Fans were the real losers when Norway played France, and other Foxborough World Cup takeaways
Norway’s 4-1 loss to France on Friday in the World Cup group stage finale for both teams in Foxborough was a disgrace, and no one wants to take any responsibility for it.
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Norway manager Stale Solbakken didn’t show a trace of regret for benching 10 starters and disappointing scores of fans who paid three and four figures and crossed an ocean to attend the match, and millions of World Cup fans who were denied a marquee showdown of stars Kylian Mbappé vs. Erling Haaland.
“That’s the way it is,” Solbakken said. “We are here to proceed as long as we can. This was not a decision that took us a lot of time to get to.”
Solbakken was at least trying to do what’s best for his team. FIFA doesn’t have the same excuse.
FIFA didn’t comment about the match, but you can hear the possible response: “It’s a blind draw. There’s nothing we can do.”
Malarkey. FIFA expanded the field to 48 this year, proving it can alter the tournament when it sees fit. A tournament that generates $11-13 billion in revenue is too big to leave everything up to chance. Having an exhibition-like atmosphere in any match in this tournament is simply unacceptable.
Moving forward, FIFA needs to ensure that premier matchups like France-Norway are played in the first or second match of the group, guaranteeing both teams play for the win and give the fans their money’s worth.
Instead, the fans came last, which seems to be a theme with FIFA.
Other takeaways from the final week-plus of World Cup group play:
• Solbakken said he felt it important to rest his starters for Tuesday’s match against a physical Ivory Coast squad in Dallas. But he took it to the extreme by sitting practically everyone for the entire match. Haaland and Martin Ødegaard couldn’t have played a half, or even 25 minutes? Argentina benched Lionel Messi in its final group match, but he still entered the game in the 60th minute, and scored in the 80th.
It sure looked like Norway was ducking rival Sweden, which would have been its opponent on Tuesday had Norway defeated France. Norway has won three in a row against Sweden and not lost in seven matches, but Norway is in the knockout round for the first time in 28 years and may not have wanted a familiar opponent.
If that’s what happened, Norway is really tempting fate by tanking and trying to pick its opponent. Imagine the uproar if the Patriots were facing the Bills in Week 18 for the AFC East title, but decided to bench Drake Maye and accept a Wild Card spot?
▪ That baffling no-call against England that should have given Ghana a penalty kick is no longer the worst call of the World Cup.
That honor goes to the VAR officials for calling offsides on Colombia to wipe away what would have been a game-winning goal in extra time in its 0-0 draw with Portugal. Davinson Sanchez was offsides by a toenail — literally — and the call enraged everyone but ardent Portugal fans. The call at least didn’t cost Colombia the Group K title.
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“This is exactly why supporters are losing trust in VAR,” Thierry Henry said on Fox. “The technology was introduced to correct obvious mistakes, not create even bigger controversies.”
As with the NFL and MLB, instant replay is often more trouble than it’s worth.
▪ There probably aren’t too many fans around here scrutinizing Czechia’s road through the World Cup, but the Czechs have a legitimate gripe.
Of the four squads in Group A, they were the only ones not to train at high elevation, practicing in suburban Dallas while the others were a mile high (or higher) in Mexico.
And what do you know, the Czechs went 0-3, and all six goals they allowed in the tournament came in the second half — five of them coming in their elevation games in Mexico City and Guadalajara. In Czechia’s final match, a 3-0 loss to Mexico, the announcers noted that Czechia could barely muster the energy to play defense in the second half.
▪ I realize it’s blasphemy to ever criticize Messi, and he certainly delights millions of fans worldwide, but the Argentines sure seem to go out of their way to pad his stats.
Messi scored all five of Argentina’s goals in its first two matches, and attempted 12 of their 21 shots. He was the only player in the tournament to take at least 50 percent of his team’s shots through the first two matches. Mbappé, by comparison, took 12 of France’s 30 shots. Brazil’s Vinícius Júnior took 13 of Brazil’s 38 shots.
Messi has a seven-game scoring streak and leads the Golden Boot race with six goals. His team seems determined to get it for him.
▪ One big difference between soccer and American sports is how they treat fading legends. Mexican goalie Guillermo Ochoa, 41, got a token appearance in the 78th minute in the third match against Czechia. Brazil’s Neymar made his first appearance in the 76th minute in the third match against Scotland. Neither seemed embarrassed by it.
“I think he deserved the opportunity to play, that’s why I gave him it,” Brazil manager Carlo Ancelotti said after the game.
Can you imagine Tom Brady ending his career as a backup with the Texans and making his only appearance of the season in the second half of Week 18?
▪ Wildest match of the tournament: Algeria and Austria playing to a 3-3 draw Saturday night, when neither team was incentivized to win and a 0-0 draw was the likeliest outcome. Algeria seemed to content to dribble out the final 15 minutes but surprisingly scored three minutes into extra time. However, not wanting to face Spain in the knockout round, Algeria promptly allowed Austria to tie the game and send “Les Fennecs” to a matchup with Switzerland.
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