10 Englishmen are Better than 11 Mexicans, at least for one Night

23/26ths of the World Cup

 

 

Mexico entered their Round of 16 with many hopes. They hoped to be the first co-host of World Cup 2026 to make it to the Quarterfinals. The previous 2 times Mexico hosted the World Cup, they were eliminated in the Quarterfinal Round. This could have been there journey to get further than they ever have before. It would also be their last match played in Mexico, as win or lose the remaining matches are all scheduled for the United States. England haven't won a World Cup in 60 years. Their best finish in the last 44 years is 4th place, which they achieved twice. What could they achieve today? At first, it didn't seem like much. Mexico came out looking the better side for much of the 1st half. Just when England seemed resolved to sit back and defend the Mexican attach into halftime, the Three Lions sprang into action. A quick counter attack led to Jude Bellingham's 36th minute goal. Just 2 minutes later Jude would score his second to give England a 2-0 lead. Their momentum would be lost as Julian Quinones would strike one back just before halftime in the 42nd minute to take Mexico into the half trailing 1-2. The 2nd half would be action packed. In minute 54, Jarell Quansah would earn a red card for a violent tackle on Marcelo Gallardo. His tackle with studs up resulted in his leg rolling over the top of the ball and clattering into Marcelo Gallardo's shin. With 36 minutes to go Mexico would be ahead 1 man. All seemed to be well when England would earn a penalty kick. Anthony Gordon would break away after a ball trying to get to it and score as Mexican Keeper Raul Rangel would run out, dive, and take out Gordon's legs. Up stepped Harry Kane who struck the ball to the left of goal beyond the outstretched hands of Raul Rangel. Up 3-1, England would not have time to rest. Harry Kane would become the first player in World Cup history to score on a Penalty Kick, and then give a Penalty Kick to the opposing team in the same match. Kane's leg came up under Brian Gutierrez's in an attempt to clear the ball from inside the penalty box. Raul Jimenez would send Jordan Pickford to the wrong direction before firing a goal into the right side of the net. 21 minutes of regulation, and 11 minutes of stoppage time proved to be not enough to save El Tri. England survive and move on to the Quarterfinals to face Norway. Mexico will always wonder what could have been, especially with a man advantage.

 

 

There were no perfect picks on the day. Five players correctly picked Mexico and England to face off, and selected England to win. Only one of those players correctly picked Brazil to face Norway. Though he picked Brazil to win that match-up it proved enough to earn him 80 points on the day. Reclaiming the lead from 2nd place by just 6 points, congratulations to Scriptor.!

 

Halfway through the Round of 16, 12 teams remain with hopes of being World Cup Champions. Tomorrow, 2 more teams move on while sending 2 other teams home. Spain and Portugal kick off in the Iberian Derby at 3:00pm in Dallas, Texas. The United States hope to be the only co-host nation to move beyond the Round of 16 as they meet Belgium in Seattle, Washington at 8:00 pm. Good luck to all 4 teams, and better luck to all of you.

 

 

There's Norway Brazil Knows how to Score a Goal

 91/104ths of the World Cup

 

 

The last time Brazil lifted the World Cup Trophy was 6 tournaments prior. That ties their longest gap between titles from 1970 to 1994. Standing in their way was Norway. The Vikings only won their first Playoff match in the World Cup in the previous round. Though the 5 time World Champions were one of the favorites to win 2026's World Cup, Norway have Erling Haaland. Norway seemed to have taken a 1-0 goal in the 3rd minute via Patrick Berg, but he was deemed to be offside so the goal was disallowed. Later in the match Kristoffer Ajer took down Matheus Cunha. Bruno Guimaraes would would shoot to the left of Norwegian goalkeeper Orjan Nyland who would guess right and make the save to keep the match scoreless. The two sides could not be separated going into the half. The other side of the break so Norway start to come into their own. This culminated with Erling Haaland scoring in the 79th minute to give Norway a 1-0 lead. He would double his tally and Norway's in the 90th minute. With time expiring Leo Ostigard would jump for a ball with Casemiro and strike him in the head with an elbow. A penalty kick was awarded, and Neymar would step up and strike the ball to the low right corner and freeze Orion Nyland on his line in the 10th minute of second half stoppage time. The clock would run out on Brazil's hopes for a Championship, allowing someone else to become World Champions for the 6th time in a row. A record Brazil was never hoping to break. Norway move on to the Quarterfinals for the first time in their history where they await the victor of Mexico and England.

  

 

The Knee of Diego Gomez

45/52nds of the World Cup

 

 

Paraguay reached the Quarterfinals of World Cup 2010 only to be eliminated 0-1 by eventual Champions Spain. They missed out on the next 3 Tournaments, but find themselves one victory away from reaching the last 8 once again. Unfortunately, 2022's runners-up France stood in their way. The French are on a mission to reach their 3rd straight World Cup Final, and to win their 2nd title in that span. For Paraguay, the game can always get a little dirty as physical play in CONMEBOL is necessary to stop the power houses like Argentina, Brazil, and Colombia. For France, their goal was to outplay, and outclass their opponents particularly in the scoring department. Paraguay bogged the game down enough to keep France from scoring in open play. All France needed was one chance which would arrive in the 70th minute. France's Desire Doue would dribble past defenders only to find his knee taken out by Diego Gomez of Paraguay. The foul would initially be missed but eventually called back due to VAR. A penalty kick was awarded, and Kylian Mbappe would fire the ball to the lower right corner as Orlando Gil would dive the wrong way. That would be the only goal of the match, but it would be enough to see Paraguay head home for the rest of the summer, and France move on to the Quarterfinals. It will be a rematch of the 2nd Semifinal of 2022 as Morocco looks to avenge their loss. It should be an exciting match-up.

 

 

Two players correctly picked Canada and Morocco to open up the Round of 16. Only one of them chose to advance both Morocco and France. He's 13 years old, loves video games and computers, is competing in his first TSzAL Tournament, and may have cracked the code to winning. Moving from 5th place to 1st with 129 points, give a resounding cheer to MalumSigma!

 

Tomorrow 2 more teams head home and 2 advance as Norway face the gargantuan task of meeting Brazil. That match kicks of from New York/New Jersey at 4:00 pm. The evening's match will see the Co-hosts Mexico in Mexico City battling another favorite to win the World Cup in England. Kick off will be 8:00 pm. Good Luck to All!

 

 

More, More, More, Morocco!

 89/104ths of the World Cup

 

 

Canada were hoping to open up the Round of 16 with a win to continue advancing further in a World Cup than they ever have before. Morocco were looking to prove their improbable run into the Semifinals of 2022 was not a fluke. Though Canada played better for longer stretches of the match, they couldn't prove to be better where it mattered, on the scoreboard. A 0-0 tie going into halftime looked to be a good sign for Canada, as they hoped to build on their momentum and find a goal. It would be Azzedine Ouinahi who would put Morocco up 1-0 after 50 minutes. Canada's efforts would prove fruitless which hurt even more when in the 82nd minute Azzedine Ouinahi would score his 2nd goal for Morocco. If there were any last minute heroics to be had by Canada, they were put to bed by Soufiane Rahimi's goal in the 8th minute of 2nd half stoppage time. Canada become the first co-hosting team of 2026 to be eliminated. Morocco move onto the Quarterfinals to face off against the winner of Paraguay and France.

 

 

Colombia Jhon's the Round of 16

 11/13ths of the World Cup

 

 

 Colombia were eliminated from the 2014 World Cup by Brazil 1-2 in the Quarterfinals. Since then they lost out in the Round of 16 in 2018, and missed out on 2022 completely. Their hope to lift their first World Cup Trophy took them through a meeting with Ghana. Similarly for Ghana, they were eliminated from the 2010 World Cup in the Quarterfinals by Uruguay on Penalty Kicks 2-4. They never made it out of the group in 2014, missed out altogether in 2018, and were eliminated in the Group Stage of 2022. Finally reaching the playoffs, they hoped to be the first African nation to lift a World Cup Trophy. Unfortunately, Colombia's superiority would show on the pitch. Jhon Arias gave Colombia a goal on the board in the 14th minute. From then on Ghana failed to really threaten Colombia's goal. The main man keeping Ghana in this match was Lawrence Ati Ziggi, the goalkeeper who faced 6 skillful shots, but could only save 5. Ghana return home looking to reset for the future. Colombia move on to the Round of 16 and a date with Switzerland. 

 

 

The chart below shows how each competitor fared with their Round of 32 picks. A number in parantheses indicates a top four pick and where you ultimately placed them to finish. 

 

The Round of 32 finally sputtered down on the last day. No one had a single match-up picked correctly. Even worse, only 1 player had Egypt, Argentina, and Colombia moving on the Round of 16. With 85 points on the day, three cheers for Artifex!

Tomorrow begins the Round of 16 as Canada and Morocco face off in Houston, Texas at 2:00 pm. Paraguay and France will meet at 5:00 pm in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. An update to the scoring for this round. Picking a correct match-up is now worth 10 points. If you pick the correct result on top of it, that's a total of 20 points. You have 8 chances to pick a team into the Quarterfinals. Pick the correct team, and you earn 50 points each. Only 16 teams remain. Only 4 rounds to crown a Champion. Good Luck to All!