FIFA World Cup 2022: results of the seventh game day

sIn group C, Poland beat Saudi Arabia (2:0) with good luck, while Argentina retained the chances of qualifying from the group, beating Mexico (2:0). In group D, Australia overcame Tunisia (1:0), and in the battle of powerful France and Denmark, the “tricolors” came out victorious (2:1).

Poland – Saudi Arabia – 2:0.

Who would have thought that in a group with such football masters as the national teams of Argentina, Mexico and Poland, it would be Saudi Arabia that would play real, passionate football. The Asian team literally from the first minutes pressed the Poles into their penalty area, forcing the Europeans to defend themselves furiously. However, unfortunately, in football it is not only emotions and courage that decide, but also tactical training. And this team of Saudi Arabia is categorically lacking. In the 39th minute, the Polish national team delivered their only shot on target in the entire half, which became an assist. After 6 minutes, the Saudis got the opportunity to score from the penalty spot, but Poland’s goalkeeper Wojciech Schensny first parried the kick from the spot, and then the rebound. In the second half, the Saudi team stepped up the pressure, but in the 82nd minute their hopes were dashed by the individual skill of the main star of the Polish national team, Robert Lewandowski, who scored his first goal in his career at the World Cup. Thanks to this victory, the Poles reached the intermediate first place in the group and became one step closer to the playoffs.

Argentina – Mexico – 2:0

Despite the final score, this match played by the Argentines raised even more questions than the game of the 1st round with Saudi Arabia. If you accidentally missed the first half, you should not worry at all. 0 – this is how many shots on target were made by one of the main favorites of the tournament in the first half. The game of both teams in the first 45 minutes left the impression that no one needs a victory in this match. Only a loss to the Mexican national team separated Argentina from elimination from the World Cup, nevertheless, it seemed that Argentina did not even want to create danger at the gates of others, while Mexico did not want to, and physically could not. The Argentine national team was again saved by her little genius. In the 64th minute, Lionel Messi received the ball in front of someone else’s free kick and sent it with a powerful shot into the bottom corner of Guillermo Ochoa’s goal. This goal was the 8th for Messi at the world championships, he caught up with the scandalous idol of the nation Diego Maradona in this indicator. Now they have identical statistics: 8 goals in 21 games. Towards the end of the match, Albiceleste doubled their advantage – Messi also scored an assist. Argentina is approaching the last round, taking second place in the group. In order not to worry about the result of the parallel match, the Argentinean team needs to beat Poland.

Australia – Tunisia – 1:0

In this round, two outsiders of group D met, who had to find out in a face-to-face meeting who would have a slightly better chance of reaching the playoffs. It seemed that after a fighting draw in the first match with the Danish national team, the Tunisians, who were on an emotional upsurge, would sweep the Australians off the field. But that was not the case – the match turned out to be surprisingly dynamic, with a lot of struggle, throws and sheds. The teams scored 21 shots on each other’s goal, with 13 of them on account of the Tunisian team. The only goal after another submission from the flank was scored by 31-year-old Mitchell Duke, who plays in the second division of Japan. This is the first victory for the Socceroos at the World Cup since 2010, when the Australians beat Serbia 2-1.

France – Denmark – 2:1

The French national team scored an important victory over the main competitor for 1st place in the group and broke the curse of the world champions. For the first time since 2006, the current winner of the world championship reached the playoffs of the next tournament. This trend has really dragged on: the 2006 World Cup winner Italy, the 2010 World Cup winner Spain and the 2014 tournament winner Germany have stopped in the group stage.

Both goals for France on account of striker Kylian Mbappe – the most expensive player in the world. He scored the winning goal in the 86th minute of the meeting. The 23-year-old Mbappe now has 7 goals at the World Cup, only Juste Fontaine is ahead of him from the French. Recall that the main scorer in the history of the world championships is the German Miroslav Klose with 16 goals.

Now, in order to reach the playoffs, the Danes must beat the Australians in the 3rd round, but even this does not guarantee a passage further, because if Tunisia wins over France, they will have to compare the goal difference. Although the victory of the African team over the reigning world champions looks unlikely, this option should not be discarded.

Daniil Prilepsky “Moscow Truth”