2 hours ago 
Image source, Getty Images
Cape Verde volition instrumentality connected Argentina aft a singular tally to the knockout rounds
By
Football issues correspondent
New format, caller teams and fascinating storylines. But did the caller World Cup radical signifier truly work?
Cape Verde achieved the unthinkable and qualified for the past 32 - knocking retired Uruguay successful the process.
Gianni Infantino, the Fifa president, whitethorn good person been reasoning 'I told you so' arsenic Cape Verde were 1 of the countries to payment from expanding the tourney to 48 teams.
But distant from the bully quality stories, determination was nary existent jeopardy for the large nations.
That was partially caused by the request to nonstop third-placed teams done and Fifa deciding to usage caput to caput arsenic the archetypal radical signifier tiebreaker.
It meant 4 teams won their groups with a crippled to spare, and 5 were eliminated.
With much goals than immoderate tourney since Sweden 1958, tin Fifa assertion it has been a success?
Let america cognize your thoughts successful the comments and formed your ballot below.
Pros: New faces, caller stories
Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland, Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Kane trading blows successful an electrical contention for the Golden Boot made plentifulness of headlines.
That successful itself was a acquisition for Fifa, with the world's astir recognisable players each showing up and trying to outdo each other.
But the World Cup is not conscionable astir the prima names, surely astatine the radical stage.
The colour and quality of shot from astir the globe takes the focus.
We did not get immoderate daze defeats successful meaningful games for the large teams, similar Saudi Arabia beating eventual champions Argentina 4 years ago.
But determination were existent stories.
Cape Verde, an archipelagic state successful the Atlantic Ocean, whitethorn not person travel to the World Cup expecting to suffice for the knockout rounds. And they were written disconnected by galore earlier they got connected the plane.
After all, who could person imagined they would look from a radical which included Uruguay and European champions Spain?
That Cape Verde could instrumentality a constituent disconnected Spain, and halt them scoring too, was remarkable. Not conscionable that, they past drew 2-2 with Uruguay, too.
The gully against Saudi Arabia successful the last radical crippled secured 2nd placed successful the group and a day with satellite champions Argentina successful Miami connected Friday.
Ok, they mightiness person been the lone squad to decorativeness successful the apical 2 connected 3 points, but they did what they needed to do.
There could beryllium nary greater vindication of Infantino's plan. Cape Verde were the poster boys.
Vozinha, their 40-year-old goalkeeper, is now a societal media star acknowledgment to his heroics against Spain.
Starting the crippled with 50,000 followers connected Instagram, that changeable up to 5 cardinal aft full-time. At the latest count, helium has 16.7m.
And past his mother, who had been incapable to be the World Cup due to the fact that of the precocious outgo of obtaining a US visa, was capable to alert successful for the Uruguay game.
It is simply a communicative which lone the World Cup tin make for a subordinate similar Vozinha, who has spent his vocation successful Moldova, Cyprus, Slovakia and the Portuguese 2nd division.
Image source, Getty Images
Vozinha became a societal media prima aft his show against Spain
The Caribbean land of Curacao, which became the smallest state ever to qualify, did not get done but they did assertion a constituent against Ecuador.
DR Congo's hard-fought 1–1 gully against Portugal helped them to look arsenic 1 of the champion third-placed teams.
Haiti's Wilson Isidor produced a goal-of-the-tournament contender against Morocco, too.
The enlargement has allowed for different stories arsenic well.
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Canada, Ivory Coast and South Africa each made it to the knockout rounds for the archetypal time.
Though, of course, it is present overmuch easier to bash it with mostly weaker groups and much teams going through. The archetypal knockout round, with 32 teams, is the size of the aged World Cup format.
But predictably, the tourney has truthful acold been dominated by the European and South American nations.
Not truthful predictably, African nations person been superb, with 9 of their 10 teams getting done to the past 32.
Cape Verde's communicative was 1 crushed for Fifa to observe this caller format, but it mightiness disguise under-performance elsewhere. Is determination the extent to warrant it?
All but 1 of Concacaf's 20 points were scored by the 3 co-hosts.
Curacao, Haiti and Panama, who benefitted from the other places, scored 3 goals and conceded 21.
But it was disastrous for Asia. Nine teams and 3 victories from 27 matches, earning conscionable 0.67 points per game. Only Australia and Japan made it done the radical stage.
Asia had treble the automatic places for this tournament, up from 4 to eight, positive Iraq qualified done the play-offs.
If Africa proved the worthy of this caller format, Asia and Concacaf showed the opposite.
Cons: Where has the jeopardy gone?
Great stories bash not marque a tournament, they are lone portion of it.
And determination is nary getting distant from it. The radical signifier lacked immoderate jeopardy for the large nations. Of the 12 apical seeds, lone co-hosts Canada and Portugal failed to apical their group.
That was partially caused by the enlargement to 12 groups, meaning it was precise hard for determination to beryllium a radical which would make immoderate peril for a apical nation.
Barring the astonishment elimination of Uruguay, it was fundamentally a 72-game workout successful chipping distant 16 of the smaller countries to make a knockout competition.
But this is astir the format and not the teams themselves.
That third-placed teams could suffice removed overmuch of the risk.
Even Ghana manager Carlos Queiroz, whose squad went done successful third, agreed and called the caller format "vulgar and ordinary".
Fifa besides changed the archetypal tiebreaker for teams level connected points from extremity quality to caput to head.
Rather than each state having thing to play for connected matchday three, 9 were fundamentally fulfilling a fixture - 4 guaranteed to apical the group, and 5 eliminated.
Had Fifa stuck with extremity difference, each squad would inactive person been successful play.
Then determination was the deficiency of a existent competitory edge.
Ecuador's 2-1 triumph implicit Germany was 1 highlight, but would it person happened if Die Mannschaft had not already won the group?
Not that Ecuador volition care, nor should they.
Even the headline-grabbing draws were mostly one-sided, cat-and-mouse games of onslaught versus defence.
At the 2022 World Cup, lone 5 radical games were won by 3 oregon much goals. At this World Cup, it was 18 matches.
It is wherefore this tourney has the astir goals per game, 2.99, for a radical signifier since the 32-team format began successful 1998. The adjacent highest was Brazil 2014 with 2.83.
It is connected way to person the highest goals-per-game complaint since the 3.60 of the 1958 World Cup - but it is immoderate mode abbreviated of the unthinkable 5.38 of the full 1954 tournament.
Image source, Getty Images
That the crippled had thing riding connected it for Germany didn't substance to Ecuador, who qualified for the World Cup knockout rounds for lone the 2nd time
Spare a thought for Scotland and South Korea.
Two countries who finished connected 3 points connected Wednesday but had to hold astir until Saturday evening earlier their elimination was confirmed.
The unfairness of the third-place contention was afloat laid bare, greatly weighted successful favour of groups which decorativeness later.
Senegal, for instance, knew they had to spell for goals against Iraq to get their extremity quality into the positive. They took the last spot among the third-placed teams aft a 5-0 win.
It besides allowed teams successful 2nd and third, connected 3 points and astatine hazard of elimination, to play retired a gully and some spell through.
Australia and Paraguay did person attacking intent successful their lucifer but fewer were amazed erstwhile it finished arsenic a 0-0 draw.
Then Austria and Algeria drew 3-3 successful the precise past lucifer to destruct Iran. Both teams knew they were done with a gully and eliminated with a defeat.
This was astatine slightest an end-to-end crippled for the astir part, but nary broadside had a changeable aft the 68th minute, pursuing the hydration break
That was until stoppage time, erstwhile Algeria took the pb lone for Austria to level.
There is not overmuch you tin bash astir it, teams cannot each play astatine the aforesaid time.
But it did consciousness unjust that the luck of the radical signifier gully could person specified an interaction connected the imaginable to suffice successful third.
The radical signifier has felt similar a warm-up lawsuit for the existent event, astir similar its ain standalone qualifying tournament.
Now we are successful to the knockout rounds.
The World Cup truly starts now.
English (US)·