Russia

Australia vs. Cameroon did not matter in any larger sense. Both teams are almost certainly eliminated from the Confederations Cup. God, it was fun though. Both teams played on the front foot, and both teams, while not being good enough to affect the international soccer paradigm very much, are good enough to do one or two cool moves before taking a heavy touch and colliding with a defensive midfielder.

The game was like the show 24: entertaining, violent, fast-paced and utterly meaningless in the grand scheme of things. Look, here's a goal:

Oribe Peralta, enemy of the free people of New Zealand with six goals against the Oceania side, might’ve saved Juan Carlos Osorio’s job with a match-winning goal against the Kiwis in the 72nd minute of El Tri’s 2-1 victory. 

After an impressive showing from Mexico in their opening 2-2 draw with European champions Portugal, El Tri manager Juan Carlos Osorio made eight changes to his side because he’s the tinker man. As a result, Mexico spent the opening 45 minutes looking disjointed, blunt and second best. 

We can all breath easy. Cristiano Ronaldo is fine.

After a massive scoreless streak of one game, Ronaldo needed less than eight minutes to finally get back on the scoresheet against Russia. 

Ronaldo came into the Confederations Cup with a five-match scoring streak, having scored 48 goals in 52 starts during the 2016-17 campaign. But the Portuguese star couldn’t even score in the 2-2 draw with Mexico in the tournament opener.

With the FIFA Confederations Cup in full swing, the opening match of the 2018 World Cup in Russia is officially less than a year away. 

For fans who are planning on making the trip to cheer on their country, they can expect to spend about $2,500 on travel, lodging, tickets, food and other miscellaneous expenses for a week-long trip. Although only three teams have officially qualified for Russia 2018 (Brazil, Iran and Russia), it'd be a smart move to start saving up now for fans of nations positioned well in qualifying.

2017 FIFA Confederations Cup Preview: Australia 

History and Background

Football hasn’t always been a major sport in Australia. Although the national team was formed in 1922, the country didn’t participate in the first seven World Cups. When they did decide to start participating, they failed to qualify in their first two tries — losing to North Korea in the playoffs for 1966 and Israel in ’70.

2017 FIFA Confederations Cup Preview: Germany

History and Background

Like Gary Lineker once said, “Football is a simple game. Twenty-two men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans always win.” It’s no surprise that Die Mannschaft are by far the most historically successful team at this tournament, having won four World Cups and three European Championships. 

Chile were the better side from the kick-off today in Moscow as Cameroon quickly found themselves setting up camp in their own half. Chile were eventually rewarded with a 2-0 victory, but not without the Video Assistant Referee system playing a role.