15 Days & 48 Matches: A Wrap of The Group Stage of FIFA WC 2018
VAR, penalties and Germany’s ouster grabbed headlines during the group stage of the FIFA World Cup 2018 in Russia.
The group stage of FIFA World Cup 2018 has finally come to an end and the final sixteen teams have been identified.
If the group stage is anything to go by, this year’s competition is surely not for the faint-hearted.
With the minnows packing a punch, many higher-ranked teams, along with the pre-tournament favourites, have faltered in the first round. The biggest casualty being Germany, who were sent home packing.
The introduction of the technological innovation of VAR has also impacted the outcome of many matches, with the footballing fraternity still divided on it.
Let’s take a look at what were the key takeaways from the group stage in this year’s World Cup.
World Cup of Upsets
The first week of the tournament in Russia saw major upsets with Argentina drawing with debutants Iceland and World No 1 team Germany losing out to Mexico. Even pre-tournament favourites Brazil only managed a 1-1 draw against Switzerland. Asian powerhouse Japan also became the first team from the continent to beat a South American side when they took down Colombia 2-1 in their Group H opener.
The second week brought the balance back with all the traditional powerhouses winning their matches.
But again, the final round of the group stage saw Iran drawing with Portugal, Spain managing a last-minute goal to draw with Morocco and finally South Korea doing the unthinkable by knocking holders Germany out of the World Cup with a 2-0 win.
Belgium, England, Croatia and France were the only teams who didn’t shock their fans and lived up to their expectations by managing qualification in the first two rounds of the group games.
Video Assistant Referee
Video Assistant Referee, better known as VAR, has led to lot of debates in this year’s World Cup.
Introduced in Russia for the first time, VAR is employed to decide on four key on-field incidents, which are awarding goals, penalty decisions, red card decisions and cases of mistaken identity. It cannot be used for free kicks, which has left some players frustrated.
So far, VAR has clearly been the hero in most matches – with 10 penalties being awarded after review. The last two matches in Group B involving Spain, Morocco, Iran and Portugal saw four VAR reviews with one of them awarding a penalty kick to Portugal against Iran and another one deciding the validity of a Spanish goal in dying minutes against Morocco, which helped the 2010 champions draw the match.
VAR is surely one of the reasons for the rise in the number of spot kicks this time around.
Teams like Brazil and England have said that VAR have been underutilised whereas Australian coach Bert van Marwijk blamed their loss on VAR. However, FIFA remain convinced that VAR has been a success.
Penalties & Own Goals
In Brazil four years ago, there were only 13 penalties in the entire tournament. The World Cup record, set in 2002, stands at 18. So far at this World Cup, there have already been 24 penalties awarded, which includes a mad third day, where there were five spot-kicks awarded across four games. Out of the 24 penalties awarded, 17 have been converted so far. With 16 games still to go we can only expect this number to rise.
This World Cup has also been about own goals. With nine of them in the group stage, the dubious record of six own goals in France in 1998 has gone for a toss. The last one scored in the group stage was the funniest and the most unfortunate of the lot when Costa Rica’s Bryan Ruiz's penalty kick hit the crossbar and ricocheted off the back of the head of Swiss goalkeeper Sommer and into the net.
Asian Teams Coming of Age
Japan’s qualification to the next round is a validation of the fact that the Asian teams have punched above their weight in this year’s World Cup. Not only Japan, even South Korea was one win away from advancing into the next round and finished above defending champions Germany in Group G.
In the previous World Cup in Brazil, four Asian teams managed only 3 points compared to 16 points this time by six Asian sides.
Morocco and Iran also did well to hold Spain and Portugal respectively in their last Group match. Even Saudi Arabia beat favourites Egypt to finish above them in Group A. Except Australia all teams managed to notch a win in the group stage.
The AFC Asian Cup in 2019 will now surely be an interesting tournament and India need to watch out.
Champions Curse Intact
Defending champions Germany failed to break the jinx and became the fourth team in the last five World Cups to exit in the group stage after winning the competition in the previous edition.
After a shocking loss to Mexico in their first game, a last-minute goal from Toni Kroos against Sweden resurrected the campaign for the Germans only to see them lose to South Korea in the last game and leave the tournament in the first round for the first time since 1938.
Previously, France in 2002, Italy in 2010 and Spain in 2014 fell victim to the curse.
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