World Cup Watching Notes • 12th Night
Croatia 0-0 Belgium
Canada 1 to 2 Morocco
The first "dark horse" ran out! In the early morning of December 2, Beijing time, the Qatar World Cup had a result that the most senior fans and supercalculators had absolutely not calculated before the game - in Group F, where the runners-up and third place of the last World Cup were together, the little-known Morocco won 2-1 against Canada to seal the first place in the group, Croatia and Belgium exchanged white rolls, and the Plaid Army squeezed the European Red Devils to grab another promotion spot.
Morocco head coach Walid Regraj after the game. He is known as "Moroccan Guardiola". Xinhua News Agency
Maple Leafs Canada have gone out early, with three teams remaining to compete for two qualifying spots. The Atlas Lions Morocco can qualify if they draw with a draw, Croatia can qualify unbeaten in this match, and Belgium can only win this way to qualify, and if they draw, they will need to count on Canada to beat Morocco.
The European Reds and the Plaid Army match is clearly the highlight of the two, a match between runners-up and third place four years ago, a twilight battle between the golden generation of two teams, a battle between the world's top midfielder Kevin De Bruyne and Modric, and a life-and-death battle to qualify.
Belgium's Sorgen Hazard (left) fights Croatia's Mateo Kovacic during the match. Xinhua News Agency
In the first half, both sides had 0 shots on target. The controversy came in the opening 15th minute, when Carrasco brought down Kramaric and Croatia won a penalty. But England whistle Anthony Taylor looked back at VAR and decided that after the free-kick was opened, Lovren was offside and cancelled Croatia's penalty. Sky Sports did not favor the national referee, commenting directly: "We just saw that Taylor seems to have decided to go to the sidelines to observe the monitor. But it's strange that it takes so long to check for offside, because now it's the era of automatic identification, what is Anthony Taylor spending time for... Contempt for technology? ”
Morocco's Ennesri celebrates after scoring a goal in the match. Xinhua News Agency
On the other pitch, Morocco scored three goals in the first half, respectively, in the opening 4th minute, Ziyech took advantage of the opponent's mistake to shoot directly into the goal; In the 23rd minute, Ennesri burst into the box and fired a low shot into the near corner; In the 40th minute, Agde scored the first own goal of the World Cup to help the Maple Leafs pull back a city. Morocco entered the dressing room with a 2-1 lead.
If such a score is finished, Morocco will occupy the top spot in the group, Croatia will qualify second, and Belgium will be third and will only be out.
Belgium's Romelu Lukaku (back) plays Croatia's Modric in a match. Xinhua News Agency
Belgium, who have arrived on the edge of the cliff, came off the bench with all-time goalscorer Romelu Lukaku, who has scored 28 goals in his last 28 international matches. But "Little Monster" only reaped regrets and tears in this half. Hit the post once in the 60th minute, headed high in the 63rd minute against an empty goal, and missed again in the 90th minute against an empty goal... At the final whistle, Romelu Lukaku held his head and cried. Modric, on the other hand, lay on the turf panting, but with a look of happiness on his face.
In the end, Monaco beat Canada 2-1 to seal the first place in the group with seven points, and Croatia reached the World Cup knockout stage for the third time in its history with five points against Belgium, who had only four points.
Members of the Moroccan team tossed head coach Walid Regraj to celebrate after the game. Xinhua News Agency
Morocco seems to have a weak presence in the history of the World Cup, but because of the last World Cup Xu Yang's phrase "football there is pure". In fact, they are the first African team to directly qualify for the World Cup finals, this is the sixth time they have competed in the World Cup main stage. In 1986, they beat Portugal, England and Poland to finish first in the group, also a first for an African team. Croatia and Belgium in the same group have faded their respective golden generations, while Morocco is ushering in its own golden generation, with the addition of 29-year-old Ziyech and 24-year-old Ashraf, as well as a number of players who play in major European leagues.
So far, Senegal and Morocco have advanced, and Tunisia is out, but Cameroon and Ghana will continue to compete for qualification on the final matchday of the group stage.
Nandu reporter Tao Xinlei