Rutgers Scarlet Knights, 2025 Recap: So Close to Bowl Eligibility, So Far from Relevance
At least they beat Maryland
About Yesterday's Games
Portugal 5, Uzbekistan 0
HoustonBoiler: Well, well, well, Cristiano Ronaldo showed up and scored two (the first and third) of Portugal's five goals.
England 0, Ghana 0
MaximumSam: The Ghana witch doctor placed a curse on Harry Kane, and he barely touched the ball and missed a point blank shot in front of the goal. Harry better find an druid.
HoustonBoiler: England has to be kicking themselves because of their missed opportunities. Oh well lads, you still have a shot to win the group plus you're most likely through to the round of 32 anyway.
Croatia 1, Panama, 0
Colombia 1, Democratic Republic of the Congo 0
Today's Matchups
Group B: Bosnia-Herzegovina (0-1-1) v Qatar (0-1-1)
Seattle, WA. 3:00 PM ET, 2:00 PM GTZ.
MaximumSam: If you are new to the World Cup, the last games of each group are always played at the same time. This is so the teams don't know what they need to do to advance. However, with this new format, some third place teams can qualify under a rubric developed by the Ghana witch doctor. So we'll see how that plays out.
BoilerUp89: Both of these teams need to win to advance.
HoustonBoiler: Note that BoilerUp89 said "win" and not draw. I expect both teams to be aggressive.
Group B: Switzerland (1-1-0) v Canada (1-1-0)
Vancouver, Canada. 3:00 ET, 2:00 GTZ.
MaximumSam: Ah, the game theory of World Cup. The winner of this game wins the group. A draw means Canada wins the group and the Swiss advance. A loss for either team can see them left out entirely. However, Canada's 6 goal win over Qatar makes that very unlikely.
HoustonBoiler: Canada needs a win or draw to win Group B. Winning the group would allow them to play their round of 32 match in Vancouver. We'll see how they perform without one of their better players, midfielder Ismaël Koné, who suffered a broken leg in the previous match against Qatar.
Group C: Morocco (1-1-0) v Haiti (0-0-2)
Atlanta, GA. 6:00 ET, 5:00 GTZ
MaximumSam: Haiti is eliminated and is just playing for fun. Everyone else is chasing points and goals.
HoustonBoiler: To add on to what MaximumSam said, look for Morocco to score early and often. Complicating things for Morocco, their captain, Achraf Hakimi, was accused of rape in Paris three years ago and will stand trial after his bid to have the case thrown out recently failed. There is the possibility that the US (or Mexico) could revoke his visa until the criminal charges have been resolved.
Group C: Scotland (1-0-1) v Brazil (1-1-0)
Miami, FL. 6:00 ET, 5:00 PM GTZ
MaximumSam: The talk is four points should be good enough to qualify. Both Brazil and Morocco are already there. Three points is iffier, and that's probably where Scotland will find itself. Then it goes to various tiebreakers, and goal differential is most important there. Try not to get trounced.
HoustonBoiler: Brazil will play hard as they will want to win the match, and hopefully, the group. On the other hand, Scotland could really use at least one point, so expect them to play hard. Brazil is the better team and should win, but can the Scots obtain a draw or at least keep the match close and cross their fingers.
Group A: Czechia (0-1-1) v Mexico (2-0-0)
Mexico City, Mexico. 9:00 ET, 8:00 PM GTZ
MaximumSam: Mexico has already won their group, so they are just playing for the free tortas. But Czechia could get through with a win, while a loss or draw probably leaves them out.
Group A: South Africa (0-1-1) v South Korea (1-0-1)
Guadalupe, Mexico. 9:00 ET, 8:00 PM GTZ
MaximumSam: South Korea is in with a win or draw. South Africa probably needs to win to get through, so these teams should have some motivation.
HoustonBoiler: I would say that South Africa definitely needs a win to keep playing so expect Bafana Bafana to be very aggressive.
