World Cup Daily: Matches and storylines for June 19
The U.S. and Australia play for supremacy in Group D on Friday, while the three tracks for Brazil, Morocco, and Scotland get a little more defined.
Canada and Mexico got wins on Thursday in very different ways ... and now it's the U.S.'s turn to make it three for three for the co-hosts in second group stage matches.
On Thursday, Canada got its first World Cup win ever with aplomb, beating Qatar 6-0, all but guaranteeing advancement to the knockout phases, and upping Switzerland in goal differential, which will be helpful should they draw in their final group stage game. The result (plus Switzerland beating Bosnia & Herzegovina 4-1 earlier in the day) renders the Qatar-Bosnia & Herzegovina in Seattle on June 24 the most meaningless of the tournament.
One big caveat, though: Ismaël Koné was victimized by Assim Madibo, whose tackle from behind broke Koné's leg and ended his tournament prematurely. Madibo clearly looked shaken when he fully realized what he'd done, and with his yellow card rightly changed to red, Madibo's tournament is likely over as well. But for a team that has been bit disproportionately by injuries, the loss of Koné is just one more injustice heaped upon this likable team.
Mexico, meanwhile, benefited from Kim Seung-gyu's howler, with Luis Romo cleaning up the spill for the lone goal in the co-hosts' 1-0 win over South Korea, making Mexico the first team to clinch advancing to the knockout round.
On Friday, in addition to the U.S. playing Australia for control of Group D (in Seattle, giving me the thrill of seeing my formative hometown in occasional aerial shots, plus the majesty of Pier 62), No. 5 Brazil and No. 6 Morocco play opposite each other after their opening draw to help shape which formidable second place team will face the Group F winner — right now, up in the air among Netherlands, Sweden, and Japan — in one of the tastier Round of 32 matchups.
One cautionary note on the U.S., even though you might be feeling good about their prospects: They've won one, drawn one, and lost one in each of their last two World Cup runs. You have to go back to 2010 to find a World Cup in which the Yanks didn't lose a group stage match (with two draws and a quite famous win, before falling to Ghana in the first knockout game, which is also a solidifying pattern).
Oh, and one apology to issue; the autopublishing for Thursday's previews glitched, so here it is if you want to see our three immediate takeaways from the first group stage matches, which concluded Wednesday (plus previews of yesterday's matches, to see how prescient we were).
And happy Juneteenth! Perhaps I'll see you out at Inn Cahoots.
Group C
Predictions
Projected winner: Brazil (5)
Projected runner-up: Morocco (6)
Projected 3rd-place team: Scotland (37)
Projected 4th-place team: Haiti (85)
Today's matches
Brazil 1, Morocco 1 (June 13, East Rutherford, N.J.)
Scotland 1, Haiti 0 (June 13, Foxborough, Mass.)
Today's matches
Scotland vs. Morocco: Friday, June 19, 5 pm (Foxborough, Mass.)
Brazil vs. Haiti: Friday, June 19, 7:30 pm (Philadelphia)
Future matches
Scotland vs. Brazil: Wednesday, June 25, 5 pm (Miami)
Morocco vs. Haiti: Wednesday, June 25, 5 pm (Atlanta)
Most compelling narrative
Currently, Scotland's winning the group, and though that's about to change, it's very possible that Scotland does enough to win one of the third-place spots to advance to the knockout rounds, That assumes, of course, that Brazil and Morocco wrest away the top two spots with wins on Friday — be sure to watch for whether Brazil can run up enough goal differential against Haiti to carve out a substantial advantage.
Player to watch
Vinicius Júnior had one of the best goals of the tournament, though his teammates didn't seem particularly full of attacking ideas in the opening match. How much of a load will he have to carry on his own?
Group D
Predictions
Projected winner: United States (15)
Projected runner-up: Türkiye (26)
Projected 3rd-place team: Australia (22)
Projected 4th-place team: Paraguay (42)
Past matches
U.S. 4, Paraguay 1 (June 12, Inglewood, Calif.)
Australia 2, Türkiye 0 (June 13, Vancouver)
Today's matches
United States vs. Australia: Friday, June 19, 2 pm (Seattle)
Türkiye vs. Paraguay: Friday, June 19, 10 pm (Santa Clara, Calif.)
Future matches
Türkiye vs. United States: Thursday, June 25, 9 pm (Inglewood, Calif.)
Paraguay vs. Australia: Thursday, June 25, 9 pm (Santa Clara, Calif.)
Most compelling narrative
Okay, there's a real Golden Boot race on now, and Folarin Balogun's in the middle of it. The narrative American fans will be following is, of course, Christian Pulisic's calf and who might replace him in the starting lineup, but I'll be seeing how many goals Balo can rack up against Australia's big back line.
Player to watch
Did you know Australian center back Harry Souttar is 6'6"?
As mentioned, it's time to try out Inn Cahoots, me thinks.
Verde All Day is a reader-supported online publication covering Austin FC. Additional support is provided by Austin Telco Federal Credit Union. For more coverage, check out Emergency Podcast! (an Austin FC Podcast) wherever you get your podcasts.
Canada and Mexico will continue World Cup play on Thursday, with the teams in very different positions — but still able to win their groups. Also, we quickly tour what we learned in the first group stage matches.
Only eight teams of the 48 in the tournament haven't played a World Cup game yet. That changes on Wednesday, as England's group and Portugal's group get started.
Robert Taylor's time at Austin FC ended on Tuesday. That makes it more likely that a rumored incoming player will be the final one delivered by Rodolfo Borrell.
Canada and Mexico got wins on Thursday in very different ways ... and now it's the U.S.'s turn to make it three for three for the co-hosts in second group stage matches.
On Thursday, Canada got its first World Cup win ever with aplomb, beating Qatar 6-0, all but guaranteeing advancement to the knockout phases, and upping Switzerland in goal differential, which will be helpful should they draw in their final group stage game. The result (plus Switzerland beating Bosnia & Herzegovina 4-1 earlier in the day) renders the Qatar-Bosnia & Herzegovina in Seattle on June 24 the most meaningless of the tournament.
One big caveat, though: Ismaël Koné was victimized by Assim Madibo, whose tackle from behind broke Koné's leg and ended his tournament prematurely. Madibo clearly looked shaken when he fully realized what he'd done, and with his yellow card rightly changed to red, Madibo's tournament is likely over as well. But for a team that has been bit disproportionately by injuries, the loss of Koné is just one more injustice heaped upon this likable team.
Mexico, meanwhile, benefited from Kim Seung-gyu's howler, with Luis Romo cleaning up the spill for the lone goal in the co-hosts' 1-0 win over South Korea, making Mexico the first team to clinch advancing to the knockout round.
On Friday, in addition to the U.S. playing Australia for control of Group D (in Seattle, giving me the thrill of seeing my formative hometown in occasional aerial shots, plus the majesty of Pier 62), No. 5 Brazil and No. 6 Morocco play opposite each other after their opening draw to help shape which formidable second place team will face the Group F winner — right now, up in the air among Netherlands, Sweden, and Japan — in one of the tastier Round of 32 matchups.
One cautionary note on the U.S., even though you might be feeling good about their prospects: They've won one, drawn one, and lost one in each of their last two World Cup runs. You have to go back to 2010 to find a World Cup in which the Yanks didn't lose a group stage match (with two draws and a quite famous win, before falling to Ghana in the first knockout game, which is also a solidifying pattern).
Oh, and one apology to issue; the autopublishing for Thursday's previews glitched, so here it is if you want to see our three immediate takeaways from the first group stage matches, which concluded Wednesday (plus previews of yesterday's matches, to see how prescient we were).
And happy Juneteenth! Perhaps I'll see you out at Inn Cahoots.
Group C
Predictions
Today's matches
Today's matches
Future matches
Most compelling narrative
Currently, Scotland's winning the group, and though that's about to change, it's very possible that Scotland does enough to win one of the third-place spots to advance to the knockout rounds, That assumes, of course, that Brazil and Morocco wrest away the top two spots with wins on Friday — be sure to watch for whether Brazil can run up enough goal differential against Haiti to carve out a substantial advantage.
Player to watch
Vinicius Júnior had one of the best goals of the tournament, though his teammates didn't seem particularly full of attacking ideas in the opening match. How much of a load will he have to carry on his own?
Group D
Predictions
Past matches
Today's matches
Future matches
Most compelling narrative
Okay, there's a real Golden Boot race on now, and Folarin Balogun's in the middle of it. The narrative American fans will be following is, of course, Christian Pulisic's calf and who might replace him in the starting lineup, but I'll be seeing how many goals Balo can rack up against Australia's big back line.
Player to watch
Did you know Australian center back Harry Souttar is 6'6"?
What to read
More about the U.S.-Australia matchup here, and our friend Jon Arnold did well to put the Canada win in perspective.
Where to watch
As mentioned, it's time to try out Inn Cahoots, me thinks.
Verde All Day is a reader-supported online publication covering Austin FC. Additional support is provided by Austin Telco Federal Credit Union. For more coverage, check out Emergency Podcast! (an Austin FC Podcast) wherever you get your podcasts.
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