“There’s no point in beating a dead horse,” says Rebekah Voss, gawping at a dead horse, “but I can’t stop thinking about yesterday’s England match. See, back in 2018, I was 13 years old and sent to summer camp in the middle of nowhere. One of our counsellors was an unlucky sod from England who was crazy into the World Cup and was more than happy to explain to the kids how the sport worked and that England was obviously the best team ever. He got us all hooked.
“Then one fateful day he comes tearing across the lawn when we‘re off to disc golf and screams ENGLAND SCORED! WE ARE GOING TO WIN! That game was, of course, the semi-final versus Croatia. We watched how everything went downhill. It was my first-ever heartbreak. I saw the first half yesterday and thought, it’s going to happen again. I am so pleased that it didn’t.
“Mark from Summer Camp, if you’re reading this by any chance, thanks for making me fall in love with the beautiful game, curse you for making me like England of all teams… But most of all, I hope that you, too, feel a certain sense of satisfaction.”
I was thinking about that game the other day, specifically how a hydration break might have changed it. England were getting overrun in midfield before Ivan Perisic equalised in the 68th minute, so maybe an ad break would have slowed Croatia’s momentum. I’m loath to say it would have given England the chance to stiffen their midfield because Gareth Southgate was quite passive at that stage of his career.
Reintroducing Qatar’s star man
The hype around Johan Manzambi will only heighten after his star turn from the substitutes’ bench helped Switzerland out of a hole and get their tournament truly up and running. The 20-year-old managed to excel for Freiburg in their comprehensive Europa League final defeat against Aston Villa last month and, with 73 minutes played here and three minutes after entering as part of a triple substitution, his superb volley put an end to a sterile contest, hooking a right-foot shot into the Bosnia and Herzegovina net.
At that point Switzerland had registered eight shots, three on target, but things unravelled in the final third. It was, of course, a similar story in their opener against Qatar, when they finished with 26 shots but had to settle for a draw. Manzambi scored twice here, his second finish understated but sumptuous, before Ermin Mahmic thumped in an unstoppable volley in stoppage time, the ball clocked at 71mph according to the wraparound LED screen. Switzerland’s captain, Granit Xhaka, capped the scoring from the penalty spot after Amar Memic tripped Djibril Sow.
Full time: Switzerland 4-1 Bosnia and Herzegovina
Switzerland have several toes in the knockout stage after overwhelming Bosnia and Herzegovina in the last 20 minutes in LA. Freiburg’s Johan Manzambi, aged 20, came off the bench to score twice.
Updated
Team news
Canada’s head coach Jesse Marsch makes two changes. Cyle Larin, who came off the bench to equalise against Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Ali Ahmed come in for Liam Millar and Tani Oluwaseyi. Alphonso Davies is among the substitutes.
Qatar are unchanged.
Canada (4-4-2) Crepeau; Johnston, De Fougerolles, Cornelius, Laryea; Buchanan, Kone, Eustaquio, Ahmed; J David, Larin.
Subs: St Clair, Goodman, Waterman, Bombito, Davies, Sigur, Choiniere, Millar, Shaffelburg, Osorio, Saliba, Oluwaseyi, P David, Nelson.
Qatar (4-2-3-1) Abunada; Alawi, Miguel, Khoukhi, Ahmed; Laye, Gaber; ; Edmilson Junior, Madibo, Afif; Abdurisag.
Subs: Zakaria, Barsham, Mendes, Al-Brake, Hussein, Hatem, Boudiaf, Al-Ganehi, Fathy, Alaaeldin, Muntari, Al-Haydos, Ali, Jamshid, Al-Mannai.
Referee Cristian Garay (Chile)
Updated
It’s no longer goalless in the match between Switzerland and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Daniel Gallan has more.
Daichi Kamada’s late equaliser for Japan against the Netherlands on Sunday did not merely mean that the scoreline more accurately reflected the game. It also extended to four the unbeaten run of teams from the Asian confederation against Europe at this tournament. There is a degree of contingency to that record, and nobody should draw definitive conclusions from the first week of a World Cup, but equally if there were a shift in the power dynamics of world football, it might look a bit like this.
The tone was set on day one with South Korea’s victory over Czech Republic. It perhaps shouldn’t have come as a surprise to anybody who saw their qualifying playoff semi-final against Ireland that the Czechs would be so ponderous and lumbering, a side that understood the value of dead balls and long throws and little else. But still, the ease with which South Korea passed their way around them was striking. If Son Heung-min had been the player he was three or four years ago, the Korean victory would have been far more emphatic.
With 20 minutes remaining, it’s still goalless in Los Ageless. Maybe we’re heading for a repeat of Group E at USA 94, when Norway finished bottom despite collecting the same points as the group winners Mexico.
Asked how he’s handling the scrutiny of coaching a World Cup co-host – where even apparently insignificant comments can end up in the headlines – Jesse Marsch was quick to flash a grin.
“Maybe we’ll get through this one without creating news cycles,” Marsch quipped a day before his Canada team welcome Qatar to Vancouver for a pivotal Group B clash. The teams are level on one point each after the first round of games, leaving the group wide open.
Marsch and midfielder Ismaël Koné refused to look beyond Thursday’s match though. Koné pushed back against one reporter’s insinuation that the players are more anonymous in Vancouver than in Toronto, the site of their draw against Bosnia and Herzegovina last week. But training in British Columbia since Monday has allowed Marsch and his men to ease the pressure of being co-hosts.
“The bigger the event, there’s going to be more distractions,” Marsch said, “so we’ve tried to minimize that. But at the same time, it’s really difficult to prepare for everything, the madness that surrounds … a World Cup.”
Switzerland v Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other match in this group, is goalless at half-time. You can follow the second half with Daniel Gallan.
Updated
Who fancies a bit of history? Fear not, we’re not about to impose 5,000 words on the group stage of the 1958 World Cup upon you. We’re talking about making history, something Canada or Qatar could do in the next few hours.
They’ve already made a small bit of history by drawing their opening games, the first time either team had picked up a point at a men’s World Cup. Today they can achieve something more substantial. A win for either team would be their first at a World Cup – and, most importantly, would pretty much ensure qualification for the knockout stage.
Yes, yes, the knockout stage is the last 32, which before this tournament would have been the group stage, so what does it really mean. Never mind that legitimate but slightly joyless view. In the modern world we need every good-news story we can get; when this game gets going, the footballers of Canada and Qatar will have the chance to become immortal.
Kick off 3pm local time/6pm EDT/11pm BST/8am AEST
Rob will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s how Canada are preparing for today’s game:
Asked how he’s handling the scrutiny of coaching a World Cup co-host – where even apparently insignificant comments can end up in the headlines – Jesse Marsch was quick to flash a grin.
“Maybe we’ll get through this one without creating news cycles,” Marsch quipped a day before his Canada team welcome Qatar to Vancouver for a pivotal Group B clash. The teams are level on one point each after the first round of games, leaving the group wide open.
Marsch and midfielder Ismaël Koné refused to look beyond Thursday’s match though. Koné pushed back against one reporter’s insinuation that the players are more anonymous in Vancouver than in Toronto, the site of their draw against Bosnia and Herzegovina last week. But training in British Columbia since Monday has allowed Marsch and his men to ease the pressure of being co-hosts.
“The bigger the event, there’s going to be more distractions,” Marsch said, “so we’ve tried to minimize that. But at the same time, it’s really difficult to prepare for everything, the madness that surrounds … a World Cup.”
You can read the full report below:
