Dembélé's hattrick, Belgium Clicks & Cruel 93rd-Min VAR Heartbreak! 🇫🇷🇧🇪🇮🇷 | World Cup Daily #26

[00:00:00] Dembélés scored a hat-trick in 26 minutes. Senegal scored five goals for the first time in Africa World Cup history. And Karpverd, a nation of 500,000 people, he just reached the World Cup knockouts. Day 16 or something else.

[00:00:23] Welcome back to Food in Review World Cup Daily episode 26 with day 16 of this World Cup done. My name is John and I'm your host today and today I'm joined by, well, nobody actually. Because of this insane schedule we keep going, it's just not possible to get everyone together every single day. But that's right, I'm going to keep you updated from what happened yesterday and maybe even look forward to what's happening tonight.

[00:00:50] The group stage is now almost complete. We've got six matches left and yesterday Dembélés scored the second fastest hat-trick in World Cup history. Senegal scored five goals, which is an Africa record. And Iran had a winner in the 93rd minute and then VAR took it away. Also, Belgium finally clicked. Six games, all of it right here. Let's go.

[00:01:16] Let's start today. I'm going to make a drink. I will take a drink in between, of course, when I'm talking alone. But let's start with the big match. One of three big matches that was in the group stage. One was, of course, Netherlands, Japan. For me, the second big match was England versus Croatia. And the third match, the one I'm looking forward to the most was France versus Norway. And Mbappé versus Haaland. Unfortunately, the Norwegian squad decided to not start their starting 11.

[00:01:46] They started with 10 substitution front or 10 backup players. France said, let's just start with the original team and let's hit the guys for 30 minutes. And basically, it was game over. Mbappé hit the bar already on 22 seconds in and then Dembele took over. The reigning Ballon d'Or winner scored in the 70, oh, in the 7th minute, in the 20th minute and the 32nd minute to complete the second fastest hat-trick in history.

[00:02:12] Just for props, if you know who was the fastest, let us know. It's an Austria player from 1954, but put his name in the comment. Asgard pulled one back from Norway right after the second goal, which seemed like if you're following FIFA, like a kickoff glitch with a tremendous goal. But that's definitely made France look a little bit unfocused. In the third, over the second half, of course, third quarter, depends how you look, headed in the fourth.

[00:02:40] I think the fourth goal in was by Dewey and the stoppage time. Yeah, I mean, Odegaard, Haaland, not seen a match. That makes sure the group stage now ends Group I with France on nine points from nine and ten goals in three games. Sure, Norway is still second and will go further in the thing as well, which is pretty cool. But I'm in two minds of this substitution, says backup team progress.

[00:03:10] We've seen that a lot happen with very confident teams that don't think they make it a long way. But Norway has not been in a World Championship, World Cup for a long, long time. So when I saw they were playing a backup squad, I thought that either they are very, very confident in their chances to proceed, because they will start next week with a fresh team, of course. But the disadvantage of doing this, when you actually give away the game and you lose the game like this, it could be that you do sort of get like a little bit of a dent.

[00:03:40] Your reputation gets done. You get a lot of press coming at you. It might not always work out. And I'm saying this as a Dutchie who tried this before, the way you expect it. Well, we'll see next week when Norway plays in the round of 32, if they were correct or not. But I can only imagine, you know, you buy tickets for the biggest match of this first round. And Haaland versus Mbappe, you pay a lot of money to be in the stadium. And then you only see Mbappe do a little bit of a warm up.

[00:04:09] Kudos to Dembele, of course. And Dembele is also our baller of the day. Normally, I keep it a secret. But hey, I'm doing this alone today. So there's no reason to keep secrets here. But yeah, it's a terrific match. France showed their strength. And honestly, after this match, I have no idea how strong Norway actually is. But maybe they surprise them. And I think they are very confident that Alcay would have started the reserve squad in this as well. Also, a little bit of a note.

[00:04:38] DeChamp was still absent. Unfortunately, we talked about it this week. His mother passed away. Gua Stéphane took charge. And Stéphane has been with DeChamp for a long, long time. And he looked very confident taking up that role. Game two, though, in Toronto was Senegal versus Iraq.

[00:04:59] Senegal recorded not only the biggest World Cup victory by an African nation, but also became the first African team to score five goals in a single World Cup match. Diara got the opening touch in the fourth minute. And unfortunately, Iraq were reduced to 10 minutes in the 13th minute when Salouka went off for denying Sadio Mane a goal-scoring opportunity. To be fair, I think it's a deserved red card. But after that, that much seems done.

[00:05:26] And if Senegal got a high-scoring score in, they would have been golden for the next round. And that's exactly what they did with a five victory. I think that sort of settles it. I think Senegal are a pretty cool team. I think Iraq did what they could, but holding, I mean, down to 10 men with 77 minutes to play, that's not going to be easy, right? But they went 1-0 up in the break, so I was like, oh, you know, it could still happen.

[00:05:55] But yeah, everything came together in the second half. Sar with another great match, honestly. And yeah, I think the goal they scored clocked in at 130 kilometers an hour, which, of course, shows a little bit how fast this ball can go when hit properly. Senegal is actually true, so that is awesome to see that as well. And I think the red card was very much deserved. Not much to take away from this match either.

[00:06:22] To be fair, and that's something I'm lately wondering about, I didn't mind. When they started with 48 teams, I said this could be really boring. Honestly, the first two rounds were tremendous. The problem, though, with 48 teams now definitely is showing. It does mean that there are some weaker teams in there. And those third matches, usually very exciting.

[00:06:45] But the fact you have Norway after such a long absence putting in a reserve squad, and most matches not really mattering anymore. And what I really don't like about this is those, for example, if you're Scotland, you've been waiting now for two months or now. Not really, but like a couple of days already just waiting to know if you have been performing good enough to progress. I think that really takes away from this.

[00:07:14] I'd rather, and this is a tough saying, I'd rather have 64 teams in just the first two teams go through. Then there's a waiting game we've got currently going on. The matches aren't all that important. We've got backup squads, and some of the teams are already, well, are just having to wait now. And I don't think that's how it should be. We also had, of course, Kav Verde versus Saudi Arabia. Kav Verde did not need to score. They needed a point.

[00:07:41] And for Sina, the 40-year-old goalkeeper who became the face of this World Cup, with millions and millions of followers on Instagram by now, he made sure they got three crucial saves. Aikano had her in the first half stoppage time. Shammat's shot in the 66th minute and an Alhamda effort in the 92nd minute. And when Spain's results confirmed Kav Verde was in second place in Group H, the celebrations began.

[00:08:06] The smallest nation ever to reach the World Cup knockout round had actually done this. To be fair, before this tournament kicked off, I think nobody, and really nobody, had like Kav Verde in the round of 32. They were the debutants, 500,000-person island nation in the coast of West Africa. They had Spain on 0-0. In game one, they drew two off versus Uruguay in game two, coming from behind twice.

[00:08:34] And yesterday against Saudi Arabia. When all they needed was a draw, they, well, Fawzina actually stood again between them in elimination. As he had all tournaments, three saves and the third draw in a row. Three draws. But it is good enough to face Argentina in Miami next week on July 3rd. Let's see if we can get another draw in and maybe win on penalties. That would be cool. But of course, not for the Argentine fans. But they did what they came into.

[00:09:04] Curacao tried. They weren't good enough. Kav Verde did. And, well, there's a certain country, or certain town in the Netherlands that's really happy with this victory. Of course. Then, right, we are going in, well, I think Fawzina is the best story of the tournament so far. Goalkeepers have been cool as well. But yeah, 40 years old and still performing. And it's almost like a 40-year-old podcaster doing a solo podcast.

[00:09:33] So now we're halfway through the six enormous games. And I need a moment. This is your Food in Review hydration break. So grab a drink. We still have Spain, Iran, and Belgium to get through. And maybe the most dramatic VAR moment of the tournament will be right back after this. So while you are up, the group stage is almost done. And we have been here every single day.

[00:09:58] And if this show has been a part of your World Cup journey, buy us a coffee at buymeacoffee.com slash foodinreview. Or go at patreon.com slash foodinreview. Of course, we send out our newsletter every single Friday. And you can join that at foodinreview.com. Follow us on Instagram at foodinreview.com. And on TikTok at foodinreview.com.

[00:10:45] All the links are, of course, in the show notes. Absolutely love Uruguay. It is a tremendous team. Usually they won two World Cups, including the first World Cup. They have the best, or maybe one of the best, but I think the best kit of the whole tournament. The light blue is just so, so pretty. But unfortunately, they also have Fernando Mouselera.

[00:11:11] And we talked about good guild goalkeeping performances this World Cup. But Mouselera had a fault in match one. He had a fault in match two. And yesterday, they lost the match because of his last performance for Uruguay. Because he absolutely missed that ball. He got two hands to it, but he could not stop it going in. Weirdly enough, Bielsa replaced Mouselera with Roche at halftime.

[00:11:39] And that was, of course, the end of his career as an international. It's a sad way to see you go. Afterwards, they asked Bielsa, why did you sub him off? And he actually said he asked to be subbed off. Of course, with Bielsa, yeah, never quite know. But I can't wait to figure out what happened here. To be fair, Spain did not play the best game. Toto XG was 0.86 from six shots. But yeah, Mouselera cost another goal. I think Uruguay fought hard. They tried hard.

[00:12:08] But unfortunately, I think sometimes it's just not your tournament. Bielsa said after the game. That's cool to see, by the way. Or to know. Bielsa said after the game, he had nothing left to the national team during his time as the coach. So does that mean he's gone? Does that mean? We don't know yet. But I think he was pretty much. He was angry, as we could know him from before. He was screaming into the camera on an interview. But yeah, it's just sad that the Uruguay story is now Mouselera's story.

[00:12:37] Becoming the first goalkeeper on record since 1966 to make three errors, leading to three goals in a single World Cup tournament. And this is confirmed by Opta. So yeah, it's a sad, sad story. Spain go through. Obviously, they go through. But Uruguay is out. Brings us to game five in Group G on Leuwenfield in Seattle. And this one, we expected some fireworks. But somehow, the FIFA made sure that they kept it really quiet.

[00:13:06] So I did not see anything. Of course, if this is the fifth match you're watching at night, it might not be as sharp as you are watching the first match. But I didn't see anything weird with protests, with the bright manners. I think it was just a very cool match to look. It ended up in a 1-1 draw. Egypt went ahead and set five minutes to Mahmoud Saber. Iran leveled in the 14th minute through Razaya from a tight angle and a fronting start.

[00:13:35] And then the game became scrappy. Until the most dramatic ending of the tournament so far. Taremi hit the crossbar with a header in the 89th minute. And then, in the 93rd minute, Khalidzada fired into the roof of the net. And the iron bench steamed into the pitch into wild celebration. The crowd went nuts, but the far reviewed it. Khalidzada was offside by mere centimeters.

[00:14:04] Rightfully so, but very dramatic. So they drew 1-1. And Iran is facing a nervous weight now with three points. And it doesn't look all that good. Egypt needed the draw to advance. So, well, there's definitely there. But yeah, it is what it is. What more can we say? Football can be generally cruel.

[00:14:30] But I also like to see Egypt progress, to be fair. Then, also there was penalty save. So, yeah, it is. It was truly a dramatic match. And I did not even mention Mohamed Salah being shopped out with a potentially hamstring concern. Although nobody confirmed that yet. But, yeah, that would be sad as well, though. What can we say? I think the forecall was correct. So, there's that.

[00:14:59] Then, into the last match of the trade. Group game 6 in Group G in Vancouver. It was Belgium versus New Zealand. The all-whites, I said at the start of this tournament, I can't see them perform at all. But quite honestly, their tournament started really well. And Belgium had been dire for two games. But yesterday, they were back into their old form.

[00:15:26] Troussard opened on 28 and added a second goal on the 50th minute. De Bruyne drilled a stunning effort from outside the box into the corner on minute 66 to make a trio. And Elijah just got a consolation for New Zealand on 84th minute. Who actually is one of their standard players this tournament. Lukaku came off the bench and immediately headed home on 86. And that was its sixth World Cup goal, making them Belgium's all-time top scorer in a World Cup.

[00:15:55] Salamakis wrapped it up in a stoppage time. Belgium topping Group G. And now, finally, the team everyone expected. One goal in five World Cups going into this. Just one. And, yeah, I think there could be one goal as well. They drawn with Egypt. Drawn with Iran despite having 23 shots. And Garcia was under a lot of pressure. The Bruyne didn't perform that well. But this match, they all turned up.

[00:16:22] And they did what I said last match when I was very critical at the game plan. Where I said they just want to hoof the ball into Lukaku and then try to build from there. There is no backup plan. This time, Lukaku didn't start. And it definitely changed the team. Salamakis got lots of... He got lots more space. The Bruyne could be more creative. I think this is definitely a goal.

[00:16:50] And also, Trossard had, of course, a tremendous gain. But it helps. Like, this is the number nine dilemma we spoke about earlier. If you have a number nine like Lukaku, you need to give him the ball. And if he then doesn't perform or he can't get it in, your team's pretty much stuck. We've seen that with the Netherlands as well. And when they change it around and it does click, you know, that means I think Lukaku is now the steadily sub for this team.

[00:17:16] And to be fair, also, I don't think his form, his fitness was on par as well either. So, yes, of course, won't play it all too much. Interesting fact from these matches that Courtois made his 18th World Cup appearance for Belgium. That's the most by any Belgian player in history. And the group ends up with Belgium on five points. On number one, Egypt on five points. And second, on goal difference, Iran on three points. They have to wait it out. New Zealand is out with one point.

[00:17:45] If I'm quite honest, I don't think this Belgian team could go really far. But hey, you never know. They did show up yesterday. Our steady topics are, of course, the baller of the day, the drama of the day, and the bottler of the day. The baller of the day has to be, like I said before, Guzman and Dembele. Well, three shots, three goals. I think this just showed. He is a reigning Ballon d'Or winner yesterday. He also had a whole lot of space.

[00:18:14] I don't get why Norway started with a reserve squad and played four at the back against this team. That's a lot of pressure if you're a substitute player coming in. But yeah, the third goal, different foot, left foot or right foot, it doesn't matter. Just a tremendous player. And this shows how strong this France team is. If Mbappe ain't doing it, if Olyseo ain't doing it, if Dembele is doing it, and else they bring in one of their other players. It's insane.

[00:18:41] Although Mbappe could have scored in the 22 seconds in as well. But yeah, the baller of the day unfortunately has to be Fernando Muslera from Uruguay. There's not much to add to it. I don't want to put salt into his wounds, but 39 years old. He might have had like one of the best goalkeeper careers in South American football. He actually came out of international retirement to play this World Cup for Uruguay. This should be the fairytale send-off.

[00:19:09] But instead, it became a nightmare being subbed out in your last game and conceding three goals from three of your own mistakes. It's not a record you want to bring in into your last game. So yes, very unfortunate. But yeah, Uruguay's World Cup is now effectively over. I'm curious to see the story in the end. And of course, that brings us to the drama.

[00:19:32] I think the biggest drama from yesterday was of course the match Egypt-Iran or Iran-Egypt. Where Iran scored in the 93rd minute. But VAR takes it away. Although it was a right call, they needed that win. It was 1-1. 89 minutes have been played. Then they missed the penalty. Hit the crossbar with a header. In the 93 minute, the ball fell loose in the Egyptian box.

[00:20:00] And Khaliza, he was there. He fired in the roof of the net. Tears were going off the bench. Everyone went nuts. And then it's sad. It's drama. It is, I think, rightful drama. Nothing really going wrong there. I think this is all like as it's supposed to be. But yeah, if you hit the woodwork twice, yeah, the goal is allowed in the last five minutes of the game. It's now a long way to see if you have to go in.

[00:20:30] But it is what it is. We are waiting now for the last six matches will be tonight. Of course, the first one will be the Kroetje at first is Ghana. The second one will be Panama versus England. If you look at that group, England is now at four points. Ghana is at four points. Croatia is on three points. And Panama is on zero points. And so basically, if you look at the match, I think Kroetje at Ghana is one of fire. Where Kroetje and Ghana just basically, Ghana needs a draw. And Kroetje needs a win to go through.

[00:20:59] So we'll see two teams going for it. Later on, for us in the middle of the night at 1.30, which is a weird time. Don't think we have had a half hour kickoff yet. But we have Colombia versus Portugal. And we have Congo versus Uzbekistan. If you look at that group, that is group. I don't even see which group it is. Doesn't matter. We currently have Colombia at six, of course, out of two. Portugal have four out of two. Congo and Uzbekistan are one and zero points.

[00:21:27] Since it's Colombia versus Portugal, I basically think both. Actually, no, both teams are already. So the results of that match doesn't really matter. I don't think either of the other teams. Congo could get four points, of course, and could be on the waiting list. But the Colombia versus Portugal could be a spectacular match. But I can see the same story happen as with Norway, where they will just play reserve squads. An interesting match is the last is group J. We have Algeria versus Austria.

[00:21:57] And Jordan versus Argentina. Of course, Argentina will not play their best squad. They are already six out of two. But Austria and Argentina are equal. So, and since they play each other, that's one match that could make a massive difference. We saw Austria versus Argentina starting well, but in the end not performing. I actually feel this Algeria team could go a little bit further.

[00:22:25] I think they could get a win versus Austria. And I think Austria versus Algeria might be the match to watch this night. Of course, tomorrow we'll be back. And when we're back tomorrow, we will discuss the actual round of 32 coming up. We will highlight which we think we will go through. Any highlight matches on there as well. There's definitely one side of the bracket that has it a little bit more difficult.

[00:22:52] But hey, if you want to win a world championship or world cup, you have to beat everyone anyways. So you might as well do it in round 16. Everyone, I hope you enjoyed the last stages of the group phases. We'll see you back tomorrow. Bye-bye.