FIFA World Cup 6/22 Recap

Friday saw three more exciting, action-packed games. Here’s the recap.

Brazil 2, Costa Rica 0

• Goals
  • Brazil: Coutinho (90+1′), Neymar (90+7′)
  • Costa Rica: N/A
• Cards
  • Brazil: Neymar (Yellow, 81′), Coutinho (Yellow, 81′)
  • Costa Rica: Acosta (Yellow, 84′)

After a bumpy start to the group round against Switzerland, Brazil got back on track with this victory, although it took them a LOT longer than it should have to make it happen. Despite 69% of the possession, and having 23 shots (9 on goal) to Costa Rica’s 4 shots (0 on goal), it took Brazil until stoppage time in the second half to get on the board. This will be the end of the road for Costa Rica, who will be out of the World Cup after their next match, and puts Brazil on top of the group, at least for the time being.

Nigeria 2, Iceland 0

• Goals
  • Nigeria: Musa (49′), Musa (75′)
  • Iceland: N/A
• Cards
  • Nigeria: Idowu (Yellow, 44′)
  • Iceland: None

Nigeria put a damper on one of the most exciting Cinderella stories of this World Cup so far with a definitive 2-0 victory over Iceland. Ahmed Musa was the hero, scoring both goals, as Nigeria both out-possessed and out-shot Iceland. The only real chance for Iceland was a penalty kick later into the second half, which went well over the net by Gyifi Sigurdsson. It puts Nigeria in a relatively solid spot going into the final group match, while Iceland should begin to be a bit worried.

Switzerland 2, Serbia 1

• Goals
  • Switzerland: Xhaka (52′), Shaqiri (90′)
  • Serbia: Mitrovic (5′)
• Cards
  • Switzerland: Shaqiri (Yellow, 90+1′)
  • Serbia: Milinkovic-Savic (Yellow, 34′), Milivojevic (Yellow, 39′), Matic (Yellow, 45+2′), Mitrovic (Yellow, 87′)

Shaqiri had one of the most exciting goals of the tournament so far, as his last minute heroics, sending a ball from the left side of the box into the bottom right corner of the net on a fast break, sent the Swiss home with an important victory. The Swiss lead the possession and shots battle, but weren’t able to capitalize on those statistical leads until later in the match. Both of these teams have three points or more in the table, which sets us up for an exciting finish to Group E next week.

Updated Standings from These Groups

Green: Clinched Spot in Round of 16

Red: Eliminated from World Cup Contention

Group D

1. Croatia – 6 points (GD: 5)
2. Nigeria – 3 points (GD: 0)
3. Iceland – 1 point (GD: -2)
4. Argentina – 1 points (GD: -3)

Group E

1. Brazil – 4 points (GD: 2)
2. Switzerland – 4 points (GD: 1)
3. Serbia – 3 points (GD: 0)
4. Costa Rica – 0 points (GD: -3)

Matches on 6/23

Belgium vs. Tunisia – Group G (8:00am Eastern)

South Korea vs. Mexico – Group F (11:00am Eastern)

Germany vs. Sweden – Group F (2:00pm Eastern)

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