World Cup Recaps and Previews, Thursday June 18

About Yesterday's Games

Portugal 1, DR Congo 1

AlmaOtter: Click through to this. Please trust me.

Alex de Campi (@alexdecampi.bsky.social)

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Kind of...: "In Portugal's past four matches in major competitions, Ronaldo has played 396 of a possible 420 minutes, and Portugal have scored just once." Roberto Martinez is rationalizing letting him play 90 minutes, he was ineffective even to untrained eyes, and Colombia got three points. Still time to right the ship, but if this squad makes the quarters it will be stunning.

HoustonBoiler: I think this summed up Ronaldo's play.

England 4, Croatia 2

MaximumSam: Harry Kane! Everybody now! Harry Kane! Harry Kane! Harry Kane!

Also, we need to petition to have an English announcer on the call for the next English game. You can't keep screwing this up, Fox.

Kind of...: England looks second only to France in firepower (though I still think Spain will play their way into form). Can they tighten the defense without sacrificing explosiveness? If so, they're a threat to win it all. That said, Kane's goals were a PK and off a corner. Those won't happen against better competition.

Ghana 1, Panama 0

Kind of...: Panama was game, but Ghana was just more athletic and found their way to the late (90 + 5!) goal. Could Panama take a point off of Croatia? It's possible! But it sure doesn't look like they're advancing. Ghana, either, really. But they look like they have a bit more room to improve their form.

Colombia 3, Uzbekistan 1

Kind of...: Uzbekistan managed to tie it in the second half...for about five minutes. Colombia is a very good, second-tier squad. Win the group and it's a third place team in R32 and, likely, the winner of Group B (Canada? Switzerland?) in R16. Nice draw if you can earn it.

Today's Matchups

Group A: Czechia (0-0-1) v South Africa (0-0-1)

Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Atlanta, GA. 12:00 PM ET, 11:00 GTZ.

AlmaOtter: And we're back to the top of the schedule! Hell of a week.

Kind of...: Hard to say definitively that the loser is out since 8 of 12 third place teams will make it through, and that suggests somebody might sneak through with 3 points. However...0-0-2 is not where you want to be. At the same time, nobody (I think) is advance with only two points, and if those two draw today, that's where they both will be. If there's a winner in South Korea/Mexico, and that team rests a bunch of players in their third match, then the back door is open. But you can't count on triple bank shots like that. So...both teams need to win today and know that. But they know that's the case for their opponent too, so might be tempted to come out conservative in hopes they can pounce on a mistake. Expect this one to build in intensity the longer it stays tied. Czechia should win, though.

HoustonBoiler: This is definitely the best opportunity for either of these teams to pick up a win. After this match, Czechia plays Mexico and South Africa plays South Korea, and Mexico and South Korea are the best teams in Group A. Based on this, I will say that the loser of this match is going home and in case of a draw, both teams will be going home. It's now or never Bafana Bafana!

Group B: Switzerland (0-1-0) v Bosnia and Herzegovina (0-1-0)

SoFi Stadium. Inglewood, CA. 3:00 ET, 2:00 GTZ.

MaximumSam: Group B might be the Yahtzee group - pretty much no result will be much of a shock.

Kind of...: Switzerland absolutely dominated Qatar, but BOTH was unlucky, and surrendered a late goal. I think they'll win today and begin to build momentum.

Group B: Canada (0-1-0) v Qatar (0-1-0)

BC Place. Vancouver, Canada. 6:00 ET, 5:00 GTZ

Kind of... Qatar had their moment. Canada has had nearly a week to address their deficiencies. I'm call for a return to order and for Canada and Switzerland to each have four points heading into their group-deciding matchup.

HoustonBoiler: This is Canada's opportunity. A win in this match will give them 4 points and very likely send them through to the round of 32.

Group A: Mexico (1-0-0) v South Korea (1-0-0)

Estadio Akron. Guadalajara, Mexico. 9:00 ET, 8:00 GTZ

MaximumSam: My middle daughter is suddenly interested in South Korea, so I suppose I have a rooting interest here.

Kind of...: Mexico should win, but 1) South Korea is a good team, and 2) they will not wilt in the heat and/or altitude. With Mexico having the edge in goal differential the "park the bus" urge might be there the longer this goes tied. Based on how tiebreakers now work, the winner isn't guaranteed to win the group right now, but very well could be after Czechia and South Africa play. Winner is definitely through, though, which could well affect the lineup you see in game 3.

HoustonBoiler: I will point out to my much better informed/looking colleague Kind Of... that the outcome of the Czechia and South Africa match will be known prior to kickoff. Will that influence this match? Maybe, but I doubt it. Both teams will want a win though a draw will likely send both teams through to the round of 32.