FIFA WC: What's with the underdogs?

In this edition of the men's FIFA WC, small teams have gone on to upset bigger nations, with the most famous one being Saudi Arabia beating Argentina 2-1. So, what's up? Let's try to find out.

So let's look at the first upset. Saudi Arabia beating Argentina.

Even though Messi scored for Argentina first, they went on to concede two goals in the first ten minutes of the second half.

Another thing which was a major different was the efficiency of the possession they has. While Argentina had a dominating possession of 70%, their attackers were always either offside or lost the ball in the attacking third. While Saudi Arabia on the other hand took good use of their possession by creating chances and open spaces.

The second upset of this World cup was Germany vs Japan where Japan won 2-1. Now again we follow the same template- a team scoring first through a penalty and the underdog making a strong comeback. Ilkay Gundogan scored for Germany in the 33rd minute through a penalty and Japan scored two goals in the last fifteen minutes of the game to win 2-1.

Now here again Japan took the more out of their opportunities, but one thing Japan did well was their defending, especially their fullbacks. They did come forwards once they were creating opportunities but they were solid at the back, and supported the team. Japan's crossing was really good too. However, like we saw in the Japan vs Costarica game, there were a lot of over hit passes but they made up for it.

Upset no.3 is..........

Morocco vs. Belgium

The stats are very interesting because unlike the other two, the underdog has similar stats to the favourites. Same number of shots, shots on target and so on. Hakim Ziyech scored a beautiful freekick but it was offside, which in my opinion was close. But the they scored two goals in the last 20 minutes

Morocco didn't have much of the possession, but they did have 4 shots on target, one more than Belgium and the same amount of shots as Belgium, which says a lot on how they played. I don't have much to say on this match, but I will catch up on the latest match opinions shortly.

Until next time, Adios!!