Thursday 21 June is a night all Argentinian football fans wish to erase from their memories. Their must-win match against Croatia ended in a disaster. Coach Sampaoli surprised with an experimental line up, changing to three defenders in the back and bringing in the likes of Acuña, Pérez and Mercado. Croatia also made a change: they brought on defensive midfielder Brozovic for striker Kramaric: a more conservative approach from their coach. This game was highly anticipated, but the first period was very sloppy. Mandzukic got the best chance for Croatia and Pérez for Argentina, but both missed the target from point-blank range. The game got a bit vicious at times, a dirty foul from Rebic could have been punished with a red card instead of yellow. Croatia learned from Iceland and managed to keep Messi out of the match completely. The World Cup of Argentina so far was symbolized perfectly by their goalkeeper Caballero in the 53th minutes, when he completely miskicked the ball and gifted it to Rebic. That being said, the one-time volley finish of Rebic was outstanding. Argentina with their backs against the wall. They went full attack with Higuaín, Dybala and Pavón, but they couldn't get any structure or system in their play. A clever Croatia fully exploited the spaces Argentina gave away. First Modric rounded up a counter attack with again a fine finish to make it two. The other star of the night Rakitic came close when his free kick hit the crossbar. The Barcelona midfielder eventually did make the humiliation for his teammate Messi complete. On a final counter attack, Caballero initially saved his shot, but substitute Kovacic gave the rebound back to him to tap it in. 3-0, an unbelievable scoreline. A tragedy for such a big nation and a player like Messi, who is not even a shadow of himself in this World Cup. With 1 point out of 2 games and a goal difference of -3, Argentina face imminent threat of elimination in the group stage, which hasn't happened to them since 2002. But there is good news for them: they are still breathing. Nigeria beat Iceland yesterday by 2 excellent goals from Musa to leap into second spot. On the final matchround, Argentina and Nigeria can battle it out in a direct encounter. Argentina has only one option witch is simply winning the match, but they will have to count on the good will of Croatia as well.
In Group E, Brazil and Neymar were looking for revenge after their disappointing draw against Switzerland. Costa Rica looked the perfect opponent to redeem themselves after their poor match against Serbia. But Costa Rica proved to be a hard nut to crack for the Seleção. They hardly created any chance in the first half, and Neymar was more focused on arguing with the referee each time he got tackled than on guiding the team. It was even Costa Rica who had the biggest chance, but Borges missed the target when he got free in the box. A scoreless first half was the disappointing result. Brazil played a much better second half, creating big chances, but Navas showed he is after all the goalkeeper that won the last three Champions Leagues. When Gabriel Jezus did beat Navas with a header, the crossbar was the game breaker. Costa Rica struggled to defend, but did cause to create panic for Brazil's defense as well when they broke out. Neymar broke free from his bully Gamboa with less than 20 minutes to go, but he wasted the golden opportunity. 10 minutes later, he tried to force a penalty. He fooled referee Kuipers, but the VAR interfered correctly and the penalty was disallowed. It seemed like it wasn't going to be his day again, he even got a yellow card. Costa Rica held on for 90 minutes, but the injury time proved to be too much. Marcelo crossed the bal in the box, Firmino found his striker partner Jézus, whose missed control turned into a perfect assist for Coutinho. Extreme scenes of joy from Brazil, like they had almost won the World Cup already. A liberated Brazil side even had time left to go for a second goal, which Neymar scored after a perfect assist from Douglas Costa. A hard-fought victory for Brazil, but the critics will not be silenced yet.
Yesterday's evening match between Serbia and Switzerland was a crucial one for the course of this group. Serbia could qualify with a victory, so Switzerland could not afford to lose. Both teams impressed in their first match. A match with a political character as well: Switzerland players Shaqiri, Behrami and Xhaka were born in Kosovo. In other words, there were a lot of reasons to expect a lot from this game, and we got what we wanted. Serbia started the match very strongly. Striker Mitrovic was a constant torment for Swiss defender Schär. It was in the image of the match that Mitrovic beat Schär in the air- after a cross from Tadic- to head in the opening goal after just 5 minutes. Serbia didn't settle down for one goal and kept going. Switzerland survived the first half hour and got themselves into the match, led by their main man Shaqiri. But their striker Seferovic failed to make a good impression (he was taken off at half time) and when Dzemaili got a free chance right before the break but chose to cross instead of shoot, it showed that a real quality striker is the void in this team. A lot of work to do for Switzerland in the second half, and they understood that message. Xhaka rifled the equalizer in with on of his trademark long distance strikes. A few minutes later, Shaqiri looked to curl his shot perfectly in the top corner from an impossible angle, but he hit the crossbar. After a difficult 15 minutes, Serbia found their rhythm again. When Mitrovic got forced to the ground by two Swiss defenders, it looked to everyone they deserved a penalty, but referee Brych nor the VAR intervened. Chances fell for both sides to win it, but in the end, it were the Swiss who took it. In injury time, Shaqiri again slipped through the defense and finished off. Shaqiri was the absolute star of the show yesterday. A painful loss for Serbia, who are now in a difficult position with a final game against Brazil. After seeing this match, I find it unfortunate one of these two will (normally) have to go home after the group stage, because they are much less entertaining team that will progress.
On Thursday, Group C took a more or less decisive turn. France qualified after an- again- uninspiring performance against Peru, who are out after two defeats. Mbappé scored the only goal of the match. With all the individual talent in the French team, their football really lacks quality at the moment. Denmark and Australia drew 1-1 after a match which won't be remembered as a World Cup classic either. Denmark is in a good position to qualify, they will need a point against France. Australia can still qualify for the second round as well, they will have to beat Peru in their final game on Tuesday.