Last night's last group stage matches turned out differently and I was surprised none of the countries that won their first two matches progressed from the group stage with 9 points. They all lost their third match and one the loss changed the fate of a particular country in the competition.
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After two matches, France, Portugal, and Brazil already booked a place in the knockout stages of the World cup and I was so sure they will progress with a 100% group stage win because of the top-class performance that gave us in their first two matches but things turned out differently.
Getting all 9 points from the group stage is the biggest achievement any country can make in the World Cup but no country took their chances in Qatar.
The managers of these countries did the same thing made them miss out on 9 points. It was a smart move to rest your main players because you don't know what the knockout stages would look like, it is a tactic to help them rest and as well protect them from unnecessary injuries that might affect the team.
France's loss to Tunisia wasn't expected, I expected at least a draw from the match. The lineup automatically turned me down and Tunisia snatched the opportunity to grab their first win in Qatar.
Tunisia's performance forced Deschamps to bring in game changers and even though their presence was felt, they couldn't secure at least a point from that match. The loss changed nothing for them and they only missed out on having the best group-stage performance at the 2022 World Cup.
Portugal dominated the group as well and South Korea is the last team that I thought would give them a problem.
The Asian side must have lost hope of making it to the next round of the competition but the opportunity came and they took their chances against Portugal. South Korea snatched Uruguay's ticket to the knockout stage, it must be a sad one for South America to crash out despite giving their best to beat Ghana.
Portugal started quite well but couldn't end the group stage with the high momentum they started with.
South Koreans must be happy with their achievement and making it out of the group stage is the best thing that has happened to them at the ongoing world cup.
Brazil losing to Cameroon was the most surprising result from yesterday's matches because they are the team with the best squad in the competition right now.
Every player in the Brazilian team is fantastic and can change the rhythm of any match so I expected a win even though the majority of their starting eleven were on the bench.
We saw Martinelli cause the Cameroon side lots of trouble but they couldn't do the needful in the final third. Brazil conceded late and it ended their dream of getting all 9 points from the group stage. The lost change nothing as Switzerland progressed from the group as well.
Netherlands, England, and Morocco are the countries with the highest points after the group stage was rounded up. The trio won two group-stage matches and played one draw as well.
It is not surprising to see Netherlands and England with 7 points, Morocco's achievement at the World Cup so far as been unbelievable. I hope to see them stun the world more as the competition progresses.
The knockout round kicks off today and I am looking forward to seeing great action from the countries that made it out of the group stage successfully.