After each matchday of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Sportsnet.ca’s World Cup Daily blog will recap the day’s events and look ahead to the next day’s slate of games.
Here’s what happened on Friday in Qatar, in case you missed it…
THE RESULTS
South Korea 2, Portugal 1 in Al Rayyan: Match report || Match stats
Ghana 0, Uruguay 2 in Al Wakrah: Match report || Match stats
Cameroon 0, Brazil 1 in Lusail: Match report || Match stats
Serbia 2, Switzerland 3 in Doha: Match report || Match stats
Teams moving on: Brazil and Switzerland (Group G), Portugal and South Korea (Group H)
Eliminated teams: Cameroon and Serbia (Group G), Uruguay and Ghana (Group H)
Round of 16 matches: Brazil vs. South Korea and Portugal vs. Switzerland
MAIN TALKING POINT
A memorable nine minutes and 38 seconds
This World Cup has already produced so many incredibly dramatic moments during the final round games in the group stage. We can now add another chapter following a fantastic final day of action in Group H, with South Korea advancing to the round of 16 at the expense of Uruguay.
Uruguay jumped out to a 2-0 lead over Ghana to grab a temporary hold of second place behind Portugal who had already booked its ticket for the next round. At the same time, South Korea was tied 1-1 with Portugal, a result that if it stood would have seen Uruguay advance. But Hwang Hee-chan scored in the 92nd minute to give South Korea a 2-1 lead, moving his team into second place.
The Asians and South Americans were tied on four points, and they both had the same goal difference (the first tiebreaker). But South Korea had scored two more goals than Uruguay (the second tiebreaker) and was in pole position to take second place.
Word filtered of South Korea’s late goal in the Uruguayan bench, and what ensued was nine minutes and 38 seconds of extra time that was pure madness – and maybe the most entertaining and thrilling nine minutes and 38 seconds of this World Cup. Needing to score one more time in order to advance ahead of South Korea on goal difference, Uruguay poured forward in search of a goal.
With veteran striker Luis Suárez on the bench after being subbed out, Maximiliano Gomez and Sebastian Coates both missed late scoring chances, while Edinson Cavani was denied a penalty claim. Goalkeeper Sergio Rochet was also called upon to make a number of big saves, as Ghana pressed for a goal after Uruguay left itself open to counter-attacks.
The South Korea-Portugal game ended first, and captain Son Heung-min gathered his teammates in a huddle on the field and watched coverage of the end of the other Group H on someone’s cell phone. When the final whistle blew, Suárez could be seen on the sidelines crying while the South Koreans celebrated.
GOAL OF THE DAY
With the game in stoppage time and South Korea on the brink of elimination, Son Heung-min quickly broke forward up the field after a Portugal corner kick before feeding a pass inside the penalty area to Hwang Hee-chan who beat goalkeeper Diogo Costa with a low shot.
MOMENT OF THE DAY
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“It is sadness and disappointment that we feeI. I was lucky enough to play my fourth World Cup, and I was thinking about my four-year-old son, who is leaving with the image of sadness. It’s difficult, but it’s up to me to face the situation.” – Uruguay’s Luis Suárez
SIX PACK OF STATS
• Four of South Korea’s last seven goals at the men’s World Cup have been scored in the 90th minute or later of the second half.
• Giorgian de Arrascaeta is the third Uruguayan to score two goals in the first-half of a World Cup match, after Juan Peregrino Anselmo vs. Yugoslavia in 1930 and Oscar Miguez vs. Bolivia in 1950.
• Switzerland’s Xherdan Shaqiri is one of three players to score at each of the last three men’s World Cup tournaments. The others are Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
• Serbia and Switzerland were tied 2-2 after 45 minutes on Friday. This marked the first time since England vs. Argentina in 1998 that both teams in a men’s match scored at least two goals before half time.
• At 39 years and 210 days, Daniel Alves is the oldest player to ever appear in a World Cup game for the Brazilian men’s team.
• This is the first time at the men’s World Cup since 2002 that only two South American nations qualified for the round of 16.
Stats courtesy of Opta
THREE STARS OF THE DAY
1) Giorgian de Arrascaeta (Uruguay): Bagged a first half brace in Uruguay’s first win in Qatar, but it wasn’t enough to send his country through to the knockout round.
2) Son Heung-min (South Korea): Capped off a workman-like performance with that fantastic solo run to set up Hwang Hee-chan’s winning goal in injury time.
3) Xherdan Shaqiri (Switzerland): He scored his fifth career World Cup goal and help set up another goal as the Swiss advanced to the round of 16.
LOOKING AHEAD TO SATURDAY
The knockout stage kicks off on Saturday with a pair of games in the round of 16. The Netherlands vs. the United States (10:00 a.m. ET) is a battle of two unbeaten teams. Christian Pulisic scored the winner against Iran to help the Americans advance out of the group stage. He is on track to pay against the Dutch after suffering a pelvic injury against Iran. The other game sees Argentina take on Australia (2:00 p.m. ET) as Lionel Messi continues his quest for his first World Cup title in his final tournament appearance.
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John Molinaro is one of the leading soccer journalists in Canada, having covered the game for over 20 years for several media outlets, including Sportsnet, CBC Sports and Sun Media. He is currently the editor-in-chief of TFC Republic, a website dedicated to in-depth coverage of Toronto FC and Canadian soccer. TFC Republic can be found here.
