Before their round of 16 tie, Morocco coach Walid Regragrui described Spain’s famed ‘tiki taka’ style of play as ‘boring’.  A common criticism, often made in miserly tones and perhaps a little disingenuous. Spain’s pass-intensive, positional strategy can be wonderful to watch, but it certainly can be rendered boring by an obdurate and equally miserly

No one team has risen above the pack at the World Cup so far, but France are clicking into gear. Their round of 16 opponents Poland challenged them more than they challenged Argentina in their final group game. However, France’s firepower won out in the end. After a first half in which Poland had their

For three gorgeous minutes, Japan and Costa Rica were in the knockout stages at the expense of Spain and Germany.  Ultimately, Costa Rica’s zeal undid them as Germany picked them off to eliminate both and send Japan and Spain through. It didn’t look like we were in for a fairytale World Cup night. Germany went

A team who capitulates due to internal discord and media tittle-tattle is a time honoured World Cup tradition. Usually it’s France, but this year neighbours Belgium have manfully assumed the mantle. It’s important not to frame Belgium’s ‘Golden Generation’ as some sort of slapstick group who didn’t fulfil their potential. They did. They just won’t

With nine goals, England are the current World Cup top scorers and are one of ten undefeated teams in Qatar. England have cruised to the round of 16, but it is still unclear how good or bad they might be. Gareth Southgate’s team entered the tournament with doubts surrounding their form and have yet to

The World Cup nirvana of four games a day is at its end as we move onto the simultaneous kickoffs of the final group stage games. Below we examine what’s at stake in each group and who would qualify for the World Cup round of 16.   Group A With Qatar already out, two of

Germany and Spain played the highest-quality game of the World Cup so far in Group E on Sunday night.  The 1-1 draw was a clinic in two styles of play which have dominated football over the last two decades. The Spanish passing patterns and the German high press were utilized by both sides in a

With every team having played one game, the World Cup is well and truly underway. We take a look at the winners and losers from the first group stage game of the World Cup 2022.   Winners   Brazil Although Serbia battled admirably, once Brazil scored it was over for them. Richarlison added a glorious

Japan caused an upset by coming from behind to beat Germany 2-1 in the World Cup Group E opener.  The game was a classic of the ‘dominant team fails to take their chances and gets punished’ genre. With 26 shots to Japan’s 12 and 74% possession, Germany had ample opportunity to win the game. Germany

England showed there is life in the team that lost the Euro 2020 final with a 6-2 win over Iran. Yes, playing against Iran in your first World Cup game is fortunate. You could even criticise England for conceding two goals. However, the manner of the victory was instructive. The narrative around England has been