Saudi defender Yasser Al-Shahrani was one of the stars in the surprising 2-1 win over Argentina. However, the player was not able to celebrate the victory properly after suffering a nasty facial injury. So bad that he was taken off the field on a stretcher and then flown home for surgery.
The whole sequence was hard to see.
Oh, what could have been for Canada’s golden boy? Just 10 minutes into his side’s opening match, Alphonso Davies had the opportunity to score Canada’s first goal at the men’s World Cup. Fate would not be on his side, however, as Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois saved his tame effort to keep the match scoreless.
BLOCKED BY COURTOIS
The search for a first-ever men's FIFA World Cup goal continues for Canada pic.twitter.com/M3v0ClUOfZ
Tiki-taka (the lethal variety) is back. Spain was greatly helped by Costa Rica's decision to grant mobile brain-in-a-jar Sergio Busquets freedom of the park Wednesday, but to downplay La Furia Roja's 7-0 World Cup victory over Los Ticos is like throwing mashed potatoes at a Van Gogh.
This was always the danger for Old Man Costa Rica: 35-year-old Keylor Navas, 34-year-old Celso Borges and 33-year-old Óscar Duarte getting torn apart by 22-year-old Ferran Torres and Barcelona teenage prodigies Pedri and Gavi.
¡7-0! Sí, ¡7-0!
Con su celestial e hipnótico tiki-taka, España le dio el réquiem a la generación dorada de Costa Rica.
Sobre el césped del Estadio Al Thumama hubo un solo equipo y las estadísticas de ese dominio fueron brutales. Además de los siete goles:
Yikes!
Lo de los pases es fenomenal y le permitió a los españoles tener una posesión del balón cercana al 82%, récord absoluto desde el Mundial de 1966 a la fecha.
Australia’s opening World Cup game against France went pretty must as expected. France dominated and cruised to a 4-1 victory, but there were 18 beautiful minutes that the Socceroos held a 1-0 lead.
Because of time zones, fans back in the land down under had a groggy morning to watch their team play. Kickoff was at 6 a.m. for fans that gathered to watch in Melbourne. Despite the fact the sun rose only a couple minutes before kickoff, the energy was still there from the fans.
Japón le dio una nueva alegría al fútbol asiático. Luego del batacazo que Arabia Saudita le dio a Argentina, este miércoles fue el turno de los Samuráis Azules de sacudir al mundo con una sorpresiva victoria por 2-1 sobre Alemania, en el primer partido del Grupo E en el Mundial de Catar.
Sin dudas un resultado inesperado, pero que a varios les trajo a la memoria un par de capítulos de la serie animé de los Supercampeones, en la que los nipones – de la mano de Oliver Atom y Steve Hyuga – vencieron a los alemanes por 3-2, en la final de un torneo internacional Sub-15
The United States began its World Cup odyssey with a bittersweet 1-1 draw against Wales on Monday, and Gregg Berhalter's men return Friday against an England team that reaffirmed its status as a tournament favorite by hammering Iran 6-2 to go top of Group B after Match Day 1.
Germany kicked off its 2022 campaign with a continuation of its World Cup struggles from four years ago. Japan scored a late equalizer followed by an even later winner to secure a historic 2-1 win over the champions from 2014.
JAPAN TAKES THE LEAD
JAPAN TAKES THE LEAD
JAPAN TAKES THE LEAD pic.twitter.com/V5Jzmnc8cJ— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) November 23, 2022
Japan shocked the world and defeated Germany 2-1 in the team’s opening World Cup game on Wednesday to get their 2022 tournament on track. My personal favorite moment of the match was German defender Antonio Rüdiger sprinting with his hilarious running form.
Interesting running technique by Rüdiger pic.twitter.com/0wx70rceUR
DOHA — Germany players placed their hands over their mouths during a team photo ahead of their game against Japan for their World Cup Group E on Wednesday as the row over FIFA's threat of sanctions over the "OneLove" armband continued.
All Germany players took part in the gesture in front of dozens of photographers on the pitch ahead of kickoff, after world soccer body FIFA had threatened seven European teams with sanctions if they wore the armband symbolizing diversity and tolerance.