Germany kicked off its 2022 campaign with a continuation of its World Cup struggles from four years ago. Japan scored a late equalizer followed by an even later winner to secure a historic 2-1 win over the champions from 2014.
Japan shocked the world and defeated Germany 2-1 in the team’s opening World Cup game on Wednesday to get their 2022 tournament on track. My personal favorite moment of the match was German defender Antonio Rüdiger sprinting with his hilarious running form.
Saudi players were pumped up after Salem Al Dawsari scored the goal that stunned Argentina in their World Cup opener. So high was the rush that seconds after bagging the goal, defender Ali Al-Bulayhi went to Lionel Messi to taunt him.
Pasó lo que nadie imaginaba que pasaría. Arabia Saudita dio la primera gran sorpresa del Mundial luego de derrotar 2-1 a una Argentina que llegó a Catar como candidata al título y con una impresionante racha de 36 partidos internacionales invicta.
Repetimos, no es una broma.
El resultado – no está demás decir– le agrega una dosis extra de pimienta al Grupo C, que es también el de Polonia y México.
Argentina, ranked third in the FIFA Rankings and a trendy pick to win the World Cup, has suffered one of the greatest upsets in tournament history after Saudi Arabia, ranked 51st and expected to finish fourth in Group C, went toe-to-toe with the South American giant and prevailed 2-1.
The match had presented Argentina with a chance at equaling Italy's international record of 37 games unbeaten, but that streak is over and more importantly, La Albiceleste are in serious trouble with Mexico (Nov. 26) and Poland (Nov. 30) up next.
Semi-automated offside technology is in use for the first time in FIFA World Cup history in Qatar this year. The system is more accurate than the lines that VAR used to draw, but it hasn’t come without controversy. A Lautaro Martínez offside call during Argentina’s shocking 2-1 defeat vs. Saudi Arabia is one of the biggest talking points.
If winning Group B at the World Cup comes down to goal difference, England already has it in the bag after its extremely impressive 6-2 opening victory over an Iran side in disharmony.
Kick-off at Khalifa International Stadium was scheduled for 1 p.m. in the UK, but obviously that didn't stop England supporters from getting rowdy as hell on a Monday afternoon.
FIFA’s concussion protocol is still Medieval and that was on full display during the first half of England’s opener vs. Iran on Monday. Iran’s goalkeeper, Alireza Beiranvand, had a nasty clash of heads with teammate Majid Hosseini in the eighth minute.
Here was the incident that took place.
The 2022 FIFA World Cup is underway with Ecuador handling the supremely limited host nation Qatar 2-0 without surrendering a shot on target. It was a pathetic display from Qatar, but their tournament will thankfully be over quickly Friday after Senegal once again hands them a deserved beating.
So what did we learn from Sunday's curtain raiser besides the fact that Morgan Freeman has added a couple million to his bank account?
DOHA - Chaotic scenes broke out inside and outside the fan festival at Al Bidda Park in Doha on Sunday an hour before the kick off of the opening World Cup match between hosts Qatar and Ecuador after organizers allowed too many fans to flood the precinct.
The venue has a capacity of 40,000 but at least double that number of people tried to make their way in and for a long time many were let into a holding area between the main festival park and the perimeter entrance.
Police realized the problem and had to shepherd irate supporters back out of the venue.