(Doha) Germany quadruple world champion, Belgium third in the last World Cup, host country Qatar, Wales star Gareth Bale and Denmark, credible outsider: the first round of the World Cup-2022 has already done a few choice victims.
Belgium is sinking
The Belgian “golden generation”, first in the FIFA rankings for three years from 2019 until last spring, will probably never win anything and will have to settle for third place in the 2018 World Cup.
Four years later, Belgium missed everything in Qatar. Third in their group behind Morocco and Croatia, the Belgians only scored one goal during the tournament, against the very modest Canada.
PHOTO BERNADETT SZABO, REUTERS ARCHIVES
Kevin De Bruyne
Above all, they displayed their nervousness and their dissensions, between the bad mood of Kevin De Bruyne and the vexation of defenders singled out for their slowness and their age.
Arrived out of form when he hardly plays any more at Real Madrid, Eden Hazard could not work miracles and Romelu Lukaku, landed injured in Qatar, embodied the fiasco in the last match against Croatia with a stunt of missed chances and leaving the field in tears. The coach, Roberto Martinez, whose choices have been disputed, has meanwhile left his post.
Two down for Germany
“It looks like a horror movie,” said center forward Kai Havertz. Long of impressive regularity, Germany has just fallen twice in a row in the group stage.
In Qatar, the Germans got into trouble with a defeat against Japan, in a match that started with a gesture of collective protest against the threats of sanctions brandished by FIFA to prevent the wearing of the inclusive armband “One Love” .
They then could not beat Spain (1-1) and their success against Costa Rica (4-2) was not enough. Less than two years before organizing the Euro, Germany experienced an “absolute disaster” which “hurts incredibly badly”, recognized striker Thomas Müller.
Glaring gaps are identified in defense and at the center forward position, but coach Hansi Flick should remain in charge.
Too weak Qatar
Ten minutes were enough to understand. While everyone was wondering about the value of the host country team, which prepared in the greatest mystery for its tournament, the first minutes of the opening match against Ecuador provided the answer : Qatar was very far from the mark.
This match was the worst of three for Qatar, totally outmatched in all areas of the game and giving a sad image of their football. It was aggravated by the reaction of his supporters, who very quickly left the stands of the al-Bayt stadium, half empty at the final whistle.
In the end, Qatar was the first host nation to lose the opening match and ended up with three defeats, one goal scored and seven conceded.
Gareth Bale in slow motion
He obtained and converted the penalty which allowed Wales to snatch a point against the United States in the first match. For the rest, Gareth Bale (33) wandered the lawns of Doha at a distressing pace for those who remember the fast and powerful player he was.
PHOTO CARL RECINE, REUTERS ARCHIVES
Gareth Bale
Around him, Aaron Ramsey, another expected executive, also failed and the rest of the Welsh squad could not deceive for his first World Cup for 64 years.
In a group that was not very competitive (England, Iran, United States), the Dragons did not score any other goal than Bale’s penalty and were logically beaten by the English and the Iranians.
Denmark falls into line
The Danes did not arrive in Qatar as favourites, but they looked like outsiders capable of poisoning the lives of many great teams.
Semi-finalists of Euro-2021, very solid and twice winners of France in the League of Nations, they were expected in the 1/8 finals.
But they were finally beaten by France and Australia and took only one point, against Tunisia. They only scored one goal, on the second half of a corner against the Blues, and never seduced in the game.
“There was a lack of freshness in the heads. We should have moved into this group, it’s a big disappointment, ”recognized their coach Kasper Hjulmand.