New boys Curacao gave a decent account of themselves as they took on 4 times World Cup winners Germany in Houston, managing to pull level at 1-1 despite conceding early. That certainly rocked the Germans who had looked lackadaisical in defence, as if they did not need to work that hard but that proved very wrong and they did have to work hard to regain the lead which they eventually did in the 38th minute as Nico Schlotterbeck headed home from a corner. A soft goal for Curacao to concede and a penalty deep into first half injury time to make the half-time score 3-1 seemed to knock the stuffing out of them. They continued to fight gamely in the second half but the Germans superiority ultimately told as they ran out 7-1 winners. Certainly no disgrace for Caribbean island nation whose population is the same as the town of Huddersfield in Yorkshire!
Tunisia also found themselves on the end of a heavy defeat as they crashed 5-1 to Sweden in Monterrey. The Swedes only just scraped into the tournament but on paper have a strong side that ought to score plenty of goals. Alexander Isak shrugged off a frustrating domestic season at Liverpool to score their second goal before half-time and assist two further goals after the break. Tunisia had threatened to make a comeback in the game when their reduced the deficit to 2-1 just before the break but that was snuffed out by Viktor Gyokeres making it 3-1 on the hour mark. Late goals from Mattias Svanberg and a second for exciting Brighton midfielder Yasin Ayari just before the final whistle completed the convincing win for Graham Potter’s side.
One of the most eagerly anticipated matches in the opening round of fixtures was the one between the Netherlands and Japan in Group F in Dallas. Frankly, the first half was hugely disappointing with neither side getting going especially the highly fancied Japanese who seemed content to sit back and keep the Dutch out. Goalless at half-time, the game needed an early second half goal to liven things up. Virgil van Dijk duly obliged with an excellent headed from a Ryan Gravenberch cross to give the Oranje the lead. Japan had to come out and attack if they wanted to get anything from the game. This they did and they equalised just 6 minutes later via a long range strike from Keito Nakamura. The game opened up with both sides creating chances, the Dutch restoring their lead through a splendid curling strike from Cyrensio Summerville of West Ham United. The Hammers could really have done with a few more of those last season! That did look like it would prove to be the winner despite Japan throwing on 3 forwards and putting the Dutch defence under huge pressure. Perhaps a little ironically, given the height advantage that the Dutch had over the Japanese players, the Samurai Blue conjured up a second equaliser in the 89th minute from a corner. Nothing special about it other than a splendid leap from Daichi Kamada to power home a header courtesy of a minor deflection. Bert Verbruggen in the Dutch goal will not be happy with either of Japan’s goals but a 2-2 draw was probably about right in the end.
Ecuador came into the tournament as potential dark horses having gone 19 matches unbeaten, a run lasting almost 2 years. Their opening match was against an Ivory Coast side returning to a World Cup Finals tournament after an absence of 12 years. An even match throughout saw Ecuador hit the woodwork 3 times and the Ivory Coast once, the match seemingly heading for the tournament’s first goalless draw but Manchester United’s Amad Diallo, a surprise omission from the starting line-up, popped up in the 90th minute to steer a shot into the bottom corner for the African side. Harsh on Ecuador, whose unbeaten run was ended, but delight for the Elephants who must fancy their chances of qualifying for the knockout phase for the first time.
Brazil held by Morocco as Scotland and Australia start with victories
Brazil v Morocco always promised to be a decent watch and so it proved, first half in particular. Morocco are an excellent side and took the game to the much vaunted Brazilians creating a number of excellent chances early on before their opponents started to settle. Ironically it was after Brazil had created and missed their best chance, a free header for Brentford’s Igor Thiago, that Morocco took the lead. Brahim Diaz played a delightful through ball in between the two Brazilian central defenders to Ismael Saibari who chipped the ball over the on rushing Allison Becker and into the back of the Brazil net. The Selecao looked shocked and there was a real sense that they could suffer their first opening day defeat at a World Cup finals since 1934 until Vinicius Junior scored a trademark goal just after the half hour mark, against the run of play, to restore parity. Both sides continued to press, looking for a winner but eventually the pace of the match slowed and the intensity from each side dropped. At the end it felt like both were content with the draw. Morocco look capable of going deep once again in the tournament and are probably the best chance Africa has of getting their first World Champions although Senegal are also ones to watch. Brazil looked like a side of talented individuals rather than a fluent unit but with players such as Vinicius Junior and Raphinha they are always capable of pulling any game out of the fire.
The other match in Group C saw Scotland face Haiti in Boston. The Scots were heavy favourites and with Brazil and Morocco to come both these sides knew the importance of getting a win in this match. Scotland started strongly but the Haitians slowly worked their way into the game, frequently getting in behind the Scottish defence with their pace. They lacked an end product though and the Scots made them pay when John McGinn’s shot took 2 deflections on its way into the net. It proved enough to win the match and claim a vital 3 points which may be enough to qualify on its own but in truth Scotland were poor in possession and had to endure cross after cross coming into their box. Haiti couldn’t score but better sides will. Nonetheless a welcome victory for the Tartan Army.
The first match of the day saw 2022 World Cup hosts Qatar take on Switzerland. The Swiss were expected to win comfortably and they dominated possession and chances throughout the match but could only score once, from the penalty spot in the first half, a decision that looked questionable based on a potential offside. The lack of lines or confirmation from the VAR was not helpful and the penalty was given and scored. Qatar occasionally offered something up front but they never truly looked like scoring until they did in the 95th minute when captain Boualem Khoukhi headed a dramatic equaliser although the goal was eventually given as an own goal by Swiss defender Muheim. Qatar were very excited to gain their first ever point at a World Cup Finals tournament. The Swiss could not believe it.
The final game of the day saw Australia shock Turkey 2-0 in Vancouver with goals in each half giving the Socceroos a superb victory. Turkey were dominant for long periods of the match but could not find a way through the well organised Australian defence. The opening goal came from Watford’s Nestory Irankunda who had previously been on Bayern Munich’s books. Quite a finish as well as he became Australia’s youngest scorer at 20 years and 125 days. The second goal came from Connor Metcalfe on 75 minutes as Australia closed out the game.
World Cup Prediction Competition 2026
After Germany 7 Curacao 1; Netherlands 2 Japan 2; Ivory Coast 1 Ecuador 0; Sweden 5 Tunisia 1
Germany facing Curacao always looked likely to throw up a big score. The question was, how big? Sarah Cuddy, with a 8-0 prediction, went highest but was very close in the end. No-one had 7-1, mainly because virtually no-one foresaw Curacao actually scoring against the Germans. Thus, Milly Henley’s 7-0 prediction came closest although there were plenty of 6-0 and 5-0 predictions. She gets my honourable mention of the day courtesy of that plus also being one of 4 people to get the Ivory Coast’s 1-0 win spot on. Roland Rat, Jim Russell and Andrew Stoker being the other 3.
Overall I see the splendid sight of my 16 year old son Edward sitting top after last night’s 4 matches. He has 49 points, 1 ahead of John Spencer in second place, with Phil Dibley and Jamie Faulkner joint third with 45 points each, Penny Aitken and Peter Sarfas joint 5th with 42 points each, and Dean Russell and Lydia Hitch joint 7th on 41 points each. We are only one quarter of the way through the Group Phase so lots of time remaining for all chasers, even Julia Servi who remains bottom on 5 points. Things can change quickly in this competition.
After Germany 7 Curacao 1; Netherlands 2 Japan 2; Ivory Coast 1 Ecuador 0; Sweden 5 Tunisia 1
Those results see Peter Sarfas climb to the top of the leaderboard on 35 points with Phil Dibley and Simon Freeland joint second 1 point behind. Lydia Hitch, Antony Just, John Spencer, Jamie Faulkner and Edward Hitch make up the rest of the top 8.
My honourable mention today goes to Tracie Russell who was the only person to correctly predict Australia’s 2-0 victory spot on. Credit also goes to Fiona Finnegan, Phil Iannone, Gail Richer, Adam Wootton, Rob Kelly and Reena Sharma for also correctly predicting an Australian victory.
PLEASE INVITE ANYONE YOU KNOW WHO MAY BE INTERESTED IN TAKING PART.
