At the 22nd FIFA World Cup, three quarters of all matches, or the entire group stage, have already been played. Before the elimination battles begin, it is worth looking at a short statistical cross-section of the preliminary competition, which ended with the most unusual exclusion.
After going 17 matches without defeat in the group stages of the World Cup, Brazil unexpectedly suffered a defeat against Cameroon. In stoppage time, the captain scored a header Vincent Aboubakarwho took off his shirt during the huge celebration, even though he knew he would receive a second yellow card.
US Chief Justice Ismail Elfath he congratulated him on the goal and almost apologized to him that according to the rules he had to show him a second yellow card and then a red one. The cutest ban in World Cup history!
The Brazilians were defeated after 17 matches in the preliminary round
Cameroon once again, for the fifth time in a row, he remained in the group, but he can still take solace in a historic victory. For the first time ever, the African national team beat Brazil at the World Cup, which previously won all seven matches against the Africans, including the previous two against the Cameroonians (1994 and 2014).
This ended Brazil’s unbeaten run in the preliminaries. It is before that Selection last lost in the group at the WC 1998, when they were surprised by Norway (1:2). On the other hand, coach Tite, who has been in charge of Brazil since 2016, barely suffered a third defeat on the bench canaries. At the 2018 World Cup, the Brazilians were eliminated by Belgium in the quarter-finals, in last year’s Copa America final, Argentina was better and now the second Brazilian line-up was checked in the 91st minute invincible lions from Cameroon.
Will there be more goals in the elimination fights this time as well?
Aboubaker was the second player sent off in the tournament, the first after a second yellow card. The first was Wales goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey for interfering outside the 16-yard box against Iran.
Dismissals are less than in previous tournaments, but significant – goals are close to the level of the last two tournaments in Brazil (2.7) and Russia (2.6), with more goals scored in the knockout stages than in the qualifiers. Currently in Qatar 2022: 120 goals for exactly 2.5 goals per game!
Fernandes the best player of the pre-match
According to the algorithm of Sofascor, which draws on statistical data from Opta, the Portuguese was by far the best individual of the pre-match Bruno Fernandes (8.60), who assisted twice for a goal in the first game and scored twice himself in the second. There are only two other footballers above the excellence average – 8: the goalkeeper of Poland Wojciech Szczesny (8,20) and the organizer of the French attack Antoine Griezmann (8,13).
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The best goal? Richarlison’s scissors against Serbia for 2:0!
The best defense? Double save by Szczesny at the 11m of Saudi Arabia.
Source: Rtvslo