On Day 3 of the World Cup, pre-tournament favourites Argentina began their campaign against Saudi Arabia; Denmark’s Christian Eriksen returned to the world stage against Tunisia; Poland played Mexico; and holders France faced Australia. Let’s catch up on all the action in Ryan’s World Cup Round-up…
GROUP C
A brave and fearless performance from Saudi Arabia saw them pull off one of the greatest upsets in World Cup history after coming from behind to beat Argentina 1-2 in Group C at the lively Lusail Iconic Stadium.
Leo Messi opened the scoring for Argentina (one of the hot favourites for the tournament) from the penalty spot (10) after a VAR review for shirt pulling. Saudi Arabia who adopted a bold high line, were rewarded for their bravery when Argentina had three goals correctly ruled out for offside before half-time break.
After the interval Saudi Arabia blew Argentina apart in a ruthless and breath-taking 10-minute spell; Saleh Al Shehri (48) levelled with a low effort past Emiliano Martinez, before the Aston Villa stopper was left with no chance as Salem Al Dawsari’s (53) rasping drive found the top corner!
Poland’s Robert Lewandowski saw his penalty saved from Mexico’s Guillermo Ochoa as he two sides played out a 0-0 draw in their World Cup Group C opener in Doha.
After an uneventful first half, Barcelona striker Lewandowski earned a penalty after being pulled down in the area by Hector MorenoΒ following a VAR review, but Ochoa dived the correct way to preserve Mexico’s point and prolong Lewandowski’s wait for a first World Cup goal.
GROUP D
Denmark’s Christian Eriksen returned to major international tournament football 18 months on from suffering a cardiac arrest at Euro 2020 in their 0-0 stalemate with Tunisia in Group D at the Education City Stadium.
Erikson almost made a fairy-tale return but was denied from long range by goalkeeper Aymen Dahme, from the resulting corner Andreas Cornelius of Denmark had a shocker, missing from a yard out! There was still time for late VAR penalty drama in the 95th minute but Denmark’s appeals for handball were rejected after a pitch side monitor check.
Defending World Champions France soundly defeated a spirited and resilient Australian side at Al Janoub Stadium in their Group D opener.
Following the morning’s surprise result, Australia’s Goodwin (9) stunned the holders with the opening goal, but France rallied with goals from Rabiot (27) and Giroud (32) before the break.Β
Kylian Mbappe (68) scored the third and then set up Giroud for the fourth with a superb cross, as Giroud (71) equaled Thierry Henry’s goalscoring record of 51 goals for France.
The player to watch in this tournament is Kylian MbappΓ©, who has scored 12 goals in his past 11 games for France and is the youngest player in the country’s history to score five World Cup goals.
DAY 4 FIXTURES | Wednesday 23rd November 2022
Morocco vs Croatia. FIFA World Cup Group F. 10:00am
Germany vs Japan. FIFA World Cup Group E. 1:00pm
Spain vs Costa Rica. FIFA World Cup Group E. 4:00pm
Belgium vs Canada. FIFA World Cup Group F. 7:00pm
AUTHOR | RYAN MCKEOWN
Author’s UTV PODCAST archive Ryan Mckeown
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