The Round of 32 of the FIFA World Cup is starting to take shape. Groups A, B and C completely their third and final matches, giving us contenders and surprises.
Mexico, Switzerland and Brazil all topped their respective groups with Canada, Morocco and surprise package South Africa gaining the second spots.
Canada 1 – 2 Switzerland
Canada was forced to weather the storm in the opening minutes of their Group B battle. Switzerland dominated control of the ball not only in their possession but also in their superior movement.
Breel Embolo had the first quality chance for Switzerland in the 11th minute. The pass got past Derek Cornelius to Embolo, who had free rein on Maxime Crepeau.
But the Canadian keeper stood tall and challenged the shot, a huge moment early in the match.
As the half continued, Canada started to grow into the match, particularly after the hydration break. Canada had their chances through Cyle Larin and Ali Ahmed, but nothing that really challenged Gregor Kobel in the Swiss net.
By the time the half arrived, Canada had the momentum. And it felt as though the break was a hindrance for Canada, as they came back onto the pitch for the second half and immediately gave away a careless goal.
A low cross from the right caught Alistair Johnston and Cornelius, landing on the feet of Rubén Vargas. Vargas, the second man into the box, was completely unmarked, with all the time in the world to line up his shot and give the Swiss the lead in the 46th minute.
Switzerland doubled their lead in the 57th minute. Embolo received the long ball over Cornelius and held it up well, enabling Johan Manzambi to get up and get the short pass.
Crepeau got a hand on Manzambi’s shot, but it was not enough to keep it out of the Canadian net.
But substitutions gave Canada life as they fought to get back into the game.
In the 76th minute, the Canadians scored. Luc De Fougerolles long ball made it to Nathan Saliba near the 18-yard box.
Fancy juggling got Saliba space from his defender, letting him cross to Promise David, who had just entered the game. With his first touch, Promise had his goal, cutting the Swiss lead in half.
The final 10 minutes saw waves of attack from Canada as Switzerland bunkered down. Cornelius, Promis and Johnston all had chances, but the difficulty was getting power on them as the Swiss packed their 18-yard box.
The fight was valiant, but it was not enough on the day as Switzerland took the 2-1 win.
Group B completed
With Bosnia & Herzegovina winning their match against Qatar with a 3-1 score, Group B is finalized.
The Swiss will remain in Vancouver for their Round of 32 match, which they will play on July 2.
Canada heads to the Los Angeles Stadium for their Round of 32 match on June 28. They will face South Africa.
Bosnia & Herzegovina are in a strong position to qualify as a third-place team. They currently sit on top of the third-place table.
Scotland 0 – 3 Brazil
Brazil started this match with a gift from Scotland, although the Scots would likely wish not to be so generous.
Scott McKenna played a poor pass that deflected off a Brazilian player right onto Vinicius Jr.’s feet. Vini Jr. deked around the Scottish keeper, Angus Gunn, and passed it easily into the net for the early lead in the 7th minute.
Vini Jr. thought he had punished Scotland again in the 22nd minute. He displaced Jack Hendry of the ball, raced in alone and slotted the shot past Gunn.
But VAR weighed in, calling referee César Arturo Ramos Palazuelos to the pitch-side monitor. It was eventually ruled a foul in favour of Scotland, and the goal was disallowed.
Brazil did get their second goal late in first-half stoppage time. Rayan won the ball in a quick recovery at the edge of Scotland’s 18-yard box and sent the high cross over for Vini Jr.
It was a brace for Vini Jr. as he laid a nice header into the back of the net.
Scotland started the second half better, finding movement through the left channel. Scott McTominay had a headed chance scooped up by Alisson.
On the opposite end, Vini Jr. had a chance for his hat-trick, but his shot was marred by Hendry.
Brazil did get back to their earlier scoring ways, with a brilliant run by Bruno Guimarães in the 60th minute. His trickery enabled him to enter the box before passing over to Cunha for the striker’s easy goal.
That was it for Brazil. It was simply a game of keepaway as they held possession, but did not attack for the majority of the remainder of the match.
Scotland looked for an opening, but nothing materialized.
It was Brazil’s win, simple and complete, as they top Group C on goal difference with Morocco.
Group C completed
Brazil will play their Round of 32 match at Houston Stadium on June 29 as the winner of Group C.
Morocco has its next match at the Estadio Monterrey on the same day. They beat Haiti 4-2 to secure second place in the group.
Scotland will have to wait a few days before they know whether they made the next round as a third-place team.
South Korea 0 – 1 South Africa
South Korea started on the front foot as South Africa was forced back. The Bafana Bafana had to defend well, clearing the ball out of the box, but were unable to handle the pace of South Korea’s recoveries.
South Africa did grow into the match, particularly through transitions in moments when South Korea had numbers forward. South Africa played direct, moving quickly to try and penetrate; however, their created chances were from distance and lacked any true danger.
The momentum shift continued after the hydration break. In the 29th minute, Thalente Mbatha unleashed a powerful shot that required a sprawling save from the South Korean keeper, Seung-Gyu Kim. The rebound was picked up by another South African player, which led to another great save.
The first half ended with South Korea having the bulk of possession, but with South Africa edging their opponents in the quality and number of chances.
Neither side could find a foothold in the opening minutes of the second half. But the injection of Heung-Min Son brought the crowd to life.
But after continued momentum, South Africa found their lead. Tshepang Moremi raced up the left of the pitch of hit an excellent cross to Thapelo Maseko.
The attacker switched to his left foot, sending his defender the wrong way and belting the ball past Seung-Gyu Kim in the 63rd minute.
South Korea threw everything forward but South Africa defended well. There were a few nervy moments in the final five minutes, but keeper Ronwen Williams held strong and kept the clean sheet for his nation.
Group A completed
Mexico had already won their group after their second match. They will play on June 30 at the Estadio Mexico City.
But the real surprise is South Africa. By way of defeating South Korea, they get second in the group and will play Canada in Los Angeles on June 28.
Up next
It’s another busy day tomorrow with another six matches.
Curaçao will play Côte d’Ivoire at the same time as Ecuador takes on Germany. Japan will face Sweden as Tunisia plays the Netherlands.
Finally, Paraguay will face Australia while the USA plays Türkiye.
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