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2026 FIFA World Cup – Group G Focus

Jon The BlogcentricLeave a comment

With the World Cup about to start, one of the things I haven’t talked much about has been the controversies. Every World Cup gets them. Most of the time, the biggest controversies of a World Cup tournament happen on the playing field. This World Cup seems to have the most controversies before it even happening.

This is a controversy worth noting because two of the nations in this group are affected by all this. The biggest has to be the US Immigration Policies. Even in Trump’s first term while the United big won the right to host, Trump had a list of Muslim-majority nations where immigration was banned. FIFA warned Trump of the problems trying to ban coaches, players and fans from countries that qualify. At the time, Trump reminded FIFA that all eligible people would be able to enter the United States without discrimination. That claim has been seen with suspicion lately with Trump’s return to the Presidency and him instituting a travel ban to people of 39 countries. Some nations on that ban have qualified for the World Cup. Also adding to the concern is the recent over-implementation of ICE and loading police forces in cities. The White House has stated that the travel ban does have an exemption for athletes and coaches for sporting events. Whether the ban has fans exempt, only time will tell.

I’ll save talking about the other controversies for other blogs. In the meantime, here’s my look at World Cup Group G:

-Belgium (9): Usually the big success of The Red Devils is an on-again, off-again thing. They captured the World’s imagination when they finished third in 2018 but success would soon evade them. At the 2022 World Cup, they failed to advance past the Group Stage. At the 2024 Euro, they only got as far as the Round Of 16. It was evident the coaches relied too much on the players of the Golden Generation and wasn’t paying enough attention to the younger talent. Changes needed to be done.

Since January 2025, the head coach of Belgium’s team is Frenchman Rudi Garcia and the team’s coaching staff is a mix of French, Belgian and English. Most of the team from the legendary 2018 World Cup team have retired from the national team but legends like striker Romelu Lukaku, midfielders Kevin De Bruyne and Axel Witsel, and goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois are still active. Joining them are rising young talents like defender Zeno Debast, midfielder Amadou Onana and defender Arthur Theate. In the past twelve months, Belgium have not had a single defeat. They’ve had notable wins to Wales, Croatia and the United States and they’ve also had draws to Mexico and North Macedonia. This World Cup looks to be a chance for Belgium to redeem its reputation in the football world.

-Egypt (28): I know I mentioned Morocco to be the first African team when continental placements were introduced in 1970 but Egypt is the first ever African team to play in a World Cup. It was at the very second World Cup in 1934. Unfortunately this will only be their fourth World Cup. If there’s one plus thing for The Pharaohs, it’s that this is Egypt’s best era for football. The eight-year gap between the 2018 World Cup and this Cup is the shortest gap ever for the team. Having a top player like Mohamed Salah really helps the team.

The coaching staff is almost all Egyptian except for a Brazilian coach who’s a load trainer. Head coach Hossam Hassan was part of Egypt’s team that competed at the 1990 World Cup. Most players play for either European teams or for Egypt’s own Premier League. Top players include goalkeeper Mohamed El Shenawy, defender Ramy Rabia, midfielder Hamdy Fathy and striker Mohamed Salah. In the last twelve months, notable wins include against Russia, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria and the Ivory Coast. They’ve had notable draws against Burkina Faso, the UAE and Angola, and their three losses were to Jordan, Uzbekistan and Senegal. Chances are at this World Cup, Egypt can take its football to new achievements.

-Iran (21): Right now is a tense time for Iran to play in the United States. A war just started in their nation and it has increased a lot of international tension. Recently, Donald Trump mentioned Iran should be replaced with Italy. Both nations were insulted. Especially since Team Melli have proven themselves both in the past and in the present. This will be their seventh World Cup: fourth consecutive. They’ve also finished runners-up at the last two Asian championships. The team has a lot to prove.

Iran’s coaching staff is mostly Iranian with some European coaches. Their head coach Amir Ghalenoei. Most of the players play for teams in Europe or with Iranian teams in the Persian Gulf Pro League. Top players include goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand, defender Ehsan Hajsafi, midfielder Alireza Jahanbakhsh who plays for Belgium’s Dender, and striker Mehdi Taremi who plays for Greece’s Olympiacos. In the past twelve months, they’ve had notable wins against Costa Rica, Tanzania and India. They’ve had notable draws to Uzbekistan and Cape Verde, and losses to Nigeria, Russia and Qatar. If all goes well for Iran both in terms of their play and barring political pressures, they could deliver their best ever performance here at United 2026!

–New Zealand (85): For the first time ever at this World Cup, one birth would go to a team from the OFC: teams representing Oceania. Not surprisingly, it went to the All Whites! Mind you New Zealand does have the talent to play well. Although they didn’t qualify for the knockout round at their last World Cup, they did prove they knew how to contend by drawing all their matches. Even against defending champions Italy. In recent years, New Zealand has been showing a resurgence of better play.

The coaching staff is mostly from New Zealand with coaches form England, Scotland and South Africa. Head coach Andrew Boyens was part of New Zealand’s World Cup team for 2010 and has coached the national team since 2018. Most of the players play for European teams or for the Australia/New Zealand mixed A-League. Top players include goalkeeper Max Crocombe who plays for England’s Millwall, defender Michael Boxall who plays for MLS’s Minnesota United, midfielder Elijah Just who plays for Scotland’s Motherwell, and striker and captain Chris Wood who plays for Nottingham Forest. Their international play in the last twelve months have been mostly losses but they had a notable draw against Norway and wins against Ivory Coast and Chile. At this World Cup, New Zealand could defy the critics and deliver spectacular play.

My Qualifier Predictions: Alright. Here is where I stop praising the teams and where I start cutting to the chase and picking the best of the bunch. I anticipate Belgium to top with Iran to be second. I think Egypt will be third but they won’t make the wildcard cut.

And there you go. That’s my look at Group G of the World Cup. I know people don’t like hearing about the controversies but one thing about a World Cup, the show must go on!

WORK CITED:
“Concerns: 2026 FIFA World Cup.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 2026. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_FIFA_World_Cup#Concerns>

2023 Women’s World Cup: My Semifinal Predictions

Jon The Blogcentric1 Comment

Just when you thought the group play was loaded with shockers, the shockers of the 2023 Women’s World Cup didn’t end there. Starting with the Round of 16, one of the first shockers was Spain humiliating Switzerland 5-1. Spain was the favorite but that big of a margin was a shock. Possibly the biggest shocker of all was the US playing a scoreless game to Sweden and losing on penalty kicks with the last kick being conceded by a fraction of an inch! USWNT Tobin Heath put it best when she said “It may seem that we lost this game by a millimeter, but we lost this tournament by a mile.” Then came another favorite England also getting a scoreless draw, to Nigeria, and their top player Lauren James getting an instant red card. England sis win on penalty kicks but James will be out until the final or the 3rd-place match, whatever England qualifies for.

The quarterfinals also delivered their own shockers. The first quarterfinal, Spain vs. Netherlands, was expected to be a tough game and ended 1-1 in regulation. However added extra time provided the surprise as 19 year-old Spaniard Salma Paralluelo delivered the tie-breaking goal! Sweden’s 2-1 win over Japan wasn’t that surprising since the two are top-ranked teams and this would be a tight match. The shocker was just the fact of the game that Japan, the last former Women’s World’s Cup winner standing, was out! The following day, England’s win over Colombia wasn’t a shock but Australia achieving a scoreless draw over France and then winning on penalty kicks was. A delight for the host nation.

SEMIFINALS PREVIEW

Now onto focusing on the semifinals. One thing is certain before the semis begin. It’s clear we will have a first-time Women’s World Cup winner. The last to do so was Japan in 2011. Also these will be the first-ever semifinals of the Women’s World Cup without the U.S.A. present. Another surprising fact! For two of these nations, this is their first-ever semifinals qualification. All four have achieved a big win of some kind during this tournament but Spain is the only team to not need a win on penalty kicks in this Knockout Round. All four have shown off brilliant play but they’ve also shown some weaknesses in their WWC play too. So here’s a look at the four teams and my prediction for each semifinal:

SemiFinal #1: Spain vs. Sweden

Head-To-Head Stats:

Spain and Sweden have played each other eleven times before. Sweden won seven games. Spain has never won. Their most recent meeting has been a friendly in October 2022 which both teams drew 1-1.

Team-By-Team Analysis:

SPAIN: Up until a few years ago, Spain was not considered to be a major contender in women’s football. The men are known to shine, but their women were substandard. Sure, they may have finished in the semifinals of the 1997 Women’s Euro, but they were lackluster for a very long time. The turning point came a little more than ten years ago when the RFEF started taking the women more seriously. Starting with the 2013 Women’s Euro, the team made it to the quarterfinals. In 2015, they qualified for their first-ever Women’s World Cup, but it didn’t go well. They were out in the Group Stage and were the only European team that didn’t advance. Even after they were out in the quarterfinals of Women’s Euro 2017, they showed signs of improvement with a Round of 16 finish at the 2019 WWC. In the fall of 2021, La Roja ranked in FIFA’s Top 10 for the first time ever. Here in this Women’s World Cup, they made it to their first-ever semifinal. A big improvement over the last ten years!

La Roja have shown a lot of impressive play in this Women’s World Cup. They opened their group play with a 3-0 win over Costa Rica and a 5-0 win over Zambia. They did have a setback with a 4-0 loss to Japan. During the Knockout phase, they’ve been showing excellent teamwork and ball control with a 5-1 win over Switzerland and also rivaling Netherlands in the quarterfinal which they won 2-1 in added extra time.

Spain has blown past many people’s expectations and have won the respect of the world. The women can no longer be underestimated. Many people were surprised to see Spain rank in FIFA’s Top 10 but their play in the Cup have them proving they deserve it. It’s not to say Spain can’t be stopped. Don’t forget they lost 4-0 to Japan. Spain did an excellent job against the Netherlands showing they can win against top contenders. Now they’re onto Sweden who have played without a loss this Cup. Spain have to be just as strong as they were against Switzerland and the Netherlands if they want to win.

SWEDEN: If you want to talk about certain small nations and how impressive they are at football, you should talk Sweden. At the inaugural Women’s World Cup in 1991, they finished third. The semifinals would become common to see Sweden qualify for. They’ve done it for the fifth time in this Women’s World Cup! Very impressive since Sweden has a population of less than 10 million and this is only the ninth Women’s World Cup to be held. The Blåguld also has an impressive record of winning the last two Olympic silver medals and making it as far as the semi finals in nine of the twelve Women’s Euros.

Throughout this Cup, the Blåguld have been showing some of the best team play of all teams. They won all three of their Group Stage games with eight goals and only conceding one against South Africa. Then came their Round Of 16 match against the United States; the seventh Women’s World’s Cup meeting of the two. Both teams played to a scoreless draw and then Sweden won the penalty kicks 5-4. The quarterfinals saw them play against Japan who, like Sweden, also won all three of their group play games. It started with a goal from Amanda Ilestedt in the 32nd minute and Sweden didn’t look back winning 1-2.

Sweden have done a very good job in showing itself as one of the top teams here. They’ve shown excellent play and knew how to handle both the Americans and Japanese. It’s easy to believe that they will be the team to win the Cup. I think the one thing that could stand in their way is if they misjudge Spain. Spain have done an excellent job in their play in this Cup of attacking and controlling the ball. Sweden could easily misjudge Spain and it could end up the Spaniards would end up winning the game. That’s something Sweden won’t want. Especially if they want to make it to their second Final ever.

My Prediction: This really gives me time to do a lot of thinking but I will have to predict Sweden to win 1-0 in added extra time.

SemiFinal #2: Australia vs. England

Head-to-Head Stats: The two teams have rivaled each other six times. England have won three, there was one draw, and Australia have won twice. Their most recent meeting is worth noting. It was a friendly in Brentford, England which Australia won 2-0!

Team-By-Team Analysis:

AUSTRALIA: Australia making it to the semifinals has been a slow and steady process. Hard to believe, but they weren’t in the inaugural Women’s World Cup in 1991. Australia have been in every Women’s World Cup since. Their breakthrough came in 2007 when they qualified for the knockout round for the first time and they’ve done so in every WWC since. In 2015, the Matildas won their first-ever knockout match. Here at this WWC, they took it one step further by achieving their first-ever semifinals berth! First host nation to do so since the USA did it in 2003. Australia have also excelled in other tournaments such as winning the last three OFC Women’s Nations Cups before Australia switched to the AFC. After the switch, Australia have made it to the finals four out of six times and winning in 2010.

The Matildas have delivered play at this Women’s World Cup with a lot of ups and downs. They started their trip to the Cup well with a 1-0 win over Ireland but soon feel into trouble with a 3-2 loss to Nigeria. They knew they needed to win their last game over Canada, which they did 4-0. In the Round of 16, they faced Denmark and won 2-0. In the quarterfinals, they were up against more favored France. The game went to a scoreless draw but Australia won on penalties 7-6. Of all teams, Australia has done the most to defy expectations. They’ve been playing really well here but their play has been inconsistent. Except for their big win over Canada, most of their play has been pretty close. They may have had a scoreless draw against France but they can’t afford to push their luck here if they want to go to the Final.

ENGLAND: You figure a nation as football mad as England would have their women excel quite far. It wasn’t always the case in the past. Until 1972, England was one of a multitude of nations that forbid women to play the sport. Even as national women’s teams were starting to be formed in the 70′ and 80’s and the first Women’s World Cup was started in 1991, England wasn’t there. 1995 showed promise as the team made it to the quarterfinals, but they wouldn’t return to qualifying for the Women’s World Cup until 2007. Since their return, it’s been all uphill from there. In 2007 and 2011, they made it to the quarterfinals. In 2015, the Lionesses made it to their first ever semi-final and have never missed a semifinal since. Their improvements have also shown at the Women’s Euro as they have not missed one since 2001, made the semifinals three out of the six times finalists in 2009 and winners in 2022!

The Lionesses have delivered play here that will make one convinced they’ll be singing “It’s Coming Home” for the first time in Women’s World Cup history. They started their group play with conservative 1-0 wins over Haiti and Denmark. When it came to their last group game against China, they went all out and won 6-1. Their first knockout game was against Nigeria which led to a scoreless draw and England winning on penalty kicks 4-2. Their quarterfinal match was against Colombia which they won 2-1.

Playing conservatively worked well for England at the beginning of the Cup. Now they can’t take any more chances. It was evident after their scoreless game against Nigeria that they have to play like the Lionesses that dazzled everybody during the Women’s Euro of 2022. Besides they’re playing against Australia in the semifinal. They can’t forget their defeat to them because if they don’t play like they’re supposed to, they may lose again, and this is the worst time to lose.

My Prediction: This is too tough to say. Both teams know how to play well, but both teams have made their errors obvious during the Cup. I think this game will be a 1-1 draw with Australia winning on penalty kicks.

And there you go. These are my predictions for the semifinals of this Women’s World Cup. Hard to believe the final is less than a week away! Will the semis provide shockers of their own beforehand?

2023 FIFA WWC: Predictions For The Round-Of-16 And Quarterfinals

Jon The BlogcentricLeave a comment
Australia/New Zealand 2023
mascot Tazuni

can you believe all the group stage games of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup have already been played and they’re now into the knockout stage? It went by faster than I thought! Before I give my predictions for the first set of knockout games, I’ll give my overview of the group play.

GROUP PLAY OVERVIEW

The Women’s World Cup has always had surprises but I don’t think there’s ever been a WWC with as many surprises as this! Did the change from a 24-team tournament to a 32-team tournament pave the path for all these surprises? Or would they have happened anyways?

I’ll mention the major surprises and shockers group by group. Starting with Group A, hosts New Zealand beat heavily favored Norway in their opening game. Then they’d lose in their next game to the Philippines! In Group B, Nigeria was more consistent than expected. Their consistency also included them beating hosts Australia 3-2. Australia’s comeback win of 4-0 over Canada meant Canada out! Group C was mostly expected with Japan and Spain qualifying. The unexpected was Zambia’s win over Costa Rica. Group D went mostly shock-proof until the end when England beat China 6-1. That also meant an unexpected early ouster for China!

Group E’s biggest shock was the USA not topping and giving less-than-spectacular play. The scoreless draw between the US and Portugal was the most shocking result. A Group F surprise was Jamaica qualifying. And they only scored a single goal! The bigger shock was Brazil not qualifying! Group G had the surprise of South Africa playing better than expected and their win over Italy helping them qualify. And to think the last group – Group H – had arguably the biggest shocks. Most notable Colombia’s 2-1 win over Germany and Morocco’s 1-0 wins over South Korea and Colombia. In the end it was Morocco and Colombia that advanced leaving favorites Germany and South Korea out!

What can I say? The group play gave us a mix of highlights and lowlights. Starting with lowlights, Vietnam and Haiti lost all three of their games and didn’t score a goal, the five red cards at this Women’s World Cup are already the most ever, Canada failed to advance for the first time since 2011, Brazil for the first time since 1995, and both China and Germany failed to progress for the first time ever! Yes, it’s something how three teams currently ranked in FIFA’s Top 10 are now out. Now onto the highlights. This Women’s World Cup so far has a goal average of 2.63 per game and crowd attendance averaging over 25,476 per game. For those that did qualify, Denmark qualified for the first time since 1995 and three nations, Jamaica, Morocco and South Africa, qualified for the knockout stage for the first time ever. This is also the first World Cup, men’s or women’s, that has three African teams in the knockout round and a Caribbean team for the first time ever at a Women’s World Cup! Even for those that didn’t qualify, there were seven nations that achieved their first-ever win of a Women’s World Cup game. Joining Morocco, Jamaica and South Africa as first-timers are hosts New Zealand, Philippines, Zambia and Portugal. And to think of all the teams at this Women’s World Cup, Zambia, Morocco and South Africa had the lowest FIFA rankings of them all!

ROUND-OF-16 FOCUS

Now onto focusing on the Knockout Round. The complicated thing about this Round of 16 round is that it’s not like your typical Round of 16. Every World Cup the Round of 16 sets up the path of the whole knockout round leading to the final. Whenever a single nation hosts a World Cup, the path is organized so that group play opponents don’t meet again until the Final. Now that two nations are hosting, that will make it hard to do so since the knockout round brackets are organized differently. It’s quite possible that group play opponents could meet as soon as the semi-final. And it’s happened before when Japan and South Korea co-hosted the men’s World Cup of 2002 and group opponents Brazil and Turkey did end up meeting again in the semifinal. Let’s hope we don’t get a similar situation here.

ROUND-OF-16 PREDICTIONS

Now that 48 matches have been played and the qualifiers for the knockout rounds have been decided, the only thing for me to do is now make predictions for which team will win which Round-Of-16 match. So here we go with my predictions! Matches will be in chronological order and my prediction for the winner will be bolded:

Switzerland (Group A winner) vs. Spain (Group C 2nd): Switzerland clinched to top of Group A through lackluster play. They started well with a 2-0 win against the Philippines, but was only able to do scoreless draws against Norway and hosts New Zealand. Spain had already secured their qualification with a 3-0 win over Costa Rica and a 5-0 win against Zambia. Their last game, against Japan, was there to decide first place in the group, which Japan won 4-0.

Now for the game, Switzerland and Spain have met only three times before. Spain winning twice and Switzerland the other time. I will have to say that Spain’s aggressiveness in their games may give them the advantage. Switzerland has given nothing away in the Cup but they’ve lacked in the scoring. I think that will hurt them in the end and that Spain will win.

Japan (Group C Winner) vs. Norway (Group A 2nd): Admit it. We all like it when a team wins all three of their group play games. Japan is that: 5-0 against Zambia, 2-0 against Costa Rica and 4-0 against Spain. Then again, we also like teams that come from behind and deliver. That was Norway. They started with a shocking 1-0 loss to hosts New Zealand and had a scoreless draw against Group A winners Switzerland. Game three was a case where the former champions from 1995 needed a win and nothing less to qualify. In their game aganst the Philippines, they delivered: 6-0!

This ia unique game. Two teams that have won the Women’s World Cup at least over ten years ago. The only previous time they met at the Women’s World Cup, in 1999, Norway won 4-0. In the nine previous times they met, Japan have won more often: 6 wins to Norway winning three times. Although I’m happy to see Norway come alive again, I pick Japan to win. They’ve been playing more solid.

The Netherlands (Group E Winner) vs. South Africa (Group G 2nd): This is one Round of 16 match consisting of two shockers. The first shocker is the Netherlands topping Groups E. The funny thing is that this match was anticipated to have the U.S. top Group E and was scheduled such so it would be at 10pm Eastern Time on Saturday for US viewing time. There are no guarantees in sport! The Netherlands proved that by beating Portugal 1-0, drawing against the U.S.A. 1-1 and beating Vietnam 7-0! The right stuff to top Group E. The second shocker is South Africa qualifying for the first time ever. They slowly but surely showed off their previously untapped strength starting with a 2-1 loss to Sweden, a 2-2 draw to Argentina and ending with a 3-2 win over Italy!

The Netherlands and South Africa have met eight times before. in all eight cases, the Netherlands won. Even though this is the best I’ve seen of South Africa, I still feel the Netherlands will win. Nevertheless it’s possible South Africa can make it go into added extra time.

Sweden (Group G Winner) vs. U.S.A. (Group E 2nd): Sweden topping Group G was a foregone conclusion. Even winning all three games against Italy, South Africa and Argentina was not unexpected. The U.S.A. finishing second in Group E was unexpected. They started with a decent 3-0 win over Vietnam, had a respectable 1-1 draw against the Netherlands, but the scoreless draw against Portugal was a shock and has fans nervous for the team.

Now don’t think that just because the U.S. finished second in their group, they will be out of the WWC soon. They finished second in their group in 2011 and would go on to play in the final. Now onto this match. Sweden and the U.S. are big-time rivals. They’ve met 43 times. Sweden won eight times. The U.S. won 23. As for the World Cup, the two have clashed at the Women’s World Cup six times before, including every WWC since 2003! Previous results are 4 U.S. wins, one Sweden win and one draw. This is a tough decision but will have to say Sweden. The U.S. can beat Sweden if they’re on. At this WWC, the US have been playing lackluster. If the U.S. are not on the ball in this match, it will be over sooner than they hoped and sooner than we all expected.

England (Group D Winner) vs. Nigeria (Group B 2nd): England continued to show why they’re ones to watch by topping Group D with nothing but wins: 1-0 over Haiti, 1-0 over Denmark and 6-1 over China! Nigeria proved themselves the surprise team of Group B starting with a scoreless draw against Canada, a surprise 3-2 win against Australia and a scoreless draw against Ireland to secure qualification. This makes it the third time Nigeria advance to the knockout stage here.

England and Nigeria have met three times before. The first time was at the 1995 Women’s World Cup which England won. The other two times, Nigeria won. The last time being in 2004. I give this to England. They’ve been playing better and delivering a better attack. I think this is theirs for the winning.

Australia (Group B Winner) vs. Denmark (Group D 2nd): Australia really felt the pressure of being the host nation. They started well with a simple 1-0 win against Ireland, then endured a shocking 2-3 loss to Nigeria. Australia knew they had to defeat Canada to stay alive and they did: 4-0! Denmark secured their qualification starting with a 1-0 win over China, then endured a 1-0 loss to England, but a 2-0 win over Haiti assured itself qualification.

The most interesting thing about this match is we have two teams that both had two wins and a loss in group play. The two teams have played each other a total of six times. Denmark won three times and there were two draws. Australia may have won only once but their win was back in October! I give this to Australia.

Colombia (Group H Winner) vs. Jamaica (Group F 2nd): Here’s a case of two teams that didn’t have high expectations but made it! Colombia started off with an unexpected 2-0 win over South Kore and then came and even more shocking 2-1 win over Germany! Their 1-0 loss to Morocco didn’t interfere with them topping their group. Jamaica is another surprise qualifier. They start with a scoreless draw against France, a 1-0 win over Panama and a scoreless draw against Brazil. That’s all they needed to qualify for the first time ever! They may have scored only one goal but boy does their defense speak volumes!

For my prediction for the win, Colombia and Jamaica have met only twice before. Their first meeting in 2018 was Jamaica winning. Their second meeting, at the 2019 Pan Am Games, was Colombia winning. For this I’ll predict Colombia. They’ve been scoring better better and playing harder. Jamaica appears to have a great defense but Colombia’s better scoring ability will eventually prevail in the end.

France (Group F Winner) vs. Morocco (Group H 2nd): France’s qualification is not a surprise. They did start with a surprising scoreless draw against Jamaica, but wins of 2-1 against Brazil and 6-3 over Panama was just what they needed to top Group F. Morocco is one of the biggest surprises of the whole Cup. They started with a disappointing 6-0 loss to Germany, but 1-0 wins over both South Korea and Colombia was just the right stuff to make them a surprise qualifier! Of the eight nations making their debut at this Women’s World Cup, Morocco is the only one that advances!

In searching for head-to-head stats of France and Morocco, I have been unable to find any information of them meeting before in the past. In the end, I will have to give it to France. They’ve been attacking and scoring better. Morocco has been a delightful surprise, but I think the surprise will end here.

QUARTERFINAL PREDICTIONS:

Provided the Round of 16 winners end up being exactly who I predicted, here are my predictions for the quarterfinals. I won’t do too much rambling with my quarterfinal predictions. Especially since the teams playing haven’t been decided. I’ll keep it brief:

Spain vs. Netherlands: Provided my predictions go right, I say Spain. Spain and the Netherlands have met ten times before with Spain winning five times and the Netherlands winning two. The Netherlands’ prowess seems to be fading a bit while Spain’s prowess has grown. That’s why I say Spain.

Japan vs. Sweden: This should be interesting. The two have met fourteen times before, including three at the Women’s World Cup. Japan has won five times. Sweden six. This could be tight as both teams have played strong but Japan has conceded nothing so far. I think Japan will win on penalty kicks.

Australia vs. France: Australia have done a better job at playing than expected, but France has shown better consistency. In the past, they’ve met eight times before. Australia winning four times and France winning three. I predict France to take this, but on added extra time.

England vs. Colombia: The only time England have ever played Colombia was in a Canada 2015 group game, which England won 2-1. The Colombian team has changed a lot since they met, but England has too. I think this will be a case of England winning in added extra time.

And there you go! Those are my predictions for the first two sets of knockout matches of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Will the knockout matches be as unpredictable as most of the group play results? We’ll just have to see!

2023 FIFA WWC: Group Stage With One Game To Go

Jon The BlogcentricLeave a comment

This Women’s World Cup has been good, but crazy. The main crazy thing is the big time-zone separation between Australian/New Zealand time zones and the North American times. One good thing is I’m able to see at least five games of Canada or the US playing, or expected to play, during North American prime-time hours. Most of the time, the games will be held while I’m sleeping. In addition, all of the third-games of the group stage will be contested starting at times between midnight Pacific time to 4am Pacific time!

Another crazy thing about the game set-ups is the times and dates of some games. One thing I’m unhappy about is New Zealand vs. Philippines, a Group A game, was contested on July 25th while Australia’s second game, against Nigeria, was contested on the 27th. Isn’t it odd Australia played their second game on the same day all Group E teams played their second game? And Australia’s Group B? In addition all second games of Group D were.played on the 28th! I’d rather it be contested in the group’s order and that the games were on the opposite days. I don’t understand it. In addition, the third-matches of Group A will be contested before the last matches of Group H. What’s up with that? No complaint about Australia and New Zealand are host nations. My complaint is how they organized this.

Nevertheless I have been able to make my assessments on how the eight groups are going and what it needed to qualify for the knockout round. Keep in mind unlike the last two Women’s World Cups there’s no third-place wildcard berths. All groups are a case the top two and only the top two advance.

The way the group play looks after two games played by each team, three teams have enough game points to secure qualification, five teams have enough game results to guarantee elimination and the other twenty-four will need the third and final game to decide it all. So here’s how things look for each group so far. Qualified teams will be bolded and links to my blogs will be in the group titles:

Group A: All I can say right now is Group A is the group of surprises after two games played. First off, New Zealand. On opening day, both host nations won their games 1-0. The Football Ferns should be especially proud since their win against Norway was not only an upset, but made it their first-ever win of a Women’s World Cup match ever! And they’ve been in every WWC since 2007! Second surprise, Philippines winning against New Zealand. A debut team and they score a surprise 1-0 win against the hosts! And the Philippines team is the lowest ranked of the four in FIFA’s rankings! Third surprise, Norway. They had the highest FIFA ranking of all Group A teams and they’re at the bottom thanks to their loss to New Zealand and their draw to Switzerland! Did anyone expect that?

Right now none of the Group A teams have officially qualified. All four have chances to qualify and it’s very lengthy to explain all their chances. Switzerland has the healthiest chances of winning thanks to their 2-0 win over the Philippines and their scoreless draw against Norway. Drawing against hosts New Zealand is all they need to qualify. New Zealand could qualify with a draw, but it would heavily depend on the result of the game of Norway vs. Philippines. If the Philippines wins, Philippines will qualify instead. If Norway wins, New Zealand could still qualify, but it would depend on the draw’s score and the score of Norway’s win. Once again, it would be a number’s game. As I mentioned, Philippines could steal the berth from New Zealand if they win. but would need a big win of at least two goals over Norway to qualify. Norway is in the case of nothing less than a win to qualify and possibly a goal differential in the win of two goals or more should New Zealand draw against Switzerland. I said it wasn’t easy to explain it all!

Group B: Group B is another group of surprises! It all started with Australia playing one of the two openers. They won their March against Ireland 1-0. The next game, Canada vs. Nigeria, was a surprise as it ended in a scoreless draw. For the second games, Canada vs. Ireland did go as anticipated as Canada won 2-1, but Australia vs. Nigeria was the surprise. Nigeria won 2-3!

So with the final games to go, we have three teams that still have a qualifying chance. Nigeria has the best chances of qualifying with a win and a draw and their goal differential. The only way for Nigeria to fail to qualify is if they lose to Ireland and the Australia/Canada game is a draw. As for that game, it’s interesting to see how Australia will play against Canada in response to their loss to Nigeria. One thing is certain from the match is that the winner qualifies. As I mentioned before, both teams can qualify if they draw, but Nigeria will have to lose to Ireland for Australia to qualify. The only way for Canada to fail to qualify is if they lose to Australia and Nigeria beats Ireland. Also Ireland is out. Their elimination actually happened right after they lost to Canada. Even if they beat Nigeria, it won’t do it.

Group C: Two games is all it took to decide the two qualifiers. By winning their first two games Spain and Japan are officially going to the knockout round. Their third game, where they play each other, will be to decide who finishes first and second in the group and which Round of 16 games they play in. Whoever wins will top Group C. If a draw, Spain will top as it has a better goal differential by one goal.

With two losses, both Costa Rica and Zambia are officially out of the tournament. Their game on the 31st will be for pride and to decide third from fourth. And to score goals! Not only did both teams lose their first two games, but neither team had a goal scored for them! Their final game oughta make it happen!

Group D: One good thing about this group is that all four games ended with a win. One bad thing about this group is that all games have ended with scores of 1-0. Right now England is the team with the best qualifying chances after winning both their games. China and Denmark are in a stalemate with a win and a loss both. Haiti is not out of the running, but has the slimmest of chances after losing both their games.

The thing with this group is that none of the teams have guaranteed qualification yet. On that same token, none of the teams, Not even Haiti, have officially been eliminated. All four teams still have a chance and it’s complicated to explain. The easiest is that England wins over China or even draws against them and Denmark wins over Haiti. Your two qualifiers there. There’s also the chance England could lose to China and Denmark wins. Depending on what kind of win China has over England, goal differentials can give rise to the possibility of England not qualifying. There have been cases before in the men’s World Cup of three teams having two wins and a loss and one of those teams not advancing. Just ask the Algerian team of 1982!

The odds and ends don’t stop there. England could lose and Haiti could beat Denmark. That would lead to England and China qualifying. There’s even a possibility of Haiti qualifying, but it’s the slimmest of the slim chances. Haiti would not only need a good well-scoring win over Denmark, but also England would need to beat China! It has happened before at the men’s World Cup there was one team that won all three of their games and the other three teams had a win and two losses each. What can I say? This is the case where only the third game can decided it for all!

Group E: The crazy thing about having a group with two top-ranked teams is you think the qualifiers will be decided almost instantaneously. It seemed to be the case here as we have the two finalists from the last Women’s World Cup. Things did appear to go as planned as the US beat Vietnam 3-0 and the Netherlands beat Portugal on their openers. The US and the Netherlands meet and there ends up being a 1-1 draw to many people’s surprise. On top of it, Portugal made itself a contender for qualifying after their 2-0 win over Vietnam.

The craziest thing about this is that the Round of 16 and quarterfinals have only a single match in both cases aimed for an earlier-than-usual start time in anticipation that the US top Group E. The Round-of-16 match where the team that tops Group E is scheduled to be contested in Sydney at noon on Saturday August 6th and the quarterfinal featuring the winner of that match is to be held in Wellington on Thursday the 11th at 1pm. All for being contested live during American primetime television hours. I doubt the US will finish second or fail to qualify, but imagine if it does!

So with one game to go, we have three teams eligible to qualify. The US and the Netherlands have the best chances to qualify with both a win and a loss. They’re heavily favored to win their next games and a win would guarantee them qualification. One of the few ways any one of the teams could miss qualifying is if they both lose their games and the Netherlands would be out because of a lower goal differential than the US. The only other way is if the US loses their match to Portugal. Then Portugal and the Netherlands would qualify instead. Also to add, Vietnam is out. Even if they win against the Netherlands, it would be too much too late.

Group F: In this group, things started off slowly for France and Jamaica with their scoreless draw. Brazil pained the pole position with their 4-0 win over Panama, which included a hat trick by Aly Borges; the first hat trick of the Women’s World Cup. France knew they couldn’t waste any more chances and won 2-1 against Brazil. Jamaica also seized a moment of their own and won 1-0 over Panama.

As of now three teams still have a chance of qualifying. France has the best chances. Even if they draw against Panama, they will still be in there. The winner of the Brazil/Jamaica match will qualify. If a draw, Brazil will qualify because of its better goal differentials. The only way France can’t qualify is if both Brazil and Jamaica tie and France loses to Panama by a huge margin. It’s possible. As for Panama, it’s over for them. Even if they win over France, the other three teams already have better game points and goal differentials to qualify.

Group G: Winning its first two games is all Sweden needed to do to qualify for the knockout stage! Starting with 2-1 over South Africa and then 5-0 over Italy. As for the other three teams, they’re still all in contention. Italy may have lost 5-0 to Sweden but their 1-0 win over Argentina keeps them in second-place in the current Group C standings. The 2-2 draw between Argentina and South Africa is what keeps their qualification chances alive.

Even though Sweden has qualified, their final match against Argentina may be about their ranking. They could finish second if they lose and Italy win against South Africa, but Italy will need a super-big win over South Africa to make Sweden finish second in the group. As for all the other three teams, Italy has the best qualification chances. Most obviously, a win over South Africa will solidify their qualification. If Italy and South Africa draw, Italy could still qualify, provided Sweden doesn’t lose to Argentina. That 5-0 loss to Sweden really set them back and could cost them should that happen! Argentina and South Africa can still qualify but it must be nothing less than a win for either. South Africa has the advantage with goal differentials. Argentina would need a win of 2-0 or 3-1 to qualify if South Africa wins. What can I say? The slimmest of chances are still a chance!

Group H: If there’s one group that’s to be called the group of shockers, this group is it! The first game of Germany winning over Morocco was not a shocker, but the score of 6-0 was. The game of Colombia vs. South Korea resulted in a surprise win for Colombia 2-0. Game two provided even bigger shockers. In South Korea vs. Morocco, Morocco won thanks to a sixth-minute goal from Ibtissam Jraidi. The shocks didn’t end there as Colombia would beat Germany thanks in part to the winning goal of Manuela Vanegas in the seventh minute of added extra time in the second half!

One thing about this group is that all four teams still have qualifying chances and it will take the third games to decide it all. The team with the best chances is Colombia with their two wins. Even a draw against Morocco will solidify qualification. The only way Colombia could fail to qualify is if Germany wins their game and Morocco beats Colombia with a score of 4-0 or 5-1 or something similar. As for Morocco, the aforementioned scenario is one of only two ways they can qualify. No doubt Morocco needs a win to qualify, but to qualify even with as small of a win of 1-0, Germany will have to draw or lose against South Korea. As for Germany, those are the only ways they can fail to qualify. Despite having a win and a loss, their big 6-0 gives them some of the best chances to qualify.

As for South Korea, they have to be the biggest underachievers of this Cup. Ranked 17th in the world and not only lost both their games, but without a goal scored! Just how I mentioned in Group D how Haiti still has a chance to qualify, despite it being the slimmest of slim, Colombia’s win over Germany kept South Korea’s qualifying chances alive! Nevertheless the chance is very slim. Not only will South Korea need a win and for Colombia to win too, but their win over Germany will need a score similar to 5-0 or 6-1. Simply put, the win has to be by a margin of at least five goals! Talk about the slimmest of slim!

And there you have it. There’s a look at those that have made it and those that are still in contention. It’s not easy to explain, but group play is rarely an easy thing to explain. Sometimes it’s never obvious until the very end.

2023 Women’s World Cup Intro And Group A Focus

Jon The Blogcentric2 Comments

Yes, the Women’s World Cup is back for its ninth edition. This is actually the very first Women’s World Cup that the hosting will be between two countries: Australia and New Zealand. This will be quite something as their time zones greatly differ and most of the games will be contested during times most people aren’t used to: early morning in Europe and sleeping hours in North America.

This year’s tournament promises excitement with this being the very first WWC to have thirty-two teams competing! How about that? Right after Qatar 2022 becomes the last men’s World Cup with 32 competing teams, Australia/New Zealand 2023 will be the first Women’s World Cup to contest 32 teams. I will be focusing more on various aspects of this year’s Women’s World Cup over future blogs. In the meantime, this is the first of my eight group focuses. Here’s my look at Group A. In addition, FIFA ranking as of June 2023 is in brackets:

-New Zealand (26): Usually for the World Cup, the draw is to make sure the host nation or nations don’t have such a tough time trying to qualify to the knockout round. It backfired for Qatar 2022 as the host nation achieved three ignominious World Cup records: first host nation to lose its opening game; first host nation to lose all three of their Group Stage games; and first-ever host nation to get a last-place finish at the World Cup.

New Zealand is one of the two host nations. It has always finished in the Group Stage in all five of their previous Women’s World Cup appearance without ever winning a game. Nevertheless the Football Ferns are a team that can deliver. They once made the quarterfinals of an Olympics (in 2012) and have won two Olympic matches. The current team plays for teams mostly in Australia and the United States. The team is coached by Czech coach Jitka Klimkova. You can be sure New Zealand won’t deliver the same Qatar-like disappointment here.

New Zealand has not had it good this year. They played seven friendlies this year, five at home, and they lost all but one. Their last win was back in September against the Philippines. Whatever the situation, New Zealand knows they will need to deliver a team that will make their nation proud. Sometimes home-field advantage can work and I’m confident the Ferns will deliver. Even achieve New Zealand’s first WWC win ever.

-Norway (12): If there’s one thing about Norway, they want people to stop seeing them as a blast from the past. Their WWC and Olympic wins may have come in 1995 and 2000 respectively and their last Top 4 finish may have been in 2007 but they still have a lot to prove. In fact 2019 saw them return to the WWC quarterfinals and win the Algarve Cup that year The team is even coached by Hege Riise who was part of both the 1995 World Cup winning team and the 2000 Olympic champions.

Most of the team plays for the Norwegian league and other leagues around Europe. The Grasshoppers, as they are commonly known, finished third at this year’s Tournoi de France. Since the start of 2022, their play has been off and on. They’ve won against New Zealand and the Netherlands, had draws against England and Sweden, had a win and a loss against Denmark, a draw and a loss to France and losses to England, Brazil and Spain. The World Cup is where the team has to come together if they want to prove they’re a force to be reckoned with now.

-Philippines (46): It seems as though ever since the Philippines have qualified for this World Cup, they’re doing the best they’ve ever done. Mind you football is a new sport in the Philippines. The team has had a stellar set of last few years winning the AFF Championship (for Southeast Asian teams and Australia) and becoming semifinalists at last year’s Asian Cup. The Filipinas even won their first medal at the Asian Games since 1985.

This will be the team’s World Cup debut. The team is coached by Australian Alen Stajcic. The team members play mostly for leagues in Europe and Australia. In its play since 2022, the team have amassed a lot of wins but they were all against Asian teams. Outside of Asian teams, they’ve had a draw and a loss to both Costa Rica and Chile. They’ve also had losses to New Zealand, Scotland and Iceland. Whatever the situation, this World Cup is the perfect opportunity for the Philippines team to grow and learn and maybe surprise us sooner than we expected.

-Switzerland (20): Switzerland is a team working to make a name for themselves. La Nati have competed at Euro 2017 and 2022 but never made it past the group stage. In their first and only previous World Cup back in 2015, they did qualify for the knockout stage but lost to hosts Canada in the Round of 16.

The current team is coached by German Inka Grings who was part of Germany’s bronze medal-winning team at the 2000 Olympics. The team mostly plays for leagues in Switzerland, Germany, England and Spain. Since the start of 2022, Switzerland have had wins against Croatia and Wales, draws against Portugal, Poland and China and losses to Sweden, Netherlands and Denmark. Australia and New Zealand provide Switzerland with another chance to make a name for themselves and a chance to go further than most will predict.

My Prediction: For first timers at my blog, I usually predict as I go with the World Cup. That means whenever I do group reviews, I predict who from that group will qualify into the knockout round. Group A is not too easy to predict which two will advance to the knockout round. All four teams have noticeable strengths and noticeable weaknesses. My prediction will be Norway will top but New Zealand will also qualify.

And there you have it. That’s my review for Women’s World Cup Group A. There’s more to come over time. Hard to believe it’s just two weeks away!

2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup Group E Focus

Jon The Blogcentric2 Comments

Of course the group I’m most interested in is the one which Canada’s in. And Canada has some strong challengers like Cameroon, New Zealand and the Netherlands. Just because Canada comes as one of the top-ranked teams, it doesn’t mean they will waltz their way to the Round of 16. However many players of Team Canada are saying they believe this to be their best team ever. Midfielder Desiree Scott agrees: “You’re always going into these major tournaments wanting to win the World Cup, I think all teams want to say that. I can say, personally, I know this World Cup we say we want to win, but it’s the first time in many years that I truly believe we can.”

Whatever the situation, Group E promises excitement as the other three teams have pulled upsets before and are capable of pulling an upset here in France. So without further ado, here’s a look at 2019 WWC’s Group E:

Canada-Canada (5): It was losing all three games at WWC 2011 that really changed the Canadian team. In came coach John Herdman who helped them all become better players and even won Olympic bronze in 2012. They had continued success at the 2015 Women’s World Cup where as host nation, they made it to the quarterfinals and even delivered Canada’s first WWC win of a knockout match since 2003 (which I saw live). At the 2016 Summer Olympics, Canada won bronze again. Canada also won the Algarve Cup that year and last year, they finished second at the CONCACAF championships.

In 2018, John Herdman was moved to the Canadian men’s national team. taking his place is Danish coach Kenneth Heiner-Moller who was assistant coach the previous five years and even coached Denmark’s national team at the 2007 Women’s World Cup. The team has a mix of young and experienced players like captain Christine Sinclair, midfielder Sophie Schmidt, defender Kadeisha Buchanan who won the Best Young Player award at the last WWC, midfielder Julia Grosso, and goalkeeper Stephanie Labbe. Canada has not has a single loss in 2019 accumulating wins against England, Scotland and Norway and drawing against Sweden, Switzerland and Spain. However in 2018, they did have losses to the United States, Germany and France. If Canada’s on here in France, they could  just get Canada’s first Top 3 finish, or even a win!

Cameroon-Cameroon (46): Cameroon come as underdogs to the tournament, but don’t be fooled. Cameroon qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics and at the previous Women’s World Cup in Canada, they progressed to the Round of 16! At the last three Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, Cameroon has had two runner-up finishes and their most recent being third.

In Cameroon’s games this year, they won against Croatia, but lost to Spain and China. Most of the team’s play has been against Cameroonian clubs and Spanish clubs. Despite being unknown how well they do, Cameroon could pull an upset in France. Plus you can trust the Cameroonian communities in France giving them a big boost in the crowds.

NZL-New Zealand (19): New Zealand is a team that should not be taken lightly. Sure, they have it easy in qualifying with getting the Oceania berth ever since Australia transferred to the AFC. However they’re more capable than you think. They may have never won a game at the Women’s World Cup, but they have won two games at the Olympics and even qualified for a quarterfinal in 2012. They’ve also made the Top 4 of three of the last four Algarve Cups.

These past twelve months, New Zealand has had some good key wins against England, Mexico, Norway and Argentina. However they’ve also had losses to Japan, Australia, South Korea and the USA. However don’t count New Zealand out as a possible contender here in France. They may try for their first WWC win here, but they can achieve a lot more too.

Netherlands Fixed-Netherlands (8): If there’s one team that can prevent Canada from topping Group E, it’s the Netherlands. Netherlands surprised everyone at the previous Women’s World Cup when they not only qualified for the first time, but made it to the Round of 16. At the Women’s Euro in 2017 which they hosted, they won. This was one of only two times Germany didn’t win the Women’s Euro. And to boot, they made it to the final of the 2018 Algarve Cup.

In the last twelve months, the Netherlands has continued to play well. They’ve had wins against Mexico, Australia, Switzerland and Denmark, even draws against China and Switzerland. They’ve also had losses to Spain, Poland and Norway. 2019 can be a new chapter for the Dutch team.

MY GROUP PLAY PREDICTIONS:

I have to go with my best hunches here and pick Canada to top the group with the Netherlands second. The way things look right now, I’m picking New Zealand for third.

And that’s it for my look at Group E. One last group to review before the 2019 Women’s World Cup begins!

WORK CITED:

van Diest, Derek. ‘Canada bringing its best to FIFA Women’s World Cup in France.’ Toronto Sun. 3 June 2019. <https://torontosun.com/sports/soccer/van-diest-canada-bringing-its-best-to-fifa-womens-world-cup-in-france>

2017 Confederations Cup Preview

Jon The BlogcentricLeave a comment

confederations_cup
The 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup will take place in Russia one year before they are to host the World Cup.

With the World Cup just a year away, that means this year will have the FIFA Confederations Cup. Back in 2013, I did a focus on the Confederations Cup and why it’s an important tournament. This year’s Confederations Cup is important as well. Not just because the Cup is a growing tournament but also for the host country of Russia.

Russia is already a country controversial enough with the way they do politics. Hosting next year’s World Cup is also considered controversial as there’s question on how Russia won their bid and FIFA’s process in achieving the victories for both Russia for 2018 and Qatar for 2022. All I can say in this matter is I don’t have the research on that and things will have to sort themselves out over the year’s time leading up to the World Cup.

While the World Cup will be contested in twelve stadiums in Russia next year, this Confederations Cup will be contested in four stadiums. All four being ‘fresh’ stadiums which are either just now breaking ground or have broken ground only within the past five years:

  • Otkrytiye Arena, Moscow – This will be one of two stadiums in Moscow that will stage the World Cup. Located in the Tushino area of Moscow, this stadium is the home venue for Spartak Moscow. Completed in 2014, this stadium seats just over 45,000 people.
  • Krestovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg – This 68,000-seat stadium may have just broken ground this year but it took ten years to complete. Problems from construction management to changing contractors to problems with its conditions have plagued the stadium and its construction but it will finally be ready for the Confederations Cup. Built on Krestovsky Island, the stadium is also the host venue for the football team FC Zenit.
  • Kazan Arena, Kazan – Completed in 2013, this 45,000-seat stadium has the largest outside screen in Europe. The stadium has hosted events like the 2013 World Student Games and the 2015 World Aquatics Championships. The stadium is also the home venue for Russian Premier League team Rubin Kazan.
  • Fisht Olympic Stadium, Sochi – Remember the $51 billion Sochi Winter Olympics? This is the host stadium which hosted the ceremonies and held the Olympic flame. Determined not to have it become a ‘white elephant,’ the stadium is now the home venue for Russian Professional Football League team FC Sochi. In addition, it will also host six World Cup games next year.

The tournament begins Saturday the 17th. There will be eight teams. Six are winners of their continent’s respective championship, Germany qualified as winner of the World Cup and Russia qualifies as host nation. Here’s how the teams stack up. FIFA rankings for June 2017 are the numbers in brackets:

GROUP A:

Russia Fixed-Russia (63): Russia is an enigma in football right now. The team has a lot of talent but constantly misses in delivering in major tournaments and qualifying events. Such examples include qualifying for three World Cups since the USSR dissolved and failing to qualify for the knockout round each time. Another example is the Euro tournament: semifinalists in 2008 but out in the Group Stage in 2012 and 2016. Trying coaches from other countries like Guus Huddink and Fabio Capello have delivered sub-par results.

Russia has yet to prove its current team since Euro 2016. The team consists of a Russian coach and all but one of the lineup for the Cup play for teams in the Russian Premier League. 2017 has not been the best to Russia as they lost 2-0 to the Ivory Coast and drew 3-3 against Belgium and 1-1 against Chile. They did however score a 3-0 win against Hungary. Remember that football is a box of surprises as Pele always says and Russia could end up surprising everyone here.

NZL-New Zealand (95): New Zealand can be either a very good team or a bad team. It qualified for the 2010 World Cup and drew in all of its games. However it hasn’t made much of an impact since. The current line-up of the all-blacks only features one player that plays for a team in a major European League (France’s Ligue 1). The Kiwis have been dominant against teams from Oceania but have struggled against teams from other continents such as a 1-1 draw against the US and losses to Belarus, Northern Ireland and Mexico. If they don’t go far here, they can always learn in time for next year.

Portugal Fixed-Portugal (8): Portugal is a team of surprises. The team went from lackluster group play in Euro 2016 to becoming Cup champions. Portugal has since maintained its reputation as one of the best teams in the world with excellent play in World Cup qualifying and continuing to win most of their games. However they have had some notable losses such as a 2-0 loss to Switzerland in September and a 3-2 loss to Sweden in March. Portugal can either be very on or very off here in Russia. The next two weeks will decide their fate.

Mexico-Mexico (17): Mexico has always been seen as the leader of the CONCACAF. They hope to take it even further by proving themselves among the best in the world. However it’s come at a struggle as they’ve ended their last six World Cups in the Round of 16. Mexico have had a lot of good wins in the last 12 months to teams like Ireland, Iceland and Costa Rica and even had a 1-1 draw against the US. However they’ve had a 2-1 loss to Croatia and a 7-0 loss to Chile at the Copa America. The World Cup may be one year away but now is a good chance for Mexico to prove itself on the world stage.

Prediction: This is a tough one but I predict the two qualifiers to the semis to be Mexico and Portugal, but don’t count out a possible surprise from Mother (?) Russia.

GROUP B:

Cameroon-Cameroon (32): Cameroon have been one of the most consistent African teams. However their play in the last two decades have been far from their glory days in the early 90’s. The team has worked hard to become better and more consistent since the embarrassment of the 2014 World Cup where they finished dead last. The current squad has many players from many leagues. The team hasn’t had the best chances at proving themselves since. In the past twelve months, they’ve either won or tied every game, but they’ve all been against African teams. The Confederations Cup is a chance for them to prove themselves and where they stand.

Chile–Chile (4): We can have a long discussion about the ‘sleeping giants’ in football waiting for their big moment to arrive. Chile would be one of them. They have been underestimated in the past and have even gone out in the Round Of 16 in the past two World Cups; and to Brazil both times. However Chile has seized the moment at both the 2015 and 2016 Copa Americas by winning their first-ever Copas. Chile now wants to prove its greatness on the world stage, but they have had an up-and-down period since Copa 2016. They’ve had wins against Uruguay, Colombia and Iceland, but they’ve also had losses to Romania and Argentina and even drew against Russia 1-1 just a week ago. Chile will have to seize the moment if they want to prove themselves further.

Australia–Australia (48): Since Australia was switched from the Oceania federation to the AFC after their Round of 16 surprise at World Cup 2006, bigger and better things were anticipated from them. Instead it’s been the opposite with losing in the Group Stage these past two World Cups. Australia hopes to put itself back as a powerhouse. However they’ve had a mixed bag of results in the past twelve months ranging from a 1-0 win against Greece to a 4-0 loss to Brazil. Anything can happen here in Russia and Australia could possibly find itself among the frontrunners.

Germany fixed-Germany (3): The current holders of the World Cup appear to be the heavy favorites to win here. They’ve maintained a consistency even with new members added to the national team ever since. However they’ve had their difficulties too. The semifinal loss at Euro 2016 showed they still have some elements of team unity and other glitches to work on. Since Euro, Germany have not had a loss. They’ve had wins against England and the Czechs but have also drawn 0-0 against Italy and 1-1 against Denmark. They have what it takes to win the Cup here. They just have to deliver.

Prediction: Long shots can pull surprises but I’m going to go with my best instincts and predict Germany and Chile to be this group’s two qualifiers.

And there’s my look at the confederations Cup and the competing teams. Winner to be decided on Sunday July 2nd. Possible more blogs to come, depending on how many hits I get with this.

VIFF 2015 Review: Deathgasm

Jon The Blogcentric1 Comment

Deathgasm is a New Zealand horror comedy of metalheads taming up to save the day.
Deathgasm is a New Zealand horror comedy of metalheads taming up to save the day.

Deathgasm was one of those fringy movies shown at the VIFF that was shown at the Rio Theatre at 11pm on certain days. It was entertaining to watch after a long night and became a guilty pleasure of mine.

Brodie is a metalhead coming from a dysfunctional home. His mother was institutionalized and he is sent to live with his devoutly religious Uncle and Aunt and his obnoxious jock cousin David. Life at his new school isn’t the best and it’s only made worse by his cousin David’s bullying. However he is able to catch the eye of a classmate named Medina and he meets a few metalheads like him: Zakk, Dion and Giles. The band goes well and with good camaraderie but Brodie doesn’t know Zakk came onto Medina

Since the four of them all like heavy metal, they form their own band which Brodie names Deathgasm. One day, they break into an old house which they later find one of their heavy metal idols Ricky Daggers living there. Ricky gives them some magical sheet music but only before he’s killed by a cult leader after they left. The band plays the music only to find that one part of the song sends to send off demonic spells. Nevertheless they’re tempted to play it.

One day they play the ‘demonic’ part so intensely, it casts a curse on the neighborhood. Almost everyone outside of the band affected by the music has turned into a zombie. On top of it, the demon has been released and must be destroyed. It’s a gory battle trying to kill all the zombies in town. Fortunately David finds himself an eventual casualty. He had it coming! However that was just half the battle. They have to find the demon to end everything for once and for all. It ends on an entertaining note and leaves you thinking “That was fun!”

Overall it was a funny movie. It was an entertaining horror comedy to watch and it appeared like the real gruesome moments happened at the right time. I’ve seen a lot of horror movies that didn’t want to be comedies but ended up that way. This is one that tries to be a comedy and knows how and when to place the shots. In many ways, it reminds me of when I saw Housebound: a New Zealand movie that tries to mix thriller moments with comedy and succeeds as well. I’m sure most people will get the joke and treat the more gruesome moments as the jokes they’re intended to be. Scenes such as the airborne severed penis and one enemy strangled and decapitated with their bloody spinal column coming out, how can one not take it as a joke? I figure if people can sit through Saw, they can watch this.

The funny thing about this film is its inclusion of ‘metalheads’ in the story. Seeing the images of the metalheads, the ‘demonic’ heavy metal music and of the heavy metal fantasia brought back a lot of memories of the heavy metal phenomenon. It’s probably still in existence for some teens. You just have to look around. However this element is questionable if it could win over young people outside New Zealand. Would they be able to identify with metalheads or even get a lot of the humor? That’s something to think about.

I give credit to writer/director Jason Lei Howden for creating this comedy which happens to be his directorial debut. It was hilarious and enjoyable in a gory sort of way. Milo Cawthorne was funny and did his role as Brodie right. James Blake and Kimberly Crossman were great supporting players in this film. Even the minor supporting actors added to the humor of the film in their own way.

Deathgasm was a funny horror comedy from New Zealand that was a great entertaining way to end the VIFF with.

And there you go. Those are my reviews of the Vancouver Film Fest films I saw. Blog about how the VIFF went for the year coming soon.

2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup: Intro and Group A Focus

Jon The Blogcentric3 Comments

Canada will host the sixth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup.
Canada will host the sixth edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

The FIFA Women’s World Cup is coming and Canada is to be the host nation. This is to be an exciting time for both the country and the sport of women’s football.

This marks the first time Canada has ever hosted a World Cup. Canada has hosted past soccer tournaments for FIFA like the 1987 U-16 World Championships, 2002 U-19 Women’s World Championships, 2007 Men’s U-20 World Cup and last year’s U-20 Women’s World Cup. It’s up to the challenge. And a new challenge for the Women’s World Cup as this year the number of competing teams have been expanded from 16 to 24.

Throughout the next two weeks, I will be doing an analysis of each first round group and even making judgments on who I think will come out on top, come second and even come third. I don’t think I’ll predict the wildcard advancers as that will be too tricky. I’ll just limit to a third-place prediction. The number in brackets below is the FIFA Women’s Ranking for May 2015.

GROUP A:

Canada

Christine Sinclair will captain possibly Canada's greatest women's soccer team ever. They already have an Olympic bronze to their feats.
Christine Sinclair will captain possibly Canada’s greatest women’s soccer team ever. They already have an Olympic bronze to their feats.

-Canada (8): The Women’s World Cup is where Canada can show off its football prowess. Our men have only qualified for a single World Cup all the way back in 1986 which leaves us cheering for whoever during the World Cup; most of the time the country of our ethnic background. As for our women, the only World Cup they didn’t qualify for was the inaugural one back in 1991. Canadian women have an impressive resume of their own such as two CONCACAF Championships and an Olympic bronze medal from 2012. In fact their bronze was Canada’s favorite memory of those Olympics. Even I remember the excitement I felt and even referred to them as ‘our girls.’ Naturally so since soccer is probably the team sport in Canada with the most female participation. Even more than hockey. In fact this World Cup should make Canada proud as it is one nation that has one of the best instances female participation in soccer. Heck, our female stars like Christine Sinclair and Melissa Tancredi are bigger household names than our male stars!

However it’s not to say the women are looking for their own World Cup glory. This may be our sixth World Cup but Canada has only advanced past the Group Stage once back in 2003 where they finished fourth. In fact Canada lost all three of their Group Stage matches at the last World Cup back in 2011. Things changed after Canada recruited English coach John Herdman after he finished coaching New Zealand. After that, he helped guide Canada to gold at the Pan American Games and the bronze in London.

Canada’s chances to qualify to the knockout rounds are not only great but they also have good chances to come out on top. They beat China in their last game. They’ve won against New Zealand in six of their ten meetings and won against the Netherlands in ten of their eleven meetings. They also look good to win their Round of 16 match but things look to get tougher around the quarterfinals. Nevertheless this World Cup is anyone’s game. Women’s football has progressed to the point that there are now many equals at the top rather than one to rule them all. Canada could just provide the surprise.

China-China, People’s Republic of (16): Is it too soon in women’s football to call China a ‘blast from the past?’ It’s easy to dismiss it as one. The ‘Steel Roses’ have an Olympic silver medal from its first Olympic contest in 1996 and were runners-up to the Cup in 1999 where they lost to the US on penalty kicks. China hosted the World Cup twice during the very first in 1991 and in 2007. However they had a recent setback when they did not qualify for either the 2011 World Cup or the 2012 Olympics. Even their dominance of the AFC Asian Cup in the 90’s have faded and even finished out of the medals for the first time back in 2010. Nevertheless China are determined to comeback. They had good moments such as beating many top Asian teams last year and even winning against Argentina 6-0. However Argentina was their last win back in December of 2014. Right now it’s safe to say China’s in comeback mode but it will take a lot of effort for them to come back. A lot has changed in women’s football since their glory days of the 90’s.

NZL-New Zealand (17): How ironic is it that John Herdman’s team from the last World Cup is pitted against Canada in the Group Stage? This will be the fourth World Cup for the ‘Football Ferns’ however they have yet to establish themselves. They have not made it past the Group Stage in their three appearances. They haven’t even won a World Cup game yet. They did make it to the quarterfinals at the London Olympics showing improvement already. This World Cup looks to be one where the women want to show how much they’ve improved. They may have had recent losses to the bigger countries like the U.S., Japan, France and Norway but they have tied Brazil and Spain and even won against Denmark. This World Cup is another proving point for them. Also with the potential of three teams from each group advancing, chances look better than ever.

Netherlands Fixed-Netherlands (12): The Netherlands is one of eight teams competing in their very first World Cup here in Canada. The women, whom like the men are also called ‘Oranje,’ do not have a legacy but they have developed a reputation in recent years. In 2009, they qualified for their first-ever Women’s Euro and finished third. Even though they still lack the experience of the other three teams in Group A, they should look at this as a learning experience. It’s even possible the Netherlands will be a top challenger in the future. They could even cement their name here. They have never won against Canada and have more losses than wins against China and New Zealand but they have won their most recent meetings with both teams. Netherlands could pull an upset.

NOTE: This Women’s World Cup will act as a meet for European teams to earn berths for the 2016 Summer Olympics. The top three European teams here qualify for Rio.

MY GROUP PLAY PREDICTIONS:

This looks to be Canada’s best World Cup. The team looks in good shape, especially with Christine Sinclair as captain. I strongly believe they’ll come out on top. It’s harder to predict second or third. It can go to any of the other three. For this group, I predict China to be second and the Netherlands to be third.

STADIUM SPOTLIGHT:

Okay, just like I did with the men’s World Cup from last year, I will again do a Stadium Spotlight.  One good thing about this World Cup is you remember how during last year’s men’s World Cup the groups were ‘scrambled’ across stadiums during the group play? The women’s are more organized as the teams of all six groups will be allocated in the same stadium during their first two games. It’s only the third game for all teams where they’ll go to a different stadium. The other good thing about this World Cup is that no new stadiums were required to be built. Whatever new stadiums build or renovated were done so for the sake of its current purposes. Only two stadiums are less than five years old. And the first of the two will be focused in this blog:

WINNIPEG: Winnipeg StadiumWpg Stadium

Year Opened: 2013

World Cup Capacity: 40,000

World Cup Groups Hosting: A,B,C,D

This stadium was actually opened just two years ago. It was needed because the 50+ year old Winnipeg Stadium was long past its prime. Actually it was to be opened in 2012 but construction delays pushed opening to the following year. The stadium, which is actually anmes as the Investors Group Field, is home to the Canadian Football team Winnipeg Blue Bombers and will actually host the Grey Cup in November this year. The new stadium was also the stage for concerts by Taylor Swift, Paul McCartney, Beyonce and Jay-Z and have One Direction coming in July. They even held their first soccer match in May 2014: a women’s match of Canada vs. the U.S.

And there’s my first preview of the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Five more preview blogs to go before it all begins Saturday June 6th in Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium.

VIFF 2014 Review: Housebound

Jon The Blogcentric2 Comments

Housebound is a thriller-comedy from New Zealand that's way better than what you can get from Hollywood.
Housebound is a thriller-comedy from New Zealand that’s put together way better than anything you can get from Hollywood.

Housebound was another one of those 11:30-at-the-Rio films I wanted to check out. It was my first of such. Glad I saw it. Very funny and entertaining.

Kylie Bucknell attempts to commit a robbery on an ATM. The robbery doesn’t work out as her partner is knocked out and she totals her getaway car thanks to driving fast over a big speed bump. The judicial system decides the best thing for her would be house arrest at her mother Miriam’s house. It seems like the right choice to do but the house is old and leaves Kylie with an eerie feeling.

Kylie’s feelings are justified when she hears Miriam call into a radio show talking of how weird it is around there. Then Kylie gets a taste of the eeriness as she notices things like an animated stuffed toy suddenly coming to life and even an old Motorola phone ringing out of nowhere. Even a dental partial has her suspicious. Kylie tries to alert authorities and others but they won’t believe her. Guests and other neighbors around the house are actually pleased at the possibility of a ghost.

Nevertheless Kylie and Miriam are persistent. The only one who believes her is Officer Grayson who knows of past incidents associated with this house such as this being a halfway house for young offenders. In fact the first person who’s the prime suspect in all of this is their shady neighbor. Despite his nasty attitude, he doesn’t register as a positive. However things become more suspicious when a friend of Miriam’s appears suspicious. Eventually the murderer is solved but not without an eerie chase.

For a horror-comedy like that to fly, it had to be done with the right acting, the right direction, and the right story. There have been horror-comedies done before but they would mostly come across as looking ridiculous in the end. Even Hollywood can get it wrong sometimes. This film got it right. From the start with a clumsy robbery attempt to the sense of something wrong in the house to the moment of climax at the end, it was done right. Even the parts intended to be dramatic didn’t come across as ridiculous nor did it dip into sentimentality that was too sappy. Looking back, it would be hard for me to see where the movie did things wrong. Even in terms of the gore, the film didn’t overdo it and it did its most gory part at the right time.

I will admit there were some parts that left me confused about what was happening. However they’d make sense in the end. Simply this is a movie that shouldn’t be taken too seriously. Its intent was to deliver a humorous thriller/horror story and it came across as way better than something Hollywood would do. It even had excellent balance between the dramatic parts and the humorous parts. If it didn’t, it would look ridiculous. I would have to watch over and over again to see if it made a false note. Even the death of the perpetrator didn’t come across as ridiculous despite it actually being a ridiculous death.

The comedic acting was just right in order to make this movie work. Morgana O’Reilly needed to deliver a protagonist character that had dimension despite having one that could come across as wooden. Instead she did a good job with Kylie and it came across very well. Rime Te Wiata was the show-stealer as the mother. Her role as the mother added to the comedy to the film thanks to the excellence of the performance. The male actors also did a good job in their roles despite being the supporting players. This is Gerard Johnstone’s first feature -length film and it’s an excellent finished product. Very entertaining and very professional. Another great thing about the script is that it didn’t deliver an awful lot of one-liners and instead delivered more on situational comedy. That worked for the better in this movie.

Housebound is an excellent horror-comedy that both keeps you intrigued and makes you laugh without having ridiculous moments like so many other horror-comedies are prone to do.

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