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!

 

 

The Hand of Diney Borges

 87/104ths of the World Cup

 

 

Argentina entered their 91st World Cup match against the minnows of Cape Verde. The African participants have been a joy especially since they are competing at their first World Cup since gaining independence from Portugal. Their first possible tournament would have been 1978, but they could not make the leap and play like the Blue Sharks until 2026. Facing the defending champions of Argentina, they made their presence known. Lionel Messi's 29th minute goal seemed to set the direction of the this match's plot. Deroy Duarte would make the match nervy once he drew the score 1-1 in the 59th minute. The sides would battle back and forth but fail to find a decisive goal after 90 minutes. Extra time would start in Argentina's favor as 2 minutes in and Lisandro Martinez would score a go ahead goal to lead 2-1. Sidney Lopes Cabral would strike just before the first 15 minutes were up and draw the Champions at 2-2 in the 103rd minute. Heartbreak would come in the 111th minute. A Lionel Messi corner kick would find the head of Cristian Romero who would deflect the ball down and see it bounce off the outstretched hand of Diney Borges to beat Cape Verde's Vizinho and put Argentina ahead 3-2. Cape Verde would press for the final 9 minutes plus stoppage time, but the clock would run out on their battle with Argentina, and their entry into the World Cup. Cape Verde have made fans all across the world, and have the task of trying to build on their tremendous performance. Argentina move on to the Round of 16 where Egypt and Mohamed Salah await them. 

 

 

Egypt give Matthew Ryan a Shot in Goal

43/52nds of the World Cup

 

 

 

Australia are yet another nation to never have won a World Cup Playoff match. The furthest they've ever been is the Round of 16, which this year would mean winning an extra elimination match in the Round of 32. Egypt's only Round of 16 appearance was in 1934. They lost to Hungary 2-4. Both teams were vying for a bit of history in their football lore. Of particular note was Australian Captain Matthew Ryan once again finding himself on the bench. Egypt would strike first via Emam Ashour in the 13th minute to give them a 1-0 lead. That scoreline would carry to the 2nd half where Australia would draw even thanks to Mohamed Hany's own goal. Neither team could find the net for the remainder of the match, and that included 30 minutes of extra time. A substitution in the 118th minute pulled Australia's starting keeper Patrick Beach for Matthew Ryan. Would the veteran's experience pay off in the penalty shootout? 

Harry Souttar would take the first spot kick for Australia, but would fire high right and over the bar. Mahmoud Saber would try to put Egypt ahead and  shoot to the keeper's right. Matthew Ryan guessed correctly, but couldn't match the speed of the shot. 0-1 Egypt.

Jackson Irvine would take the second attempt for Australia and fire to the top right corner as Mostafa Shobeir dove the other way. Rami Rabia would go next for Egypt, and fire low to the left of center as Matthew Ryan dove the other way. 1-2 Egypt.

Awer Mabil would try to keep Australia in this shootout and put the ball just right of center as a Mostafa Shobeir fell the wrong way. Mohamed Salah would take charge for Egypt and power the ball down the center as Matthew Ryan moved to his left. 2-3 Egypt.

Lucas Herrington needed to score to keep Australia's hopes alive, but fired the ball to the right of goal and over the crossbar. Hossam Abdelmaguid would step up with a chance to send Egypt to the Round of 16. He would send Matthew Ryan the wrong way as he slotted the ball to the left. Australia begin the long journey home. Egypt roll on to play the winner of Argentina and Cape Verde.