The 2018 FIFA World Cup has been a good one so far, and the group stages look primed for drama to the last day. However, even a good tournament has disappointments, be they stylistic or teams and players failing to live up to expectations.
So what groups, players, teams, and aspects of the World Cup have been a letdown so far? Here are eight of them that could stand to pick up their games as the tournament moves through its second week.
8) CONMEBOL
South America is packed with two traditional powerhouses in Brazil and Argentina, plus a 2014 quarterfinalist in Colombia. In all, they got five teams into the tournament, but thus far, they only have three wins to show for it. Two of them are thanks to Uruguay against inferior opposition, while the third is Brazil’s late show against Costa Rica on Friday. Argentina, whom we’ll get to later, have yet to win a game, while Peru are out of contention for the knockout rounds with a game to spare. There is plenty of time to turn it around, but the South American confederation has work to do.
7) The own goal epidemic
While the pace has slowed a bit since Tuesday, the tournament so far has been marked by an unprecedented spike in own goals. This doesn’t even take into account the horrible mistakes, such as this one, that lead to goals, either. Own goals aren’t really fun — they’re embarrassing, awkward, and often low-quality. Obviously the teams benefiting from them won’t be picky about things, but the viewing audience can be.
6) Neymar
Yes, he did ultimately score when Brazil beat Costa Rica on Friday, but it was a long time coming to say the least. It may not even change the fact that his game may be best remembered for a silly dive and not the goal. In the tournament opener against Switzerland, he was incessantly fouled and never really got going, which was not entirely his fault. Those nuances rarely matter at this level. People are looking to Neymar to lead a talented Brazilian squad to a World Cup, and he simply hasn’t been influential enough thus far.
5) Goals from open play
Just as own goals have been everywhere, so too have goals from set pieces. As of June 19, 15 of the tournament’s 38 goals had been from penalties, free kicks, or corners. While that’s not bad, it’s an indication that teams are having a very hard time putting attacks together and creating chances in open play, which is typically where some of the finest goals come from. This has improved slightly over the past few days — Croatia, for instance, put on a clinic against Argentina without relying on set pieces — but a change in this would make things at least a little easier on the eyes.
4) France
There is no reason for a team with the pure talent of France should be so stiff and uninspired in attack. Against Peru, they had just four shots on target, and they needed a late own goal to get past a clearly inferior Australia team. Is it unfair to include a team that has won both of its games on this list and has already qualified for the knockout rounds? Perhaps it is. But France, more than few other teams in the field, are capable of so much more than they’ve displayed so far.
3) Germany
Sometimes the World Cup produces fluke results. Powerful teams are held by an incredible show of defending while a lesser foe picks off a goal at the other end and escapes with a surprising win. The nature of Germany’s loss to Mexico was not one of these. Mexico was clinical, excellent defensively, and could have scored several times on the counter. The Germans were cut open several times and often looked toothless and out of ideas in attack. These are the reigning World Cup winners who have more than enough talent to make another run at the crown on paper, but in practice, they looked far away from contention.
2) Lionel Messi
We’ll get to his team later, but for now, there is some debate as to how much of Argentina’s abject failure at this World Cup has to do with their iconic star. It is clear what opponents want to do to Argentina. They want to crowd Messi, give him no time on the ball, and make his life as difficult as possible in the hopes that someone else beats them. It has worked, but it’s not as if teams aren’t trying to do this to Cristiano Ronaldo either, and he has four goals in two matches. Moreover, Messi can blame no one but himself for the missed penalty against Iceland that likely cost his team a victory. It’s clear that there is a lot of pressure on his shoulders, and it weighs on him. He’s responded to it at club level before, but here, he’s simply been anonymous, and that’s not good enough.
1) Argentina
As bad as Messi has been, his teammates have been so much worse. The 3-0 thrashing by Croatia exposed just how many systemic problems Argentina has as a team, and it’s hard to overstate just how horrendous they were. The goalkeeper, Willy Caballero, made a horrible mistake and is simply not up to the required standard. Neither is the defense as a whole. Their midfield is weak, which was the biggest factor in Croatia’s dominance. Teams that control the center of the pitch usually have a good chance of winning, and Argentina never came close to doing that. That made attack disjointed, and standout players such as Sergio Aguero and Angel Di Maria had virtually no impact on the game in attacking positions. There’s no real way to fix this. Argentina is simply fatally flawed structurally. Perhaps we should have seen it coming, but it’s hard to say anyone could have predicted they’d be this bad.
