World Cup Review - in Thrills and in Style

If I was to pick a game to sum up the tournament, I would go for the 0-0 draw between France and Denmark. The importance of this result in representing the tournament was in it’s lonesome singularity, the fact that it was the only scoreless draw of the tournament. It gives a quirky little reflection of how enthralling this tournament has been.

First matches often help to set a tone for the World Cup, and the ‘battle of the anti-human rights’ was won by Russia, with an emphatic 5-0 win over Saudi Arabia. It fired the hosts into an impressive and unexpected run to the quarter finals, dumping Spain out on penalties along the way. While the tone was set for plenty of goals, it was also a tournament of upsets.

In the first batch of group games alone we had Mexico upset Germany with a sense of relative comfort, Brazil stutter to a draw against Switzerland and Croatia blitz Argentina. While Brazil recovered to make the quarter finals, Argentina and Germany were certainly the flop teams of the tournament. Argentina somehow floundered through to the last sixteen but Germany failed even to progress beyond the group stages. South Korea’s two injury time goals against the Germans was one of the moments of the tournament.

Indeed, what really made this World Cup stand out alongside the consistent stream of goals was the sheer quantity of great moments and games. Spain’s 3-3 draw with Portugal was truly a sight to behold, featuring Ronaldo’s brilliance. Then Messi stepped up with wonderful skill and poise to score against Nigeria in another thrilling game. Japan’s brilliant football against Belgium undone by the scintillating attack of the Red Devils. France vs Argentina in the last sixteen, Hannes Haldórsson’s penalty save against Argentina too, England’s penalty shootout win, Schmeichel watching Schmeichel against Croatia and of course, an exhilarating finale. I could go on with so many more, but then this article would just be a list of World Cup 2018 moments.

So why were we blessed with so many great moments and action this year? It’s hard to put an exact reason on it, but we have been seeing some incredibly high octane brands of football over the last few weeks. Guardiola and Klopp have helped make pressing to win the ball high up the pitch key globally, and intense pressing has certainly been a feature of this World Cup. We then have that contrasted with the scheming counter attacks deployed by teams, waiting for their perfect moment to strike. This mix has led to games that have often been filled with action, perfectly summed up by the final of France vs Croatia.

Croatia came flying out of the blocks in their first World Cup Final. The French defence barely had a moment and looked on edge. Croatia won the ball high and dominated early proceedings but Deschamp’s men rode their way through it, and (with an element of fortune) grabbed two goals to lead at half time. This inevitably invited a then tiring Croatia to push further up the pitch, and the gaps inevitably appeared for Paul Pogba to ping the ball into for an onrushing Kylian Mbappé. The title was France’s.

What did we learn about football from this tournament then? It seems the era of possession - Spanish tiki-taka and German plotting, ball dominance - has come to an end. The final epitomised the style of football we have seen this tournament; high pressing, counter attacks and the compression of space. It is this movement in style that saw Germany fall at the group stage and Spain crumble just days later in the last sixteen. Not only has this World Cup given us some wonderful and ridiculous moments, it has also marked a shift in football. It has not only been a truly great and enthralling World Cup, but an important marker for the ever changing style of football.

(Photo: The Comeback)