Plenty of action on the pitch 🌟⚽️🏟️🏆

We finally made it back to the day when two of my three favorite teams play. Brazil and Portugal were back in action and I was able to watch both matches. Before we discuss those games and the others from this day I want to remind you that I've been writing about every single day of matches.

I wrote about these games most recently...

Japan🇯🇵 vs Costa Rica🇨🇷
Belgium🇧🇪 vs Morocco🇲🇦
Croatia🇭🇷 vs Canada🇨🇦
Spain🇪🇸 vs Germany🇩🇪

^{Check out this post if you missed that blog.}

Now back to our most recent matchups. There were several great games and the day got started off with a 6-goal match. I was unable to predict with 100% accuracy yet again, but I'm happy with how things went.

Let's recap four more games from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar...

Cameroon🇨🇲 vs Serbia🇷🇸

^{My Prediction: Cameroon}

You never know what you will get with the first match of the day. I have already committed to missing every 5 am match due to needing my sleep. Luckily for me, this is the last early match there will be in this tournament. If you are like me and missed the excitement of this game, then here is a quick 2-minute video with all of the best plays.

https://twitter.com/FOXSoccer/status/1597203002040848384?s=20&t=nPOLPfX00jMmC7QtC_0OMg
- FOXSoccer

I'm very thankful for the highlights. It seems like there were a lot of thrilling moments during this match and either team could have easily slid away with a victory. The result was instead a draw and now Cameroon and Serbia both still are alive with a chance to move on to the knockout stage. Cameroon faces a tough Brazil team next and Serbia will go against Switzerland.

Result: 3-3 draw

South Korea🇰🇷 vs Ghana🇬🇭

^{My Prediction: South Korea}

Ghana wasn't going into this game lacking confidence, although they did lose to Portugal in their last match. They were at least able to score 2 goals and knew they had a good chance to defeat South Korea, which was unable to score in their first match against Uruguay. The first half was pretty even between South Korea and Ghana, but Ghana was the only team who was able to score. In fact, they got 2 great goals midway through the first half. In the 24th minute, Salisu was first to tally one. Then Mohammed Kudus in the 34th. At halftime, Ghana had a decisive 2-0 lead.

https://twitter.com/FOXSoccer/status/1597220465520558082?s=20&t=oWQCsopGaPdRN2kjvs72oA
- FOXSoccer

https://twitter.com/FOXSoccer/status/1597222927124111363?s=20&t=oWQCsopGaPdRN2kjvs72oA
- FOXSoccer

Ghana had the advantage, but it didn't last for long. South Korea was determined to catch up and they did in a quick fashion. Cho Gue-sung had two amazing headers in less than 4 minutes in the 58th and 61st. The crowd went wild after these two goals.

https://twitter.com/FOXSoccer/status/1597233877356986369?s=20&t=zE2i3brILGWRSN2_EuENjQ
- FOXSoccer

https://twitter.com/FOXSoccer/status/1597234865577103360?s=20&t=ZPMBuCQRjE6f5LHisp11qw
- FOXSoccer

As if things weren't crazy enough, Ghana responded with their third goal of the match. The latest one coming yet again from Kudus, this time in the 68th.

https://twitter.com/FOXSoccer/status/1597236538571726849?s=20&t=Wt6H-U3Klz3wCicgyDtOeg
- FOXSoccer

The fifth goal of the game turned out to be the final. This gave Ghana the edge they needed to come out as the winner of this match. South Korea looked pretty devastated to have failed to solidify the comeback. Next up for South Korea is Portugal and Ghana will take on Uruguay.

Result: 3-2 in favor of Ghana

Brazil🇧🇷 vs Switzerland🇨🇭

^{My Prediction: Brazil}

Brazil came into this ranked as the #1 international team. Switzerland has been underestimated quite a bit and looked to wake the world up with this match. One major factor is that Neymar would not play due to injury (he's out next game too). This leaves one of the many high-quality substitutes to fill his shoes. Even with that loss, Brazil still looked like the stronger team going in. By halftime, things were still dead even. Switzerland had kept up in pretty much every category and nobody was able to score through the first 45. It wasn't until halfway through the second half that Brazil scored what looked like the first goal of the match. Yet again though, the goal was overhyped and quickly overturned by VAR.

https://twitter.com/FOXSoccer/status/1597280193080889344?s=20&t=0z_ay-AdUUf6YgVwtY-n6g
- FOXSoccer

https://twitter.com/FOXSoccer/status/1597282292938035201?s=20&t=FONUjx3xbbJkNzkj9eL4zg
- FOXSoccer

It remained scoreless up until the 82nd minute when Casemiro scored the much-needed goal for Brazil. This changed the tide of the match and Brazil began to take over. Following the amazing goal, Brazilian joy could be felt at home and absolutely noticeable inside Doha Stadium 974.

https://twitter.com/FOXSoccer/status/1597284633325891584?s=20&t=qak7kPHBTRKP807oqoXpVw
- FOXSoccer

All it took for Brazil to hold on to the win was for them to play some solid defense. Luckily they did and remain undefeated in this World Cup so far. Brazil has moved on to the next round and awaits Portugal/Ghana/Uruguay/South Korea. Switzerland still has a chance to advance and will face Serbia in their final match of the group stage.

Result: 1-0 in favor of Brazil

Portugal🇵🇹 vs Uruguay🇺🇾

^{My Prediction: Portugal}

This match marked the official halfway point of this World Cup, game 32 of 64. Uruguay was still looking for their first goal. Portugal on the other hand was already very familiar with the back of the net. Portugal's goalkeeper Diego Costa made the best play of the first half when he saved this surefire shot from Uruguay's Rodrigo Bentancur.

https://twitter.com/FOXSoccer/status/1597313069134368773?s=20&t=V9I0QMtpLaTutEJV7tvWBg
- FOXSoccer

It was the boot of Bruno Fernandes that enabled the first goal of this match in the 54th minute. There was controversy as to whether it was Fernandes or Ronaldo who should be credited for the goal. They ended up giving it to Fernandes, which makes it his first-ever World Cup goal. The fact of the matter is that Portugal scored and Ronaldo's presence forced the goalkeeper to freeze.

https://twitter.com/FOXSoccer/status/1597323184151224321?s=20&t=d8bbIfhdau6gTqzRu2wOyQ
- FOXSoccer

Uruguay didn't give up, but they made a major error in the 90th minute. Bruno Fernandes was on a run inside and had just infiltrated the box as he nutmegged an Uruguayan defender. As the defender was falling to the ground, his hand very obviously adjusted the path of the ball and took away the clear shot on goal. This was confirmed thanks to VAR and Bruno Fernandes easily scored the PK.

https://twitter.com/FOXSoccer/status/1597332168958672899?s=20&t=N864MPebpiiGxsxZjWK3bg
- FOXSoccer

https://twitter.com/FOXSoccer/status/1597332660908875778?s=20&t=Ugfh_LlyA72N7Gl0rswT0Q
- FOXSoccer

Although there were 9 minutes of extra time, nothing else happened before the final whistle. Portugal has advanced to the knockout stage and their next match against South Korea will matter very little. Uruguay has a must-win against Ghana. Portugal has a chance to play Brazil/Serbia/Switzerland/Cameroon.

Result: 2-0 in favor of Portugal

We near closer to the knockout stage 🥊

We saw two teams advance with wins and four others that made their groups competitive until the final matches. Games 2 of 3 in the group stage are all complete now. We still have 16 matches left to play before we move on to the much anticipated knockout stage.