Can We Top Today?

Day 2 of the knockout round features Group B winners Spain against surprising hosts Russia.  Spain are heavily favored in that match, but Russia has been surprising everyone all summer with their only loss coming against an impressive Uruguay team.  BISERGS leader Rachel has the favorites, so everyone that is desperately trying to catch her should probably be pulling for the hosts to pull of a huge upset. Everyone that is except DJ, Rachel, Dawn, Vera and Ivan who also have Spain.   Doug and Andrew will certainly be hoping for a Russian miracle as they are down to their last team and a Russian loss would mean farewell to two more BISERGSers. Annika, James and Arlan still have other teams in the game but Russia win would give them a significant boost up the BISERGS rankings.

Christian Eriksen and his Danish team plan to put an end
to Croatia's undefeated run in this year's World Cup.

The second game has even bigger BISERGS implications. Rachel is at it again with Lisa, Levi, Rick and Kelley, all of who owe a lot of their success this summer to Croatia's fine form.  Croatia are one of only three teams that finished the group stage with three wins.  Denmark are no slouches though and Krista, Shelby, Allie, Evan and Gray should like their chances.  Rick and Kelley who had been unstoppable all summer have hit a few speed bumps lately and need to get back to their winning ways if they are to mount a serious challenge for this years BISERGS.  Gray saw his first team of the tournament eliminated on day one of the knockout phase and would be devastated to see his number of teams cut in half so quickly.

Four more teams take the field tomorrow and two will be shown the exit.  Two of those teams belong to first place Rachel, so the results will either 1) accelerate her race to the crown, 2) be a shocking stop to her BISERGS momentum, or 3) be something in between.  The drama of both of these world famous competitions continues in 10 hours.

It Keeps Getting Better and Better

Argentina getting a very familiar look at Mbappe's back.

After the best group stage in memory concluded, I expected a few cagey, slow paced games as teams tried to edge their way into the quarter finals.  Today's action was anything but that.  France and Argentina put on a thrilling display in their 4 - 3 shootout.  19-year-old Kylian Mbappe became the first teen to score two goals in a World Cup game since Pele in 1958.  His amazing speed and the lightning French counterattack were too much for Argentina to handle and they picked up yellow card after yellow card as they desperately grabbed the French track stars to prevent goal scoring opportunities.  Argentina never gave up and scored on a long range effort by Angel DiMaria before half time and then took the lead just after the game restarted.  France sustained their pressure though and scored three second half goals, including my goal of the tournament by Benjamin Pavard.  If you missed his goal, you should definitely watch it.  Argentina scored in added time to draw within one goal and had a final chance to score just before the final whistle blew, but in the end France will advance and Argentina are out.

Game two was also a thriller featuring an Edinson Cavani goals in each half, both of the highest quality. Portugal scored between the Cavani strikes on a well worked team play that resulted in Pepe heading home from close range.  Uruguay had already surrendered their first goal of the tournament and it looked like Portugal might get a second but in the end it was Uruguay's night.

So France and Uruguay are today's winners and that means Rachel extended her lead to nearly 5 points over Gray, who lost his first team (Portugal) today.  Evan moved into third, just a half a point behind his brother.  Kelley didn't fall far and is still in fourth place, but she did lose a valuable piece of her arsenal with the Portugal loss.  Uruguay moved Emilie into her highest place of the summer at 9th, but the loss of Argentina puts her at a huge disadvantage to climb much higher. Dawn and Rick are encouraged by France's victory and hope to see Les Bleus continue their fine form since none of the BISERGSers ranked higher than the siblings have them.  Lindsay also returned to the top 10 thanks to the French success.  Annika, Levi, Lisa and Katee all started the day in the top 10, but didn't have teams playing and dropped slightly as a result.

The World Cup says goodbye to Messi and Ronaldo on the same day and the BISERGS must sadly say farewell to Axel and Brian.  Thanks for playing you two.  Axel had two teams play today and the cruelty of the BISERGS dealt a double blow to his promising combination of Argentina and Portugal. Things didn't work out well for Brian at all this summer.  Argentina's loss is only the most recent in a series of disappointing results and as it stands, Brian's only chance to avoid last place this summer is for Belgium to beat Japan by 18 goals.

Bracket Link

It's About to Get Real

And so it begins.  From now on, every time a team steps on the field it is either one step closer to glory or to the airport for a flight home.  In the BISERGS the stakes couldn't be higher for Emilie, Derek, Greg, Axel and Brian.  Every one of their remaining teams is in action.  If the results go their way, they will climb the BISERGS rankings and live to see another day.  If not, they will be the first BISERGSers to say goodbye.

Uruguay need a few more goals from Cavani.

It's Europe against South America in day one of the knockout stage.  France and Argentina are followed by Uruguay and Portugal.  Victories by Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionell Messi would set up a mouthwatering quarterfinal matchup between the two superstars.  Paul Pogba, Antoine Griezman, Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani are stars in their own right and hope to become national heroes by guiding their teams to glory well beyond this early stage of the tournament.  Four countries battle, but only two will survive.

For our top BISERGS hopefulls, Dawn and Rick must have a French victory if they have any ambitions of winning this summer.  Krista fields two of her three remaining teams.  Both must win if her BISERGS dreams are to become a reality.  A Portuguese victory will push Gray and Kelley ahead of Rachel (Uruguay) at the top while an Uruguay win would help Evan move ahead of his brother and Kelley into second place.  The BISERGS is about to get real.

Link to the bracket

Mexico City Celebrations and Team Point Totals

Link to the bracket

I just came across this video that I had to share with all of you.  A crowd of Mexico City residents stormed the South Korean embassy for this impromptu celebration with their new brother, the Korean ambassador.  The chant at the end can be roughly translated "Korean brother, now you are Mexican!"  It was South Korea's victory over Germany that allowed Mexico to keep going in the World Cup.

As we head into the next phase, remember that the value of the games changes with each round.  The round of 16 is the same as the group stage, but the quarter-final matches are worth 1.5 times the group stage matches. The semi-final is worth double points and the championship match is worth triple points.  In addition to points, a victory for your team earns them the right to play another round and gain you even more points in the future.  There is a third place match that will be valued the same as the group stage matches.  Also remember that in the knock-out stages of the World Cup, there can be no draws, so some matches go to penalty shootouts.  In those cases, goals scored in the shootout don’t count as goals or goals against for BISERGS points.  The team that loses the penalty shoot out still earns credit for a draw because they finished a full match, plus 30 minutes of extra time tied. The winning team is credited with a victory and of course gets to keep playing in the next round.

You may be wondering which teams provided the most BISERGS points for their 'owners' over the first 3 rounds.  Not surprisingly, Belgium topped the list followed by the other two unbeaten teams Croatia and Uruguay.  Interestingly, Argentina advanced to the next round, but they have scored fewer BISERGS points than Senegal and Iran who have both been eliminated.  Panama and Egypt are the only teams that actually cost their owners points over the course of three games.

Here is the complete list:

Belgium	13
Croatia	12.25
Uruguay	11.5
Brazil	9.25
Russia	9
England	8.75
France	8.25
Colombia	8
Sweden	8
Spain	6.75
Mexico	6.5
Portugal	6.5
Switzerland	6.5
Denmark	5.75
Japan	5
Senegal	5
Iran	4.5
Argentina	4.25
Costa Rica	3.75
South Korea	3.75
Nigeria	3.5
Tunisia	3.5
Germany	3
Peru	3
Serbia	3
Poland	2.75
Saudi Arabia	2.25
Australia	1
Morocco	1
Iceland	0.75
Egypt	-0.5
Panama	-1.5

Also, thanks to Krista for pointing out an error in the score calculator.  All owners of Egypt and Saudi Arabia have had their scores corrected by either +.25 or -.25 due to a mistake I made entering the match score last week.  If you notice any problems with the scores, please let me know so I can correct them.  

The Bracket is Set

Link to the bracket

The group stage is over and the World Cup officially says goodbye to 16 nations that didn't make it to the next round.  Thankfully, in the BISERGS world, we all have at least one team to keep our dreams alive.  Some of our dreams are more realistic than others, but as of today, everyone playing may still have the 2018 World Cup champion on their side.

The thrilling action of the World Cup let up significantly today, but the dramatic and often unexpected action on the field over the first three rounds has made the BISERGS as exciting as ever.  The current standings have Rachel on top with 34.25 and three teams qualified to the next round.  Gray is one point behind but managed to get four teams qualified.  Kelley is keeping the pressure on with 32.5 points and Levi had the highest single round score of the summer with 15.25 in round three is just a half a point behind her.  Evan, Annika, Dawn, Rick, Lisa and Katee round out the top 10.  From the top 10, only Rick and Katee have two teams still in action, the rest have three.  Josh, Allie, DJ and Krista all have three teams even though they find themselves further down the table.

The matchups for the rest of the BISERGS have a lot more at stake as the winners move on and the losers are out.  Matchups are now the key and you can see a link to the bracket here. I have tried to publish to a new page on the website but have not been able to make it work yet.  Hopefully I'll figure it out soon, so you can see your teams' paths to the Cup and which BISERGSers you'll have to knock of to get there.  If not, I'll continue to post this link to every story for the rest of the summer.

A close look at the brackets shows some huge matches coming right away.  The very first game has current top 10 BISERGSers Rachel and Evan's Uruguay taking on  Gray and Kelley's Portugal.  The winners will feel confident of riding on to BISERGS glory while the losers will find themselves falling off the pace suddenly.  The knockout phase also brings family strife.  Brothers play sisters, mothers try to eliminate their children's teams and grandchildren take aim at their grandparents last surviving teams.  There is also the risk of the dreaded guaranteed self-elimination.  In the round of 16 Josh is the only unlucky one with both sides of the Brazil/Mexico matchup.  When that game is over, he'll be down a team no matter what.  Don't mock Josh, because as your teams advance, they may be on a collision course, too.  Personally, if I'm fortunate enough to win both of my Round of 16 matches, I'll face the same problem as Josh.

The penalty that VAR took away from Senegal.  Maybe it was
a perfect tackle but for VAR to overturn a call, it is supposed
to be conclusive and it definitely wasn't that.

The bracket also shows that the loser of today's Belgium vs England game may have an easier path to the final.  Evidently the teams were aware of this as they put in less than maximum effort today.  Watching the match reminded me of this terrible bit of World Cup history (Warning, there is some bad language if you are listening with kids).  Today's match wasn't that bad, because it did feature a beautiful goal for Belgium, but I don't think the coach was too happy about it since the goal means victorious Belgium is now on course for a quarterfinal matchup with Brazil.  In the other games that mattered, Senegal had a penalty taken away by a not so color blind VAR official (I think VAR is being implemented in a racist way, but I'll save that for another day) and Colombia beat them 1 - 0.  That result meant that Japan advances even though they lost to Poland.  Japan and Senegal were tied in points, goal difference and goals, so the final tie breaker was yellow cards.  Incidentally, there have been studies that show black players are more likely to be given yellow cards by white referees, so maybe that wasn't the fairest tiebreaker for Senegal.  Senegal's elimination means that no African teams made it to the next round but that did open the way for Japan to be the lone Asian team to still be playing. 

Tomorrow is a rest day for the World Cup and for us in the BISERGS, but on Saturday the pattern of two games every day will start up again.

Who's Playing Today

Today's matches feature some teams that aren't expected to try very hard.  We'll get into that after the matches, but for now here are the teams and the BISERGSers that are in action today.

Gray Qualifies Fourth Team but Rachel Leads

We knew things were going to be exciting today because seven out of the eight teams that played  still had a chance to qualify for the next stage of the tournament.  The stakes were high for us BISERGSers as well, since advancing teams is crucial for success in the game.  Rachel, Rick and Gray were the only BISERGSers with a chance to get four teams through and that all depended on the two early games today.  Here is how it went down, Gray's Swedes scored a huge win against Mexico, meaning he got four teams through to the next round.  Sweden's victory made it impossible for South Korea to advance, so Rachel was out, but she didn't go down without taking out her father-in-laws BISERGS dreams, as her South Koreans scored a shocking win over Germany.  That result meant that Mexico gets to continue despite losing heavily today.  South Korea's win means that Rachel's round 3 is her highest tally yet.  Bill suffered a double loss with both of those upsets as he held favorites Germany and Mexico.  Germany were the first selection of Cookie, Dough, Carol, Bill and Rick, so their defeat is a heavy blow to them.  Carol is always a huge BISERGS favorite, but Germany's loss leaves her with only one team remaining.  Very few people saw Sweden's success coming, but Evan can puff out his chest a bit, since he took a risk on his ancestral homeland and used his first pick to make sure he had them.  James, Katee, Dawn and Gray also benefited from Sweden's excellent bounce back game after they completely collapsed against Germany in their previous outing.  

In the later games Brazil was facing the possibility of eliminations if things went very badly for them today, but they took care of business despite coming under a lot of Serbian pressure in the second half.  That's good news for Levi, Josh, Arlan, Annika and Katee who used their high position in the draft to take the favorites.  Katee who also saw Sweden win earlier today made a remarkable jump from 24th place to 9th.  Switzerland and Costa Rica played an entertaining 2 - 2 game, but once it was clear that Serbia were going to lose, the result in this match didn't matter for next rounds placement.  It did matter to the BISERGS though, and the owners of both teams would have liked to pick up more than the 1.5 points they got through this result.  The Serbia loss made this a truly disastrous day for Rick who started the day hoping to see four teams go through but had two teams eliminated.  Cookie  also had the same two teams go out today.

Tomorrow is the last round of the group stage.  Belgium and England are already through, but Senegal, Colombia and Japan all have ambitions of advancing.  It is unlikely anyone will catch Rachel with tomorrows results, but there is bound to be more movement on the BISERGS table as we get ready for the knockout stage.

By the way, we went over 3000 page views today.  Is this the best World Cup ever?

Argentina Sneak Through

Today was Group C and Group D's last round of games in the group stage.

In Group C, there wasn't a lot of drama compared to the frantic qualification frenzy of Spain and Portugal yesterday.  France had already qualified and Australia had an outside chance of getting through, but in the end it was Denmark that made it out of the group thanks to a 0 - 0 draw against France.  Peru who had been unlucky to find themselves eliminated after two games showed their quality by beating Australia.

In the BISERGS the scoreless draw did little to help Krista, since she had both teams, but she is happy to get Denmark through.  Despite not being in the top 10, Krista now has three teams into the next round.  Gray also has Denmark and has his knockout round qualifier count is up to 3.  The French owners have been high flyers in the BISERGS so far, but they should be unconcerned by their teams lackluster performance today.  Several key players were rested since France's progression had already been secured.  Peru owners have been extremely unlucky to have received nothing after two strong performances, so they will be happy to get four points out of today's game.

In Group D there was a lot to play for.  Croatia had already qualified but Argentina, Nigeria and Iceland all had a chance to make it out of the group.  Nigeria was in poll position and would have advanced with a draw against Argentina.  The Africans lost that advantage quickly though when Lionel Messi struck early in the first half.  He nearly doubled their lead, a few minutes later when his free kick struck the post.  At half time it was Argentina that held the second place in the group and was going through, but a goal by Iceland or Nigeria in the second half would have them eliminated.  Nigeria jumped back into the drivers seat when they scored on a penalty kick in the 51st minute.  In the other match, Iceland's brave attack was thwarted again and again and Croatia broke through first to make the Icelandic task even more daunting.  After the Nigeria goal, Argentina looked like they had absolutely no idea how to score the goal they so desperately needed.  Every Argentina player simply passed the ball to Messi and prayed he would do something special.  Nigeria were definitely the more threatening side throughout the second half and should have taken advantage to secure their place in the round of 16.  The cynic in me thinks that FIFA really wanted Messi to continue in the tournament as a ratings boost since a few harsh decisions went against the Nigerians.  In the meantime, Iceland came back to equalize and if they had scored again, they would take second place and move on.  Very late in the match, Marcos Rojo (who could have been given a card to match his name earlier in the game) scored on a very well taken volley to send Argentina into second place.  They were still vulnerable, since an Iceland goal would have put them out, but it was Croatia who struck again in the other match.  Argentina prevented a last gasp goal from Nigeria and the Super Eagles were sent home along with Iceland, who were poised to be the darlings of the tournament this summer but ultimately failed to make an impression.

In the BISERGS world, Kelley had both teams in the Iceland vs Croatia game, but she probably wasn't a neutral observer.  She would have preferred for Iceland to win in order to slow down her rivals Rachel, Rick, Levi and Lisa.  Croatia seems to be the key to BISERGS success so far.  An amazing five of the BISERGS current top six have Croatia in their portfolio.  Emilie, Brian, Derek, Greg and Axel all used their first picks in the draft to get Argentina and were relieved to see them make it through to the next round.  They shouldn't be too optimistic though since the way Argentina has played so far has been completely unconvincing.  Argentina's lack of team play and complete reliance on Messi makes a victory over France in the next round almost unimaginable.  The BISERGS world was happy to see Brian pick up two victories in a single day as he has definitely been the unluckiest participant so far.  Iceland's exit means that Rachel, Rick and Gray are the only BISERGSers that have not had a team eliminated from the World Cup yet, however none of them have had a fourth team qualify yet.  The scoreboard page now shows teams remaining in the fifth column, so you can see which players have the most hope going forward.

Round Three Kicks Off

The final round of the group phase got underway today.  In round three the four teams in each group play simultaneously.  It was group A that had its two games start together in the early match. The Russians and Uruguayans had already advanced but were playing for important positioning in the next round.  In the other game, Saudi Arabia and Egypt were playing for pride.

Russia lead the BISERGS in team point production for the first two rounds but today James, Andrew, Arlan, Doug and Annika stopped reaping the benefits of home field advantage.  It was Uruguay that delivered the points for its owners by coming through with an emphatic 3 - 0 victory.  The 4 1/2 points went to all of those that selected Uruguay in the draft, but it is Rachel that moved to the top of the table thanks to her Group A champions.

In the second game it was Saudi Arabia that started strong but were stunned by a Mo Salah goal that came out of nowhere.  Egypt had three more excellent opportunities in quick succession but wasted those chances to add to their lead.  They were made to pay as Saudi Arabia had a penalty saved once, but then were awarded a second penalty that they made no mistake about.  The game looked destined for a 1 - 1 draw when Salem Al Dawsari scored a goal from a tight angel in the 95th minute to send the Saudi's home with a smile.

In Group B, Portugal and Spain had the upper hand in the race for the next round but there was still a chance that Iran could sneak in if results went their way.  Morocco were already out, but they have caught the attention of the world through their play this summer and were looking forward to the chance to make an impression again against Spain.

The Moroccans took advantage of a miscommunication on the Spanish half of the field and Khalid Boutaib, ran at Spanish keeper David DeGea in disbelief before putting the ball through DeGea's legs and into the net.  With Iran putting on a strong showing at the same time, Spain suddenly was at great risk of not qualifying for the next round.  Spain responded immediately with a beautifully worked team goal that was finished by Isco going high into the net.  Before half time, Boutaib was given a similar chance on a break away, but this time DeGea came up big to keep his team alive.  Meanwhile in the other match, Carlos Quaresma struck a beautiful shot from outside the penalty area to lift Portugal to a lead before half time.  In the second half more drama ensued in both matches.  Iran put Portugal under pressure again and again and the conspiracy theorist in me believes that FIFA really wanted Cristiano Ronaldo's pretty face to continue on in this tournament.  He was awarded a dubious penalty when more blatant penalties should have been rewarded to Iran in the second half.  Ronaldo stepped up to the penalty spot with a chance to put his team up 2 - 0 only to have his penalty saved by the Iranian keeper.  A few minutes later Ronaldo was caught on camera delivering an elbow to the face of an Iranian player only to escape with a yellow card when a red card would have been merited.  Iran were rightfully freaking out when they realized they had to play against 12 men.  Ronaldo is hard enough to defend, but Paraguayan referee Enrique Cáceres had become Portugal's biggest weapon.  (Sorry about that rant, I'm still bitter about several similar calls or non-calls that benefited Portugal against Morocco last week).  In the 81st minute, Morocco scored on a powerfully taken header off of a corner kick, putting Spain on the ropes and at the mercy of the result of the other game.  Just as Iran scored in the 93rd minute to draw even, Spain also found the net.  Suddenly, Spain were on top of the group when just seconds before they had feared elimination.  Surely there wasn't enough time for Iran to get another.  After the restart, Portugal's defense switched off and the ball fell to an open Iranian at the left post with an open shot on goal.  If he could score, Iran would win the group and Portugal would go home.  As Mehdi Tarimi lined up his chance to be a hero, ad executives for Nike, Samsung, CocaCola, Tag Heuer and KFC let out a collective gasp of horror.  Could CR7 be out of the tournament despite FIFAs best efforts to keep his face on TV screens across the globe?  But alas, Mehdi Taremi hit the side netting, order was restored in the universe and Portugal and Spain are moving on to the next round.  Without a doubt, Last place Morocco were actually the best team in group B :)

The draws in both matches meant that all of Group Bs owners picked up a meager point and a fraction, but both Rachel and Kelley got their third team qualified for the next phase and all Spain and Portugal owners will see their teams continue.  Rachel should also be relieved that the results of today's matches mean her Uruguay and Spain teams won't meet in the next round.  In fact, the Uruguay vs Portugal match in the knockout phase will be a chance for Rachel to strike a blow against her two nearest rivals Kelley and Gray.  While nobody was paying attention, the Glenney family raid of the top 10.  Lisa was already in the top 10, but Ivan and Levi had big days to push into the fourth and ninth positions respectively.  Now this is really getting exciting.  

Round 2 Goes Out with a Bang

If you've been watching for the last two days, you've been treated to an amazing 27 goals.  Today it was England padding their goal total against hapless Panama in a 6 -1 victory.  Then Japan and Senegal traded goals in a 2 -2 thriller before Colombia shifted into high gear and ran away from Poland in the last game of the second round.

England and Belgium have both advanced from a very uncompetitive Group G and their next game against each other will determine who gets to be the first seed and who gets to be second.  Like Belgium yesterday, England decide it was a good move to run up the score to grab that vital tiebreaker advantage against their group rivals.  When they scored their sixth goal today England moved ahead of Belgium by the slimmest of margins according to FIFA tiebreakers.  So if their match against Belgium ends in a tie, they will get the first seed.  Panama were unable to do anything to stop the English onslaught and were sent packing in the most humiliating way we've seen this year.  If you think Panama are truly awful, and they are, remember that they finished two places ahead of America in World Cup qualifying.  Not going to Russia this summer probably saved the US an international embarrassment.

Colombia play with joy and also bring joy to
anyone who watches.

In the late game, Colombia and Poland both faced an uphill battle to qualify for the next round after disappointing results in their openers.  It was Colombia that came to play and electrified the world's biggest sporting stage just like they did in Brazil four years ago.  Even though Bogota is 12,000 kilometers from the stadium where the match was played and Poland is practically a neighbor, it was like a home crowd for Colombia.  With the yellow shirts in the crowd and the chants and songs in support of Colombia, you would be forgiven for thinking the game was being played in South America. Since Colombia lost to Japan in the first game, they still have to win against Senegal in their next outing to make the knockout phase.  Based on what we saw today, I wouldn't bet against them.  Poland, for the record, has been eliminated.

Japan and Senegal started the day on top of Group H with three points each and after playing 90 minutes of even football, they ended the day tied and in first place with four points each.  Their back and forth encounter saw Senegal go into the lead twice only to see Japan equalize both times.

Round Two Wrap-up

At this moment every BISERGSer has had 8 games, so the current scores are a true indication of everyone's success so far.  Kelley is the leader with an incredibly well balanced performance.  Her opening round score of 11.5 was improved on with a 12.5 in the second round giving her a full 1 point lead over second place Gray.  Kelley has Belgium and Croatia qualified for the knockout stage and Portugal hopes to add to her good fortune tomorrow against Iran.  Even her worst team Iceland hasn't been eliminated and could make a phenomenal four teams for her into the next round.  Gray is in second but only has Belgium qualified.  He was one of the victims of Germany's amazing comeback victory as his Swedes would have made it through but now must beat Mexico to advance.  Gray has Portugal and Denmark on the brink of qualification, so he has a real shot of getting four teams through.  Rick is a quarter point behind his son in third place but can boast two teams in the next round and he has a chance of getting four through.  The biggest mover of the second round was fourth place Josh, who scored a remarkable 13.25 points in this round.  Josh's fearsome combo of Brazil and Mexico kicked into gear as expected, but his great foresight to pick Nigeria and Japan where most others passed on them is what really set him apart this round .  Lisa also had a great second round to finish in fifth place and ensure that the Snyder side of the family won't go unnoticed in this year's BISERGS.  Rachel, Sharleen, Annika, Dawn and Ari round out the top 10.  Josh's great round was based on three wins and a draw.  If anyone picks up four wins in the next round, they will be right back in the thick of things, even if they are way down the list at this point. (I'm really just trying to encourage myself)  Ten of the sixteen teams that will play in the knockout remain unknown, so their is still everything to play for in Russia and for us in the BISERGS.

Group F Explained

With the second round wrapped up, some teams that have 6 points have guaranteed their spot in the next round, while Mexico (6 points) could still be eliminated.  On the flip side, every team that has zero points is out all ready except for South Korea (0 points).  Why is Group F so different?  With the standings as they are below, the round three matches are Mexico vs Sweden and Germany vs South Korea.

Consider the following two scenarios.
Scenario 1) It is possible for Mexico to be eliminated because if they lose to Sweden and Germany beats South Korea then Mexico, Germany and Sweden will all be tied on six points.  The next tie breaker is goal difference, so it would depend on the scores of those games to see who the top two would be.  If Mexico lose to Sweden by more than one goal, they will likely be eliminated despite their great play so far this summer.

Did this goal mean more than any other so far this summer?

Scenario 2) South Korea could still qualify if they were to beat Germany and Mexico beat Sweden.  In that case Germany, Sweden and South Korea would all have three points and the team with the best goal difference would advance.  In the Mexico / South Korea match yesterday, the goal by Son in the 93rd minute seemed like a nice but meaningless consolation in a game that Korea was going to lose.  In reality, that goal could be South Korea's salvation or Mexico's demise if one of the two scenarios above play out.

Upside Down Group Tomorrow

The World Cup has brought us plenty of surprises already this summer but no group finished round one as unexpectedly as Group H.  Columbia and Poland were expected to get past Senegal and Japan and try to make their mark in the later phases of the tournament.  But last week, not one but both of them were surprised leaving Japan and Senegal at the top of the group and Colombia and Poland sitting at the bottom with zero points.  To be fair, Colombia picked up a red card very early in the game and played over 80 minutes one man short. Despite their disadvantage, they nearly pulled of a draw against Japan, but finally succumbed to exhaustion and lost to Japan 2 - 1.  Poland on the other hand were just out classed and out played by Senegal in every phase of the game. Tomorrow the two upstarts face each other and the two that suffered from violent attacks of World Cup hiccups play as well.  In this group, no matter the results, nobody can qualify for the next round tomorrow and nobody can be eliminated, but wins will position anyone of them them much better for advancement.  England, on the other hand, do have an opportunity to book their place in the next round as Group G has gone completely as expected so far.  Belgium officially qualified for the next round with merciless slaughter of Tunisia and if England pick up three points versus Panama,  they will earn their spot too.

The second round of the BISERGS will wrap up tomorrow as well.  Lisa has both sides of the England - Panama match as she looks to continue her strong start.  Sharleen and Josh are both in the top 10 and they face off in the Japan - Senegal game.  A Panama defeat of England would continue Matt Snyder's incredible second round success.  Shelby, Ari, Ivan, Carol and Lisa would all breath a sigh of relief if England don't let that happen, because they'd have their team locked into the round of 16.

Never Say Die

Germany were on the brink of elimination but showed amazing character and grit in what turned into the most exciting match of the tournament so far.  Sweden scored a beautiful goal against the run of play in the first half.  After the break, Germany came out as if their life depended on it, and it did.  They scored immediately to equal the score.  Germany pressed for the game winner, but when Sweden's goal keeper made an amazing save to deny Mario Gomez's point blank header, it looked like they may survive with a tie.  When German defender Jerome Boetang was sent off for getting his second yellow card, it looked like Sweden may actually win.  Germany had other ideas and even though they were a man short, they continued to take the game to the Swedes and when they earned a free kick just outside the penalty area five minutes into stoppage time, it was Tony Kroos that struck a perfect free kick.  Germany survived a huge scare and the team unity that this created may spring them back into the position of World Cup favorites.

The current favorites must be Belgium.  They continue to dominate their opposition and play in a very entertaining way.  Today they put five goals past Tunisia including two by Eden Hazard and two by Romelu Lukaku.  They talent on Belgium's team is undeniable, but if they continue to play as a well functioning team, they will be hard to beat.  On the other had, their victims include Panama and Tunisia, hardly the top competition in this tournament and it is hard to imagine the Belgians responding to adversity with the belief that Germany demonstrated today.  There is a long way left to go this summer and Belgium will definitely have opportunities to prove their mettle. 

Mexico continued their great start to the tournament with a 2 - 1 victory over South Korea.  The Koreans were aggressive and made the game difficult for Mexico until the end.  The goal of the match belonged to South Korea's dynamic winger Son who scored a goal late to bring Korea within one goal and make the last seconds of the clock take forever to expire for Mexico supporters. 

All of today's matches were exciting and as teams fight to avoid elimination the intensity grows and grows.  The results in group F have created a scenario where all four teams have a chance to advance to the next round and all still face the thread of being eliminated. 

As expected, Kelley ends the day in first place and Gray is one point behind.  They both benefited from five Belgium goals.  Matt Snyder also had a huge day with both Belgium and Mexico moving him into the top 10.  Josh, Matt Snyder and Sharleen are the only participants in the top 10 that have another team to play in the second round.  In the important race to get teams qualified for the next round, Kelley, Rick and Rachel all have two spots guaranteed.

Saturday's Games

The Germans must recover from their shocking loss to Mexico or they may be eliminated today. Belgium, Mexico and Sweden could guarantee their progress with wins. Belgium’s starstudded lineup put on a show at times in round one and are heavy favorites against Tunisia.  Mexico face a different kind of challenge as favorites  instead of underdogs and slow but well organized Sweden will try to park the team bus in front of their goal to keep out the Germans.

Rachel will struggle to hold her lead unless South Korea can over perform. If she is overtaken it will most likely be Kelley who ends up on top but It has been impossible to make accurate predictions so far this summer. 

Beautiful Goals and High Drama

Today offered two matches that ended in high drama and one that featured a couple of beautiful goals by Nigeria's Ahmed Musa. 

Nigeria were under constant pressure from Iceland in the first half.  Tiny Iceland had become the darlings of the tournament and the Norsemen were in full control of the game from the start.  They seemed destined to pillage the Nigerian goal at some point but as they applied more and more pressure they left themselves vulnerable to the great speed and skill of Ahmed Musa.  Have a look at his amazing skill to control the ball and then lash it into the net in this first goal. *(After posting, I saw that FIFA won't let you watch these videos directly from this website.  Some of these are great goals, so it is worth clicking the links to watch these on YouTube if you haven't seen them yet.)

And check out how he uses his incredible speed to blow past his defender and then shows such composure where many others have failed in this World Cup to put the game out of reach with his second.

The win is huge for Nigeria but is also a lifeline for Argentina.  If the South Americans can win and Croatia beat Iceland, Lionel Messi will play in the next round.  Based on what I've seen though, I'd much prefer to see more of Ahmed Musa.

Switzerland gave up a very early goal to Serbia and were still down 1 - 0 in the second half when Granit Xhaka did what Granit Xhaka loves to do, score from a distance.  Watch his long curving blast past the goal keeper in the blink of an eye.

Both teams really wanted all three points and were aggressively pushing for the winning goal when Serbia got a bit out of balance and Switzerland's mighty-might Xherdan Shaqiri broke away and scored this in the 90th minute.

In the opening game Brazil were extremely frustrated by Costa Rica for 90 minutes.  Brazil knocked on the door, then pounded on the door but Costa Rica would not let them in.  Finally brought in the demolition equipment and Costa Rica's goal couldn't hold up in the added time when Brazil struck not once but twice.  Philippe Coutinho scored Brazil's dramatic and well deserved goal when it looked like they would have to settle for their second draw in a row.

Minutes later when Costa Rica threw caution to the wind in an attempt to keep from being eliminated from the tournament, they left themselves open to this Neymar death blow.

Before the goals went in, Neymar didn't bathe himself in glory.  First he dramatically fell over in the penalty area only to have the penalty overturned by instant replay that showed him to be a huge faker.  Minutes later as it looked like Brazil wouldn't score, Neymar picked up a yellow card when he volleyball spiked the ball to protest the referee's decision.  His frustration turned to desperation but ended in relief as Brazil took a big step towards securing a place in the next round.  They aren't out of the woods yet and still need a good result against Serbia in the next time out or they will be sent home early.

For the BISERGS, no one had a better day than Annika.  Brazil and Switzerland gave her a truckload of points and she has become the second player to reach 20 this summer.  She has been perfect in her three second round games and sits just a half a point behind Rachel.  Iceland's loss ended Kelley's remarkable undefeated run and now every BISERGSer has had at least one defeat.  Josh got wins from Brazil and Nigeria to double his score within a couple of hours.  Nigerian success provides a huge differential for Josh since he is the only one that had faith and used a draft pick on the Super Eagles.  The BISERGS Bot also saw something in Nigeria that the rest of us missed when it selected them for Matt S.  In a humiliating acknowledgement of my own struggles this summer, I see that both participants that were assigned teams randomly (Andrew and Matt S) are ahead of me on the BISERGS table as we move deeper into the World Cup's second week.

Croatia and France Move on

Croatia got a well deserved victory over Argentina and that leaves Lionel Messi goalless and on the brink of elimination after just two games.  Croatia were found it very easy to attack down the left side and should have scored in the first half.  They were unlucky to go into half with a goalless tie.  Their luck turned around in the second half when Croatia's pressure forced Argentina goal keeper Willy Caballero to miskick a clearance that fell to Ante Rebić.  He was still left with a tricky finish but he made no mistake with a beautifully taken goal.  Argentina felt the pressure but they were not able to respond. In the 80th minute a very composed Luca Modric did what Messi and his teammates were unable to do.  He was given time to change direction twice before lashing a beautiful right footed strike from outside the area just inside Caballero's post.  From that point on, there was never a question of whether Argentina could come back, but there were questions about if any (or all) of their players would pick up red cards in their total frustration.  In the end, there were no red cards but there was one more Croatia goal.  Argentina are not out of this tournament, but for them to go through, they will need a lot of help from results in other games.  If advancing comes down to a tie breaker, the way they gave up in frustration in the final 10 minutes of yesterday's game will come back to haunt them.

France was the other team to advance into the next round as they beat Peru 1 - 0.  Peru put together some fantastic attacking play but weren't able to get the needed break through.  France's goal came after a spell of French pressure and their breakthrough came after a well worked play saw a deflected shot fall to Mbape in front of the net late in the first half.  Peru responded much better than their South American counterparts did, and had they scored it would have been well deserved.  With their second consecutive loss, the Peruvians join a growing list of teams that have been mathematically eliminated.

Australia faced the same fate at the start of yesterday's action and when they fell behind to Denmark early it looked like they were on their way out.  They responded well, however, and equalized and then managed to keep Denmark under pressure until the end.  The one - one tie means Australian have one point and Denmark have 4.  If Australia can beat Peru and France beat Denmark in the final games of the group, they will end up on equal points and it will come down to goal difference.  So both teams still have a lot to play for next time out.

Croatia's success has had a big impact on the BISERGS score board.  Rachel, Kelley and Rick all have Croatia and they find themselves in the top 4.  Lisa jumped into 10th place thanks to Croatia as well.  Rachel has France too and was the first BISERGSer to cross 20 points as she leads.  Rachel was joined by fellow France owners Dawn, Sharleen and Krista in the top 10 with yesterday's action.  James remained in the top 10 and his chances were boosted by Australia's ability to avoid elimination.  Gray and Evan were not in action yesterday, but they remain in the top 10.

BISERGS and World Cup favorites Brazil take the field again today.  They disappointed in their first match against Switzerland and hope to avoid the danger Argentina now faces, but Costa Rica have other ideas as they face a difficult must win game after their opening loss to Serbia.  Serbia and Switzerland meet in the late game today.  Serbia has a chance to confirm its place in the final round, but they'll have to get past a very strong Swiss side first.  In the second game Nigeria takes on Iceland.  This game will have a big impact on Argentina's chances to continue in the tournament.  Nigeria lost its first game badly to Croatia and Iceland survived its first round match against Argentina with a draw.  Lisa is in 10th place and still has 3 teams to play this round.  She can continue her excellent run if Switzerland prevail over Serbia (and Lisa's husband Brian).  Of all the Brazil owners that were disappointed in the first round, Annika has kept her self closest to the top 10 and she can move into the thick of things if Brazil and Switzerland get results for her today.  Kelley could overtake Rachel with an Iceland victory, but if Serbia win her time at the top could be very short as Rick is very close behind.  The drama in the BISERGS is certainly matching the drama in Russia.

Moving On and Dropping Out

Of course everyone wants to end each day at the top of the BISERGS leader board.  However, at this stage of the game, even more important than points is survival into the next round.  Every team gets three matches, but the top two in each group get to keep playing in the knockout stage of the tournament.  Getting your teams into the knockout stage means you have more opportunities to score points and the later stages of the tournament are worth even more points.  On the BISERGS scoreboard page, you'll notice a new column that shows how many teams each participant has qualified for the next stage.  Participants that are further down the leader board, but get a lot of their teams into the next phase have huge potential to make a strong move late in the game and win the BIESRGS crown.  So far, two teams have booked their spots in the next round, Russia and Uruguay.  That means that Saudi Arabia and Egypt owners will say good bye to their teams next week after their third match.  In Group B, no teams have secured a spot in the next round yet, but sadly, Morocco has been eliminated. 

You can imagine my delight when I found the World Cup broadcast live on the airplane as I crossed the Atlantic.  Between the long flight and a long layover in Philadelphia, I got to watch almost all of the action today.  Not a bad way for a soccer fan to travel during the World Cup.  Here's what I saw.

Portugal 1 - Morocco 0

Christian Ronaldo scored in the fourth minute and that is about the last time I saw him do anything.  That is because the entertaining and energetic Moroccans had Portugal pinned back in their own end for almost the entire game.  Morocco has had more touches of the ball in their opponents penalty area than any other team in this tournament, yet they haven't scored.  They had chance after chance blocked or saved by the keeper and although it seemed inevitable that they would finally break through, ultimately they lost and are going home.  Their match against Iran was similar with one laps on a set piece allowing a goal and never finding the final touch needed to put the ball in their opponents nets.  With a tiny bit of luck, Morocco could have six points and be through to the next round, but it just wasn't their year.

Uruguay 1 - Saudi Arabia 0

I was expecting Uruguay to dominate this game and pour in the goals.  When Luis Suarez scored an early goal it looked like that is what would happen, but the Saudi's were able to control possession and get many good attacks.  Just like the Moroccans, the Saudi's looked destined to score the equalizer and keep their World Cup alive.  The game was very open and entertaining and I was on the edge of my seat when in the 80th minute... the plane started its final descent and the inflight entertainment was cut off.  After landing I learned the game ended 1 - 0, so it is good-bye Saudi Arabia.  It wasn't a good day for the countries I used to live in.

Spain 1 - Iran 0

The Iranians won their first match and started the game as if they'd be thrilled to pick up a point from a draw with Spain.  In the first half they were content to defend deep and boot the ball as far as they could anytime they took it away from the crisply passing Spaniards.  If Iran did manage to get forward with the ball and then lose possession, they occasionally pressed Spain and created some turnovers in dangerous areas.  At half time it was 0 - 0, but Iran did have a few decent chances.  Spain continued to pile on the pressure and finally got its break through when Diego Costa turned nicely with the ball and then got a lucky deflection that came off a defender back into him and then into the net.  Going down a goal brought Iran to life and the game was much more exciting ans Iran pressed on.  They couldn't find the needed goal, but it made me wonder if they wouldn't have been better off by attacking from the outset.  With the loss Iran drops into third place in their group.  They must get a victory over Portugal in their final match to move on.  Spain is in a strong position, but will still need at least a draw with Morocco to guarantee its spot in the next round.

BISERGS

Rachel picked up seven points today through Spain and Uruguay and shot into second place.  Dawn tasted defeat for the first time this summer when Iran lost but she still managed to stay in third place thanks to Spain's victory.  Gray didn't play, but he continued his hold of first place for the third day in a a row.  

Tomorrow promises more high drama as Peru face a must win game against a France team that failed to impress in their win over Australia and Argentina face a strong Croatia team in a match that they can't afford to lose if they want to avoid disaster this summer.  Wins for Denmark, France or Croatia would guarantee a spot in the next round which is a huge boost for their BISERGS owners.  An Australia loss would mean the end for DJ, Arlan, Dan, James and Vera's team.  Krista should be confident of picking up two wins, but if she does it will break her brother Matt's Peruvian heart.  Gray has to like his chances of extending his lead against in the early match with the Danes.  Every team in actin is 'owned' by five BISERGSers, so there is bound to be a lot of movement on the leader board again tomorrow.