Qatar become the first to be eliminated, Ecuador and Iran make noise, and England still hasn’t defeated the USA at the World Cup.
We are now at the second set of round-robin matches and this is to see who can continue the good work, who can rebound, who punches a ticket to the Round of 16, who is going home, and other things. Let’s get to it.
Wales 0-2 Iran:
David Collins has the match story at our sister site, Prost International. This match was heading to 0-0 until Wayne Hennessey made that ill-advised challenge against Medhi Taremi. The correct decision was eventually made to send Hennessey off as it was serious foul play. Iran got over their 6-2 thrashing by England and were the better team throughout and made the most of what it home field advantage being in the Arab World and Middle East. No one fancied Iran (and who ever fancies a non-European and non-South American side?) to do much, but they are now within striking distance of the second round for the first time ever. Meanwhile, Wales’s first World Cup since 1958 looked headed to be a short one after being just poor on this day.
Qatar 1-3 Senegal:
The Maroons’ played better, but so did Senegal and it showed in this one. Qatar’s 2019 Asian Cup triumph seems an age away now. Now, they become the second host country in World Cup history to not make it out of the first round. It’s a disappointing way to exit for the Maroons who looked to announce their arrival on the World stage, but will exit stage right after their match with the Netherlands on Tuesday. As for Senegal, they now have a shout at making the second round.
Netherlands 1-1 Ecuador:
The Oranje looked to lift off after scoring just six minutes into the match through Cody Gakpo, but the Ecuadoreans looked unfazed and made a match out of this one. Their tenacity was rewarded in the 49th minute with an equalizer from Enner Valencia. Gonzalo Plata nearly gave Ecuador the lead after his shot hit the crossbar. However, Valencia left the match later with an ankle injury–the same that was hampering him late against Qatar. Valencia has by far been Ecuador’s best player and they will struggle on Tuesday against Senegal if he cannot play.
England 0-0 USA:
Joe Chatz has the match story on this site. It was a good result for the USA and keeps things simple for Tuesday as a win will send the Stars and Stripes into the next round and anything less will send them home. The USA were the better team against England on this day, but the issue of a lack of a true striker will persist. Someone will have to score the goals against Iran on Tuesday. Meanwhile, England were likely fortunate that they did not lose this match and complicate things for them. The USA defense did a great job in neutralizing the attack of England.
WHO NEEDS WHAT IN A AND B:
GROUP A:
Netherlands: A win or draw against against Qatar or Senegal failing to defeat Ecuador will send them through to the second round. A loss only eliminates the Dutch if they lose by a greater margin than Ecuador does against Senegal.
Ecuador: A draw will be enough to advance. The group will be theirs if they win by a better margin than the Dutch does over Qatar or if Ecuador wins and the Dutch fail to defeat Qatar.
Senegal: Senegal needs to win against Ecuador to advance. A draw will likely not be enough unless Qatar gets a big win over the Dutch.
Qatar: Already eliminated.
GROUP B:
England: The simplest path to the second round is at least a draw against Wales. In fact, only a loss of four goals or greater will eliminate them.
Iran: Iran will advance with a win over the USA. A draw will be enough if Wales fails to defeat England by five or more goals.
USA: It’s win or go home for the USA. That is all.
Wales: The more simpler route for Wales is to defeat England and for Iran to draw. A USA win will eliminate Wales unless they can defeat England by at least four goals.
