World Cup 2022: Group Phase 2nd Round Review

5 min readNov 30, 2022

Belgium vs Morocco

Onto the 2nd round of the 2022 World Cup stages, and we already have another huge upset for the Belgian side, who lost 2–0 against a theoretically weaker Morocco. Despite being dominant in possession for the majority of the game, the Belgian side failed to find the back of the net, whilst the Moroccan side scored two goals in the 2nd half with Romain Saiss and Zakaria Aboukhlal.

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Morocco’s players celebrate their first goal.

France vs Denmark

In this game we got to see a very competitive France edge out opponents Denmark with a 2–1 win. In form France-wonderboy, Mbappe was responsible for France’s 2 goals in the 2nd half of the game, if the France forward keeps up with this level of skill there’s a good chance he could be on the way to win World Cup number 2!

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Player of the match, Kylian Mbappe, celebrating his goal in front of the fans

England vs USA

You would have done yourself a favor if you managed to miss this game, as it was quite possibly the most boring game to take place in the World Cup so far! The goal-less draw featured an English side playing extremely defensive football, with the ball frequently being passed in circles by England defenders Stones and Maguire. It seemed as though Southgate was purposefully trying to achieve a draw with the USA side. The performance by England was so poor that you could audibly hear loud boos from the England fans at the end of the match, England will have to work hard to make sure their next game against Wales is not equally embarrassing for the side.

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Stones and Pulisic duel during England vs U

Argentina vs Mexico

Argentina knew that a loss to Mexico would mean elimination from the tournament, while a draw would leave their hopes hanging by a thread after their shocking 2–1 loss to Saudi Arabia in their opening match on Tuesday. The pre-tournament favorite will enter their final Group C match in second position, one point behind their next opponent, Poland, thanks to the two magical moments from Messi and Fernandez.

A victory would be sufficient to ensure their advancement to the knockout stage, although a draw would also be sufficient depending on the outcome of the other game still to be played. Argentina was on the verge of being eliminated from the World Cup when Lionel Messi scored the decisive first goal in a 2–0 victory over Mexico at the Lusail Iconic Stadium in Qatar, putting the South American champions back on track to go to the round of 16. A tenacious Mexico team was frustrating Argentina on Saturday until Messi produced a moment of brilliance, hitting the ball low into the corner of Ochoa, outside the area, in the 64th minute. In the 87th minute, Enzo Fernandez curled in a beautiful first goal for his nation to secure the crucial three points.

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Messi celebrating his goal against Mexico in front of Argentina fans

Honorable mention

At the Al Bayt Stadium, Germany just about maintained their World Cup campaign after Niclas Fullkrug’s late goal saved a 1–1 draw with Spain.

After Spain took the lead early in the second half thanks to Alvaro Morata, another substitute, Fullkrug, changed the dynamic and gave Germany their first point of the 2022 World Cup after their shocking loss to Japan.

Even though Hansi Flick’s team is still at the bottom of the standings, if they defeat Costa Rica, they could still go to the knockout rounds.

Niclas Fullkrug celebrates his goal against Spain

Upcoming games

Twelve years have passed since that infamous quarterfinal match in South Africa, in which Asamoah Gyan missed the ensuing penalty and Ghana lost in a painful shootout after Luis Suarez was dismissed for handball on the line in the last seconds of extra time, preventing a certain winning goal.

A pivotal match in the last round of Group H matches is spiced up even more by the bitter feelings that Ghanaian supporters still harbor toward Suarez for that controversial behavior that was praised as brilliant in some quarters and diabolical in others. The Black Stars would need to win this match for payback in order to advance to the round of 16 for the third time since 2006. However, a draw would also be acceptable if Korea Republic won’t get a win against Portugal. Apart from Ghana vs. Uruguay, other matches that are significant for the round of 16 qualification are Poland vs. Argentina, and Croatia vs. Belgium. You can take your position here.

Suarez’s handball against Ghana in South Africa World Cup, 2010

Shot Distance Analytics

Analytics have changed sports and soccer could be no exception. In the below chart we can see the change, in percentage, of shots taken from inside the area, in FIFA World Cup tournaments since 1966. There is an upward trend which is clearly a change in teams strategies, to not waste shots from outside the area. At the FIFA World Cup 2022 tournament, out of 81 goals, 93% are from inside the box.

Group Standings