As the FIFA World Cup 2022 heads into Round 16 this weekend, we take a look back at some of the biggest shocks which emerged during the group stages, from goal scores to eliminated teams and controversial decisions.
Qatar
The host nation became one of two teams not to pick up a single point, only managing to net one goal throughout their time in the competition and became the first team to be knocked out having played just two games. So it may not be a surprise they conceded seven goals over three games, with their largest defeat against Senegal 3-1.
Argentina vs Saudi Arabia
Arguably one of the biggest shocks came in the first round when the Saudi’s left Messi’s Argentina speechless with a second half comeback to win 2-1.
The first half alone had four Argentinian goals, only one of which counted with the other three being deemed offside. Saudi Arabia took advantage of this equalising just three minutes after the break, before scoring a fantastic winner five minutes later.
Argentina took this result personally and used it as fuel to finish top of their group winning 2-0 against both Mexico and Poland.
Germany vs Japan
Four years after their 2-0 defeat to Korea, Germany were on the losing end of another shock group stage result, this time a Japan 2-1 comeback was the start of a rough campaign for the Germans.
Ilkay Gundogan put his team ahead from the spot in the first half, the Germans weren’t short of chances with Kai Havertz doubling the lead but VAR deemed his offside and the initial goal was cancelled out by a Japan double in seven minutes during the second half.
Germany
The rest of the group was hard for the Germans who only picked up four points in their games, finishing the group stage level with Spain. Despite their final result being 4-2 victory over Costa Rica, a 2-1 Japanese win (which included an extremely controversial goal) over Spain meant Germany remarkably didn’t advance to round 16 due to goal difference, sending them home in the group stage for a second consecutive tournament.
Belgium v Croatia
It was a must win game for Belgium having dropped points against Morocco in a 2-0 defeat, but unfortunately, they were up against 2018 runners-up Croatia and despite their numerous chances (including five from Romelu Lukaku in the final 20 minutes) the match ended goalless, sending Belgium’s golden generation on the next flight home.
Throughout the whole tournament Belgium’s only goal came from Michy Batshuayi in a 1-0 win over Canada – a team Croatia managed to score four goals past.
Both Belgium and Germany’s early exits highlights the rarity big players can successfully perform together and how unpredictable the World Cup can truly be.
Tunisia vs France
After a fantastic start to the tournament scoring six goals in two matches, current champions France hit a hurdle in their game against Tunisia.
After becoming the first team to qualify for the knockout rounds French manager Didier Deschamps named a completely different starting 11, allowing all players a chance on pitch, but I’m sure he wasn’t expecting a loss.
Tunisia previously held Denmark to a goalless draw, before losing to Australia 1-0 yet finished their World cup campaign with a 1-0 win after a 58th minute goal. Even substitute and football ace Kylian Mbappe couldn’t get on the scoresheet despite scoring in previous matches.
The victory wasn’t enough for Tunisia who still fell short of qualifying with Australia taking the final spot, but they return home they were the only team out of three to beat the reigning world championships and deny them any goals.
Cameroon vs Brazil
Another very unexpected result saw Cameroon beat Brazil 1-0 in their final group game, with a late Aboubakar stoppage time goal.
Brazil were missing star player Neymar and couldn’t find the answers without him scaping a 1-0 from their previous game against Switzerland. The win wasn’t enough to see Cameroon through as Switzerland claimed the final position.
South Korea vs Portugal
Although they were top of the table Portugal fell against South Korea losing 2-1 after going ahead early on, allowing South Korea another chance to advance from a tight group. In their other group games South Korea drew goalless with Uruguay and lost 3-2 Ghana but their additional three points in the Portugal game and total of four goals scored throughout the entire group stage was enough to deny Uruguay the second spot and claim it for themselves.
Australia
With their first game ending in a battering 4-1 defeat against France (despite scoring first) I’m sure nobody would’ve expected Australia to qualify especially with Denmark in the group (who went on to finish bottom with only a single point), but they did! Winning their last two matches 1-0 the Aussies qualified for the knockouts for only their second time.
Spain
The second highest scoring game of the group stages (after England vs Iran 6-2) came from a 7-0 thrashing from Spain against Costa Rica.
The Spainards made a great first impression but were unable to continue their dominance drawing 1-1 to Germany, before losing 2-1 to Japan.
This made the last round of fixtures extremely tense with Spain, Germany, Japan, and Costa Rica all able to qualify, despite losing their final match to Japan they managed to squeeze through in second place with four points thanks to other results going their way.
Iran
After being victims of a 6-2 defeat to England (and later a 1-0 defeat against USA), Iran shifted gears against Wales claiming 2-0 victory with a strong performance. Wales looked very poor throughout the fixtures and a red card for thier keeper Wayne Hennessey might have proved advantageous as replacement keeper Danny Ward was unable to stop Iran’s two last minute goals hitting the net.
Portugal
Despite finishing top of Group H Portugal only kept one clean sheet, during their fixture against Uruguay which ended 2-0. Their main man Cristiano Ronaldo only got one goal converted from the spot and his void was filled by Bruno Fernandes specifically in the Uruguay game who became their star man credited with both goals.
In the Ghana 3-2 victory, Portugal almost fell short but managed to just hold on to their three points.
Canada
Alongside Qatar, Canada was the only other team not to pick up a single point.
They started their campaign brightly but after Alphonso Davies missed a penalty the game finished with an unlucky 1-0 loss against Belgium. Davies did manage to score in their next game but they ultimately suffered a 4-1 defeat to Croatia and their final game match against Morocco ended 2-1 sending them homebound.
England
England couldn’t have started their World Cup campaign any better winning 6-2 over Iran and despite a lacklustre goalless draw against USA, the lions still qualified to the knockouts with an unbeaten streak.
The final match day for Group B was very intense with Wales, Iran and USA fighting for second place, and with England beating Wales 3-0 and cementing the end of their World Cup dreams, all eyes were USA v Iran to claim the final spot.
