LUSAIL: Five-time champions Brazil marked a perfect start to their FIFA World Cup 2022 campaign as they outclassed Serbia 2-0 in the Group G clash at Lusail Stadium here on Thursday.
Tournament favourites Brazil announced themselves in the ongoing FIFA World Cup with a bang as they blew away Serbia to start their campaign with a convincing victory.
The record five-time winners had a sloppy first half as they toiled at times but recovered well after the break and retained their dominance over Serbia.
Tite’s side’s dominance then soon rewarded Brazil when Richarlison fired the opener in the 62nd minute.
Neymar Jr initiated the expedition for the breakthrough as he did well to dodge several Serbian defenders in the box before passing the ball to Vinicius Jr who fired a powerful strike from the left but it was saved by Serbian goalkeeper Vanja Milinković-Savić only for Richarlison to hit on the rebound into the nets.
Following the assist from Vinicius, Richarlison then struck in the 71st minute to double Brazil’s lead courtesy of an astounding acrobatic effort and placed a flying bicycle kick to perfection.
Following this victory, Brazil managed to extend their brilliant record in the group stages of the world cups as the former champions last suffered a setback in 1998 against Norway when they had already booked their berth into the next round.
The victory over Serbia also powered them to the top of Group G standings ahead of Switzerland, who edged Cameroon 1-0 earlier in the day, while Serbia sank to the bottom.
READ: Ronaldo’s Portugal edge brave Ghana in FIFA WC thriller
DOHA: Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal held their nerves to keep spirited Ghana at the bay as they edged the African side 3-2 in the ongoing FIFA World Cup Group H thriller at Stadium 974 on Thursday.
Portugal busted the trend of shocks in this year’s FIFA World Cup as the side held brave Ghana despite a brave fight in the second half.
Portugal’s superstar Ronaldo put them ahead in the second half on penalty after both sides remained unable to taste a breakthrough in the first.
Ronaldo held his composure and hammered his right-footed strike over Ghana’s goalkeeper Lawrence Ati-Zigi and into the back of the net.
Following his 65th-minute penalty, Ronaldo became the only man to score at leas a goal in five world cups.
His counterpart Andre Ayew, however, took just eight minutes to fire an equalizer as the Ghana fans roared in delight.
Ghana’s celebrations, however, shortlived as Joao Felix restored Portugal’s lead five minutes later as he raced on to a through-ball and slotted his efforts over Ati-Zigi and fired into the nets.
Portugal then enhanced their domination over Ghana as Rafael Leao joined the scoring and doubled their lead and put his side into a commanding position.
The 88th minute marked a total of three substitutions made by Portugal including Ronaldo, who walked off the field two minutes away from the regulation time.
Osman Bukari then triggered a late twist with his 89th-minute consolation goal but the African side failed to net an equaliser; allowing Portugal to run away with the victory.
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DOHA: South Korea and Uruguay shared points in Group H after they ended on a goalless draw – fourth so far in this FIFA World Cup – in an evenly contested game, here at Education City Stadium on Thursday.
Uruguay captain Diego Godin and Real Madrid midfielder Federico Valverde came closest to scoring a breakthrough in each half but found themselves unlucky as both efforts ended up hitting the woodwork.
Hwang Ui-jo, however, missed Korea’s best chance to take lead in the 34th minute when he fired over the bar from only 10 yards out with only the goalkeeper to beat.
South Korea, who defeated Germany 2-0 in their previous World Cup match in 2018, have now kept consecutive clean sheets at the tournament for the first time.
The match witnessed an equally poised defensive strategy as neither Son Heung-min on one side nor Uruguay’s veteran strikers Luis Suarez, Darwin Nunez and Edinson Cavani could find a clear opening.
With one point each, group favourites Portugal now have a clear chance to go ahead of the two teams as they face Ghana later today.
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DOHA: Breel Embolo scored his first World Cup goal to steer Switzerland to their opening win in the FIFA World Cup 2022 as they defeat Cameroon 1-0 in a Group G encounter, here at Al Janoub Stadium on Thursday.
Embolo struck the lone goal of the match three minutes into the second half from close range on a low cross from Xherdan Shaqiri to help the Swiss team secure three crucial points in the group which also includes favourites Brazil and Serbia.
With the defeat, Cameroon have now lost eight games in a row at the FIFA World Cups.
The Swiss team looked in complete control of the opponents as they breached the opponent’s defence on multiple occasions but have few shots on target in the first half.
After the early lead in the second half, another opportunity arose in the 67th minute when unmarked Vargas had a powerful shot aimed at the target but Cameroon goalkeeper Andre Onana pushed his effort wide.
Switzerland will next face Brazil on November 28 while Cameroon will play Serbia earlier that day.
READ: Batshuayi strikes as Belgium spoil Canada’s FIFA WC return
DOHA: Michy Batshuayi scored the match-winning goal in the first half to propel World No.2 Belgium hand a frustrating 1-0 defeat to Canada in the second Group F match of the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2022.
Canada, making their return to the world cup after a gap of 36 years, endured a frustrating defeat as Batshuayi-led Belgium edged by the slightest margin to hand them an opening setback.
John Herdman’s Canada missed a vital opportunity in the first half as Alphonso Davies failed to convert a penalty.
Belgium’s goalkeeper dived in the right direction to deny Canada an early lead.
Canada, fresh from the misery of missing the penalty, suffered another setback when Batshuayi fired the ball into the far corner of the net off Toby Alderweireld’s assist.
Herdman’s side then dominated the second half but to no avail as they could not fire an equalizer and Belgium ran away with the victory.
Following the victory, Belgium occupied the top spot in Group F standings as the earlier contest between Croatia and Morocco ended in a goalless tie, while Canada sank to the bottom after an opening defeat.
Canada will now take on Croatia on Sunday (November 27), while Belgium will face Morocco on the same day.
READ: Dominant Spain decimate Costa Rica in FIFA World Cup
DOHA: 2010 champions Spain started their FIFA World Cup 2022 campaign in style as they thwarted Costa Rica 7-0 in the second Group E clash here at Al Thumama Stadium on Wednesday.
Spain announced themselves in the ongoing FIFA World Cup with a bang as they blew away struggling Costa Rica to hand them the biggest defeat of this year’s mega event thus far.
Luis Enrique’s side displayed their domination over Costa Rica for the majority of the match and held possession for a whopping 82 per cent in comparison to Costa Rica’s 18.
The domination converted into the first goal in just 11 minutes when Dani Olmo calmly guided the ball to put the 2010 champions up front which was also their 100th goal in all world cups.
Olmo’s strike in the 11th minute was also Spain’s earliest goal in a world cup game after 2002.
Forward Marco Asensio then doubled Spain’s lead 10 minutes later as he swept the ball home off Jordi Alba’s low cross from the left edge.
The European side were in hot form at the Al Thumama Stadium and a goal from Ferran Torres on penalty put them in a commanding position before the half-time mark.
Torres then scored again after the break to retain Spain’s dominance before Gavi and Carlos Soler joined the scoring in the regulation to add further to Costa Rica’s misery.
Alvaro Morata’s stoppage-time strike was the cherry on top for Spain as they went on to claim the biggest victory of the ongoing mega event thus far, surpassing England, who blasted six goals against Iran.
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DOHA: Japan fired back-to-back strikes in eight second-half minutes to shock former champions Germany 2-1 in their opening Group E encounter of the FIFA World Cup 2022, here on Wednesday.
The four-time champions Germany endured a frustrating opening defeat to start their world cup campaign as Japan stunned Hansi Flick’s side 2-1.
Germany had a quite convincing start to their campaign when Ilkay Gundogan provided them with an early first-half lead as he struck on the penalty in the 33rd minute.
The former champions then managed to retain their lead and dominance over Japan for the next 50 minutes before Ritsu Doan displayed impressive reflexes to fire the ball into the nets and neutralized Germany’s lead.
Doan’s equaliser filled in the Japanese player with momentum and they began to attack the German with more intensity which took only eight more minutes to pay them as Takuma Asano breached the defence line to fire the winning goal for the Asian giants.
Asano met Kou Itakura’s long ball from a free-kick in their own half and dodged the German defender Nico Schlotterbeck with a beautiful first touch. He darted into the box and smashed a shot from a tight angle to beat the German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.
Japan will next face Costa Rica on Sunday, while Germany will take on Spain a day later.
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DOHA: Aggressive Moroccan side held the 2018 FIFA World Cup runner-ups struggling for a breakthrough, as the opening Group F fixture ended in a goalless draw, the third in less than 24 hours, here at Al-Bayt Stadium on Thursday.
The see-saw battle between the two sides witnessed an enthralling display of defence as there were only attempts on target, two by each team but no strike.
Morocco proved to be an enormous challenge for Luka Modric’s side as they lost just two games of their last 41 games in three years while Croatia extended their own unbeaten run to seven after this match.
The only opportunity to take a lead for Morocco arose in the 51st minute when Soufiane Boufal’s long-range shot was blocked by Dejan Lovren.
Modric and Ivan Perisic also came close to netting the ball in the first half but send their efforts to the crossbar.
With the draw in the first game, Belgium and Canada now have a chance to take lead in Group F as they face each other later today.
Croatia will next play Canada on Sunday while Croatia will take on Belgium earlier on the same day.
AL-WAKRAH: Defending champions France retained their dominance over spirited Australia and handed them a crushing 4-1 defeat despite an early lead in the FIFA World Cup 2022 Group D fixture on Tuesday.
Reigning champions scripted a perfect start to their title defence as they downed spirited Australia 4-1 in their opening FIFA World Cup 2022 match.
Didier Deschamps’ side had a rather unwanted start to their campaign as they endured an early setback in form of Craig Goodwin’s ninth-minute goal.
Despite an early deficit, France, held their composure and launched a counterattack that soon paid them as Adrien Rabiot fired an equalizer in the 27th minute.
Olivier Giroud then soon put France in the lead in the 32nd minute as he scored his 50th international goal.
France’s star player Kylian Mbappe then joined the party in the second half as he got his name on the scoresheet who got into the box after a wayward cross as Ousmane Dembele picked up the ball and floated the ball for Mbappe to fire in a perfect header.
Giroud then struck again in the 71st minute to seal the win and also equaled Henry’s record tally of 51 goals for France.
The dominant victory over Australia propelled France to the top of Group D standings after the Denmark-Tunisia stalemate earlier.
The defending champions next face Denmark on Saturday, while Australia will take on Tunisia on the same day.
DOHA: Poland striker and captain Robert Lewandowski missed a penalty in the second half of a goalless draw against Mexico in the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2022 Group C clash at Stadium 974 here on Monday.
Poland’s Lewandowski, who never scored a world cup goal, faced fresh misery as he failed to convert a penalty in their first Group C clash against Mexico.
The opportunity arose for Poland when Hector Moreno pulled back Lewandowski in Mexico’s box as the latter tried to reach the loose ball in search of his maiden goal at the grand stage.
Mexican goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa, however, trusted the data against Lewandowski – who prefers to score at the bottom sides of the post – and dived to perfection to halt the Polish side from taking the lead.
The goalless draw was frustrating for not only Lewandowski’s Poland but also Mexico, who failed to convert their territorial dominance into a goal.
Following Poland and Mexico sharing points, Lionel Messi’s Argentina sank to the bottom after enduring an upset 2-1 defeat from Saudi Arabia. The Gulf side, however, captured the top spot in Group C standings.
READ: FIFA World Cup: Tunisia, Denmark share points in goalless Group D draw