The Guillermo Ochoa Silver Glove award is a deserved recognition to one the most underrated goalkeepers in the planet.
The former Club América star made 25 saves in four World Cup matches, averaging 6.25 per game, more than any other goalkeeper in Russia.
The World Cup always sees players establish themselves as household names, and this one was no different. A number of stars either put their names in headlights, while others might just have earned themselves a big money move to another team.
We review our top 5 biggest breakout stars of the 2018 World Cup.
Take a look at who we thought would be the breakout stars of the 2018 World Cup before it began!
Pussy Riot, the notorious Russian punk rock activist group, staged a show of defiance during the World Cup final between France and Croatia on Sunday. Four of the group’s members, one man and three women disguised in police uniform, ran onto the pitch during the 52nd minute of the second half before being chased and dragged out by security.
In the early ’90s, pre-Wengerian Arsenal earned a reputation for playing a brand of football that was effective but far from entertaining, resulting in chants of “Boring, Boring Arsenal.” It was a refrain that easily could have been repeated throughout the Three Lions’ campaign in Russia, including at the England vs Sweden match on Saturday in Samara, Russia.
It should come as no surprise that teams from Europe (UEFA) and South America (CONMEBOL) have advanced to the knockout stages far more frequently than teams from Asia (AFC), Africa (CAF) and Central and North America (CONCACAF). Although the World Cup qualification spots take into account the relative strength of each region, the allocation also considers the importance of having a truly global spectacle.
After beating Germany in the World Cup opener, Mexico couldn’t afford a let down in the second match. Thanks to a Carlos Vela goal vs South Korea, El Tri stayed right on track on Saturday in Rostov, Russia.
When it comes to World Cup coverage, you expect to see the best analysts providing the best analysis. Unfortunately, Fox never got the memo that this is the biggest tournament in the world and skimped on analytical talent. Fortunately for Fox, they still have Dr. Joe Machnik.
Dr. Joe Machnik is a former player, coach and referee — you name it, he’s done it. Last fall he was elected into the U.S. National Soccer Hall of Fame. And he’s easily the best analyst Fox has for the 2018 World Cup.
Welcome to Fox Watch, where we examine how Fox is covering the 2018 World Cup.
Monday’s match against Tunisia was England’s best performance at a major international tournament for close to a decade. After trying and failing and trying even more desperately and then failing even more stupendously than ever before, the Three Lions finally have an opening game in which they can take great pride.
I’m making this up — this could’ve happened at the 1934 tournament or something — but I’m pretty sure that Tuesday’s match between Colombia and Japan is the first-ever World Cup game in which a player has been sent off in the third minute, resulting in a successfully taken penalty, only to be followed by a 39th minute equalizer in which a player strokes a free kick under the wall.
I just have a good feeling that we’ve never seen anything like this before.
Heading into the tournament in Russia, we always knew we’d get a nice mixture of both godawful dives and crunching, I-put-the-country-on-my-back tackles. The super slow mo doesn’t do the sport any favors (everything looks like an overreaction when you slow things down to a million frames per second), but we’ve definitely seen some gloriously physical play mixed with some heinous play acting.
Here’s a selection of our favorite dives and crunches from the opening matches at the 2018 World Cup.