World Cup Group Stage Review

On the day when there will be no World Cup action for the first time in over 2 weeks, we’re going to be recapping the group stage and looking ahead to the knockout rounds! So far, we’ve enjoyed 48 games which has seen all 32 teams score at least 2 goals! 122 goals were scored overall with just one game ending 0-0… Thanks France and Denmark!

There were some fantastic matches to enjoy over the group stage. The opening match saw Russia notch 5 goals against Saudi Arabia and this was followed the next day by the thrilling 3-3 draw between Spain and Portugal. That was just one of the 28 games that saw a goal scored after 80 minutes, one of which included Harry Kane’s dramatic winner for England against Tunisia.

The biggest shock from the group stage was undoubtedly Germany’s failure to qualify for the knockout round. Not only did they fail to qualify, they finished bottom of group F. There is a growing trend of defending champions being knocked out in the group stage, but this was not expected of Germany! The departure of the Germans is a welcome auf wiedersehen to the remaining teams in the tournament.

Looking forward to the knockout stages, England’s loss to Belgium has helped to create a path to the semi-finals that avoids any juggernauts of international football. England face Columbia on Tuesday July 3rd and if victorious, will play either Switzerland or Sweden for a place in the World Cup Semi Finals. It’s not going to be easy, but it sounds a lot better than the thought of playing against Brazil!

The schedule for the knockout round can be found below:

Saturday 30th June.

• France vs Argentina (15:00)
• Uruguay vs Portugal (19:00)

Sunday 1st July

• Spain vs Russia (15:00)
• Croatia vs Denmark (19:00)

Monday 2nd July

• Brazil vs Mexico (15:00)
• Belgium vs Japan (19:00)

Tuesday 3rd July

• Sweden vs Switzerland (15:00)
• Colombia vs England (19:00)

Don't forget that you can still enter our World Cup Competiton for your chance to win a £100 voucher of your choice. You can find all the details by CLICKING HERE