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This World Cup has been nothing short of exhilarating. Fans have been treated to a buffet of wonder goals, shocking upsets and thrilling games unlike ever before. Add to that, a host nation that has been warm and welcoming and you get the best World Cup of all time.
Let's start with the upsets. It all began when Lozano skipped past Ozil and finished past Neuer to win the game for Mexico against Germany. Since then, the upsets have not stopped. Russia beating Spain on penalties after Spain had nearly 80% of the possession was another such upset. The simple fact that one team out of Croatia, Russia, England, Colombia, Sweden and Switzerland will be playing in a World Cup final on the 15th of July in front of 80,000 fans sums up what this tournament has been all about.
I personally would love to see a team like Croatia play in the final. They're a country of 4.2 million people but have still managed to produce such fine footballers. Just to put into perspective how small the country is, New Delhi has 24 million people which is nearly 6 times as much.
Next up are the wonder goals. On the first day when Denis Cheryshev craftily used the outside of his foot to put one in the top corner of the Saudi net, one subconsciously knew this tournament was going to be something special. From Cristiano Ronaldo sensationally putting a free kick into the top corner past de Gea to earn Portugal a point to Benjamin Pavard, a largely unknown French youngster, putting the sweetest of volleys into the roof of the net to get France back in the game against Argentina, we've been lucky to witness sensational goals almost every game.
Lastly, the fans and the hosts have been sublime. The atmosphere has been brilliant and despite initial skepticism about Russia hosting the World Cup , they've been excellent hosts. Not one off-field incident has disturbed the proceedings or caused any controversies.
All the focus has been on the football which is heartwarming to see. Special mention has to go to the Panama fans who celebrated their goal against England like they had won the World Cup and to the Japanese fans who cleaned the stadium even after a heartbreaking loss to Belgium. This is what football's all about, the passion and the drama.
With goals galore, and some tantalizing games still to be played, this World Cup is only going to get better. Only last night, I was watching Japan run over Belgium only for Belgium to crawl their way back and that summarizes what this World Cup has been. According to Opta, there have been 9 last-gasp winners at this World Cup, one more than the last five editions combined. Are you not entertained? Be it Morocco cruelly turning the ball into their own net in the 95th minute against Iran or Harry Kane nodding it past Tunisia to secure three important points for the Three Lions, there certainly hasn't been any dearth of drama.
