👎 4 World Cup group-stage flops: Uruguay, Turkey and...🌍 | OneFootball

The World Cup round of 32 has already begun, but there’s still time to take one last look at the group stage that has just ended. 

After looking at the best young surprises, it’s time to list the biggest disappointments of this group stage.

Uruguay

Uruguay have been the biggest flop of this World Cup: a team now drained in attack, without Ronald Araujo in defense and — surprisingly — one that did not rally around its coach, Marcelo Bielsa.

The first match against Saudi Arabia had already shown some warning signs: a seriously inadequate first half redeemed by a late siege that only produced a draw. Then came the 2-2 against Cape Verde, who even took the lead and came back in the second half, helped by a terrible Muslera.

Then came the famous meeting between the “senators” and Bielsa which, it seems, produced no result. Or at least, no positive turning point. Because against Spain all the tension spilled over into a flat performance, in which the symbols of this team collapsed: an anonymous Valverde, Muslera once again hunting for blunders on Baena’s goal, and Canobbio’s red card, an example of “garra” badly channeled.

Scotland

Scotland had the toughest group, but they are still a huge disappointment because of the way they were eliminated: the 1-0 win over Haiti was embarrassing at times, because after McTominay hit the post and McGinn scored, the Scots handed control of the game to Haiti, who came close to equalizing late on and even had 64% possession in the second half.

Then the strategy against Morocco was clear: sit deep and hope to make the most of a few moments. A game plan thrown into crisis by Saibari’s goal after 2 minutes and, despite that, coach Steve Clarke never moved away from his idea: a clogged-up match without ever hitting the target.

The 3-0 defeat to Brazil, meanwhile, brought complete collapse: crude defensive errors and a more aggressive second half — in vain — in search of the goals needed to improve a dreadful goal difference, especially considering the opener against Haiti (who then conceded 7 goals in 2 matches). 

Turkey

They were expected to win their group, but instead finished last: Vincenzo Montella’s Turkey were careless, lacking conviction, and also very unlucky. The first half deficit against Australia could have been overturned, and in the second half the team tried: 20 shots (few truly dangerous) and a goal conceded from distance.

A similar script played out against Paraguay: 1-0 conceded from outside the box and a second half spent charging forward, with lots of attacking play and little accuracy. In 2 matches they took 62 shots: goals scored, 0.

In the final match against the already-qualified USA, a different Turkey was on display: less dominant on the ball and more clinical with their quality players, especially Guler and Baris Yilmaz. The 3-2 comeback win was a sign of life that probably saved Vincenzo Montella’s job.

South Korea

Expectations for South Korea were not especially high, but after the deserved comeback win over the Czech Republic, the path to the round of 32 seemed wide open. Instead came the defeat to Mexico: a flat match with a sterile first half, a goal conceded because of a goalkeeping mistake, and little cutting edge in the late chances.

Getting a good result against South Africa seemed almost a given, but instead the Korean attack crashed against the opponents’ physical defense: Son (who came on in the second half) made little impact, and Maseko’s counterattacks caused damage, especially the one in the 63rd minute that sent South Africa through to the round of 32.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.

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