VAR Has Actually Been Decent
Okay, it hasn’t been perfect as evidenced by missing clear-cut penalty shouts and fouls – Most notably Harry Kane being wrestled to the floor against Tunisia.
Despite this, VAR has been a major positive, with their only being 5 major reviews in the first 17 matches there’s been minimal interference from the system. This has counteracted a major criticism of the technology as it was initially believed to be too intrusive and criticised for slowing the flow of a game.
Another positive of VAR has been greater caution from players, the fear of an extra eye watching has led to only 1 red card and a minimal amount of yellows in the first round fixtures and literally no mobbing of referee’s.
It may not be perfect but it has worked very well so far.
Penalties Aplenty
Continuing on from the VAR point, there have been plenty of penalties in this tournament so far, with 10 penalties awarded in the first 17 games. This has led to further unpredictability as anything can happen at any point, and players have to be more aware in the box so they don’t concede a penalty. Literally every team has a chance and theirs a removal of a big team bias.
The large amount of penalties awarded has directly led to more entertaining games and up to now, no 0-0 draws. Further to this, over 50% of goals scored in the first round fixtures have resulted from set-pieces, creating a further emphasis on goals being scored against the run of the play and increases the likelihood of shocks and upsets.
Shocks and Upsets
Indeed the entertainment factor has been turned up to 11 with some great football being played and unfancied teams getting the better of their international counterparts. Mexico produced a sublime performance, defeating Germany 1-0 but in reality, they could have and should have won by a larger margin, repeatedly cutting the World Champions apart with quick, effective counter-attacking football – Hirving Lozano looks like an absolute star.
Fellow World Cup finalist from 4 years ago, Argentina struggled against minnows Iceland, limping to a 1-1 draw against the tiny nation. This result continued a trend of giant performances from the Icelandic stars over the past few years – earning a draw against Portugal and beating England at the Euros. To top it all off, Lionel Messi missed a penalty a day after Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hattrick against Spain.
Switzerland were also able to produce a terrific result against Brazil, earning a hard-fought draw after Coutinho’s stunner seemed to set the Samba stars cruising to a win. Neymar was particularly poor in his return from injury and unable to lead his nation to victory over the Swiss.
There were other notable performances too, Uruguay struggled to beat a Mo Salah-less Egypt, England similarly left it late against Tunisia and France scarcely beat Australia.
Ronaldo Has His Sights On The Golden Boot
Before his hattrick against Spain, Cristiano Ronaldo only had 3 World Cup Goals, only scoring 1 each at his previous 3 tournaments. But against his Iberian rivals, Ronaldo produced one of his greatest performances, supported by a great cast, as he scored a piercing hattrick.
The pick of the bunch had to be the 87th minute freekick which silenced all of Spain and earned Portugal a point from the thrilling match. Not only did the performance do wonder’s for his national team, but on a personal level Cristiano Ronaldo is well on his way to earning a World Cup Golden Boot award. After scoring again against Morocco in the 2nd round of fixtures, he’s on 4 goals for this year and we wouldn’t bet against him smashing a few in against Iran.
Russia Aren't As Bad As We All Thought
Okay, Saudi Arabia aren’t an international powerhouse, but Russia’s destruction of them was still interesting and eye-opening with some beautiful goals and slick play. Defeating the Arab nation 5-0 in the opening game, Russia set a new record for the biggest winning margin in a World Cup opener. What makes this even more remarkable is the fact key player Alan Dzagoev limped off injured early on in the match.
After defeating Salah’s Egypt in the 2nd round of fixtures, Russia can look forward to the knockout stages.
Harry Kane Is The Best Striker In The World Cup
Harry Kane is the best striker in this year’s World Cup, the Englishmen has been scoring goals for fun at club level and has a very good international scoring rate, better than 1 in 2.
Coming off a goal-glut of a season with Tottenham Hotspur’s, Kane has continued this form into the World Cup, scoring a brace and rescuing England against Tunisia.
It feels somewhat odd to say Harry Kane is underrated but he is often overlooked when talking about the best strikers in the world – the usual candidates include Lewandowski, Aguero and Suarez. But at the moment, Kane is better than all 3, and if he was playing his club football at a Real Madrid or Bayern Munich he would probably get the credit he rightfully deserves.
With Kane in the squad, England have a real chance of making a dent at this year’s World Cup.
No Clear Winner Stood Out
Heading into each tournament there are favourites and teams that stand head and shoulders above everyone else once the tournament has kicked off, this year has been different as no single team has stood out. With the shocks and surprises, it really does feel like any team can win the whole thing and that’s really refreshing. Admittedly it’s only the first-round of fixtures and by the next round of games, we will probably get a return to the status quo. But for once this change in the norm has been entertaining to watch.
As previously mentioned, Germany, Argentina and Brazil all failed to win their games against opposition they were predicted to roll over. France struggled to eventually beat Australia, whilst Portugal and Spain shared an exciting draw with neither team seeming invincible. England and Uruguay also struggled past opposition they were expected to do a lot better against, whilst Belgium were the only one of the top contenders to win their match comfortably, it was against lowly Panama who didn’t really pose much of a threat.
With Mexico and Croatia playing really exciting football and Russia using home-field advantage, this really could be anyone’s World Cup.
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