KTH

The last two years have been awfully horrible for Mexican football as Mexico lost the CONCACAF Nations League and Gold Cup finals in the Summer of 2021, finished behind Canada and lost the head to head to both Canada (0-0-2) and the USA (0-1-1) in 2022 World Cup Qualifiers, and to throw in insult to injury, American clubs overtook the Mexican domination of the CONCACAF Champions League when Seattle Sounders won it in 2022.

For all in tense and purposes, the USA were now the Kings, or dare I say it, the Presidents of North America, and for many people, even Canada was now better than Mexico!

So, understandably, Mexicans did not have much faith in their team to make the knockout rounds.

And the lost opportunity 0-0 tie to Poland and the disappointing 0-2 loss to Argentina left Mexico with not just a feeling of disappointment, but also a reality of disappointment.

For Mexico, one has to remember that they have been one of the most consistent and decorated national teams in the history of the sport, but their fans’ expectations often leave good performances under valued. However, going into their last match of Group C against Saudi Arabia, this time, their fans’ feelings were much more legitimate. It really was an abysmal situation for such a talented nation.

But, Mexico really left it all on the pitch and played a match that we all remember the usual Mexico would play.

They dominated!

While the 1st half was a scoreless tie, Mexico had many chances that easily could have gone it. The Saudi Arabian goalkeeper, Mohammed Al-Owais, had a very good match.

But, in the 2nd half, Mexico came alive!

Henry Martín scored in the 47th Minute and then Luis Chávez had what probably would have been the Goal of the Tournament had Mexico advanced with an unbelievable free kick goal in the 52nd Minute.

In the meantime, Argentina came alive, which meant that instead of just winning, Mexico needed to win by many goals, or have Argentina win by many. Luckily for Mexico, Argentina needed to keep scoring too and they scored in the 46th Minute.

With the way Mexico were playing, two more goals seemed doable, which is what the Mexicans needed to advance out of Group C!

But, Mexico would have two goals called back for offsides, including one that was probably just a shoulder blade or a toe offsides! Heartbreaking indeed.

But you could feel it. Mexico was playing with passion! The Mexican fans were supporting with passion. And once again, the neutrals were tuning into Mexico hoping to see a comeback from a side that has given the world so many spectacular footballing moments in the past.

The Mexico we have all grown to expect was back!

And then, in the 67th Minute, Argentina scored again!

Now all Mexico needed was for either Mexico or Argentina to score one more goal!

Mexico and Poland were tied on almost everything, except fair play points, as Poland had less yellow cards, so essentially, Mexico could have hoped for Polish yellow cards too.

Mexico kept pushing and gave it everything they had!

While Argentina dominated Poland with 23 (12) shots to Poland’s 4 (0) and 74% possession to Poland’s 26%, Mexico dominated Saudi Arabia with 26 (11) shots to Saudi Arabia’s 10 (2) and with 61% possession to Saudi Arabia’s 39%. And these stats were not even fully telling of the Mexican and Argentinian domination.

However, just like Mohammed Al-Owais was having a match of the tournament, so too was Poland’s goalkeeper, Wojciech Szczęsny, who had already saved a penalty kick from Argentina’s Lionel Messi in the 1st half.

And as the Argentina-Poland match finished with Argentina winning 2-0, Mexico finally conceded after pushing so far up, and went onto win 2-1. Mexico was eliminated.

Mexico won the battle, but lost the war as many people commented across social media.

But, while this is true, it sort of is not.

And this is where Mexico needs to seek both improvement and perspective.

See, Mexico needs to seek improvement because they are too good of a football nation and too big of a football nation not to be challenging for a World Cup.

Yes, Mexico has issues with drug cartels and corruption, but frankly, there are plenty of Latin American nations, such as Brazil and Argentina, that are actually in statically worse positions than them on issues regarding overall livelihood.

And, while Mexico does have less people than Brazil, they have more than 70 million more people than Argentina, and that is not even including the Mexican diaspora where a lot of the money and player pool comes from for Mexican football, particularly from the USA.

So, for Mexico, it is not that they do not have the essentials, they do!

And in terms of talent, let us really look at the numbers.

Mexico had gone to 7 straight knockout rounds at the World Cup, a record only surpassed by Brazil (8, now 9) in that span. In fact, Mexico only did not go to more because after their 1986 Quater-final and overall 6th Place finish, they were banned from the 1990 World Cup during the Qualifiers.

Mexico had also won an Olympic Gold Medal (2012) in that span, and not by using the loophole non-European and non-South American nations have gotten to use since the 1930s, and a Confederations Cup (1999)!

And, at the continental level, Mexico has dominated even more, winning a record 11 North American Championships, only third all-time in continental championships behind Argentina and Uruguay, both with 15.

And as far as club football, Mexican clubs have won a record 37 continental championships in North America, far more than any other country at the club level, with Argentina having 25 as the second closest.

This nation has been legit!

But, they still are. And this is what Mexicans should understand when looking at the failure to reach the knockout stages.

When we look at Mexican football, most of us, Mexicans included, think complacency.

Mexico has been so blessed to be a consistent Top 10 team in the world, but now, after losing two continental finals, one continental club final, and failing to get out of the Group Stage at the World Cup for the first time since 1986, Mexico will be keen to fix what is broken.

All Mexicans will be investigating and trying to come up with a way to spark change.

And for a reference point, the best World Cup performances Mexico has had have come after either group stage elimination or failures to qualify for the World Cup, as well as World Cups they have hosted.

In 1966, Mexico (0-2-1; 2) finished 3rd place in Group 1 behind England (2-1-0; 5) and Uruguay (1-2-0; 4), and in front of France (0-1-2; 1), leaving Mexico in 12th place overall out of 16 Qualified nations.

And then in 1970, Mexico (2-1-0; 5) hosted the World Cup and finished 2nd in Group A due to a drawing of lots as a tiebreaker behind the USSR (2-1-0; 5), and in front of Belgium (1-0-2; 2) and El Salvador (0-0-3; 0). Mexico would lose in the Quarter-finals against eventually runners-up, Italy, thus finishing 6th overall.

In 1982, Mexico (1-3-1; 5) failed to qualify for the World Cup, finishing 3rd place in the 1981 CONCACAF Championship behind Honduras (3-2-0; 8) and El Salvador (2-2-1; 6).

But, then in 1986, Mexico (2-1-0; 5) hosted the World Cup and finished 1st in Group B, in front of Paraguay (1-2-0; 4), Belgium (1-1-1; 3), and Iraq (0-0-3; 0). In the Round of 16, Mexico beat Bulgaria 2-0, and made it to the Quarter-finals, failing to advance against eventual runners-up West Germany on penalty kick shootouts, 1-4, after a scoreless draw, finishing in 6th place overall.

Therefore, as co-hosts for the 2026 World Cup with the USA and Canada, Mexico should expect vast improvement and a run at the World Cup.

But even more importantly, Mexico are actually in a much better place than so many other nations.

For example, the worst two years of Mexican football for some time will most likely see Mexico finish in the Top 20 of the World Cup, 2nd place in North America for the Gold Cup, Nations League, and World Cup Qualifiers, as well as a Mexican club winning and finishing 2nd place in the CONCACAF Champions League.

Combine this with the fact that Mexico were knocked out of the World Cup by the closest of margins and have earned the respect of pundits worldwide, as a nation that should have advanced and were unlucky too, Mexico needs to realize that their 32 year low is many other nation’s high point in their whole history.

This is not to say that Mexico does not need changes.

Rather, what this is to say is that Mexico should not feel ashamed, rather they should feel motivation to conquer more than they previously have.

Because, when looking at all the variables, this nation has the expertise to do so.

And what is even more spectacular from a purely home-grown point of view is the fact that Mexico featured 25 Mexican born players of the 26 total, and 17 played in LigaMX.

And, their Group C performance was done without star player Jesús Corona who suffered an injury before the World Cup started, as well as star youngster Diego Lainez, and featured a Raúl Jiménez who is still recovering from a horrific injury.

These facts show that Mexico is not really in the dust bin of history, rather it is a nation that is still seeing massive success, just not at the level Mexico itself is used to.

And the last point is the fact that because the USA is doing so well, many Mexicans find this as a detriment to their ego of being the top team of the continent, plus, it is their rival. However, improvement from the USA and other CONCACAF nations is a major plus for the development of football in Mexico for competition outside of the continent. As LigaMX and MLS collab more, there will be more money and better competition, creating better players. And, the same goes for revamped and expanded CONCACAF competitions at both club level and national team levels.

These facts show that the nation to have qualified for the fifth most World Cups all-time (17), and one of only eight nations to have won two of the three most important world tournaments (World Cup, Olympics, and Confederations Cup), is still a thriving football nation. This perspective should signal to Mexico that this elimination can and should be a chance to reevaluate to the level needed to reach World Cup Semi-finals and further.

CONMEBOL:

Brazil:

• Brazil versus Ghana from Le Harve, France

Brazil dominated Ghana and should have won 6-1 or something like that. Instead, Brazil won 3-0. The first half was completely all-Brazil, but the second half displayed a strong Ghanian side. Despite this, Brazil still outplayed Ghana in the second half overall as well. Brazil look to be the favorites in Group G with Switzerland, Serbia, and Cameroon.

• Brazil versus Tunisia from Paris, France

Brazil defeated a good Tunisia side 5-1 in a very impressive fashion. Brazil already looks like they are in World Cup form. Some of their goals were spectacular and this was against a good defensive team. Brazil cemented their favorite status for Group G, but Switzerland and Serbia are both playing very well too, while Cameroon is not playing good.

Argentina:

• Argentina versus Honduras from Miami Gardens, USA

Argentina defeated Honduras 3-0 in a match which Argentina dominated almost completely with 17 (8) shots to Honduras’s 2 (0) and with 68% possession. Honduras had a few mishaps that led to 2 of Argentina’s goals, so Honduras actually played quite well compared to how they played in the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifying. Argentina also played well because it was their pressure that forced Honduras into these mistakes, and Argentina could have scored many more goals. Argentina defeated a regular World Cup quality side handily and in neutral territory in their opponent’s continent. As such, Argentina looks like the clear favorites in Group C in front of Mexico, Poland, and Saudi Arabia.

• Jamaica versus Argentina from Harrison, USA

Argentina closed out their international break with a close match against Jamaica, where they led 1-0 from the 13th Minute until Leonel Messi took over and scored in the 86th and 89th Minutes to win the match 3-0. Argentina outshot Jamaica 17 (8) to 2 (0) and held 66% possession. Jamaica are one of the top teams in North America, but they often are not able to have all their top players at once, limiting their World Cup Qualifying performances. But at the Gold Cup, you often see Jamaica competitive with the best nations in North America. So, Argentina’s win was good. But, there is a worry that Argentina’s defense got beat a few times on counter attacks. Argentina needs to clean this up when they play in Group C with Saudi Arabia, Mexico, and Poland.

Uruguay:

• IR Iran versus Uruguay from Sankt Pölten, Austria

Uruguay did well to dominate on the statistics against Iran, but they failed to score in a 0-1 defeat and this lack of scoring efficiency has plagued Uruguay for a while now. In the World Cup Group H, Uruguay will need to have their scoring boots on to advance. Group H may favor Uruguay, but both South Korea and Portugal are big goal scoring nations, while Ghana is yet to impress.

• Canada versus Uruguay from Bratislava, Slovakia

Uruguay dominated Canada 2-0 and could have won 6-0. Uruguay looked very good against a good Canada side. Uruguay is back to being a favorite to advance out of Group H.

Ecuador:

• Saudi Arabia versus Ecuador from Murcia, Spain

Ecuador played in a very competitive match against Saudi Arabia 0-0. While Ecuador probably should have played better, they still did well enough to tie a World Cup side. In Group A, it may be difficult to advance, but they displayed the potential to advance in a group with Senegal, the Netherlands, and Qatar. They are still the favorites for #3 in the group.

• Ecuador versus Japan from Düsseldorf, Germany

Ecuador played a very good match against Japan, 0-0. The score could have been 5-5 and displayed a World Cup level of play. Ecuador could do well in Group A and advance if they play like this at the World Cup.

UEFA:

France:

• France versus Austria from Saint-Denis, France

France looked really good against Austria. They won 2-0, but it could have been and should have been more. The only issue for France is that they might over rely on Mbappe. Nevertheless, there is so much talent on France’s squad that they should be able to rely on others too.

• Denmark versus France from Copenhagen, Denmark

France lost 0-2 away to Denmark and France are failing to impress. While they are good enough to win their group and more, France just keeps messing up. However, they did have a big win over Austria and have competed well against Croatia and Denmark, and all three teams should be better than Australia and Tunisia, meaning that France should advance. They are still favored to win their group, which also features Denmark.

Belgium:

• Belgium versus Wales from Brussels, Belgium

Belgium started off on fire led by Kevin De Bruyne going up 2-0 early. But, the Beglians could not close out the match as the Welsh came back to bring it within 1. The final score stayed Belgium 2 Wales 1. It was a good result for Belgium because we got to see attacking and goal scoring De Bruyne. If De Bruyne leads Belgium like he did against Wales, then Belgium will have extra fire power for Group F.

• Netherlands versus Belgium from Amsterdam, Netherlands

Belgium suffered a set back in a 0-1 away loss to the Netherlands in a match Belgium was slightly outshot. Belgium needs improvement. Despite being co-favorites with Croatia for Group F, Belgium cannot simply play at this level or risk falling behind two teams at least, with Croatia, Morocco, and Canada in Group F.

England:

• Italy versus England from Milan, Italy

England struggled against Italy in a match which Italy could have won a lot more convincingly. The English only lost 0-1, and away, but with this loss, England have been relegated to UEFA Nations League B for the next edition. England has been abysmal in the last few months, and their Italian showing displayed a 2014 like England rather than a 2018 like England.

• England versus Germany from Brent, England

England played well to come back down 0-2 to tie 3-3 against Germany. But this was against a weaker German side at home where they still gave up their own 3-2 lead they had from a comeback. Their goalkeeping does not appear good enough to hold onto leads, unless they improve massively between now and the World Cup. The talent is there for England, but it is also clouded by the inflated price tags, a characteristic of both the Group B co-favorites to advance, the USA and as mentioned England. Wales and Iran feature more economical players, but there is also another reason for that, they are not as talented. So, Group B looks wide open as England once again fails to implant their flag on the game. However, despite this disappointing draw, England has appeared to wake up on the scoring end. If England does have their shooting boots on, they will win this group without defense. Unless one of the other teams’ attackers wake up too. England benefits from some lucky calls such as the penalty call they received for their 3rd goal and from a superior attack to most nations, especially those in Group B.

Spain:

• Spain versus Switzerland from Zaragoza, Spain

Spain had a difficult match with Switzerland losing 1-2, and at home. Spain had 75% possession, but the shots were very equal, both having 8 and Switzerland having more shots on target, 5-4. Spain needs to correct this because their biggest issue last World Cup was also their lack of goal scoring despite superior possession. Spain needs to be much better. They have a difficult group because both Japan and Costa Rica look really good, and then Germany is really good too.

• Portugal versus Spain from Braga, Portugal

Spain won 1-0 late away against Portugal to win Group 2 in UEFA Nations League A to advance to the UEFA Nations League Semi-finals. Spain and Portugal played a very even match and Spain came away with the win, and with the help of superior goalkeeping. Spain should be able win Group E if their goalkeeping is this good. However, if their attacking is not better, they may struggle in Group E against Costa Rica and Germany due to their goalkeeping, and even Japan who had good goalkeeping in their last match.

Germany:

• Germany versus Hungary from Leipzig, Germany

Germany suffered a close home loss to Hungary 0-1. If this would have happened a while back, when Hungary was losing a lot, this would have been very bad. But, Hungary has turned themselves into a top team in the world, they just made this change after the World Cup Qualifiers and European Championship. So, their only results that show this is in the UEFA Nations League where they are leading Group 3. The Germans did not outshoot Hungary by much, only 10 (3) to 7 (3), but Germany did dominate the possession. Regardless, Germany are still one of the two favorites to advance out of Group E at the World Cup.

• England versus Germany from Brent, England

Germany tied England 3-3 away, and then Hungary lost 0-2 to Italy. With that being said, Germany closed the day in a worse place than before. While their attack seems good, their defense seems bad. And while their Hungary loss previously looked okay, now it looks less than okay because Hungary did not win their Nation’s League Group. Germany are supposed to advance with Spain out of their group with Costa Rica and Japan, but if Japan continues to dominate and Costa Rica continues to play electricly, this group could be the surprise of the tournament. Both Japan and Costa Rica look good in the attack, while Spain looks wasteful and Germany looks weak in their defensive set up, despite their talent back there. Plus, Costa Rica and Japan feature lots of speed, and if England could counter-attack well, so can Costa Rica and Japan. If England could finish, this score would have read England 5 Germany 3. Likewise, you can expect a goal scoring festival from Costa Rica and Japan if their finishing is good and Germany play the same way defensively.

Portugal:

• Czech Republic versus Portugal from Prague, Czech Republic

Portugal did very well against the Czech Republic away, winning 4-0. The Czechs are a high level team that would compete well Group H, the group Portugal is in. The Portuguese will play Uruguay, South Korea, and Ghana, three teams that this performance would win against all those teams with. Portugal are thus the #1 favorite in Group H, ahead of even Uruguay who fell off recently with a loss to Iran.

• Portugal versus Spain from Braga, Portugal

Portugal lost 0-1 late against Spain at home. While Portugal struggled to score, they created lots of opportunities. They just could not get past Spain’s superior goalkeeping. Portugal are still the favorite to win Group H despite the loss.

Netherlands:

• Poland versus Netherlands from Warsaw, Poland

The Netherlands dominated Poland 2-0 and made the Polish look like a bad team. The Dutch continue to improve and look like the clear favorites to finish 1st in Group A in the FIFA World Cup.

• Netherlands versus Belgium from Amsterdam, Netherlands

Netherlands defeated Belgium 1-0 at home in a match they outshot Beligum, 13 (5) to 11 (4). The Netherlands thus won Group 4 of UEFA Nations League A, and advanced to the Semi-finals. The Netherlands are playing like the clear favorites in Group A at the World Cup, in front of Senegal, Ecuador, and Qatar.

Croatia:

• Croatia versus Denmark from Zagreb, Croatia

Croatia displayed a diversity of scoring against Denmark and was successful winning 2-1. Croatia had been seen as too reliant on Luka Modrić the last 4 years, but against Denmark, other players showed up. This bodes well for Croatia in Group F which will include 3 other tough teams. Furthermore, it was a battle for 1st Place in Group 1 of UEFA Nations League A. Croatia successfully took possession of 1st place, but will still have one more match to play to keep hold of it.

• Austria versus Croatia from Vienna, Austria

Croatia won another match 3-1 and this one away, over Austria, and won Group 1 of the UEFA Nations League A to advance to the Semi-finals next year! Croatia, however, did not play as well as Austria in terms of shots, being outshot 10 (5) to 18 (6). But they did hold the possession 54% to 46%. Croatia needs to do better, but their performance should be good enough to beat Belgium, Morocco, and Canada and win Group F.

Denmark:

• Croatia verse Denmark from Zagreb, Croatia

Denmark lost a close one to Croatia away, 1-2. But they were competitive throughout the match displaying a good level of play. Despite the loss, Denmark is still one of the two favorites with France to advance out of Group D at the World Cup.

• Denmark versus France from Copenhagen, Denmark

Denmark defeated France 2-0 at home with a very even shot and possession battle: 16 (7) to 17 (7) and 48% to 52%. Denmark continue to prove they can beat any team in the world. Denmark are likely to either win their group or finish 2nd with France, and in front of Australia and Tunisia.

Switzerland:

• Spain versus Switzerland from Zaragoza, Spain

Switzerland continually impressed in Qualifiers and Group play, but their issue is knockout rounds. They need to continue to improve even in Group format though because their group at the World Cup features Brazil, Serbia, and Cameroon. Switzerland did very well against Spain winning 2-1 away, but Serbia and Brazil look amazing. So, the Swiss just have to keep improving like they did against Spain.

• Switzerland versus Czech Republic from St. Gallen, Switzerland

Switzerland beat the Czech Republic in a back to back affair where the Swiss came out on top, 2-1 at home. The Swiss and Czech played at such a high level, but the Swiss need to step their game up even more to advance out of Group G with Brazil, Serbia, and Cameroon.

Serbia:

• Serbia versus Sweeden from Belgrade, Serbia

Serbia defeated Sweden 4-1 in Serbia, a huge win for the Serbians who are in a very tough group with Brazil, Switzerland, and Cameroon. Serbia will advance out of Group G if they play like they did against Sweden, who are very good themselves. Furthermore, Serbia has the best striker in the group, Aleksandar Mitrović.

• Norway versus Serbia from Oslo, Norway

Serbia handled their business against Norway, winning UEFA Nations League B Group 4 over Norway who sat just three points back. Serbia won comfortably 2-0 and are now in UEFA Nations League A for next season. Serbia’s biggest strength is its goalscorer, Alexandar Mitrović, who has the ability to score every match.

Poland:

• Poland versus Netherlands from Warsaw, Poland

Poland was bad against the Netherlands losing 0-2, and looked completely out of place, and this was at home in Warsaw. This loss really exposed Poland as a team that might have little to no chance to advance out of Group C, despite being neck to neck in talent with Group C 2nd place favorites, Mexico.

• Wales versus Poland from Cardiff, Wales

Poland defeated Wales in a very even match, away, 1-0. This was a good win by Poland. But, Poland should have not won. Wales dominated with 13 (3) shots to 6 (3) shots. Poland, however, are playing as well as both Mexico and Saudi Arabia so Poland could make it out of their World Cup group with the way they are playing now. However, they should improve, because Mexico tends to make it out and Argentina looks really good right now.

Wales:

• Belgium versus Wales from Brussels, Belgium

Wales has height in 6’5″ Kieffer Moore. With his superior height, and other really good players like Gareth Bale, the Welsh now appear to be the #2 team in Group B. But this is only because they performed well against Belgium by keeping the score within balance losing 1-2 away. Iran finally played well and the USA finally played bad. But, the USA will probably rebound and then become the #2 or #1 favorites for Group B again depending on how England does.

• Wales versus Poland from Cardiff, Wales

Wales lost to Poland 0-1 and were relegated from UEFA Nations League A. Wales looked the better side with a lot more shots 13 (3) to 6 (3), but they failed to win in this group, only achieving 1 point. The USA, England, and Iran should all be eager to play Wales as surely they would have done better or just as well in this UEFA Nations League group, but at the same time, Wales has played competitively against all these World Cup quality teams in this group such as Belgium, the Netherlands, and Poland.

CONCACAF:

USA:

• Japan versus USA from Düsseldorf, Germany

The USA looked really bad against Japan losing 0-2. The USA chose the wrong lineup and were careless in the defense making lots of errand back passes. The USA looked like they would finish last in their group as they were thoroughly outplayed, being out shot 4 (0) to 16 (8). The USA turned the ball over way too much, and they appear to lack depth. The only good thing to come from the match for the USA was that the USA appears to have found their starting goalkeeper, Matt Turner. He was the only player who did well against Japan.

• Saudi Arabia versus USA from Murcia, Spain

The USA look awful so far. Their 0-0 tie against Saudi Arabia showed no signs of promise and they probably should have lost.

Mexico:

• Mexico versus Peru from Pasadena, USA

Mexico defeated Peru, 1-0, in Pasadena, USA. But Mexico looked too even with Peru. While Peru is a good team, there is a reason they are not in the World Cup, and Mexico will need to play better than rely on a late goal to advance out of Group C with Saudi Arabia, Poland, and Argentina. The good news is that Mexico is playing better than Poland and Saudi Arabia right now, and are still the #2 favorite in this group.

• Mexico versus Colombia from Santa Clara, USA

Mexico had an electric first half against Colombia where they went up 2-0 and could have been up by more. But then, in the second half, Colombia thoroughly demolished Mexico, eneding up winning the match 3-2. This 2-3 loss from Mexico will add fire to the team that needs it. They displayed they have the talent to compete well, but now they just have to put that together for two halves. Mexico are still probably the #2 favorites from their group which features Argentina, Poland, and Saudi Arabia.

Canada:

• Canada versus Qatar from Vienna, Austria

Canada dominated Qatar 2-0 and could have won 5-0. Canada looks like a Group F favorite due to their dominant play. The only issue for Canada is that World Cup Group F features Belgium, Croatia, and Morocco, meaning that Canada is still fighting for 3rd place in the group according to the bookies.

• Canada versus Uruguay from Bratislava, Skovakia

Canada suffered a 0-2 loss and should have lost by much more. Canada took a major step backwards with this thrashing defeat to Uruguay. Nonetheless, Canada still is a strong contender for Group F, but are the weakest team at this point with Morocco, Belgium, and Croatia.

Costa Rica:

• South Korea versus Costa Rica from Goyang, South Korea

Costa Rica went to South Korea and played a true away match and tied 2-2 with their second string goal keeper. They also had a goal called back for offsides which was debatable, and the second goal by South Korea was after a red card on Costa Rica’s goalkeeper who had been deemed to have handled the ball outside of the box. Therefore, a non goalkeeper had to stop a shot from right on the edge of the box. The free kick was perfect and South Korea tied. When you look at all of these factors, Costa Rica was the better team in an away environment against a good World Cup side with one of the Premier League’s best players. With Keylor Navas as goalkeeper, Costa Rica will undoubtedly play better and playing better would have seen Costa Rica put up a good match against Spain, Japan, and Germany who feature in their World Cup group. Therefore, Costa Rica looks back to being elite again, they just need to clean a few things up. They are still not favorites to advance out of Group E, but at the same time, no one thinks Costa Rica is not completely capable of advancing now.

• Costa Rica versus Uzbekistan from Suwon, South Korea

Uzbekistan dominated almost the whole match against Costa Rica and should have had like three goals. Uzbekistan went up 1-0 in the 25th Minute and they continued to be the superior side. Costa Rica’s goalkeeping was good, but overall Costa Rica was super sloppy. But, Costa Rica’s second half was much better. Despite still playing worse, Costa Rica kept the score 0-1. And then, in stoppage time, Costa Rica scored two goals, one in the 90th Minute +2, and one in the 90th Minute +4. Costa Rica ended up winning the match 2-1. Costa Rica will hope that they can replicate this style of match in the World Cup against some of the giants such as Germany and Spain in their Group E. But, this was against Uzbekistan, a team they should be dominating. Not that Uzbekistan is not good. Uzbekistan is actually quite good and it is a shame they have yet to feature in a World Cup, a lot of it down to pure bad luck it seems, but they are still far behind the likes of Germany and Spain, and they are also behind Japan too. Costa Rica will need to work on not turning over the ball so much. And, they will need to work on speed at the back. These two improvements combined with their goalkeeping, assuming it stays elite, will allow Costa Rica to battle Germany and Spain and make it close, possibly even winning. Against Japan, they would be smart to have these improvements, but they could probably stay close playing the way they have been playing the last two friendlies.

CAF:

Senegal:

• Senegal versus Bolivia from Orléans, France

Senegal defeated Bolivia 2-0 in a match which Senegal dominated. Senegal had many shots and while the second goal came from a penalty, the other shots probably should have gone in. That is to say though, that there has to be a slight concern that Senegal struggled to create normal goals against Bolivia because one was from outside the box from a turnover and another was from a debatable penalty foul, and also from a turnover. Against better teams and with a better ref, Senegal may have scored 0 goals. But, at the same time, Senegal deserved to have many more goals today, and Bolivia are a solid international side. So, Senegal still look like the Group A #2 team behind the Netherlands. And given the issues the teams in Group B have been having, a Quarter-final or further is likely as of now.

• IR Iran versus Senegal from Bratislava, Slovakia

Senegal looked good in their 1-1 tie against Iran, but their failure to produce their own goals looks like a potential foreshadowing that might limit the Senegalese ability to advance out of Group A. Their goal was off an own goal. Still, Senegal should have scored more and looked the better team. This bodes well for Senegal’s hopes in Group A and at the World Cup.

Morocco:

• Morocco versus Chile from Cornellà de Llobregat and El Prat de Llobregat, Spain

Chile may not be a World Cup team for 2022, at least not yet, but they are a World Cup Quality team. They have lots of talent and would be a favorite to get to the Round of 16 had they qualified. Yet, Morocco was able to win 2-0! Morocco did get generous calls/no calls that led to their first goal on a penalty kick. And their second goal was a power shot from outside the box. But overall, they were the much better team. Morocco did not mess around with possession only possessing 43%, but in shots, they outshot Chile 20 (5) to 3 (2)! This style of play works for Morocco because Morocco will play in a group with Belgium, Croatia, and Canada. This style of play will not work against Canada, but it will trap Croatia and Belgium who will probably be content with possession, but give up counter attacks and potentially lots of shots. Morocco needs to continue to improve because as of now, they are still consider the #3 team with Canada in the group. And all four nations in Group F won their first matches this international break, and each in an impressive manner.

• Morocco versus Paraguay from Sevilla, Spain

Both Morocco and Paraguay played very well in their 0-0 match against each other. Morocco played better, and should have had a goal or two, while Paraguay also should have had a goal. Morocco’s style of play, if the shots go in, will put the Atlas Lions in a good position to advance out of Group F, but they still should not. Croatia and Belgium are still playing better. So, Morocco still needs improvement.

Tunisia:

• Tunisia versus Comoros from Orléans, France

Tunisia defeated Comoros in a very entertaining friendly match, 1-0, where both sides had lots of chances and both goalkeepers saved lots of shots. The goalkeepers were both terrific and the level of play was quite high, except on the goal Tunisia scored as Comoros forgot to mark the free man in the box on a cross, leading to a goal off of a header. Comoros are an interesting opposition. Historically, they are quite weak, but recently, they are a Top 16 team in Africa, having qualified for the African Cup of Nations in 2022 and having advanced as far as the Round of 16. Therefore, Comoros is a good national team in its current form. However, Tunisia needs to be able to compete and defeat great teams at the World Cup. Tunisia plays in Group D with France, Denmark, and Australia. Each of these nations would be favored to beat Comoros, and are considered better. But, I do not think Tunisia should worry. For their first match in the international break, they won, and both Tunisia and Comoros were competing at a high level. If Tunisia can replicate this play, as well as their goalkeeper, then Tunisia has a very good chance to beat France, Denmark, or Australia, in any combination. This means advancement is possible.

• Brazil versus Tunisia from Paris, France

Tunisia lost 1-5 to Brazil. Tunisia were completely outplayed and overmatched. But it was not really Tunisia playing bad, rather it was more Brazil playing amazingly well. Nonetheless, Tunisians expect more from their Carthage Lions and should. Tunisia will play France, Australia, and Denmark in Group D at the World Cup. They will need to clean up their play. One sign of great worry is that Tunisia still have not learned how to defend corner kicks. For Tunisia to advance, they will need to stop tackling people going for headers.

Ghana:

• Brazil versus Ghana from Le Havre, France

Ghana suffered a 0-3 defeat to Brazil that probably should have been worse. But also, Ghana should have scored a goal too. Ghana improved as the match went on. In the first half, Ghana was lucky they were not down 0-5 or worse. But in the second half, a fair scoreline would have read 1-2. Ghana faired much better in the second half and their new players started to gel just a little bit. However, they still appear to he the weak team in Group H, behind Portugal, South Korea, and Uruguay.

• Ghana versus Nicaragua from Lorca, Spain

Ghana had a close match with Nicaragua where they won 1-0. Nicaragua is not a Top 16 North American side so it is quite alarming for Ghana’s hopes to advance out of Group H. But, Ghana did very well throughout this match. So, Ghana might be better than we think, and maybe even Nicaragua is better too.

Cameroon:

• Cameroon versus Uzbekistan from Goyung, South Korea

Cameroon were outplayed by Uzbekistan on Friday as the Uzbekis won 2-0. Cameroon has some moving parts and Uzbekistan has consistently been one of the next teams out of the World Cup, barely failing to qualify on so many occasions. So, it was not as bad of a result as it could appear to be given many people’s lack of knowledge on Central Asian football. But, still, this result suggests Cameroon are clearly the worst team in Group G.

• South Korea versus Cameroon from Seoul, South Korea

Cameroon needs to be better in order to compete in Group G with Brazil, Serbia, and Switzerland. In their two friendlies, they were outmatched and did not look at the level needed to do well at a World Cup. In the meantime, we saw plenty of nations that did not qualify do much better. Cameroon needs to improve or they will lose all 3 matches in Group G, and they may not even be close losses. Cameroon may have only lost to South Korea 0-1, but it should have been much worse.

AFC:

IR Iran:

• IR Iran versus Uruguay from Sankt Pölten, Austria

Iran had a successful win over Uruguay 1-0. However, the Iranians were outshot and out possessed, and should have lost. But, their ability to defend under pressure is what will make Iran difficult to beat in Group B for England, the USA, and Wales. In this match, Iran not only defended well, but they also had good shooting efficiency, scoring a goal on limited shots.

• IR Iran versus Senegal from Bratislava, Slovakia

Iran looks very good for the style of play they wish to play in Group B. This style of play is a little bit like a José Mourinho team where they do not wish to dominate possession or shots, rather they just care about results and playing defensively. With tall strikers like Sardar Azmoun scoring goals, this bodes well because all three nations in Iran’s group are struggling to defend against tall strikers. As long as Iran keeps crossing well, their chances of advancing are very high.

South Korea:

• South Korea versus Costa Rica from Goyang, South Korea

South Korea did well to comeback and tie Costa Rica 2-2. However, South Korea should have been down by more. South Korea needs to continue to clean up their play so they can compete against Uruguay, Ghana, and Portugal. Ironically though, because of Ghana’s and Uruguay’s play, South Korea now looks like the #2 team in Group H.

• South Korea versus Cameroon from Seoul, South Korea

South Korea did very well in their match against Cameroon, but only scored one goal. South Korea did win 1-0, but they will need to play better in Group H to advance with the likes of Portugal, Uruguay, and Ghana. As it looks right now, South Korea should get 1 win, and maybe 1 tie. They need improvement on their finishing because they probably should have won 3-1 or 4-1 against Cameroon.

Japan:

• Japan versus USA from Düsseldorf, Germany

Japan looked really good pressuring the USA while the USA were in their defensive half and converting these turnovers into shots, scoring two of these shots. They had 16 shots and 8 on target. On defense, the Japanese held the USA to just 4 total shots, and 0 on target, completing a clean sheet with a 2-0 win. While Japan are still not favorites to advance in Group E which features Spain, Germany, and Costa Rica, they are edging closer to getting to that level. They took a big step against the USA edging closer to an elite level of play.

• Japan versus Ecuador from Düsseldorf, Germany

Japan did very well against Ecuador in a 0-0 tie. Japan could have tied 5-5. It was such a high level of play that was at a World Cup level, so much so that this 0-0 tie was super exciting. Japan’s goalkeeping was very good too. If Japan plays like this, Japan can advance from Group E despite what many people may think. They are playing that well.

Australia:

• Australia versus New Zealand from Brisbane, Australia

Australia had a back and forth match with New Zealand in a Classic Oceania Derby. Australia won 1-0, but it was very close. The match was not just a rivalry but also a historic match, the Centenary of the rivalry too. This heightened pressures and importance. Despite New Zealand being a very good team right now, Australia still did not impress as much as they should have. Australia is in Group D with France, Denmark, and Tunisia. All three of these teams look really good so far, and this means they too would probably beat New Zealand. So, Australia needs to show improvement next match to really give the people a reason to believe they can advance past the group stage.

• New Zealand versus Australia from Auckland, New Zealand

Australia did better on their second try against New Zealand winning 2-0. The match was a true away match and was even, but Australia held most of the advantages. The Aussies should be confident going into the World Cup as the Socceroos displayed consistent play against a side that almost made the World Cup, but Australia are still not favored to advance from their group.

Saudi Arabia:

• Saudi Arabia versus Ecuador from Murcia, Spain

Saudi Arabia played very well in their 0-0 tie against Ecuador. Saudi Arabia and Qatar are both scheduling friendly matches throughout October and November as all their players play in their own domestic leagues. This means Saudi Arabia will get better as they get closer to the World Cup. With Mexico and Poland both not playing at their best recently, a very good Saudi Arabia could upset these nations to advance out of Group C. The other nation in their group is Argentina which has been playing very well.

• Saudi Arabia versus USA from Murcia, Spain

Saudi Arabia probably should have won against the USA, but still were unimpressive in their 0-0 tie. Saudi Arabia displayed they are able to compete with World Cup teams during this international break, but they did not display they could beat World Cup level teams.

Qatar:

• Qatar versus Croatia U-23 from Weiner Neustadt, Austria

Croatia u-23 defeated Qatar 3-0. This match displayed that Qatar needs to keep playing more and more to be able to compete and possibly get back up to their 2019 Asia Cup Champions level or their 2021 Gold Cup Semi-finals level. Qatar works like a club team, and they will have a lot more friendlies coming up. As they play more and more, expect Qatar to get much better. As for Croatia u-23, how is this team that good? While Croatia’s senior team is so good, it would be a very good match for them to beat Qatar 3-0. Zlatko Dalić may have to look at this Croatia u-23 team and take some with him to Qatar if they are this good.

• Canada versus Qatar from Vienna, Austria

Qatar lost to Canada, 0-2, but it should have been a lot worse. Not only does Qatar’s uniforms look worse, so does their team. But, luckily for Qatar, because all their national team plays in the Qatari League, they will continue to play for the Qatar National Team for the next two months prior to the World Cup in training and friendlies. The Qataris hope this will bring back their momentum to start winning again by the time they play their first match in Group A.

• Chile versus Qatar from Vienna, Austria

Qatar looked much better against Chile. Despite Chile not being a World Cup team, they are still the nation that was Top 4 just five years ago. This team has lots of talent, and would probably be favored to advance from Group A, or at least with Senegal be battling for #2. So, Qatar’s 2-2 tie displayed Qatar’s high level of play they are capable of playing. Also, Qatar showed lots of effort. For Qatar to advance out of Group A with the Netherlands, Ecuador, and Senegal, Qatar will need to be willing to put pressure on each nation that tries to play from the back, and will need to display lots of running. Qatar is lucky too because just like Saudi Arabia, both sides will continue to play friendlies through the next two months before the World Cup starts. This means we should see improvements from Qatar to the point where they may advance out of Group A.

Power Rankings for this International Break:

1. Brazil
2. Argentina
3. Netherlands
4. Croatia
5. France
6. Spain
7. Portugal
8. Denmark
9. Belgium
10. Germany
11. England
12. Serbia
13. Switzerland
14. Iran
15. Uruguay
16. Japan
17. Senegal
18. Costa Rica
19. South Korea
20. Mexico
21. Ecuador
22. Wales
23. Canada
24. Morocco
25. Poland
26. Australia
27. Saudi Arabia
28. USA
29. Tunisia
30. Qatar
31. Cameroon
32. Ghana

Power Rankings since after the 2018 FIFA World Cup:

1. Brazil
2. Argentina
3. France
4. Portugal
5. England
6. Belgium
7. Spain
8. Denmark
9. Netherlands
10. Uruguay
11. Croatia
12. USA
13. Mexico
14. Switzerland
15. Germany
16. Senegal
17. Serbia
18. Qatar
19. Iran
20. Canada
21. Morocco
22. Wales
23. Saudi Arabia
24. Japan
25. South Korea
26. Poland
27. Ecuador
28. Tunisia
29. Costa Rica
30. Australia
31. Cameroon
32. Ghana

You may know the North American nation of Greenland for the well-known common tale of how Greenland and Iceland were named to confuse future conquerers?

Or perhaps, you know Greenland because you really like polar bears and glaciers?

Or maybe you are a map enthusiast and are drawn to its sheer deceiving size?

There are of course other reasons for knowing Greenland such as their (US) American/NATO Military Bases like Thule Air Base of the US Space Force, as well as for other siginicant or popular reasons such as when former US President Donald Trump offerred to buy Greenland and then Conan O’Brien in went to Greenland.

But, unless you are a team handball enthusiast, I doubt you know Greenland because of sporting excellance.

Suffice to say, there are many fun facts to know about Greenland, but their sports scene is almost completely unknown to the common person.

But, why is this?

Due to its political classification as a constituent country of the Kingdom of Denmark, or in other words, a non-sovereign state, Greenland like other effective dependencies are not automatic shoe-ins for the world governing bodies. And therefore, Greenland often does not feature in major sporting events and often does not even have the chance to.

For example, they are not an IOC member and cannot compete in the Olympics, they are not a FIFA (association football) member and cannot compete in the World Cup, let alone World Cup Qualifications, and they are not members of FIBA (basketball), FIVB (volleyball), UCI (cycling), ITTF (table tennis), and plenty of other sporting federations that even the most obscure nations like Montserrat and Anguilla tend to be a part of.

The reasons for this are that nations like Greenland often have to have extra reasons to be admitted into these great sporting federations because they lack this independence so crucial to the way we understand national teams today. And therefore, any splots on their record and Greenland are almost guaranteed not to be allowed to join.

Despite these limitations, many national associations exist in sporting federations like FIFA that are in the same or similar political situations to Greenland.

For example, US-Territory Puerto Rico is one of the best baseball nations on the planet, and they compete independently of the USA in international baseball and most other sports like their famous basketball team too. They are also an IOC and FIFA member.

Another example would be French Polynesia usually denominated using the name, Tahiti, its biggest and most popular island. Despite being a French administrative division, Tahiti competes in most sports from FIFA to FIBA to the IOC. In fact, for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, Tahiti will host the surfing competition.

Lastly, and most notably in FIFA are the home nations of the UK, in the same status as Greenland as constituent countries, but of a different sovereign country. These are England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland who all compete as different nations in FIFA due to historic and talent reasons. These nations are all part of Great Britain in the IOC so for Olympic Football, they compete as Great Britain, with Northern Ireland players able to choose between Great Britain or Ireland.

And, like these home nations, other constituent countries already exist in FIFA too such as those of the Kingdom of the Netherlands: the Netherlands, Curaçao, and Aruba.

And closer to home are the constituent countries a part of the Kingdom of Denmark that are FIFA members: Denmark and the Faroe Islands.

Only in Greenland’s (Danish) and Sint Maarten’s (Dutch) cases are constituent countries not members of FIFA and even in Sint Maarten’s case, their soccer association is a CONCACAF member.

So, what makes Greenland’s and Sint Maarten’s case different?

Timing!

For example, in UEFA’s case (Europe), UEFA created a rule at the turn of the century that made having statehood membership in the UN a requirement. But, those that were already members or already applied to be members did not have to worry about this ruling. As such, England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and the Faroe Islands continued to be members. Denmark and the Netherlands, despite being constituent countries as well, are seen as sovereign-states in this context because if their other constituent countries did not have national teams, then these two would still compete under these names and their flags as the sovereign-state. As is, most people view these national teams in this way. So, they do not really count for this conversation.

In addition, this allowed Gibraltar to become a member in 2016, because Gibraltar had applied for membership in 1999 before the rule change.

But, Greenland did not apply before the turn of the century, and therefore Greenland is not eligible for UEFA membership.

Therefore, Greenland is now looking to CONCACAF which makes the most sense anyway, considering the nation is in North America. This is why they have submitted their application to join CONCACAF earlier this year.

However, CONCACAF requires a 3,000 seat stadium and a certain distance between the stadium and an international airport, which the current national stadium does not provide. Luckily, Greenland is expected to have a domed stadium that would fit these requirements. They just need the funding. And, Nuuk International Airport is expanding which will close the distance. With CONCACAF stamp legitimacy, funding will be easier to obtain too.

While the new domed stadium is being built, Greenland would have an opportunity to play in Canada, the USA, or even Iceland similar to how other nations have played in neighboring nations like Gibraltar did in Portugal until 2020 (competitively).

As to their political status, Greenland should be completely fine as many national team members are less politically independent within CONCACAF and many of those nations have been admitted recently such as Bonaire last decade. Bonaire is a special municipality of the constituent country of the Netherlands with inside the Kingdom of the Netherlands, so its admission signals that Greenland politically has a high chance to earn CONCACAF membership.

But, then there is the geographical and competitive structures. As to the first point, the tale of Greenland’s and Iceland’s names, this has to do with why Greenland has failed to earn both CONCACAF and FIFA membership.

Up until 2004, FIFA required nations to have a natural grass pitches which Greenland was incapable of growing. Most of Greenland’s pitches were sand and gravel.

However, since 2004, FIFA allows nations to use specified and approved artificial turf as a playing surface which Greenland started to put into their soccer communities in 2010, and at their current national stadium in 2016. Now there are many more all over the island.

In terms of competition, despite their league being very short, only a week long, their competition actually lasts much longer regionally to get to this national level due to geographic reasons. The nation is the world’s largest island geographically, and there are not many transportation options that are safe or do not cost a lot. In other FIFA nations like Liechtenstein, their national championship is not very interactive either because unlike Greenland, Liechtenstein only has a Cup. Their clubs play in the Swiss Leagues for league competition. These comparisons bode well for Greenland’s application to FIFA and the potential allegations waged at them that could be used as reasons to preclude them from FIFA membership.

Furthermore, there are over 39 clubs and 5,000 players, in a nation of more than 55,000 people when looking at Greenland Football. This means around 10% of the country plays association football, a very high number that surpasses the likes of Guatemala which often ranks toward the top of the list of association football players per capita, usually only behind Germany.

These numbers are much more impressive than many CONCACAF and FIFA members, so these are good numbers to present to FIFA and CONCACAF.

Therefore, Greenland does look likely to become a CONCACAF member, especially if their new dome is even more planned out and CONCACAF is able to see real validity in these claims.

Not only this, but Greenland has a talent level superseding many in CONCACAF already according to Danish coaches such as their head coach who has said that Greenland performs at a Danish 3rd tier level. Once Greenland achieves CONCACAF membership, this level of play is expected to increase as the Greenlandic people will have more funding to build more infrastructure to play more, and will be able to better recruit their diaspora to their national team, such as those based in mainland Denmark.

And, with regards to FIFA, Greenland appears to have what it needs to join, outside of one important factor missing, and that is that FIFA has an independent country restriction now too.

Yet, there are no disputes about Greenland’s political status and therefore, it is highly unlikely that a Greenland application will draw much push back. The only pushback will be from other nations in similar positions wishing to be included who will use Greenland as a reason they should be included.

However, outside of a few sovereign states that are not member nations of FIFA like Monaco for example, most of these other would be FIFA members have less self-governance than Greenland, leaving a good argument for FIFA to use against letting in more of these nations. Only the Dutch constituent country of Sint Maarten has an equivalent status to Greenland and is not a FIFA member, as well as Niue (New Zealand) which is in another peculiar non-sovereign country status.

Therefore, Greenland’s application status is very likely to be accepted, at the very least by CONCACAF, especially if these new improvements to their footballing infrastructure are as true as they advertise. And as a CONCACAF member, Greenland would be very close to earning FIFA membership, if not inmideately.

This would not be completely foreign to Greenland though.

Greenland is one of North America’s best team handball nations and is a member of the IHF. This allowed Greenland to qualify for the 2001, 2003, and 2007 World Championships.

These exploits may not be likely to be matched in association football, but with more investment, there is a good chance we could see Greenland at least try for these seemingly unattainable goals.

For now, the Greenland Football Association (KAK) is independent and competes in various competitions like the Island Games. They used to be a part of CONIFA, a FIFA like federation for non-FIFA member nations such as Kiribati, Northern Cyrpus, Easter Island, Hawaii, Chagos Islands, and Kárpátalja.

FIFA has banned the All Indian Football Federation (AIFF) which means India will not be allowed to compete in any FIFA or Asian Football Confederation (AFC) competitions for this indefinite period of time.

Why was India Banned?

India was banned “due to undue influence from third parties, which constitutes a serious violation of the FIFA Statutes.“

This third party was the Indian Supreme Court who had disbanded the AIFF earlier this year in May, due to their delayed elections for new leadership that were scheduled for December 2020. FIFA and the AFC responded with an ultimatum that would include an amendment to AIFF statutes and planned elections for 15 September 2022 latest.

The Supreme Court had set up a 3-man Committee of Administrators (CoA) that included a retired Supreme Court judge and on 3 August, the Supreme Court ruled that the AIFF needed to conduct a swift election. The CoA also are now controlling the Federation per Supreme Court orders over the AIFF Executive Committee.

These actions banned the AIFF because according to FIFA rules, member national federations like the AIFF for India must be free from legal and political interference in their respective countries. Currently, the Supreme Court appears to be in control of the AIFF.

When did the Ban Happen?

The ban happened 15 August.

What are the immideate ramifications of this ban?

The immediate ramifications are that the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup 2022 that was scheduled to be hosted by India in October is removed from India for now.

In addition to this, Indian National Teams for either men’s or women’s and for all age groups will not be able to play in FIFA or AFC matches while the ban is in place.

This also applies to Indian clubs playing in AFC or FIFA competitions.

There will still be able to be competition within India though, so the domestic club season will continue, such that the Durand Cup and Indian Super League will still be played.

What needs to happen to lift the ban?

FIFA and the AFC had created a road map with Indian Football representatives following the issues earlier this May with Supreme Court interference. They had set up a path for the AIFF to hold elections and truly regain their independent and free governing status.

However, following this August Supreme Court interference, FIFA in conjuction with the AFC issued a statement: “AIFF was to call for a special general assembly in the first week of August 2022 to approve the new statute worked upon with FIFA, the AFC and the Indian football community. Unfortunately, we have been informed that the Supreme Court’s hearing held yesterday on the situation of the AIFF allegedly resulted in deviations to the aforementioned roadmap. If this is considered to be true, it would irrefutably jeopardise the mutual understanding which was displayed so far on the steps forward.“

Therefore, in order for the AIFF to have their suspension lifted, the AIFF must regain their free and independent administrative function and thus their executive committee needs to be reinstated and replace the CoA. This is what FIFA wrote: “The suspension will be lifted once an order to set up a committee of administrators to assume the powers of the AIFF Executive Committee has been repealed and the AIFF administration regains full control of the AIFF’s daily affairs.”

Who is to blame for this debacle?

According to many across the Indian Football community, the main person to blame is Praful Patel, the former AIFF President. He stayed in office past his term without elections and this is what propelled the Supreme Court to make their decisions and cause their interference.

Many in Praful Patel’s opposition accuse him of seeking the President of the AIFF office for life, without challengers. He had been in charge for 13 years, despite there being a limit on only three four year terms.

Praful Patel is also the person who is alleged to have written the letter that would ban the AIFF from FIFA and it is rumored he was even part of the FIFA panel that unanimously banned the AIFF from FIFA.

And now, the CoA has filed a petition of contempt of the court against Praful Patel due to his activities to undermine the Supreme Court’s rulings. In addition to working from with inside FIFA and through media channels, Praful Patel also has been engaging with the state football associations in India to use their collective force to upend the CoA control of the AIFF to demand a re-implementation of AIFF Executive Committee control.

But, the Supreme Court still interfered in the AIFF affairs which is clearly against the rules. Therefore, despite Praful Patel allegedly being in the wrong, the Supreme Court is completely in the wrong for interfering so much.

However, how is a country supposed to enforce their own national federation’s rules if the national federation does not? Unfortunately, the proper channels often lead to inaction for many years. Nonetheless, the proper channels must be gone through because or else, you leave federation statuses up to the whims of politics, and many countries are very authoritarian. This would risk the independence and freedom of national football associations/federations in the future if India, a democratic and republic, would be allowed to have third parties via legal or politics interfere in their own association football federation.

Conclusion:

An agreement needs to be reached fast so that the AIFF might be allowed to negotiate to continue hosting the U-17 Women’s World Cup this October, and so that all the other national teams and clubs can continue to develop with competition from outside India.

As of now, it appears that the quickest way would be to put the AIFF administration back into power.

But, in the long term, if some of these actors are this bad and corrupt, it may be best to continue this disagreement until a fair agreement is reached.

In my opinion, I would bring the AIFF back in charge, host the U-17 World Cup, and then re-engage with this power struggle in Novemeber during the 2022 FIFA World Cup when India will not be playing meaningful international football much.

2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifying Matches during the June Window:

Europe (UEFA):

Matches Played; Wins-Draws-Losses; Goal Differential; Goals For-Goals Against; Points

Second Round: The Group Runners-Ups from the First Round advanced to the Second Round of Qualifiers. The Top 2 2020-2021 UEFA Nations League Group Winners, who are neither Group Winners or Group Runners-Ups, advanced to the Second Round of Qualifiers, which is comprised of three four team playoff single-elimination semi-finals, with randomized chosen hosts for the semi-final and final. The three final winners of these four playoff semi-finals Qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. For the June 2022 window, only Pathway A was still to be decided, with only Wales-Austria Semi-final having been played.

Path A:

Matches from this Past Window:

Home Team Score Away Team Score:

Semi-finals:

Scotland 1 Ukraine 3

Final:

Wales 1 Ukraine 0

Analysis:

Wales: Wales were fantastic to Qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, having beaten Austria 2-1 in March at home in the Path A Semi-finals, and then defeating a good Ukrainian side 1-0 at home in the Path A Final in June. However, despite this victory in June, Wales did not look very good, only winning from an own goal by Ukraine. Ukraine dominated the match outshooting Wales 22 (9) to 10 (3) and holding 68% of the possession. In Wales other matches, in the UEFA Nations League A Group 4, Wales has suffered a terrible June Window! Wales lost to Poland away 1-2, but in an even match where Wales was only out possessed 44% to 56% and outshot 14 (2) to 15 (3). Their next Nations League match saw Wales lose at home in the last moments to the Netherlands. The Netherlands had been leading 1-0 since the 50th Minute, and then Wales scored late in the 90th Minute +2, only for the Dutch to score in the 90th Minute +4 to win 2-1! Wales were better on the shot count 8 (3) to 8 (2) and only lost out on the possession battle 43% to 57%. Wales next match was home to Belgium, and in this match, Wales scored a late goal in the 86th Minute to draw 1-1, outshooting Belgium 14 (2) to 9 (4) and being out possessed 36% to 64%. Wales last match of the June Window saw the Welsh lose an away match against the Netherlands 2-3, again in the dying moments. The Netherlands went up early 2-0 (17th and 23rd Minute), before Wales scored in the 26th Minute to keep the score 1-2. Wales then scored in the 90th Minute +2, only for Memphis Depay to score for The Flying Dutchmen in the 90th Minute +3. The Dutch dominated the stats outshooting Wales 22 (7) to 9 (4) and earning 60% of the possession. Wales currently sit at the bottom of their Group with 1 Point, while the Dutch have 10, Belgium has 7, and Poland has 4. While this is a tough group with all national teams being 2022 FIFA World Cup teams, it does signal that Wales is not a strong team in its current form. But, likewise, this June Window also displays that Wales can hang with any team. The Welsh are good enough to beat and lose to most teams in Group B for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and they will be looking to get more competitive matches in time to play the USA, IR Iran, and England. Wales count on Real Madrid super star Gareth Bale to provide leadership and attacking ability to this Group B as arguably the best player in the Group. This will be only the second time for the Welsh to feature in the FIFA World Cup, their last edition being in 1958. However, Welsh Football predates most national teams and Wales has won the pre-cursor to the World Cup many times, and henceforth, does have a history of being the best football nation in the world on certain years.

Ukraine: Ukraine was the most talented team in Path A, and their elimination from the 2022 FIFA World Cup leaves Ukraine wondering what can their national football program push for next. Ukraine messed up having not won enough in the First Round, finishing 2-6-0. Had Ukraine won some more of those matches, they most likely would have never had to go through this extra qualifier. Ukraine were the better side than Wales, but failed to display it on the scoreboard. Ukraine’s June Window featured a 3-1 away victory over Scotland in which the Ukrainians dominated the shot count and possession, and their 0-1 loss to Wales away in 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers. In the UEFA Nations League B Group 1, Ukraine had a good away victory over the Republic of Ireland 1-0 where the shot count was almost even, and the possession count favored Ukraine. Ukraine followed up this win with a 3-0 thrashing of Armenia with all goals coming in the 2nd Half. Ukraine’s final match in the June Window was a 1-1 home draw in Poland against the Republic of Ireland in which the Irish struck first in the 31st Minute, but the Ukrainians answered back in the 47th Minute. Ukraine dominated the possession, but the shot count was almost completely even. Ukraine sits on top of their Group 1 with 7 Points, followed by Scotland (6), the Republic of Ireland (4), and Armenia (3).

Scotland: Scotland should be disappointed with their loss in the Path A Semi-final, as the Scottish had enough firepower to really win that match but never showed up. Scotland’s loss at home that led to elimination from the 2022 FIFA World Cup was met with a good display in the UEFA Nations League B Group 1. Scotland started off with a 2-0 thumping of Armenia at home, where the Scottish dominated the shot count 27 (6) to 4 (3) and held 72% possession. However, the Scottish probably should have won by more. Scotland’s next match was a 0-3 loss away to the Republic of Ireland, in a match which saw the Scottish dominate possession and total shots. But, the Republic of Ireland were much more efficient dominating shots on target and goals, the most important statistic. Scotland finished out their June campaign with a 4-1 away win over Armenia, where this time, the Scottish were quite efficient as they only had 14 shots and 7 on target, but scored 4 goals. They also held 70% of the possession. Armenia, however, were also better in the attack having 9 shots and 4 on target, and were actually up after the 6th Minute until Scotland scored a 14th Minute equalizer, followed by goals in the 45th +1 Minute, in the 50th Minute, and in the 53rd Minute.

Asia (AFC):

Matches Played; Wins-Draws-Losses; Goal Differential; Goals For-Goals Against; Points

Fourth Round: The Third Round Group A and Group B 3rd Place Teams play each other in a one-off match held in neutral Qatar with the winner advancing to the the Intercontinental Playoff to play the South American Fifth Place for one of the last two Qualification Spots at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Fourth Round:

Matches from this Past Window:

Home Team Score Away Team Score:

UAE 1 Australia 2

Analysis:

Australia: Due to Australia having advanced to the Intercontinental Playoff with Peru, we will analyze Australia in the next section.

UAE: The UAE started their June Window at the end of May with a home 1-1 draw against The Gambia. This match was not impressive for the Emiratis who often demand that their nation at least play at a level resembling World Cup level. And this is what the Emiratis delivered against the Aussies in the Fourth Round one-off match in Qatar, where the Emiratis and Australians had been tied for most of the match, barring 4 minutes where Australia led 1-0 (53rd Minute-56th Minute) prior to the UAE’s 57th Minute Goal! The UAE dominated possession 55% to 45%, and the shot count was relatively even, 6 (4) to 8 (4). The UAE played above their level against the Australians, but unfortunately, this was not enough as the Socceroos scored in the 84th Minute to win this match and advance to the Inter-confederation Playoff. The UAE would be eliminated from the 2022 FIFA World Cup, but their hopes to Qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the USA, Mexico, and Canada should be rekindled given how good their performance was against Australia, and given that the 2026 FIFA World Cup will be expanded to 48 teams. There is a lot to look forward to for Emirati Football.

FIFA:

FIFA Inter-confederation Playoffs:

The FIFA Inter-confederation Playoffs (also called the Intercontinental Playoffs) featured the Asian Fifth Place Team, Australia, playing the South American Fifth Place Team, Peru, and the North American Fourth Place Team, Costa Rica, playing the Oceanian First Place Team, New Zealand, with both matches happening in neutral Qatar in a one-off match. The Winners of these two matches Qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup!

FIFA Inter-confederation Playoffs:

Matches from this Past Window:

Home Team Score Away Team Score:

Australia 0 (5-4 in Penalty Kick Shootouts) Peru 0

Costa Rica 1 New Zealand 0

Analysis:

Australia: Australia must be overjoyed to have Qualified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, with the Socceroos making a 6th straight appearance at a FIFA Men’s World Cup. Despite having to comeback, Australia started off their June Window in dominating campaign defeating Jordan 2-1 in a friendly in Qatar, outshooting the Jordanians 15 (5) to 5 (1) and out possessing their opponents 60% to 40%. While the scoreline may not show it, this match was a really good display by Australia. Australia, however, did not make their Fourth Round easy as the Emiratis dominated possession and kept the shot count almost even. The Australians would score in the 53rd Minute, only for the UAE to score in the 57th Minute. The deciding moment came in the 84th Minute when Ajdin Hrustic scored the match winning goal for the Socceroos who went onto win 2-1. Australia’s last match of the June Window came against Peru in the Inter-confederation playoffs. Australia was picked by most experts to lose and were the clear underdogs. However, despite this, Australia came out firing on all cylinders against their South American opponents. Australia would out shoot Peru 11 (2) to 10 (1), and held 47% of the possession. Australia’s defense and overall play allowed the Aussies to extend the match into Extra Time and then Penalty Kick Shootouts. Australia’s Andrew Redmayne would be subbed in for the Penalty Kick Shooutout as a goalkeeping specialist. This proved to be pivotal as Andrew Redmayne would save the 6th shot from Peru and Australia would Qualify via a 5-4 victory on penalty kick shootouts after a 0-0 result through 120 Minutes. Australia displayed their hunger to keep surviving and advancing in these two World Cup Qualifying one-off matches, as well as their poise. This should serve them well in the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Australia will join France, Denmark, and Tunisia, and given their display in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and their display in the June Window, Australia should really believe they can finish Top 2 in Group D.

Costa Rica: Costa Rica started off their June Window very suspect, having lost away to Panama 0-2 in the CONCACAF Nations League A Group B. This was payback as Costa Rica took the Inter-confederation spot instead of Panama earlier this year. Panama dominated Costa Rica 15 (4) to 7 (1) on shots, and held 60% possession. This thorough domination by Panama signaled a weakness in Costa Rica. Costa Rica’s next match was a 2-0 win over Martinique, and while it was a win, it was very unimpressive, as Costa Rica and Martinique practically shared the same shot count, and Costa Rica needed a goal until the 87th Minute to secure a 2-0 lead and thus the eventual win. Thus, Costa Rica went into the Inter-confederation Playoff Semi-final with not a lot of confidence from the surrounding supporters. Costa Rica struck first in this match 1-0 via a goal by Joel Campbell in the 3rd Minute. However, after this, the Costa Ricans mainly defended. The Costa Ricans were out shot 4 (3) to 15 (4) and out possessed 33% to 67%. Costa Rica successfully did defend the rest of the match, mostly, and kept the 1-0 lead until the final whistle, as Costa Rica Qualified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup! Costa Rica should look to improve and not become complacent. With their own domestic league, there are plenty of up and coming players and Costa Rica should develop more of these players and not be afraid to start them over the old guard. Costa Rica started off horribly during their 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, but over this last year, Costa Rica has morphed into a super team having lost only one match in 2022, winning 8 of the 9 other matches even if in not so pretty circumstances such as being outplayed by New Zealand. Costa Rica should expect nothing less than to advance out of their Group E, but in reality, Spain, Germany, and Japan will prove very difficult and almost no one besides the Costa Ricans will have Costa Rica advancing to the knockout rounds from this Group, with many probably picking Costa Rica to finish last in Group E.

Peru: Peru had a very bad June Window for the expectations placed on to them following their 5th Place finish in the South American Qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Peru was expected to dominate their June Window, but they did anything but that. Peru would play New Zealand in a friendly in neutral Spain in a match which many would have expected Peru to win by multiple goals in comfortable style, but instead, Peru had to wait until the 69th Minute to go up 1-0, and only won 1-0, with the shot count being 8 (1) to 2 (2) with New Zealand having more shots on target, but Peru dominating the total shots, and with Peru having 63% possession. Peru should have scheduled another friendly but their federation seems to have made a huge blunder, because playing New Zealand was not good enough preparation for Australia, and Australia would defeat Peru in penalty kick shootouts to eliminate Peru from the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Peru should be massively disappointed and from the looks of the supporters, they are! In Peru’s defense, it did look like Australia’s goalkeeper for the shootout had stepped across the line with both feet before Peru’s first miss, while Peru was up, and if this did happen, then a re-kick should have happened. But, on second look, it appears at least one foot stayed on the line. Either way, Peru should have won in regular time.

New Zealand: New Zealand will most likely Qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup because next World Cup, with 48 teams, Oceania gets 1 automatic team in the World Cup, plus 1 spot in the Inter-confederation Playoffs. Now, while I do believe Australia should come back to Oceania because that is the continent they are in, it appears that Australia likes the Asian challenge and thus, New Zealand will probably get this top spot. As it is, New Zealand proved very good in their June Window. New Zealand narrowly lost to Peru in neutral Spain, and then tied probably the 7th best team in Asia right now, Oman, 0-0 in neutral Qatar, followed by their narrow 0-1 defeat to Costa Rica, North America’s 4th best team, in the Inter-confederation Playoff. New Zealand will fill robbed to have not tied Costa Rica as they had a goal called off from a VAR check to tie the match at 1-1, and thus would lose 0-1 as a result, eliminating them from 2022 FIFA World Cup. But, New Zealand’s play against these three teams suggests that New Zealand could have been competitive at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, which is really of no surprise when you see that their roster includes some Serie A, Turkish Süper Lig, and Premier League players, including one of the best strikers in national team football, Newcastle United’s Chris Wood. And, the last time New Zealand was in the World Cup finals, New Zealand went undefeated and were the only team to do so, as they finished 0-3-0 in 2010.

National Team Updates for the national teams who already Qualified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in the previous windows of Qualifications:

Europe (UEFA):

Germany: Germany looks to be a very competitive team for the 2022 FIFA World Cup coming off of a June Window which saw the 4 time World Cup Champions go 1-3-0. Germany was playing in the UEFA Nations League A Group 3. Germany opened up against Italy drawing away, 1-1, having dominating the possession with 68%, and outshooting the Italians 12 (4) to 11 (2). Germany’s next match saw the Germans draw at home 1-1 against England. England dominated the shot count 15 (6) to 10 (6), but the Germans once against dominated possession with 63%. Germany was up from the 50th Minute, until the 88th Minute when England’s Harry Kane scored a penalty kick goal. Germany’s next match was a come from behind draw away to Hungary, where Germany actually was only down for 3 minutes. Hungary scored in the 6th Minute, and then Germany scored in the 9th Minute, and that was it, 1-1. Germany dominated the possession with 68% of it, but did not do much with it, as the Hungarians dominated the shot count 11 (7) to 6 (1), and probably should have won. This Hungarian side is very good right now, and had they played like this from the start of the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers in Europe, Hungary would also be going to the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Germany’s last match was a 5-2 home win over Italy where Germany outshot the Italians 17 (9) to 14 (6), and out possessed Italy 66% to 34%. Germany sits in 2nd Place in Group 3 with 6 Points, behind Hungary with 7 Points, and in front of Italy with 5 Points and England with 1 Point. Germany will join Spain, Japan, and Costa Rica in Group E at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and will be favored to advance to the knockout rounds. Depending on their results in September, Germany will either be favored #2 or #1 in the Group, but right now, Spain is probably favored to top Group E.

Denmark: Denmark had a very good June Window going 3-0-1 to lead their UEFA Nations League A Group 1, with 9 Points, followed by Croatia with 7 Points, Austria with 4 Points, and France with 2 Points. Denmark started off with a 2-1 comeback away win over France thanks to 68th Minute and 88th Minute goals by Andreas Cornelius. Denmark, however, was thoroughly outplayed with France dominating the shot count 19 (6) to 8 (5), and holding 60% of the possession. Next, Denmark would defeat Austria away, 2-1, after a late 84th Minute winning goal by Jens Styger Larsen. Denmark, however, was again outshot 17 (1) to 8 (6), and out possessed 55% to 45%. Denmark’s next match was a 0-1 loss at home against defending World Cup Runners-up, Croatia, a match in which Denmark actually outshot Croatia 14 (1) to 9 (2), but Croatia held 52% possession. Denmark’s next match was a 2-0 home win over Austria, their best match yet where Denmark out shout the Austrians 15 (6) to 9 (2) and held 54% possession. Denmark has been playing so well over the last 4 years, advancing to the 2020 UEFA European Championship Semi-finals, having finished 9-0-1 in 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifying for Europe, and now, so far leading their 2022-2023 UEFA Nations League Group. But, these results were not as dominating as they probably should have been. Denmark continues to have good attacking efficiency, minus in their defeat at home to Croatia, but the Danish continue to be outplayed overall. Denmark will be in Group D at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, will they will play defending World Cup Champions France, Australia, and Tunisia. Denmark looks like the clear favorites to not only advance from the Group, but also win the Group. However, their overall match play suggests that these other 3 nations can defeat Denmark, and unlike in the European Championships, only the Top 2 can advance and Denmark will need to play better, especially as France will surely be improved by that time.

France: France did not play well during their June Window as evident from their last place standing in their UEFA Nations League A Group 1, with only 2 Points, behind Austria (4), Croatia (7), and Denmark (9). France is finally not getting all of the 50/50 calls, and with this has seen France struggle to win. In the 2018 FIFA World Cup, France was bailed out by bad calls against Australia in their opening match, and in other matches most notably against Croatia in the Final. These bad calls allowed France’s lack luster play to be enough. But, France should be playing better as they had against a lot of the teams in that 2018 FIFA World Cup, as they had in the 2016 UEFA European Championship, and most recently in the 2020-2021 UEFA Nations League which they won. But, France should not be depending on a penalty kick decision from a referee in order to win or not lose. France should really be winning more of their matches, and in the 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers and in the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers for Europe, we saw that had other nations done better themselves like they should have, France would have had to go through that extra round of qualifiers. France opened up their June Window with their 1-2 loss at home to Denmark. Ironically, France actually did dominate this match, but lost. Their next match was a very even match where the French tied Croatia 1-1 with the shot count being in favor of the Croatians 8 (5) to 7 (5) and the possession being in favor of the French, 52% to 48%, but unlike in year’s past, the Croatians would get a penalty kick call against the French late into the match, and Andrej Kramarić scored the goal from the spot in the 83rd Minute. To be fair, Croatia should have won this match and missed many opportunities, but so did the French as well. Still, the point is the French left the match open until the very end, and one call against them meant a win became a draw. Against Austria away, France then had to comeback down 0-1 from the 37th Minute until Kylian Mbappé scored in the 83rd Minute to tie the match at 1-1. France dominated the possession 60% to 40% and the shot count 15 (7) to 5 (4). Then, in their next match, the French lost to the Croatians for the first time, 0-1, in a home match for the French as well. The Croatians got a dubious penalty kick awarded to them very early and Luka Modrić scored the penalty kick to put Croatia up 1-0. The French had a call then go against them that looked like a clear penalty in the box, and thus, bad officiating decisions on just two calls canceled out a French goal and gave Croatia a goal, almost as bad as the officiating in the 2018 FIFA World Cup Final which gave France 2 goals and canceled out a Croatian goal on a bad no call on a penalty in the box for Croatia. Overall, I think the French would take this tradeoff. The French once again dominated the shot count 17 (4) to 4 (3) and the possession 54% to 46%, but they lacked efficiency in the attack! For the French, generally they have ultimate efficiency like the Danish. France will play in Group E at the 2022 FIFA World Cup against Denmark, Tunisia, and Australia. While the French were favored to go 3-0-0 before this June Window, now, the French look like they could go 0-0-3 given how good Denmark, Australia, and Tunisia played in June. The worst thing for the French though, is that they held such a huge psychological battle over the Croatians prior to this 0-1 loss as the French had never lost to the Croatians before, despite Croatia having beaten big name teams like Spain and Germany in UEFA European Championships and FIFA World Cups. This may not seem like a big deal, until you realize that both of France’s World Cup Championships came via a Semi-final victory over Croatia in 1998 and a Final victory over Croatia in 2018. If France meets Croatia in the 2022 knockout rounds, Croatia will be much tougher for France than before.

Belgium: Belgium started off their June campaign horrifically losing to the Netherlands 1-4 at home being outshot 13 (6) to 15 (7) and having equal possession. This loss signaled the greatest weakness for Belgium and that is that Belgium is very reliant on the efficiency of their attack given that their defense is often quite weak, which is usually compounded by their formation that leaves their defense even more vulnerable. Well, the Belgians immediately fixed this attacking efficiency problem and defeated Poland at home, 6-1, dominating the shot count 16 (11) to 6 (2) and the possession 66% to 34%. Belgium’s next match in Wales saw Belgium tie 1-1 in a not so impressive match being outshot 9 (4) to 14 (2) and only having 56% of the possession. Belgium’s next match was also not very impressive, but Belgium did win 1-0 away in Poland with 12 (4) shot to Poland’s 12 (2) shots and 69% possession to Poland’s 31% possession. Belgium displayed a good diversity in wins and draws which is good because it means Belgium is not one dimensional. But, Belgium sits off the pace of their UEFA Nations League A Group 4 with 7 Points, behind the Netherlands with 10 Points, and in front of Poland (4) and Wales (1). Belgium’s goal is to win the 2022 FIFA World Cup, so winning this Group is expected. At the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Belgium will be in Group F with Croatia, Morocco, and Canada. Morocco and Canada did not have good June Windows, but both are still very good, especially Canada who has very good counter-attacking abilities that will test out the often weak Belgium defense. Croatia had a good June Window, but are still not to their 2018 Runners-up level yet, making Belgium and Croatia dual favorites to win Group F as of now.

Croatia: Croatia was spending their June Window in the aforementioned UEFA Nations League A Group 1, where the Croatians has a series of firsts! First, Croatia really started off horribly losing to Austria 0-3 at home in Osijek losing to Austria for the first time in their history having beaten Austria the previous 5 times! Croatia had dominated the possession 61% to 39%, but no the shot count 13 (3) to 14 (8). Croatians were furious because Croatia had looked to finally be getting better following their disastrous 2020-2021 UEFA Nations League campaign. Croatia had not been too impressive these past 4 years, but had done enough to Qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, for the 2020 European Championship, and to stay in the UEFA Nations League A. Croatia followed up this loss with a 1-1 home draw in Split against France, their archenemies. Croatia barely had an advantage in the shot count 8 (5) to 7 (5), but also barely had a disadvantage in the possession 48% to 52%. Overall, it was an even match, which the Croatians probably should have won given some of their chances. Croatia followed up that performance with a 1-0 win away over Denmark, with Mario Pašalić scoring a 69th Minute match winning goal. The Croatians held the possession advantage at 52% just slightly, and the shots on target 2 to 1, but were outshot in total shots 9 to 14. It was a good away win over a nation that the Croatians tend to do well against. Croatia finished June beating France for the first time ever, 1-0 away! Croatia will take this victory with a lot of confidence that should allow Croatia to dream realistically about winning the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Croatia were outplayed by France and did win on dubious circumstances where Croatia got a penalty kick call that probably should have not happened, while France did not on a foul that probably should have led to a penalty kick. Nonetheless, Croatia finally won against the only nation in the world that seems to allude them, minus three South American teams, Brazil, Ecuador, and Peru, one African team, Tunisia, and one European team, Portugal. Croatia now sits in 2nd Place with 7 Points in Group 1, behind Denmark (9), and in front of Austria (4) and France (2). Croatia will expect to close out September by winning Group 1. Croatia’s 2022 FIFA World Cup Group is Group E, with Belgium, Morocco, and Canada. Croatia currently looks like the dual favorites with Belgium, and pending September results, will be expected to advance to the knockout rounds, possibly as the Group Winner. The best news for Croatia is that they beat France. All of the other teams they either know they can beat, or should beat, minus Brazil. Brazil is the only country left that Croatia may have psychological troubles with, but the others Croatia has yet to beat are merely just inconvenient truths than anything else.

Spain: Spain continues to look very solid for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Their June consisted of matches in the UEFA Nations League A Group 2. The only glaring issue that Spain keeps showing is their inability to close out wins. This issue showed up in their first match in which they dominated Portugal at home, outshooting Portugal 11 (2) to 7 (2) and holding 61% of the possession, as well as having been up 1-0 from the 25th Minute on. But, Portugal scored in the 82nd Minute, and the match finished 1-1. The Spaniards next match saw the Spanish dominate once again, with 80% possession and a shot count of 13 (5) to 3 (2), but Spain had to come back twice away to the Czech Republic with goals in the 45th Minute +3, and in the 90th Minute. This match showed that Spain is beatable, but their mentality to not lose keeps them always with touching distance of a draw if down. Still, for the domination on the ball and in shots, Spain should have won, and but at least 2 goals. Spain’s next match was a 1-0 win over Switzerland away, in match which Spain scored early in the 13th Minute. Spain held 66% possession, and outshot Switzerland barely 7 (3) to 7 (1). This was a good win for Spain because Switzerland is always so consistently difficult to beat. Spain’s final match this June was a comfortable 2-0 win at home over the Czech Republic, with goals coming in the 24th Minute and 75th Minute, with 76% of the possession and a shot count of 9 (4) to 7 (2). This was Spain’s most complete match of June, a solid victory. Spain leads Group 2 with 8 Points, followed by Portugal with 7 Points, the Czech Republic with 4 Points, and Switzerland with 3 Points. Spain will be playing in Group E at the 2022 FIFA World Cup against Germany, Japan, and Costa Rica. Spain is a favorite to advance from this Group with Germany, but I think Spain has to be extra careful in their opening match with Costa Rica. Spain tends to have close matches with teams from the Americas, partly because most of those countries have a history of their country, or at least part of their country being under Spain. It serves as an extra motivator, as a rivalry or derby.

Serbia: Serbia had a mixed bag of a June, starting off losing to Norway 0-1 with Norway’s Erling Haaland scoring the match winning goal. Serbia dominated the match, with 13 (5) shots to Norway’s 4 (2) shots, and Serbia held 67% possession at home. But, Erling Haaland is arguable the best striker in the world, a proposition Serbia will not have to face most likely at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and thus Serbia really had to score to get anything from this match and did not. In Serbia’s next match, Serbia made sure to score this time scoring 4 goals and defeating Slovenia 4-1 at home, with 61% possession and 17 (7) shots to 7 (2) shots. This was a World Cup Semi-finalist level display, and not that Serbia is expecting to get that far, but it really was. Serbia does have the talent to win the World Cup, but it definitely is not an expectation for them too. They also have never really been able to put these matches together in the World Cup, not as Serbia, and not under Serbia and Montenegro or Yugoslavia minus a few exceptions here and there. Serbia then went away to Sweden and got a 1-0 win, followed by a 2-2 draw away against Slovenia. Serbia led the shots on target category against Sweden 4-1, and had 56% of the possession, while against Slovenia, Serbia dominated the shots statistics 14 (6) to 7 (5) and the possession 58% to 42%. Serbia finished 2-1-1 in June, and now sits in 2nd Place in UEFA Nations League B Group 4 with 7 Points, behind Norway (10), and ahead of Sweden (3) and Slovenia (2). Serbia will play in Group G at the 2022 FIFA World Cup against Brazil, Switzerland, and Cameroon. After the June Window, Serbia appear as the clear favorites for the #2 spot in Group G after Brazil, and in front of Switzerland and Cameroon.

England: England had a bad June Window, finishing 0-2-2. England lost to Hungary away, 0-1, with the Hungarians dominated the shots on target 6-4, but England holding the most possession with 58% and shooting the most in total 12-11. This match was seen as an upset, but what was worrying is how Hungary held in tight with England in every category or bested them. England’s next match was a 1-1 away draw with archenemies Germany, a match in which England dominated the shots 15 (6) to 10 (6), but Germany dominated the possession 63% to 37%. It appeared England was back because an away draw against Germany is always considered quite good. England’s next match was a 0-0 home draw against defending European Champions, Italy, where England out shot (12 (4) to 8 (3)) and out possessed (60% to 40%) the Italians. England should have won this match, but did not. England finished out June with a 0-4 loss to Hungary at home, their worst loss since 1928, and a match in which England actually dominated the shots and possession at 10 (2) to 6 (5) and 69% to 31%. This form England is on is the worst type of form for England, because it is a style of play that will eliminate them in the Group Stage at the World Cup. England appears to be able to dominate, but still lose or draw due to inefficiency, and furthermore, are not able to beat the lower tiers of World Cup quality opposition, while being able to play out draws against the top tiers of World Cup quality. England will play in Group B in the 2022 FIFA World Cup against former British Colony the USA, against fellow British Constituent Country Wales, and against IR Iran. England is still probably considered the favorite to win Group B, but their June window would have gotten them eliminated.

Switzerland: Switzerland started off June with a dominating performance against the Czech Republic on the stat sheet with 63% possession to the Czechs 37%, and with 15 (7) shots to the Czechs 8 (3) shots, but the Czechs won 2-1 at home. Switzerland lost a match they should have won, and this plagued the Swiss into their next match away to Portugal where Portugal won 4-0, with 18 (10) shots to 5 (1), and with 55% possession to 45%. Switzerland then lost 0-1 at home to Spain, with Spain dominating the possession 66% to 34%, and slightly ahead on the shot count at 7 (3) to 7 (1). The Swiss’s last match was a 1-0 home win over Portugal which Portugal actually dominated with 20 (8) shots to 5 (2) and with 58% possession. Switzerland sits 1-0-3 with 3 Points in UEFA Nations League A Group 2 in last place, behind the Czech Republic (4), Spain (7), and Portugal (8). The Switzerland June Window taught the Swiss that they can still beat the big name teams, but that they struggle against the lower teams. Switzerland will play in Group G at the 2022 FIFA World Cup against Brazil, Serbia, and Cameroon. Judging based off of June, Switzerland will probably finished 3rd in Group G.

Netherlands: The Netherlands were spectacular in June going 3-1-0 to top Group 4 of the UEFA Nations League A thus far. The Netherlands dominated Belgium 4-0 in an away match followed by a 2-1 late win away in Wales, and a 2-2 draw at home against Poland. In this final match of June, the Netherlands again scored a last minute goal to defeat Wales at home 3-2. The Netherlands will play in Group A at the 2022 FIFA World Cup against Qatar, Senegal, and Ecuador, all matches the Netherlands should win, especially after this June Window. The Netherlands sits in first in Group 4 with 10 Points, followed by Belgium (7), Poland (4), and Wales (1). The Netherlands are a very complete team and are supplemented from a very good domestic league.

Portugal: Portugal had a mix bag June, starting off with an away draw to Iberian rivals, Spain, 1-1 in a match which the Spanish mostly dominated. The next match was a 4-0 home win over Switzerland in a very dominating performance for the Portuguese, followed by a 2-0 home win over the Czech Republic in which Portugal again dominated in shots in possession. Portugal’s final match however, was a let down, a Portugal lost away to Switzerland 0-1, with Portugal having the better statistics. Portugal sits in 2nd with 7 Points behind Spain with 10 Points, and in front of the Czech Republic with 4 Points and Switzerland with 3 Points. Portugal will play in Group H at the 2022 FIFA World Cup against Ghana, Uruguay, and South Korea. Portugal and Uruguay are the two clear favorites to advance, while Ghana and South Korea both seem quite a ways a way to advance. After June, this expectation looks to be even more true.

Poland: Poland was a side that needed to show elite play to convince critics they were a favorite to advance out of Group C at the 2022 FIFA World Cup against Argentina, Mexico, and Saudi Arabia. Luckily for Poland, both Mexico and Saudi Arabia did not look great in their June Windows, leaving many people to place Poland as the new #2 team in Group C. However, Poland also looked bad, and thus, no one really knows what to make out of the bottom 3 teams in the Group. Poland opened up UEFA Nations League A Group 4 with a 2-1 home win over Wales, having outshot 15 (3) to 14 (2) and out possessed 56% to 44% the Welsh. But, Poland then would lose 1-6 to Belgium away, where Belgium held 66% possession and had 18 (11) shots to Poland’s 6 (2). This signaled two things. One, Poland can be World Cup quality opposition, but two, Poland can lose big to elite nations. But, the other two nations in Group C both showed these same capabilities in June. Poland then did very well to draw 2-2 away against the Netherlands, a match in which the Polish were up by 2 goals. In their final match, the Polish lost to the Belgians at home, 0-1. Poland appears to have improved throughout June, but not enough to really solidify the expectation to finish #2, especially with how consistent Mexico tends to be in World Cup Group Stage play.

Qualified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup:

• Germany
• Denmark
• France
• Belgium
• Croatia
• Spain
• Serbia
• England
• Switzerland
• Netherlands
• Portugal
• Poland
• Wales

Asia (AFC):

Qatar (Hosts): Qatar did not play any matches in the June Window, a strategy not very smart for any side, let alone one which relies on continuity, familiarity, and chemistry within the team for success. Qatar will play in Group A at the 2022 FIFA World Cup against the Netherlands, Senegal, and Ecuador. Qatar appears good enough to defeat the latter two, but are not expected to. Qatar is expected to finish last in Group A.

IR Iran: IR Iran was supposed to play Canada in a friendly, but it got canceled. Therefore, IR Iran only played one match in June and that was against Algeria. Algeria won this match 2-1 in neutral Qatar. IR Iran will play in Group B at the 2022 FIFA World Cup against England, the USA, and Wales. While Wales and England both did not play particularly well in June, IR Iran are still expected to finish last in this Group, especially after their lack of display in June. Algeria is a good team, but a non-World Cup and friendly Algeria not as much.

South Korea: South Korea had a good and bad showing in the June Window, as South Korea hosted 4 friendlies in South Korea against three South American nations and one African nation. All nations were World Cup quality, but only one of the four Qualified. South Korea would play Brazil first, but lose 1-5. Brazil dominated the shot count 25 (9) to 7 (6) and the possession with 60% to 40%. This loss to Brazil signaled that either Brazil is that good, or that South Korea is not capable of playing the big name nations right now. Either way, it was an eye opener for a well-respected nation in soccer. South Korea would win their next match over Chile 2-0 with 11 (3) shots to 7 (1) and with 52% possession. South Korea’s win over Chile and domination of the stats sheet show that South Korea is capable of comfortable wins over non-elite teams at the World Cup. South Korea’s next match was a 2-2 draw against Paraguay. South Korea dominated the possession with 62% and the shot count 11 (2) to 7 (2), but found themselves having to comeback down by 2 goals, scoring the equalizer in the 90th Minute +3. This match displayed that South Korea has the fight to comeback in matches, signaling that South Korea will be a tough nation to beat. South Korea closed out June with a 4-1 win over Egypt, with 69% possession and 10 (5) shots to 7 (1). South Korea’s obliteration of Egypt displayed that South Korea can dominate the lower tier nations in the World Cup, boosting their chances of advancement with good goal differentials. South Korea will compete in the 2022 EAFF E-1 Football Championship in Japan in July next. At the 2022 FIFA World Cup, South Korea is in Group H with Portugal, Uruguay, and Ghana. South Korea is favored to finish #3 in Group H.

Japan: Japan had a very good June Window until their last match. Japan played in two friendly tournaments put together by the Japan Football Association and Kirin Brewing Company located in Japan. Japan’s first two matches were in the Kirin Challenge Cup and second two matches were in the Kirin Cup Soccer. Japan’s National Soccer Team won their first match 4-1 over Paraguay in dominating fashion, with 28 (10) shots to 10 (4), and with 61% possession. This was a display of a World Cup Champion. But, that feeling would quickly evaporate as Japan lost to Brazil 0-1 in the Kirin Challenge Cup Final, with Brazil dominating Japan in every category, such as shots 21 (5) to 7 (0) and possession at 53%. Then, Japan went onto to play Ghana and dominated them 4-1, with 15 (5) shots to 5 (1), and with 61% possession. Japan followed this up in the Kirin Cup Soccer Final and lost, 0-3 to Tunisia, in a match where Japan dominated the possession with 68%, but Tunisia were far more efficient on shooting with 4 shots on target from 8, while Japan had 0 shots on target from 8. Japan’s first three matches suggested Japan would have a high possibility of getting out of their World Cup Group, but after the defeat to Tunisia, experts will not be as high on Japan. Japan plays in Group E at the 2022 FIFA World Cup against Spain, Germany, and Costa Rica. Japan needs more practice against elite opposition to give them a chance against Spain and Germany, while Costa Rica is a task Japan know they can win. Japan plays in the 2022 EAFF E-1 Football Championship in Japan in July next.

Saudi Arabia: Saudi Arabia had a bad June, but only because of their second match, and that is pending how good that opposition may become this next year. Saudi Arabia played Colombia in Murcia, Spain in their first match in June, losing 0-1, but having dominated possession 52% to 48%, and being outshot 5 (3) to 12 (7). Saudi Arabia probably should have lost 0-2, but nonetheless, showed the ability to play with what many would consider to be an elite team or close to elite team, despite having not Qualified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Saudi Arabia’s next match, also in Murcia, Spain, however, was against a nation that is not considered elite by anyone, a nation that as a World Cup side, you should expect to beat. This side was Venezuela, and Venezuela won 1-0, outshooting KSA 13 (7) to 7 (2), while Saudi Arabia did win the possession battle with 59%. Saudi Arabia needs to get much better between now and the 2022 FIFA World Cup if they want to have any chance of advancing past the Group Stage, because a loss to Venezuela where it should have been a worse scoreline is not acceptable. However, Venezuela sometimes goes through eras where they are really good, and maybe this is one of them and we are being too harsh on KSA. Saudi Arabia will be playing in Group C with Argentina, Mexico, and Poland, and after this June, are expected to finish last in Group C.

Qualified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup:

• Qatar
• IR Iran
• South Korea
• Japan
• Saudi Arabia
• Australia

Africa (CAF):

Ghana: Ghana competed in the 2023 African Cup of Nations Qualifying Group Stage in Group E, and defeated Madagascar 3-0 at home in a dominating display, with 23 (5) shots to 5 (2), and with 69% possession. However, Ghana’s next match saw Ghana draw 1-1 away against the Central African Republic, despite controlling 72% of the possession, as both nations have a very even shot count. Ghana finished the second round of matches in first with 4 Points, followed by Angola with 4 Points, the Central African Republic with 1 Point, and Madagascar with 1 Point. Ghana then competed in the Kirin Cup Soccer, losing to Japan 1-4 in dominating Japanese display, but then played Chile, and would go down to 9 men, but despite this, Ghana kept playing taking Chile into penalty kick shootouts which Ghana won 3-1. Despite Ghana being down to 9 men, Ghana actually coped well with 10 (4) shots compared to Chile’s 11 (1) shots, and with 44% possession. Ghana will play in Group H at the 2022 FIFA World Cup against Portugal, Uruguay, and South Korea, will Ghana will be expected to finish last in the Group. And, their thumping loss to Japan and inexplicable draw to the Central African Republic makes Ghana look bad. But, Ghana still is putting up good fights such as against Madagascar and Chile.

Senegal: Senegal had a not very impressive June. Senegal played Benin in the 2023 African Cup of Nations Qualifying Group Stage winning 3-1 at home, with 61% possession and 24 (10) shots to 6 (2). Sadio Mané scored all these goals. Then, away against Rwanda, Senegal barely won 1-0 with a 90th Minute +8 Penalty Kick goal from Sadio Mané. Senegal is currently first in 2023 African Cup of Nations Qualifying Group Stage Group L with 6 Points, followed by Mozambique (4), Rwanda (1), and Benin (0). The dependency on Sadio Mané makes Senegal more vulnerable and their lack of good opposition leaves open the question of how can Senegal win. Senegal will play in Group A at the 2022 FIFA World Cup with the Netherlands, Qatar, and Ecuador. As of right now, Senegal is expected to finish #2.

Tunisia: Tunisia is breakout team of the June Window starting off playing in the 2023 African Cup of Nations Qualifying Group Stage Group J. Tunisia opened up defeating Equatorial Guinea at home, with all goals coming in the second half. Tunisia outshot Equatorial Guinea 17 (7) to 3 (1) and out possessed Equatorial Guinea 70% to 30%. Tunisia’s next match was not as impressive as they tied 0-0, away in Botswana. The shot count slightly favored Tunisia (12 (3) to 10 (3)) and the possession also favored Tunisia (58% to 42%), but the scoreline and overall match was even. This was the only blemish on Tunisia’s record for June, as Tunisia would next play in the Kirin Cup Soccer in Japan. Tunisia’s first match in the Semi-finals of the friendly competition, saw Tunisia outplayed by Chile on the stat sheet (15 (4) to 9 (4); 62% to 38%), but Tunisia win 2-0! This was a massive victory for The Carthage Eagles because in the FIFA World Cup, most likely, Tunisia will have to fight against better nations, and will have to be more efficient in order to end up on top on the score board. This type of play will come in handy in Group D at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, where Tunisia will play France, Denmark, and Australia. This June Window has made this Group much more even, as Denmark is still doing well, Australia and Tunisia are doing much better, and France is struggling, but they still have the most talent in Group D. Tunisia closed out their June Window with a massive 3-0 victory in the Kirin Cup Soccer Final over Japan. Despite the Japanese holding 68% of the possession, the Tunisians were more efficient once again with their shots, 8 (4) to 8 (0). Tunisia now has gone from the second weakest nation at the World Cup from Africa, to the strongest right now. Tunisia leads Group J for 2023 African Cup of Nations Qualifiers too, with 4 Points, followed by Equatorial Guinea (3), Libya (3), and Botswana (1).

Morocco: Morocco played poorly against their only World Cup opposition in June, losing in a friendly away to the USA, 0-3. However, despite this loss, Morocco’s stats were good with 47% possession and 22 (8) shots to the USA’s 11 (10). Morocco’s loss signaled that Morocco was not as strong as previously thought. Many people expected Morocco to be turning a corner whereby The Atlas Lions would be battling for the Round of 16 in their fierce Group F at the 2022 FIFA World Cup with Belgium, Croatia, and Canada, and ironically, they probably will be but more so because of the other nations’ performances in June or their recent performances, not as much because of Morocco’s June performance. Morocco followed up this friendly rather quite well with a 2-1 comeback home win over South Africa scoring the match winning goal in the 89th Minute, and outshooting the South Africans 29 (10) to 5 (1), and holding onto 64% possession. The Moroccans followed up this match with a 2-0 away win over Liberia, played in Morocco as well. The Moroccans only shot 8 (2) times to Liberia’s 4 (0), and held onto 67% of the possession. Morocco’s goals in this match came in the 56th and 57th minutes. Morocco leads Group K at the 2023 African Cup of Nations Qualifying Group Stage with 6 Points, while South Africa has 0 and so does Liberia. Zimbabwe has been disqualified and were originally the other nation in this Group. Morocco’s performances seemed wasteful and unimpressive mostly, even though they finished 2-0-1 during June. The expectations are higher than 2 minutes of brilliance against Liberia, and comeback wins against South Africa, in Morocco, but nevertheless, South Africa is a respectable side, so that was a good win. Against the USA, Morocco did not play efficient or very good, but they still have time to fix things with a friendly against Colombia in September, scheduled to be played in France.

Cameroon: Cameroon’s June Window was very strange as they only played one match, in the 2023 African Cup of Nations Qualification Group Stage Group C, against Burundi in Tanzania. The match was considered an away match, and Cameroon dominated Burundi on everything but the scoreboard, with 18 (4) shots to Burundi’s 3 (1) and with 63% possession. However, Cameroon’s inefficiency led to just a 1-0 win for The Indomitable Lions, putting Cameroon temporarily at the top of Group C with 3 points, followed by Burundi with 1 Point, and Namibia with 1 Point. Kenya was disqualified, but were supposed to play in Group C, and were the nation Cameroon was supposed to play first. Cameroon did finish 1-0-0, but it just was not very convincing, and in order to advance out of their very difficult Group G at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, they will need efficient attacking against Brazil, Serbia, and Switzerland. Currently, Cameroon is expected to finish last in Group G, and this June Window did not change this expectation. Burundi is not a horrible side, and technically, could feature Kevin De Bruyne if he would have chosen Burundi to play for, but he did not, so Burundi should not be this difficult of a side for any World Cup team to beat.

Qualified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup:

• Ghana
• Senegal
• Tunisia
• Morocco
• Cameroon

North America (CONCACAF):

Canada: The 1 time Olympic Gold Medalists Canadians were expected to do much better in their June Window, but a debacle within the federation between the players and the Canada Soccer Association, meant two friendlies were cancelled against IR Iran and Panama. Canada, therefore, only competed in their CONCACAF Nations League A Group C matches. Canada played Curaçao at home and defeated them 4-0! This was a very good win which saw Canada dominate with 22 (9) shots to 5 (0) and 55% possession to 45%. Curaçao is a very good side in CONCACAF and is often at the level of a very low tier World Cup side, however, lately, Curaçao does appear a bit weaker than this. Still, it was a convincing win for the Canada National Soccer Team. Next match, however, was a 1-2 loss against Honduras, away, in a match with a very tough to play on pitch as Central America and the Caribbean had been experiencing lots of rain making a lot of the pitches very muddy. Canada did out possess Honduras 62% to 38% and did outshoot Honduras 9 (2) to 6 (3), but were less efficient. For Canada, this was a match in which Honduras played like Canada is expected to in the World Cup, which is to rely on the counter-attack and less possession to win matches. Honduras is usually a World Cup quality side, and have been minus their 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers where they played very bad. So, in Canada’s defense, they do have the toughest group in the 2022-2023 CONCACAF Nations League. Nonetheless, Canada should be winning their Group, but sit in 2nd with 3 Points, ahead of Curaçao, also with 3 Points, and behind Honduras with 6 Points. Canada does have match in hand though with Honduras and Curaçao. For Canada, we needed to see more and thus, their cancellation of friendlies, and the fact that no matches are scheduled for September as of now, is very worrying for their preparations. Canada will play in Group F at the 2022 FIFA World Cup against fellow Francophone nations, Belgium, Morocco, and Croatia (technically, but not really anymore). This Group appeared wide open, but after June, Belgium and Croatia are once again expected to the top the Group, and mostly because Morocco and Canada did not play as well as expected. In Canada’s defense though, playing away against most Central American opposition, especially in these conditions is almost an impossible task, and so if Canada would have tied or won, this June Window outside of the friendly cancellations would be seen as a success.

USA: The USA played very well in their June Window, opening up with friendlies against Morocco and Uruguay, both World Cup teams with high quality talent. The USA defeated Morocco at home, 3-0, playing very efficiently and accurately having 10 shots on target from 11 total shots, verse Morocco’s 8 shots on target from 22 total shots. The USA also held the possession at 53%. The USA followed up this 3-0 win with a 0-0 home draw against Uruguay, a team on fire that has not lost in 2022, and a team with superior talent to most nations right now. The USA dominated possession with 54%, and had 9 (3) shots to Uruguay’s 12 (4). The match could have gone either way, but USA’s Sean Johnson played very well at goalkeeper, a position that appears to be an issue for the Americans for the first time in quite a while heading into a World Cup. The USA’s next matches were in the CONCACAF Nations League A Group D. The USA played Grenada at home in match which the USA was expected to win by a lot, but only won 5-0. This was a slight disappointment for the Americans, but still, 5-0 over any side, especially one at this level in CONCACAF is impressive. The USA had 25 (10) shots to 3 (0) and 68% possession to 32%. The USA needs to be more efficient to safely advance out of their World Cup Group. The USA’s next match was a difficult one at one of the hardest national team stadiums to play at in the world, the Estadio Cuscatlán in El Salvador. Due to Central America’s and the Caribbean’s extreme rain during that week, USA and El Salvador played on a very rough and muddy pitch, and the Salvadorans did not make life any easier for the Americans with a very rough match, ending with both sides getting a red card. El Salvador went up first, 1-0, due to great awareness to take a shot outside the box on the wing while USA’s goalkeeper, Ethan Horvath, was out of position. However, the USA kept pushing back and in the 90th Minute +1, Jordan Morris scored to level the match up at 1-1. While it was disappointing for the Americans not to win, a draw away to El Salvador is usually a good result given how hard it is to play there, and given how good El Salvador usually is, like right now. The USA currently sit in 2nd place with 4 Points behind El Salvador with 5 Points and in front of Grenada with 1 Point. The USA has a match in hand with both of these sides. The USA will play in Group B at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, against England, Wales, and IR Iran. All of these matches resembled these matches, as Uruguay and England are relatively at the same level, Wales and IR Iran and Morocco are all supposed to be at the same level, and a match away to El Salvador is supposed to simulate the physical and defensive play of El Salvador. With the June window, the USA leaves it with very good experienced gained, and a 2-2-0 record, but one they can improve upon, as against Uruguay and El Salvador, the USA could have won with more chances converted. If the USA can improve, or simply find a better in form striker, and maybe they did with Jordan Morris who has been mostly playing well in wing, the USA will be plenty prepared to win all 3 matches in Group B. As it is, this June Window suggests a 1-2-0 (5 points) finish for the USA, and a top spot in Group B, given how poorly England played, as well as Wales and IR Iran. The USA is trying to schedule some more matches for September against World Cup quality opposition to continue to fine tune their team in time for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Mexico: Mexico played poorly in their June Window, especially for what is supposed to be a Top 10 nation, and a Round of 16 nation. Mexico lost to Uruguay in a friendly in the USA, 0-3, but actually had better or nearly equal stats with 10 (2) shots to Uruguay’s 10 (4) shots, and with 51% possession to Uruguay’s 49% possession. Then, Mexico played Ecuador in a friendly in the USA, and tied 0-0 with 9 (2) shots to Ecuador’s 9 (1) shots, and with 52% possession to Ecuador’s 48% possession. These were Mexico’s two June matches against World Cup opposition, and it appears Mexico is very inefficient right now. Mexico actually played well in terms of stats. Mexico’s next two matches were in the CONCACAF Nations League A Group A. Group A is actually quite tough and features 3 World Cup level nations when two of these nations feature their best players (they usually do not). These two nations are Jamaica and Suriname who would be quality sides if their best players via Jamaican and Surinamese birth, plus diaspora, always came to play. Recently, Suriname and Jamaica have been seeing a lot of these players come, and in the June Window, Suriname and Jamaica both featured a lot of these players. Mexico would play at home against Suriname defeating them 3-0, having dominated the match with 22 (9) shots to 6 (2), and 59% possession. Mexico then played Jamaica away in very tough conditions with due to the heavy rains experienced in the Caribbean and Central America that week. Mexico went down early from a goal from Aston Villa’s Leon Bailey in the 4th Minute, but in the 45th Minute +3, Mexico scored from CF Monterrey’s Luis Romo. Mexico dominated the match with 18 (7) shots to Jamaica’s 8 (3), and had 63% possession. However, in efficiency plagued Mexico and Mexico would only draw 1-1. Mexico sits in 2nd in Group A with 4 Points, behind Jamaica (5), and in front of Suriname (1). Mexico has a match in hand with both Jamaica and Suriname. While it is true Jamaica tends to be very good, Jamaica did just come off of a 0-6 loss away to Catalonia, a non-FIFA member, but a really good one nonetheless. This happened in May, but it is tough to tell if that is representative of Jamaica, or really one just to write off like Brazil’s 1-7 loss to Germany. Overall, Mexico’s performance was not a confidence builder. Mexico will play in Paraguay next at the end of August in the USA, but surely, more matches are needed for this Mexican side to play in to their Top 10 level form. Mexico will play in Group C at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, against archenemies (along with USA) Argentina, Poland, and Saudi Arabia. Given the other nations results, ironically, Mexico probably played well enough to finish 1-1-1 (4 Points) and might have done enough to advance. They also should have gone 3-0-1 in June Window and if that had happened, or even just 2-1-1 instead of 1-2-1, I think Mexico would have played an equivalent to a 2-0-1 record given their Group. Mexico is therefore still probably the expected #2 team, but it is more because of how bad the other nations did in the June Window, than how good Mexico did. Mexico has a lot to improve upon and needs more matches, because this was poor play and they still look like a Round of 16 team given the contexts. Imagine if they improve, how good they can look creating more confidence to go further.

Qualified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup:

• Canada
• USA
• Mexico
• Costa Rica

South America (CONMEBOL):

Brazil: Brazil played two friendlies over the June Window in Asia, against South Korea in South Korea, and against Japan in a friendly tournament called the Kirin Cup Challenge in Japan. Brazil defeated South Korea 5-1 in dominant fashion with 25 (9) shots to South Korea’s 9 (6) and with 60% possession. Against Japan, Brazil only won 1-0 with only 53% possession, but still dominated the shot count 21 (5) to 7 (0). Brazil’s two matches in June show that Brazil is truly the #1 team in the world right now, but also that they can improve. While Japan and South Korea are both good nations, Brazil gave up too many shots against them in both matches for how good Brazil is. Furthermore, Brazil should have controlled the Japan match more, as they only held 53% possession, and only scored 1 goal from a penalty kick in the 77th Minute. Therefore, Brazil needs to be more efficient, and better with passing having only completed 454 passes. Brazil, however, did take home a friendly trophy, the Kirin Cup Challenge. Brazil will play in Group G at the 2022 FIFA World Cup against Serbia, Switzerland, and Cameroon. Brazil’s form of having won 5 and drawn 1 in 2022 suggest Brazil will win all of these matches in Group G, and Brazil is expected to win Group G and advance! Brazil is also predicted to be the favorite to win the World Cup, and with extra friendlies/sort of World Cup Qualifiers coming up in September against Argentina and IR Iran, a continuation in this form will only improve Brazilian confidence. Brazil just needs to warn against complacency.

Argentina: Argentina continued their spectacular form defeating Italy 3-0 in the 2022 Finalissima or CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions in neutral England at Wembley Stadium. This was a one-off match between the current South American Champions and current European Champions. Argentina’s dominance in the match with 56% possession and dominating the shooting 17 (10) to 7 (3) suggests that Argentina may be back to an attacking juggernaut at the elite level, and a very good defensive team. This was an official trophy and cup competition, a super cup like event too, so it was a good competitive match for the Argentinians. Argentina shoed a diversity in goal scorers too, with Inter Milan’s Lautaro Martínez scoring in the 28th Minute, PSG’s Ángel Di María scoring in the 45th Minute +1, and Juventus’s Paolo Dybala scoring in the 90th Minute +1. This is very good news for Argentina who in the past, has depending on Lionel Messi too much to score, even with the rest of the side they had that was often loaded with talent. However, in the next match, PSG’s Lionel Messi displayed that he could still put Argentina’s team on his back scoring 5 goals against Estonia in a 5-0 friendly victory in neutral Spain with 24 (10) shots to 4 (2) and with 79% possession. Oddly enough, despite Estonia being one of the worst sides in UEFA, Estonia had a good June Window in their UEFA Nations League D Group 2, with a 2-0 home win over San Marino and a 2-1 away victory over Malta, plus a 0-0 friendly draw against Albania. So, Argentina’s 5-0 win over Estonia should not be taken as the reason Argentina is the #2 favorite according to many experts to win the World Cup, rather that should be Argentina’s 3-0 win over Italy and 5-1-0 form in 2022, but it should not be completely overlooked. Still, Argentina needs more quality matches and as of now, has their technically rescheduled FIFA World Cup Qualification match against Brazil in September, that sort of acts as a friendly given the strange circumstances. Argentina should probably schedule one more match against high quality opposition before the 2022 World Cup in addition to Brazil. Argentina will play in Group C at the 2022 FIFA World Cup against Mexico, Poland, and Saudi Arabia, all matches Argentina is expected to win. However, Argentina are rivals with Mexico, Poland and Argentina are sort of rivals due to the amount of Polish people in Argentina, and Saudi Arabia borders the host nation and will almost be like secondary hosts. So, while Argentina should win all three matches, it may prove more difficult than expected. Nonetheless, Argentina is expected to win Group C and advance. In addition, Argentina are seen as the #2 favorites for the 2022 FIFA World Cup as of right now, especially given the poor play of other nations most notably in Europe.

Ecuador: Ecuador had a successful June Window, but a little underwhelming too. Ecuador played 3 friendlies against Nigeria, Mexico, and Cape Verde. Nigeria barely missed out on the World Cup due to the antiquated away goals rule against Ghana, while Cape Verde barely was eliminated in the second to last round of Qualifiers by Nigeria, losing out on points 11 to 13 due to Nigeria’s 2-1 comeback win away against Cape Verde earlier in that round’s Group C. Many people may not know that like basketball, Cape Verde is becoming very good in football, and have finished 7th, 11th, and 15th respectively at the 2013, 2015, and 2021 African Cup of Nations. It is true Cape Verde failed to qualify in 2017 and 2019, but before 2013, Cape Verde had never Qualified for the African Cup of Nations. Nigeria does not need any more introductions of course, having been one of Africa’s best and most consistent teams for a long time now. Ecuador’s other opponent was Mexico, who also Qualified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and is historically North America’s best nation, and despite a recent poor form, is still a top team in North America. Ecuador played all of these matches in neutral USA. Ecuador won their first match against Nigeria, 1-0, in a very even match with Ecuador having 51% possession and 12 (5) shots to Nigeria’s 14 (4). Ecuador went up in the 4th Minute and held onto the led the whole match, a very impressive feat against quality opposition in Nigeria. Ecuador’s next match was a 0-0 draw against Mexico that was also very even, with both having 9 shots, but Mexico having 2 on target verse Ecuador’s 1 on target, and Mexico having 52% possession. Ecuador’s last match in June against Cape Verde saw Ecuador win 1-0 via a penalty kick goal in the 38th Minute. Ecuador was not efficient enough in this match, having 16 (7) shots to Cape Verde’s 3 (1) shots, and holding 61% possession. While this match was Ecuador’s best, it should have been and Ecuador should have won by more. Ecuador will play in Group A at the 2022 FIFA World Cup against the Netherlands, Senegal, and Qatar. Most people expect the Netherlands to finish #1, and Senegal to finish #2, however, most people expect this #2 position to be tightly contested. After June’s window, now, it is even expected to be more tightly contested leaving many to believe there is no clear #2 in Group A. Ecuador was smart too, because each match simulated one of their matches in Group A, with Nigeria simulating Senegal and Qatar (mostly Senegal), Cape Verde simulating Senegal and Qatar (mostly Qatar), and Mexico simulating both the Netherlands in terms of skill, and Qatar in terms of atmosphere. Mexico has immense home support in the USA and effectively acts as a host nation. However, Nigeria is not quite as good as Senegal, and maybe not even as good as Qatar, and neither is Cape Verde, and then Mexico is not quite as good as the Netherlands right now. With these results in June, Ecuador probably would have gone 2-0-1 in Group A and advanced as the #2 team. Ecuador still needs more practice though and Ecuador is the type of team that plays well against elite opposition, so more elite opponents would be best for Ecuador prior to the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Uruguay: Uruguay is on unbelievable form having gone 6-1-0 in 2022! Outside of Argentina and Brazil, Uruguay is the third hottest team right now in national team football. Uruguay played 3 friendly matches in June, all against North American opposition. Uruguay’s first match was a 3-0 win against Mexico in neutral USA, although it is not really that neutral to play Mexico in the USA because Mexico has lots of fans there. Uruguay did not dominate this match in stats though with the shot count 10 (4) to 10 (2) in favor of Uruguay, but the possession 51% to 49% in favor of Mexico. Uruguay still won though due to their attacking efficiency. In their next match away against the USA, the Uruguayans settled for their first and only non-win of 2022 thus far, a 0-0 draw, where the teams were very equal to one another, with Uruguay dominating the shot count 12 (4) to 9 (3), but the USA dominating possession 54% to 46%. Given that Uruguay is sort of the Atlético Madrid of national teams except Uruguay scores a lot, this lack of possession and shooting advantage is not too much of a worry, rather the results really do matter most even when analyzing stats. Uruguay’s last match of June was a 5-0 win over Panama, a match in which Uruguay outshot Panama 20 (6) to 7 (1) and out possessed Panama 66% to 34%. This match was a very good win for Uruguay because they beat Panama better than how they should have, resembling a 2018 England, heck, a 2018 Uruguay. However, this was Panama’s effective B team, hence the poor display like in the 2018 World Cup when Panama faced many injuries. Still, Uruguay’s recent form and June Window suggests a 2-1-0 (7 Points) Group Stage record. Uruguay will play in Group H at the 2022 FIFA World Cup against Portugal, South Korea, and Ghana, and will be expected to finish #1 or #2 with Portugal and advance to the knockout rounds. Uruguay did not even have their best player through this June Window as Atlético Madrid’s Luis Suárez did not play with Uruguay in June. Group H is expected to come down to goal differential, and it appears Uruguay has their shooting boots on even without their best striker and player. But, Portugal is a scoring juggernaut too, so Group H will be difficult and most likely will come down to a rematch of the 2018 Round of 16 match between Portugal and Uruguay to see who wins Group H. Uruguay won this match 2-1.

Qualified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup:

• Brazil
• Argentina
• Ecuador
• Uruguay

Oceania (OFC):

No teams had previously Qualified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup prior to the Inter-confederation Playoffs so this section is left blanked.

Qualified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup:

• No OFC Teams Qualified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup