Uruguay charged one of the world’s most impactful coaches with the task of taking the nation back to greater heights on the international circuit, but their plans have imploded. Another big blunder ga...

After the Netherlands and Germany fell, goals from Kylian Mbappé and Bradley Barcola would ensure that France wouldn’t become the latest European giants to exit at the Round of 32. Instead, Les Bleus ...

The shoe was on the other foot during the Netherlands-Morocco match. The Moroccans played a Dutch game, whereas the Netherlands adopted Morocco’s playing style from the 2022 World Cup. Verbrugge...

Brazil came from behind to beat Japan with a storyline worthy of an anime episode, featuring resilience, redemption and a last-minute goal. Japanese football was directly influenced by Brazil in the e...

Ghana and Croatia advanced to the next round of the World Cup in a game in which both teams struggled against each other’s zonal blocks. Both national teams lacked the attacking firepower and to...

Thomas Tuchel went with a slightly different structure in this game for England, moving away from the wing-oriented 4-3-3 shape into a 3-1-6 structure in possession. A key part of this was a freer rol...

France hadn’t won the 3rd group game of a major tournament since the 2006 World Cup, but usually, they’re the nation resting players at that point. Instead, it would be Norway who brought out the B-te...

Belgium entered the final group stage game in critical condition. By the end of it, they restored faith in their World Cup campaign through more accessible underlaps, a balance between the double pivo...

Japan and Sweden played out a draw that suited both sides in Group F. The Samurai Blue secured qualification for the Round of 16 by finishing second, while Sweden’s four points are enough to pro...

With qualification hanging delicately in the balance, Paraguay and Australia produced a goalless draw that suited both sides more than an all-out pursuit of victory. The contest was defined by discipl...