ecuador really didn’t create much at all in the second half despite having almost 70% possession. Mexico actually looked more likely to score in their transition moments. In the end, it was an easy 2-0 win.

As I already hinted at, I got this one completely wrong. I thought Ecuador would be ready for the elevation and atmosphere and come out strong defensively. They didn’t do it. Mexico blew them away in the first half and Ecuador had no response. Overall this was a really disappointing tournament for Ecuador. I foolishly backed them to win their group and go on a bit of a run but they never looked good enough. Their attack felt non-existent and their defense didn’t live up to the hype.

As for Mexico, what a tournament they’ve had so far. They look unbeatable at home. 8 goals scored and zero conceded across their four games. Their issue is going to be that their Round of 16 game, likely against England, will be the last on home soil. I’m not confident yet that they can win outside of Mexico, especially against a better team. But credit to them for cruising through the tournament up until this point.

Tomorrow’s Predictions

• England 2-0 DR Congo
  • I think England will struggle to break down what is sure to be a really defensive DR Congo side. But eventually they’ll get a goal in the second half and add another right at the end
• Senegal 2-2 Belgium (4-3 pks)
  • This should be a great game. Senegal are much better than their third place group finish would suggest and Belgium aren’t as good as their first place finish indicates. I have this 1-1 going to extra time with both teams getting a goal and sending it to penalties where Senegal come out on top
• USA 3-1 Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • I mean, I have to pick the US here. But I do actually think they’ll get it done. I expect another early goal to get the US going and a pretty straightforward win from there

So that’s all for day 3. It definitely had nothing on day 2 but we still got to see some exciting moments. At this point though, I’m ready to go to sleep and do it all again tomorrow. It should be a great one. Until then!