Every World Cup has its surprises, like Saudi Arabia's stunning upset of Argentina in Qatar four years ago. This tournament has been no different. Qatar's stunning injury-time equalizer sent Group B into disarray. The Socceroos' incredible upset of Turkey at B.C. Place was another highlight.
On Monday, Cape Verde — a World Cup debutant and the 64th-ranked team in the world — held Spain to a scoreless draw. La Roja, ranked third globally, were among the favorites to win it all. Monday's result shows, yet again, that soccer's biggest stage can produce some of the game's biggest stories.
Canada on the Pitch
Alphonso Davies trained away from the team on Monday, the only player not available to practice fully, as Les Rouges got in their first session at UBC. Every other player is available for Thursday's game against Qatar at B.C. Place. With the incredible atmosphere Vancouver saw with two neutral teams in Australia and Turkey, Canada's first game on the West Coast should be electric.
Paul Chapman, former Vancouver Province sports editor, pointed out that Canada won its first hockey gold on home soil in Vancouver and now has a chance to record its first World Cup win on home turf as well. “Suck it, Toronto,” he said. No pressure, Canada.
Group B for Balanced
Canada and its three opponents in Group B all have the same number of points, the same number of goals, and the same goal difference. GD is the first tiebreaker, followed by goals scored, then fair play points. Currently, Bosnia has three yellow cards, Canada and Qatar have two, and Switzerland has one. If the teams are tied on all metrics at the end of group stage play, the most recent World Cup rankings will be the final tiebreaker. Switzerland also plays Bosnia and Herzegovina in Los Angeles on Thursday.
Early Exit
Tunisia isn't out of the World Cup after their 5-1 defeat to Sweden in their opening game, but their head coach is. The Tunisian football federation sacked Sabri Lamouchi on Monday after the dismal defeat, announcing the move on Instagram. “An agreement has been officially reached to dismiss coach Sabri Lamouchi,” the statement said. “Plans are under way to appoint Mondher Kebaier as the (interim) national team coach.”
La Revenge? Non.
It was 24 years ago that France and Senegal met in the opening game at the World Cup, with Senegal winning 1-0. That defeat was the catalyst of a disastrous World Cup campaign that saw Les Bleus fail to advance out of the group stage. The two teams meet Tuesday in their opener, and France coach Didier Deschamps said history is just that — in the past. “Listen, this was history, but even (midfielder) N'Golo (Kante) I'm not sure he saw the game. Nearly most of my players weren't born in 2002,” he told media on Monday. “I know that you like this word 'revenge' but there's no revenge in football.”
