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Exited at the Group Stages
Nigeria, Poland, Serbia, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and Peru – with 3 points
Nigeria came short against the two favoured opponents in their group – Argentina and Croatia but showed ample quality in their win against Iceland. Their campaign ended once more against their bogey team Argentina and denied the world the opportunity to relish the most popular kit of this World Cup for longer.
Peru had better of the possession in all their games but were out after the first two rounds itself with solitary goal defeats to both Denmark and France. A 2-0 win over Australia in the final game was a just reward for the scores of passionate fans who had turned up to witness their team at a World Cup after 36 years.
Poland’s campaign was disappointing, to say the least. For a team ranked in the top ten and boasting a world-class striker in Robert Lewandowski, the team’s bottom finish in their group was a far cry from expectations.
Saudi Arabia had a nightmarish start to their campaign with a 5-0 thrashing at the hands of Russia in the opening game of this World Cup. But they returned much-improved performances against Uruguay and ended up with their first win at a World Cup since USA’94 versus Egypt in their final game.
Serbia looked strong to make it to the knock-outs until the Swiss-Kosovan pair of Xhaka and Shaqiri hurt them in the back half of their second game. Brazil proved too tall to surmount in the final round and they departed with a solitary win.
South Korea provided the most dramatic ninety minutes of the group stages. Having exited after two defeats to Sweden and Mexico, they were playing for pride against Germany, who were playing for much more than that. They soaked up the pressure of every German attack for the entire game and scored twice in injury time to leave the 2014 champions embarrassed.
Tunisia scored in both their encounters against England and Belgium only to concede much more and be eliminated after the first two games. They ended with a consolation win against Panama, a game which would still be remembered for Panama’s first ever goal at the World Cup.
