Just over three weeks ago, I wrote my first of two parts concerning this year’s football World Cup (see here), just after the group stage had finished, mindful that it was going to be knock out from then on. I focused on the football but had to cover stuff like politics. In this sequel, I intend to do the same.

Round of 32

The first thing to note is the number of minnows who managed it out of the group stage, and deservedly so, and playing creditworthy football that leave lovers of the beautiful game purring, for despite political shenanigans that I will get to, we could see that football has not lost its soul. Some teams like Morrocco and Paraguay were able to progress at the expense of two big guns: Holland and Germany. England only just managed to overcome Congo DR.

Round of 16

As we came to the sharp end of the tournament, we began to see the cream rising to the top, with France looking like favourites and Spain nicely pacing themselves. One surprise was Brazil losing to an impressive Norway side. England fought well for their victory against much fancied Mexico on their home turf and with late winners. Argentina might count themselves lucky to overcome Egypt, who for good reason felt the game was rigged against them.

Quarter finals

Arguably, the best four teams in the competition prevailed: France, Spain, England and Argentina, and once again England fought hard against a worthy Norway side for victory.

Semi finals

Possibly the highlight of the tournament was the France versus Spain and England versus Argentina semi-finals. Spain was impressive, not just defeating tournament favourites, France, but because they were by far the better team. England might feel hard done by, especially having taken the lead early in the second half. Many pundits felt their going into defensive mode after this was their undoing, against a side with so much attacking quality relentlessly pressing up to the end along with a late winner.

Final

Before that there was the third-place play-off, the game neither team wanted to play, and more like a pre-season friendly when the result didn’t matter, but in the end it turned out to be the most exciting game of the tournament and it was played in the right spirit, with England beating France 6-4. The Spain versus Argentina game was disappointing and it was a one-sided affair, with Spain the better side deservedly securing their 1-0 victory in the second half of extra time against a disappointing, unimpressive and brutal Argentina side, who to their discredit committed far too many fouls.

Final reflections

I’ll start with the bad! What I said last time still applies. I sense FIFA is not fit for purpose and is bordering on corrupt, where commercial interests having wrongly overtaken footballing ones, with true fans, and players even, being seen as of secondary importance. VAR is a good idea in principle but too often it doesn’t give the right outcome (ask the Egyptians concerning their Argentina game). Some of the refereeing has been disappointing, e.g., in the case of Argentina, by overlooking their foul tally. Without wanting to go down the conspiracy theory route, one wonders why? Their fouling in the final followed by the after-match punch-up they started was disgraceful. The half time show during the final was greatly out of place.

But overall, I enjoyed the tournament and the many examples on show proving that the beautiful game is indeed beautiful. I loved it that the best team won, many teams did well, such as England, but especially among the least likely and under rated. I loved seeing so many signs of national pride, especially in the day where we see the world moving toward a globalist dystopia. My highlight was this unassuming chap named Vozinha, the superb Cape Verde goalkeeper, and also his team, from a country I didn’t even know existed. It was so refreshing. I loved seeing even more examples of players from so many countries celebrating their faith, notably after the France and England game.