There was no Arsenal interest in the opening game as hosts Qatar lost 2-0 to Ecuador despite getting the benefit of possibly the dodgiest offside you will see this season. The other game in that group saw The Netherlands beat Senegal 2-0 and I would be surprised to see Qatar manage a goal or a point from their remaining games. Group A looks all set for The Netherlands to top it with Senegal and Ecuador fighting for the second spot in the knockout stages.
There was some Arsenal involvement in group B when England got their campaign off to a flier with a 6-2 win over Iran and Bukayo Saka grabbing a brace of goals. He was Arsenal’s star player last season and he has been one of so many exceptional players for us so far this season so it’s great to see him shine on the international stage too. The sooner we tie him down to an even longer and better contract the better as there looks like there will be a lot of interest in him.
Ben White and Aaron Ramsdale were unused subs in that game with Eric Dier coming on ahead of White when Harry Maguire had to go off. I’m not sure if either of them will see much action, but I have no doubt of their ability to impress given the opportunity. In the other game in that group Matt Turner played well in goal for the USA as they drew 1-1 with Wales and they still have every chance of progressing at this stage. There’s still a lot to be decided in the group and it’s not easy to judge until we know exactly how good or bad Iran really are.
There is no Arsenal involvement in Group C, but Saudi Arabia’s 2-1 win over Argentina was the biggest shock of the tournament so far. With Mexico and Poland drawing 0-0 the group is still wide open, but Argentina will probably have to beat both of them if Lionel Messi is going to go any further in his final World Cup.
The only Arsenal player in Group D is France’s William Saliba and he was an unused sub in their 4-1 win against Australia. The other game in that group ended up scoreless between Denmark and Tunisia and it’s far from certain which teams will progress despite France’s win.
Group E got off to a great start with Japan coming back from 1-0 down to upset Germany and Takehiro Tomiyasu played the second half of the game. I’m not sure why he was on the bench, but Japan must have some very good players if they can afford to leave him out of their starting 11. I suppose he could be carrying a knock as his time at Arsenal has been constantly interrupted by niggling injuries. Spain romped to a 7-0 win over Costa Rica in the other game in this group and Germany will have to beat Spain when they meet on Sunday or their World Cup will more than likely be over after only two games.
Group F has no Arsenal involvement either and the opening two games in that group had only one goal between them as Belgium just about managed to beat Canada while Morocco and Croatia shared the points in the other game. This group is still wide open with none of the teams impressing too much so far, but Canada will find it hard to progress despite probably deserving at least a point against Belgium.
Group G has three Arsenal players on show and the first of them to play was Granit Xhaka who captained Switzerland to a 1-0 win over Cameroon which leaves them in a strong position in the group. It’s been dubbed the group of death and the win over Cameroon gives them a great advantage over Cameroon and Serbia who lost 2-0 to Brazil in the later game. Arsenal have two players in the Brazil squad and both Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli came off the bench in the second half of that win.
Finally the only Arsenal player in group H is Thomas Partey and his campaign got off to a losing start as he played the full match for Ghana in a 3-2 loss against Portugal. There was no Arsenal interest in the other game in the group which ended scoreless between Uruguay and South Korea. Ghana will probably have to win their last two group games to progress to the knockout stages so we might see Partey on his way back to London in just over a week.
All in all it’s been a pretty good start for Arsenal players at the World Cup with eight of our 10 players winning their first game, one of them drawing and only one losing. Of course all of those players didn’t start for their countries with only four of them chosen for the first round of games and three more coming off the bench. Bukayo Saka was the standout player with his two goals for England making him the joint top scorer in the tournament so far.
There’s no rest for the players or supporters as the next round of games gets going immediately and the Arsenal involvement on Friday will all be in the England versus USA game. A win for England would almost certainly see them progress to the next round and top the group too. I would imagine both Saka and Turner will start with both Ramsdale and White on the bench again.
That’s it for today.
See you soon.
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