Three groups to talk about in this round up. While Group H is completely open after the first matches, the second matchday in Group A and B proved already to be the end for three teams.
Not many fans would have predicted what happened on the first matchday in Group H. In the early match of Tuesday, Colombia played against Japan. The top favorites in this group fell behind after midfielder Carlos Sanchez clearly prevented a goal from Japan with his hands. A penalty and a red card was the hard but fair verdict. Kagawa didn't miss from the spot and Japan was on their way to a surprising victory. Quintero equalized right before the break through a free kick, which he brilliantly placed under the wall. Colombia settled for a point in the second period, and Japan had the best chances. Eventually it was Osako, the striker who plays for Cologne, who scored the deserved goal from a corner, poorly defended by Colombia. Colombia came close to a second equalizer through James Rodriguez, who started on the bench, but it was Osako again who was the hero for Japan. An unexpected win for Japan, who are the first Asian team to beat a South-American team on a World Cup. The result meant Poland could do good business against Senegal. Senegal on the other hand wanted to be the first African team to get a result at this World Cup. After a poor first half, it was Senegal who took a lucky advantage, when defender Ciolek deflected an attempt of Gueye in his own goal. The second period didn't bring a boost of quality. Poland tried to put on the pressure, but never gave the impression they could create much. A bizarre moment decided the game after 60 minutes. A horrible backpass from Krychowiak gets misjudged by Bednarek, who didn't saw Mbaye Niang popping out of nowhere from the sideline, where he had just received medical treatment. The Senegalese striker played the ball past Sczesny and put the ball in the empty net. Poland contested the goal but what on earth was Krychowiak thinking? The midfielder redeemed himself a little by scoring from a free-kick, but Poland couldn't find the second goal. Conceding two stupid goals, the loss for Poland was rather unlucky. The wins from Japan and Senegal have turned the proportions in this group upside down: Poland and Colombia will be under huge pressure when they meet on Sunday night.
While in many groups there is still a lot to play for, it is not the case anymore in Group A after the second matchday. Russia and Uruguay are the first two teams who qualified for the round of 16. Russia played on Tuesday night against Egypt. Supersubs Cheryshev and Dzyuba were rewarded with a place in the starting eleven, Egypt could finally count on their main man Mo Salah. Egypt was going to be a more difficult task for the hosts than Saudi-Arabia, and after a fairly even first half, it was still goalless at the break. Egypt completely collapsed after the break. Right back Fathy uwillingly opened the score two minutes into the second half with an own-goal, cleverly provoked by the big Russian striker Dzuyba. Within 15 minutes, Cheryshev and Dzyuba himself knocked Egypt out on the canvas. A penalty goal by Salah caused a little panic by the Russians, but Salah couldn't change the match around. The Liverpool star didn't gave the impression to be fully ready yet after his injury, and clearly missed the quality in his team that he enjoys at Liverpool. The World Cup turned out to become a disappointing end of his remarkable season. Russia easily qualified for the round of 16, and while they have not played a top team yet, I am willing to admit I judged them completely wrong. There is good football in this team, and Golovin, Cheryshev and Dzuyba are some of the outstanding players in this World Cup so far. Uruguay will join them in this group, but they qualified with a minimum of effort. After a boring match against Egypt, their match yesterday against Saudi-Arabia was even less enjoyable to watch. Saudi-Arabia wanted to redeem themselves after their shambolic performance against Russia and made a few changes in the team, one of them the goalkeeper Al-Owais. It was the goalkeeper who gifted Suarez the opening goal when he miscalculated a corner completely: not an effective change from the Saudi-Arabian coach. That's basically all there is to say about this game. Saudi-Arabia was the better combining team, but besides one chance for Bahebri after 30 minutes, they didn't create anything. Uruguay settled for the 1-0 and they will play against Russia for first place. Given the fact it probably doesn't matter much if you play against Spain or Portugal in the next round, you can expect Russia to be the most motivated team to get the third win.
In Group B, Portugal and Spain did what they had to do and took a step towards the round of 16. But it wasn't a walk in the park for both teams. Portugal opened yesterday's action against Morocco. When Ronaldo- who else- opened the score after just 4 minutes, Portugal looked on their way to a comfortable afternoon. 4 goals already for Cristiano Ronaldo, who looks on his way to win the golden boot on a World Cup for the first time in his career. A defeat meant Morocco would become the first team to be eliminated on this World Cup, and that message was well received. Morocco made Portugal sweat and had the chances to get more out of this game. But their finishing lacked precision. Defender Benatia got a few open chances from set pieces, but failed to hit the target on multiple occasions. This match and the one against Iran learned that this team, who can play attractive football, lacks a real goalscorer. The scored stayed at 1-0 and we have to say Morocco goodbye. Spain hosted Iran in the evening game. Iran started the match with just one ambition: not conceding a goal. So Spain monopolized the ball right from the kick-off. Iran wasn't ashamed to withdraw all eleven players behind the ball and around their goal at times. Whenever the occasion arrived, they stole some time as well. Spain tried to find the gap in their typical passing style, but against such a defensive team, that is even an impossible task for a former World Cup winner. A goalless first half was a logical result. The game needed a goal from Spain to make the second half a bit more attractive. Piqué did nearly that immediately, but his header was cleared off the line. The unlikely almost happened, when an throw in fell for the feet of Ansarifard, whose attempt ended in the sidenet. What a scenario that would have been! A double blow for Iran when Costa scored immediately after that big chance, with the help from Iranian right back Rezaeian. The third goal from Costa, who is competing for the Golden Boot as well. We saw a completely different Iran after that goal. They switched over to full gear to find the equalizer. Ezatohali even found that goal, but the VAR interfered and the goal was disallowed for offside. A big scare for Spain, and a sign that 1-0 maybe was not enough. During an incredible scrimmage after a corner, both Pique and Costa couldn't get the ball past 2 Iranian defenders and the goalkeeper who were also battling for it. Iran had a few more chances but the victory was for Spain. If Iran played this openly right from the start, we could have got an incredible game. Spain has the best chances to progress in this group now, as they play already eliminated Morocco in the last match. The encounter between Portugal and Iran can become a very interesting one.