2014 FIFA WORLD CUP
Part 1
For the first time in the history of the World Cup, the tournament was to be hosted Down Under and with the fact that Australia had experience in hosting a Rugby World Cup just over a decade ago, Australia was wanting to show the world that it could put on a excellent performance hosting the FIFA World Cup. With the World Cup being hosted far away from the Americas or Europe, it would see games broadcast in the evening which often saw many over in Europe watch the games in the morning much like what happened when the tournament was hosted in Japan [1].
Despite this situation, many were happy to travel out to a new corner of the World that was wanting to show the world what football meant to it ever since Australia first went to a World Cup in 1966 [2] and a lot had happened to the sport Down Under in the near fifty years since then which has seen the sport increase it's appeal to rival that of either cricket or rugby. Now here was the moment for the nation to show the world what football meant for them.
Seeding and teams for the 2014 World Cup
One of the interesting bits of history made was that Australia had, as benefits of being the host nation, was that they would be a seeded team for the first time and with Ghana also having to be there thanks to a heroic run to the last four of the last World Cup [3], it was the first time that four continents would be represented among the seeded teams which in FIFA's hopes of having a true World Cup showed that things were all on the up.
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Australia as the host nation would open the tournament against a backdrop of a huge Melbourne crowd with a 2-1 victory over Yugoslavia, though it must be said that Australia's second goal came from a late penalty and it was a game that came close for the hosts to start off on the wrong foot with a draw. This though would come back to haunt the hosts as they drew with the Swiss in their second game with a victory over Cameroon needed to make things absolutely sure to go through. Thanks to a nip and tuck victory over the Africans, Australia won the group though their performances hadn't set the world alight.
Australian players huddle before their opening match
Joining the hosts would be Switzerland who had merited much praise for being an unlikely team to be a possible one to look out for while Yugoslavia just missed out on going through, that said there were many felt that they were cheated of a winning goal in their final group game with Switzerland which was marked offside though replays showed that it was just onside and many felt that they were cheated out in favour of the Swiss [4]. It wouldn't be only incident for sure...
Final results of Group A
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Group B was quite a unique one as it featured three of the largest countries in the world, Brazil, USA and Russia all competing with little New Zealand being the odd one out and sadly their Australian adventure would be cut short by only getting a draw with Russia for their troubles. Brazil were expecting to win the group and with a easy 3-0 victory over Russia, things would take a shocking turn in which in a match with the Americans, Brazil underestimated them as thanks a penalty for the USA shortly before the break, they defended for most of the second half to record a huge victory over Brazil and many would call it 'the third miracle on grass', the first being the United States beating England in 1950 and the later being that famous game against the Soviet Union in 1990 [5].
American players celebrate in their victory over Brazil
While Brazil's performance raised a few eyebrows, the group saw the United States and Russia playing each other in a group for the first time since 1990 (on that occasion the latter was the Soviet Union). The two would play each other in their final group game and following the controversial annexation of Crimea some months prior [6] there was a lot of tension at that point in Russo - American relations. What happened would be one of the greatest World Cup games ever in which the United States won in a 4-3 thriller in which the Russians went 2-0 up at first, only for them to blow that fall 3-2 down but not before getting another goal but ultimately lost to a late goal to give the United States a victory over the Russians. After the madness of the aftermath of the Brazil victory, this one with all the tension going into it felt all that more sweeter. Who knows what the Americans could do now?
Final results of Group B
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Group C would be tough group to decide on as all the teams had the ability to think who could go through, though many felt that the World Champions Spain would be going through. How very wrong everyone was to be. Spain would get off to a shocker losing 5-1 to the Dutch [7] and from then things went from bad to worse as another defeat followed at the hands of Chile which pretty much, despite a victory in their final game with South Korea, the World Champions had fallen at the first round [8].
Chile celebrates their victory over Spain
Perhaps the most surprising was of the Netherlands' impressive performance in the group and some felt that with this team could do something special and with this being on the 40th anniversary of the Netherlands' only World Cup victory [8], who was to say that this might be their year?
Final results of Group C
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For many, Group D was fairly easy to decide upon in which Belgium would win the group which was what happened as never lost a single game. With that the question was who would finish in second place which is a bit more harder to call by, in the end it would be Greece who would sneak through thanks to a nervy victory over Ecuador in their final group game. For Japan, a sense of frustration followed in which had they managed to get a victory over the Greeks in their second game then they would have gone through.
Belgian players celebrate winning the group after victory over Japan
All in all it was a fairly weak group which was one that not many gave much thought about it though many were left impressed by Belgium and with the hype around them going into the tournament, some felt that they might of had something to say in this World Cup and who knows what might happen the further they could go in this World Cup?
Final results of Group D
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In what was madcap group of death between Columbia, Italy, Nigeria and Iran, the stand out team from the group would be Columbia who's great style of football would win them many admirers who would go one to not only win all their games but win the group by a mile and looked to be a dark horse for the World Cup. Joining them in the next round would be Italy [9] though not until after tense victory over Nigeria in a game in which was a winner-takes-all decider.
Columbian players celebrate with a winning goal over Italy
While the less said the better for Iran, Nigeria felt frustrated that had they managed to get a draw with Italy in their final group game then they would have made it into the knockout stages. That said, when Italy would be drawn in the next round, Nigeria might have felt that they might have dodged a bullet...
Final results of Group E
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Group F was to be the star studded group as it would feature Argentina and Portugal and by that logic, Messi vs Ronaldo. Both teams would face each other in the opening match and both players would end up scoring though it would all lead to a victory for Argentina. For the South American giants, Argentina would go on to win the group and look the part in their hopes to win the World Cup.
Messi meets Ronaldo in their opening group match
Portugal would also join Argentina in the next round [10] though not the skin of their own teeth as they finished on level points and matching goals for with Ivory Coast, however the Africans had the bad luck of having one goal against them which proved to be fatal as it saw them make an early exit from the World Cup. Once again, another hard luck story for an African team.
Final results of Group F
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Group G would end up seeing the exciting draw which had England and Scotland in the group, though there was the addition of Ghana and Costa Rica which the latter would stun England when they held them to a 0-0 draw [11] and caused much embarrassment back home. There was also the shock that Scotland managed to beat Ghana and this was to be the beginning of a disastrous World Cup campaign with them losing all their games to England and Costa Rica and finishing rock bottom without a single point. A far cry from their heroic run last time.
England after scoring the winning goal over Scotland
The two Home Nations would both end up going through to the next round and Scotland felt they had a chance to get the better of the English having won their last two games though it must be said they nearly suffered a loss to Costa Rica in which they were 2-1 down before rescuing it with two penalties. Ultimately it would be England that would win the group with a 3-1 victory over the Scots. How far would either go?
Final results of Group G
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The final group would be said by many as the group of death and for good reason as it featured Germany, France, Mexico and Algeria. It would be a hard game to decide upon but what was certain was Germany winning the group though not without a surprise result draw with Algeria [12]. Funnily enough despite not getting a single victory, Algeria would draw all their games and sneak through into the next round though this was thanks to both France and Mexico suffering defeats both to Germany.
France vs Germany in the group stage
France much like in 2010 would suffer another embarrassing early exit with the blame being that France had the terrible luck of being stuck in a tough group and Mexico would bemoan the same fate and wondered if Algeria deserved to go through despite not winning a single game. Algeria would have pressure on them as now they were the sole African team left to play in the knockout stage. No pressure indeed...
Final results of Group H
With that, the group stage was compete and the knockout stage would bring up a few head turning ties. Who was going to go all the way Down Under...?
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[1] As with OTL and TTL.
[2] In TTL at least.
[3] Ditto.
[4] Can't have a World Cup without controversy!
[5] Remember that ITTL?
[6] Real world events still happen as OTL.
[7] As per OTL.
[8] As with TTL.
[9] Who IOTL failed to get out of the group.
[10] Portugal IOTL failed in the group stage.
[11] As with OTL.
[12] Same result as Last 16 game though no extra time here.
So there we are, the long awaited update for this TL! What has been your favourite group of these so far and what results made you raise a few eyebrows? Anyway as always, the last 16 fixtures:
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Australia vs Brazil
Netherlands vs Greece
Columbia vs Portugal
England vs Algeria
United States vs Switzerland
Belgium vs Chile
Argentina vs Italy
Germany vs Scotland
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So as always, who will go all the way here? Until then, stay safe and catch you all later!