Yesterday’s action was something of a mixed bag as both groups played out to their inevitable and predictable conclusion as Argentina, Nigeria, France and Switzerland became the latest sides to qualify for the last 16. Lionel Messi was at his majestic best, scoring 2, including a wonderful free kick to take him level with Neymar as top goalscorer on 4 goals as the Argentines edged home by 3 goals to 2 in an entertaining encounter with the Nigerians who join them in the next round following Iran’s failure to beat Bosnia. The Iranians went down 3 goals to 1 which brought up my BTTS selection although they were somewhat unfortunate not to take a little more from the game. Bosnia goes home with their pride restored but they will still be hugely disappointed not to finish ahead of an ordinary Nigerian side. In the late action, France and Ecuador played out a largely frustrating and disappointing 0.0 encounter with Karim Benzema in particular missing a whole host of opportunities to secure the win I had predicted and the anytime goalscorer double with Messi but with France winning the group, I now only require Germany to not lose to USA tonight and Belgium to avoid defeat to Korea in order to complete my 10/1 acca on the group winners as posted on June 10th. Switzerland saw off Honduras 3 goals to 0 with Xheridan Shakiri scoring a fine hat-trick and now they are all set to take on Argentina in the round of 16 in what should prove an awkward challenge for the Argentines but with Lionel Messi looking in fine fettle, I will be backing Argentina to advance to the quarter finals at the expense of the Swiss. The line up for the last 16 is almost complete so let’s have a look at what awaits us over the course of the next few days Saturday 28th June Brazil v Chile – 6pm Colombia v Uruguay – 10pm Sunday 29th June Netherlands v Mexico – 6pm Costa Rica v Greece – 10pm Monday 30th June France V Nigeria – 6pm Group G Winner – 10pm (probably Germany) v Group H second place (Russia/Algeria) Tuesday 1st July – 6pm Argentina v Switzerland Group H Winner (probably Belgium) v Group G Second place (probably USA) Saturdays’ fixtures are looking particularly juicy with 2 all South American affairs and I expect both games to go down as classic world cup encounters. I will be all over Colombia to qualify, especially if Luis Suarez is banned following the biting incident on Tuesday while Brazil should be able to overcome Chile but I think it will be exceptionally tough for Brazil and it would not shock me if they were pushed all the way to extra time. It should be a cracking weekend of World Cup drama but before all that, we have the conclusion to Groups G and H this weekend and so I will post a separate preview of the action later today. Comments are closed.
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