It is one of those good days for football lovers. As FIFA World Cup progresses, we see new twists and turn every day. The most recent ones being Mexico being disqualified even after winning the match. That’s right! Poland being ahead of Mexico in number of goals, led to Mexico disqualifying after winning 2-1 against Saudi Arabia.
On 2nd December 2022, Japan beat Spain 2-1 to qualify for the round of 16. Spain was falling behind 1-0 in the first and got a quick equalizer in the 48th Minute. Just 3 Minutes after that, Japan’s Tanaka scores another goal to put Japan in lead against Spain. However, it was a controversial goal and the ball can be seen going past the out-line.
Despite losing, Spain nonetheless made progress. Early in the second half, Japan scored twice to overcome another European powerhouse and go to the knockout round for the second time.. For the first time in back-to-back tournaments, Japan made it through the group round.
Belgium’s FIFA World Cup campaign came to an end with a 0-0 tie at the Ahmed bin Ali Stadium. They finished the group stage with four points less than Croatia (six) and Morocco (seven). Romelu Lukaku squandered several clear-cut opportunities to score in the six-yard box, which haunted Belgium’s golden generation. Following a 0-0 tie with Croatia and a 2-0 victory over Belgium, Morocco defeated Canada 2-1 in the second Round 3 group stage.
Germany beat Costa Rica 4-2 and still got kicked out of the World Cup because of the goal difference. Spain’s earlier high goal matches have proved to be beneficial as they still qualify for the round of 16.
Record breaking TV Audience Numbers?
FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 continues to captivate television viewers worldwide with record-breaking numbers in numerous markets.
On Sunday, November 27, the group game between Japan and Costa Rica drew an average audience of 36.37 million people in Japan. This was nearly 10 million more viewers than their amazing comeback against Germany in their tournament opener. It was 74% more viewers than the typical domestic group stage audience at the FIFA World Cup in 2018.
Conclusion:
Safe to say that the World Cup is going to get more interesting when the Round of 16 starts. Will a popular team take home the World Cup or an underdog?
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