Bosnia and Herzegovina: 3, Qatar: 1
The start of the final matches in the group stages, with Bosnia and Herzegovina getting a massive win over Qatar.
It was the teenager, left midfielder Kerim Alajbegovic, who scored the first goal in the 29th minute, a great goal into the top corner, and turned eyes around the world with his performance against Qatar.
An own goal gave the Bosnians their second, but Qatar cut the deficit right back to 1 just eight minutes later as left winger Hassan Al Haidos found the back of the net.
Qatar had multiple chances to even things up, right back Pedro Miguel struck the post right at the end of the first half, but Bosnia and Herzegovina controlled the game in the second half. They scored their third goal in the 80th minute, with substitute Ermin Mahmic coming off the bench and extending the lead, winning it 3-1
It was not enough to get the Bosnians into second place of Group B as they would’ve needed to win by a lot and hope Canada lose by a lot, but with the expanded format, they are in a position to qualify in third place. It is unsure how many points will be safe to qualify for the knockouts for third placed teams, but Bosnia and Herzegovina will likely be safe, knocking Qatar out in the process.
Player of the Match: Kerim Alajbegovic (Salzburg)
Switzerland: 2, Canada: 1
Canada had a chance to host their first knockout games with a win or draw to Switzerland, but faltered early in the second half, costing them their chance.
It was the first minute of the second half, where left winger Ruben Vargas scored his second goal of the tournament for the Swiss. Shortly after in the 57th minute, a Canadian defensive breakdown allowed attacking midfielder Johan Manzambi to get behind and double the lead.
Canada scored their goal from substitute Promise David’s first ever World Cup goal, a thunderous strike and an all around great team goal, with central midfielder Nathan Saliba providing a great pass to David.
Canada pushed in the dying minutes of the match. Multiple chances were saved by goalkeeper Gregor Kobel, who made 6 in the match, Canada just couldn’t get one past him, and the game ended 2-1.
Both teams were likely already through to the knockouts going into the match, but it will be Switzerland who stay in Vancouver, with Canada having to fly down to Los Angeles.
Player of the Match: Gregor Kobel (Borussia Dortmund)
Morocco: 4, Haiti: 2
Morocco had to be much better if they wanted to win Group C. The 2 goal win over Haiti is not going to cut it, but this was a fun match overall.
Haiti scored first, their first of the tournament. It was a goalkeeper Yassine Bounou own goal, but the Haitians will take it regardless. Right back Achraf Hakimi evened things up in the 39th minute, but Haiti wasn’t done scoring there.
In the 43rd minute, attacking midfielder Wilson Isidor scored the first goal from a Haitian player, a rocket from well outside the box to the back of the net, one of the best goals of the tournament so far.
Attacking midfielder Ismael Saibari scored his third goal of the tournament to even things up at 2 right before halftime.
Morocco ran away with it in the second half. Two substitutes, Soufiane Rahimi and Gessime Yassine, put 2 more on the board, and the full time whistle blew with a 4-2 score.
Player of the Match: Achraf Hakimi (PSG)
Brazil: 3, Scotland: 0
Brazil won group C with a win against Scotland, a game that Selecao controlled from the start.
Left winger Vinicius Junior was superb yet again. He scored his first goal of the match in the seventh minute, taking advantage of multiple Scottish errors. He took advantage of another Scotland mishap a few minutes later, but the goal was taken away for a foul. He did eventually get his brace in first half stoppage time, the third goal of the tournament for him.
Brazil got their third goal of the match in the 60th minute, a great pass from attacking midfielder Bruno Guimaraes gave striker Matheus Cunha an easy shot, and the party was on in Miami.
Scotland will have to wait and see if they will make it past the group stage. It will be very close, and they are going to be right on the cut line with their bad goal difference. Brazil will play second place in Group F.
Player of the Match: Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid)
Mexico: 3, Czechia: 0
A disaster of a World Cup for Czechia, failing to make it out of the group stage after being in discussions for finishing in the top spots of Group A.
Mexico had nothing to play for, but still controlled this game, a great group stage for them as the hosts. Left back Mateo Chavez scored the first in the 55th minute, left winger Julian Quinones scored his second of the tournament and substitute Alvaro Fidalgo added the third for El Tri in second half stoppage time.
In the 78th minute, substitute, and national legend, Guillermo Ochoa was brought on in goal. It was his sixth World Cup, only rivaling Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Mexico will stay in Mexico City, where their first knockout games will be.
Player of the Match: Mateo Chavez (AZ Alkmaar)
South Africa: 1, South Korea: 0
One of the biggest upsets of the tournament, if not the biggest upset, since the other big results like this were all draws.
South Korea could never find that great chance, and South Africa took advantage, scoring in the 63rd minute from right winger Thapelo Maseko. South Africa ended with more shots and shots on target, despite having less of the possession.
Goalkeeper Ronwen Williams was great all tournament for South Africa, and deserved the clean sheet after every team in Group A struggled to get anything past him.
South Africa finished second in the group with the massive win over South Korea and the draw over Czechia, and will play Canada in the first knockout game Sunday. South Korea will have to wait for the rest of the group stage games to finish, but they are in a good spot.
Player of the Match: Ronwen Williams (Mamelodi Sundowns)
Cover picture courtesy of Managing Madrid.