What did you miss last night? And what’s on the schedule for today? Our daily concise overview—this time featuring jubilant Swiss, disappointed Canadians, and surprising South Africans.
Switzerland Sends Canada Back to the U.S.
In Group B, the highly anticipated showdown between Switzerland and co-host Canada took place. After a rather lackluster first half, the Swiss stepped up their game in the second half and built a 2-0 lead. Substitute Promise David did score a particularly spectacular goal to make it 2–1, but Switzerland’s group victory was already a foregone conclusion.
Canada also advanced to the Round of 32 as the group’s runner-up, but will have to play their match on the road in Los Angeles. Meanwhile, Qatar was eliminated after a 1-3 loss to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Among those scoring for the Dragons was Leverkusen’s Kerim Alajbegovic. Bosnia has qualified for the knockout round as one of the eight best third-place teams.
Brazil celebrates Vinicius Junior, Morocco its substitutes
On the final matchday, three teams—Brazil, Morocco, and Scotland—still had legitimate hopes of winning Group C. In the head-to-head match between the Seleção and the Bravehearts, Vinicius Junior capitalized on mistakes by McKenna and Gunn in the first half, setting the stage for Brazil to top the group. Although the Scots stepped up their offensive efforts after the break, the South Americans struck again. Matheus Cunha sealed the 3-0 final score after an hour.
Since Morocco “only” beat Haiti 4-2, this secured the group title for Brazil. The North Africans struggled immensely against the underdog. They fell behind twice—once on an own goal by Bono and once on Isidor’s thunderbolt. After Hakimi and Saibari each equalized in a wild first half, substitutes Rahimi and Yassine secured the team’s second victory of the tournament in the closing stages.
Ochoa comes on as a substitute; South Africa joins Mexico in the knockout round
At the Azteca Stadium, Mexico secured its third win in three games in front of a home crowd. The Mexicans had already clinched first place in the group on the second matchday, but they gained a significant confidence boost ahead of the round of 16 against a toothless Czech team that was eliminated from the tournament. There was great excitement when goalkeeper Ochoa, at nearly 41 years old and playing in his sixth World Cup (he did not play in 2006 or 2010), entered the game late.
There was also great jubilation in South Africa, which surprisingly secured second place with a 1-0 win over South Korea and, in its fourth World Cup appearance, earned a spot in the knockout round for the first time. While Bafana Bafana celebrated Maseko, the scorer of the historic winning goal, the Taeguk Warriors immediately began crunching the numbers. With three points and a goal difference of -1, the team led by Myung-Bo Hong—who surprisingly benched star striker Son—now faces an anxious wait to see if they can advance as the third-place team in the group.
Here’s what today’s World Cup action brings—and what’s next for Germany
On Thursday, the DFB team faces Ecuador in its final group stage match in East Rutherford (10 p.m.). While the Germans have nothing left to play for, the South Americans desperately need points in their long-distance battle with the Ivory Coast for second place. The Ivorians are likely counting on three points against Curaçao in the concurrent match—or will the World Cup newcomer pull off an upset after all?
In the early hours of Friday (1 a.m.), the Netherlands take the field, aiming to secure first place in Group F against Tunisia, which has yet to earn a point and has already been eliminated. Meanwhile, Japan—level on points and goals but having scored one fewer goal—faces Sweden, which is looking to redeem itself after its bitter 1-5 loss to the Oranje.
Early in the morning German time (4 a.m.), co-host the U.S. will play its third match—against Turkey, a team many considered a dark horse before the tournament but which has been particularly disappointing so far. Will the Americans secure their third win in their third game? Meanwhile, Paraguay and Australia will face off in a head-to-head matchup to determine who qualifies for the Round of 16 as the second-place finisher—and who must still hope for a spot as one of the eight best third-place teams.
