The continuously decreasing gap between the higher ranked nations in the footballing world and their counterparts lower down the Fifa rankings was clear to see on Day 7. All three games seemed to follow an almost identical narrative. The historically successful nations with the big names clung to their leads as the plucky underdogs punched above their weight.
Part one saw Portugal beat Morocco 1–0 with Cristiano Ronaldo’s fourth-minute header the only goal of the game. For the 86 minutes after that, there was very little to choose between the sides.
That moment when Portugal only wins basically because of Rui Patrício but everyone will say it’s thanks to Ronaldo cuz he scored. Of course he was important, but Rui saved us from losing hard. That man is a beast as a goal keeper. #portugalVsMorocco
— daji / ana sofia ???? (@velarisdreamr) June 20, 2018
Morocco, ranked 37 places below Portugal, ran themselves into the ground chasing every loose ball knowing full well their world cup lives depended on it. Morocco had more possession, shots on goal and shots on target but sadly could not get the stat that mattered the most.
In the sequel, Uruguay held out a much improved Saudi Arabia. After their opener against Russia, many feared the worst. Uruguay is ranked 53 places above Saudi Arabia but the official stats have Saudi Arabia control 53 per cent of the possession in this game. Again, however, a patient and disciplined Uruguay defended resiliently to keep the Saudi’s at bay to book a place in the last 16 with a 1–0 win.
#URU 1-0 #KSA
Thanks to a goal from @LuisSuarez9 @Uruguay ???????? beats #SaudiArabia ???????? and becames together with #Russia ???????? in the first two teams qualified for the #2ndRound pic.twitter.com/iko0tp7JnH— World Cup Fever ⚽ (@Trivia_WorldCup) June 20, 2018
Completing the trilogy, Spain escaped an inspired Iran. Although Spain dominated the first half, Iran’s defending was not that of a team ranked 27 places below their opponents, the champions in 2010. The twist in this plot though saw a goal reversed by the VAR system. Neutral hearts broke for the ecstatic Iranian’s as the referee and his assistants ruled that Iran were offside from the freekick leading up to the goal.
https://twitter.com/GrimandiTweets/status/1009518063279058945
Just when iran thought it had scored
VAR???????????????????????????????? #IRNESP pic.twitter.com/FPvC0RIJ1O
— Marvin Mafumbo (@marvinmafumbo) June 20, 2018
Spain remained composed throughout and the earlier Diego Costa goal was enough for the 1–0 win. Regardless of the sentiment around the VAR decision, it was the correct one and correct decisions are the sole purpose of their implementation.
All said and done this means Egypt and Saudi Arabia are eliminated from Group A with a game to go while Morocco is the first to fall in Group B. Portugal and Iran fight it out with Spain for the two spots left in Group B.
Every day from now the tournament will start to look a little different.
