Forward Ritsu Doan said Japan’s historic World Cup wins over Germany and Spain counted for nothing after the Blue Samurai were eliminated by Croatia in the last 16 on Monday.

Japan missed out on a first-ever place in the quarter-finals after a 3-1 penalty shootout defeat to the Croatians, following a gruelling encounter that finished 1-1 after extra-time.

Japan beat both Germany and Spain in the goup stage in Qatar but Doan took no consolation from his team’s achievements.

“I expected someone to say that if we lost, but to be honest it doesn’t mean anything,” he said.

“No matter how well we fought today, we didn’t change history.”

Daizen Maeda gave Japan the lead late in the first half before Ivan Perisic levelled for Croatia 10 minutes after the break.

Japan struggled to create more chances but held for penalties, only for Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic to save their first two spot kicks.

Croatia’s Marko Livaja hit the post to give Japan a reprieve but Livakovic saved Maya Yoshida’s kick to give Mario Pasalic match point for the Europeans.

Pasalic buried his penalty to send Croatia through, leaving Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu to lament his players’ failure to convert their spot-kicks.

“Penalties are a mix of luck and training,” he said.

“Their goalkeeper was excellent but the Japanese players should have done better and that’s something we need to work on in the future.”

Japan were aiming to reach the quarter-finals for the first time, having lost in the last 16 at three previous World Cups.

The team arrived in Qatar with 19 Europe-based players in their squad and midfielder Wataru Endo said they would need more overseas experience to take the next step.

“We need to have more players playing with European clubs — we need 20 or 30,” he said.

“We can improve our quality and become a better team. We are improving but we weren’t good enough to get to the quarter-finals.”

Moriyasu is also confident that Japan will return stronger.

“This result doesn’t cancel out everything the players have done here,” he said.

“They have shown they have the confidence to play at the world level and have shown how good they can be.

“Japanese football can continue to grow.”

Source:  AFP

World Cup fans in Qatar say the atmosphere is different without alcohol — but they are divided over whether that is good or not.

Some say the absence of booze in stadiums and its limited availability elsewhere in the Arab nation has detracted from the atmosphere inside and outside stadiums.

Others say it has made no difference or even improved it, making it more family-friendly and less aggressive, and want it replicated at future World Cups.

The sale of alcohol at World Cup stadiums in Qatar was banned two days before the tournament in a policy U-turn, although it is available at fan zones and most international hotels.

“It has brought some positivity to the World Cup,” said Ghana fan Assenso Ata Peter ahead of the Black Stars’ tournament-ending defeat to Uruguay on Friday.

“The conduct of the supporters has been so very good, so nice because they are not drinking alcohol,” added the 40-year-old.

“If we continue with this, the tournament can continue to be successful every time.”

Mike and Luke, in Qatar to watch Australia’s surprise run into the knockout stage, were clutching water and soft drinks as they caught the game between South Korea and Portugal at Education City Stadium.

“It’s hard, it’s hard (without alcohol), it definitely takes the edge off the atmosphere, it’s not as… it’s different,” said Luke, 39.

“It’s more like a family atmosphere as opposed to a party atmosphere — you’ve got families, kids, they’re the ones that are doing the cheering,” added 36-year-old Mike.

Kang Yong-ki, who was at the same game, said no alcohol was allowed at matches at home so he could live without it.

“I suspect some of the atmosphere would be higher (more intense) if alcohol existed but generally it’s not very different with alcohol or not,” said the 45-year-old from Seoul.

“But of course it’s good for families,” he added.

For the majority of men and women supporters AFP spoke to, they said it made no difference to them, either because they do not drink alcohol or it is never allowed at football in their country anyway.

And matches particularly involving teams from South America and North Africa have still played out in front of electric atmospheres.

“I really don’t care, I’m just here to watch Cristiano Ronaldo,” said “Amanda” from Lebanon, who preferred not to give her real name.

“I don’t know why the world is making such a big deal of it.”

‘Most diverse tournament’

England fans have long been associated with alcohol-fuelled disorder and the final of the European Championship at Wembley in the summer of 2021 between the home side and Italy was marred by hooliganism.

There was heavy drinking, and also drug-taking, among some England supporters.

Kevin Fulcher and Kevin Hall, who have travelled across the globe to watch England, said they had no problem with the lack of alcohol.

“I think in some ways, when people have had a drink, the edges can get a bit blurred and it might create issues among football fans,” said Hall, 63.

“Whereas if you’re sober, you’re less inclined to have confrontation.

“We’ve not seen any confrontation whatsoever — you’re all mixing coming out of the ground.

“We’ve been to other tournaments and I think this one is more diverse than any other in terms of youngsters.”

Fulcher added: “You see families, kids, I’ve seen babies in stadiums.”

They could not pinpoint the reason for that but said it was not necessarily down to the lack of alcohol.

Chief Constable Mark Roberts, head of Britain’s football policing, called the behaviour of England and Wales fans in Qatar “exemplary” and said there had been no arrests or incidents among those supporters.

He said that the atmosphere at games involving England and Wales had been “passionate but friendly”.

“It would be wrong to entirely attribute good behaviour to the restrictions on alcohol, but I do think it has helped to some degree,” he said in comments to AFP.

Source: AFP

France proved too strong for Poland on Sunday as a Kylian Mbappé brace and a record-setting goal by Olivier Giroud made for a 3-1 victory in the World Cup last 16. Giroud became France’s all-time leading scorer with 52 goals, eclipsing the mark he shared with Thierry Henry.

There is arguably no more thrilling player at this World Cup than Kylian Mbappe, who leads France into their last-16 clash on Sunday with a Poland side whose own hopes of pulling off a famous upset will depend to a large extent on Robert Lewandowski.

It is a sobering thought that Mbappe, not 24 until later this month, may not yet be at the peak of his powers but he has already scored seven goals in 10 appearances at the World Cup.

That tally includes one in the 2018 final when he was still a teenager as France beat Croatia in Moscow.

His mission now is to help his country become the first to retain the World Cup since Brazil, with an even younger Pele, did so in 1962.

Mbappe has already scored three times in Qatar, including a brace in a 2-1 victory against Denmark that secured qualification for the last 16, and there is a belief he is thriving as the undisputed star of Didier Deschamps’ side.

The situation is different to that of Paris Saint-Germain, where he shares the limelight with Lionel Messi and Neymar, and in that sense it may be that Karim Benzema’s withdrawal due to injury on the eve of the tournament does no harm to French hopes.

“Kylian has no ego,” insisted Deschamps a few days ago, going against the perception of Mbappe in the context of PSG.

“He is a decisive player for us and his performances put him in the spotlight. He is not 18 anymore. He has experience now.”

It wasn’t just Mbappe -– who now has as many international goals as Zinedine Zidane — that France missed as a second-string team lost 1-0 to Tunisia on Wednesday, a result that did not stop them topping their group.

He will be back along with the likes of Hugo Lloris, Antoine Griezmann and Olivier Giroud as France and Poland meet at a major tournament for the first time since the 1982 World Cup.

‘Beyond reproach’

“Kylian is not the same player or person as in 2018,” said Griezmann on Friday when asked about Mbappe’s role in a squad hit by injuries to several key players before the tournament.

“He is much more a part of the squad now. He speaks a lot and has fun. He knows that the media, fans and even his teammates will be watching everything that he does but he is beyond reproach.”

France are clear favourites for Sunday’s game but there is the memory of what happened in the last 16 at last year’s European Championship, when Mbappe missed the crucial penalty in a shoot-out defeat to Switzerland.

Poland only just scraped through their group ahead of Mexico on goal difference and Lewandowski’s strike -– his first World Cup goal –- in the win over Saudi Arabia was therefore crucial.

“I’m aware it might be my last World Cup and I wanted to be able to say that I’ve played and scored at World Cups,” he said after that game.

The 34-year-old also got nine goals in qualifying and there is nobody else quite on his level in Czeslaw Michniewicz’s squad.

“We are happy because getting out of the group was our objective,” said defender Jakub Kiwior after the team trained on Friday.

Seeing Mbappe and Lewandowski together on the same pitch is a rare treat.

Two of the most prolific forwards in the modern game, they are nevertheless different types of striker –- one all about explosive pace coming into the box from wide areas, and the other the ultimate penalty-box finisher now coming towards the end of his career.

Lewandowski left Bayern Munich for Barcelona in the last close season, but according to reports in France he might have ended up at PSG.

Le Parisien reported on Friday that PSG tried to convince Lewandowski to join them after tying Mbappe to a new contract in May.

PSG’s failure to sign Lewandowski or another top-class number nine was given as one reason why Mbappe was reportedly so unhappy at his club just a couple of months ago.

Those reports have since died down and his focus is on the World Cup, with Lewandowski now standing in his way.

Source: AFP

Vincent Aboubakar was shown a red card for taking off his shirt as he celebrated his stoppage time goal for Cameroon against Brazil on Friday.

 Aboubakar met Jerome Ngom Mbekeli’s cross with a fantastic header two minutes into stoppage time to fire his side to a 1-0 win against Brazil in the final game of the World Cup group stage.

 Aboubakar took his jersey off as he and his team-mates went wild and was shown a second yellow card for the offence. The 30-year-old accepted the dismissal and even shook the referee’s hand.

Source: Goal.com

Vincent Aboubakar scored 2 minutes into stoppage time as Cameroon handed Brazil its first group-stage loss at the World Cup in 24 years Friday — a result that still allowed the five-time champions to win the group and eliminated the Africans.

Aboubakar was sent off with a second yellow card for taking off his shirt during his celebration after sending his powerful header past Brazil goalkeeper Ederson. The Cameroon captain then threw his shirt to the ground near the corner flag and waited for his teammates as they rushed toward him.

Cameroon hadn’t won any of its last nine World Cup matches, with eight losses and a draw — against Ireland in its opening game at the 2002 tournament.

Brazil, which played with its reserves, had won 17 straight group games since a 2-1 loss to Norway in 1998 in France. It had lost only one of its last 29 group matches at the tournament.

Brazil, which had already reached the knockout stage after victories over Serbia and Switzerland, will face South Korea in the round of 16.

Switzerland 3, Serbia 2

Switzerland advanced to the last 16 of the World Cup for the third tournament in a row after a 3-2 win over Serbia on Friday.

Remo Freuler scored the winning goal just after halftime as the Swiss secured second place in Group G. They will next face Portugal on Tuesday at Lusail Stadium.

Freuler finished off a backheel pass from Ruben Vargas after Xherdan Shaqiri clipped a ball into the penalty box.

Shaqiri put Switzerland ahead early in the first half before Aleksandar Mitrovic and Dusan Vlahovic responded for Serbia. Breel Embolo evened the score just before halftime.

Switzerland needed a win to guarantee itself a place in the knockout round after beating Cameroon and losing to Brazil in its opening two games.

Against Portugal, the Swiss will be looking to reach the quarterfinals for the first time since hosting the competition in 1954.

South Korea 2, Portugal 1

The sign said it all. Hwang Hee-chan got the message.

A young South Korea fan held up a sign that read “One More Goal” during halftime of the team’s match against Portugal on Friday at the World Cup. The teams were even at 1-1 at the time, but the South Koreans needed another goal to earn a spot in the round of 16.

Hwang delivered the dramatic goal in stoppage time, lifting South Korea to a 2-1 victory and its third trip to the knockout stage of the World Cup.

It’s South Korea third trip past the group stage at the World Cup.

The team reached the semifinals as co-host in 2002 and then made it to the round of 16 in 2010.

Hwang missed the first two group games in Qatar with a hamstring injury and entered as a substitute in the second half against Portugal.

“In the first match it was impossible for me to play and the pain got worse,” he said. “I did a little running, but I thought I could play the second match, but they held me out.”

He finally made an appearance on Friday. And it turned out to be a match-winning, World Cup-advancing appearance, too.

Uruguay 2, Ghana 0

Luis Suarez couldn’t watch as his Uruguay team slid toward a painful World Cup exit. He put his hands in front of his eyes, then pulled his shirt over his head. When his face emerged again, there were tears.

The Uruguay captain sat in the dugout after being substituted as his team beat Ghana 2-0 on Friday but was still eliminated from the tournament by a stoppage-time goal in another game.

late goal by Hwang Hee-chan secured South Korea a last-gasp 2-1 win over Portugal and a place in the last 16 from Group H at Uruguay’s expense because it scored more goals.

After the most dramatic end to the group, Portugal advanced as group winner and South Korea clinched second.

Ghana, which came into the last set of games in second place, was also eliminated.

“It is sadness and disappointment that we feel,” said Suarez, who was playing in his last World Cup.

When Suarez left in the 66th minute of the game, Uruguay was in a position to advance to the knockout stage for a fourth straight World Cup. He had played key roles in both Uruguay goals by Giorgian De Arrascaeta, which came after Ghana captain Andre Ayew missed a 21st-minute penalty.

A shot by Suarez led to De Arrascaeta’s opener in the 26th minute. Suarez then set up the second with a clever pass that De Arrascaeta volleyed in six minutes later.

By the time the final whistle blew, Uruguay’s 2-0 lead still stood but the 35-year-old Suarez’s World Cup career was over, thanks to South Korea’s late goal against Portugal.

Source: VOA

Brazil will rest most, if not all, of their starting line-up against Cameroon. With little to play for, Tite will take a safe approach knowing his players could be vulnerable in the final group stage outing.

The rotation may allow some younger players to gain valuable World Cup experience. Rodrygo and Gabriel Martinelli, for example, are in line to make their first starts at the tournament.

Dani Alves, who made an improbable return to the national team just before the World Cup, is ready to be named to the starting XI in what would be another achievement in his storied career.

Neymar is holding out hope that he can return from his ankle problem in the knockout rounds, while Danilo (ankle) and Alex Sandro (hip) are also out without clear timetables for return.

Source: Goal.com

France go into their third group stage match against Tunisia as overwhelming favourites, having already secured their place in the knockout rounds with their impressive victories over Australia and Denmark.

Les Bleus take on Tunisia on Wednesday after a sparkling run of form that shows them to be top contenders to win the trophy, while lessening fans’ fears that they will repeat history and perform poorly as title-holders. 

The 4-1 drubbing of Australia displayed France’s strengths. The talisman of the French team, Kylian Mbappé showed his trademark lacerating pace, dazzling creativity and clinical finishing skills. 

Antoine Griezmann massively surpassed expectations. Some had written him off as a has-been. But Griezmann has adapted well to Didier Deschamps playing him in a much deeper, more central position than his traditional role on the left wing of the French attack. 

Olivier Giroud, however, was the star of the show against Australia. The AC Milan striker captured the attention of the footballing world by matching French hero Thierry Henry’s 51-goal record for Les Bleus. The 36-year-old consigned to distant memory his failure to score a single goal at the 2018 World Cup.

Ousmane Dembelé has been another outstanding player for France at the World Cup so far, with some searing runs, incisive passing and neat positional interchanges with Mbappé. So too has defensive midfield linchpin Aurelien Tchouaméni – a sterling replacement for the injured N’Golo Kanté and one of the breakout young players of the tournament so far. While he still has some distance to go in refining his talent and ensuring consistency, Tchouaméni shows a hint of Roy Keane’s toughness combined with a hint of Andrea Pirlo’s creative brilliance in that deep position.

Deschamps the ‘water carrier’

Mbappé showed several missteps against both Australia and Denmark, with a sometimes clumsy first touch on the ball. Giroud, too, disappointed against Denmark after his brace against the Socceroos; Deschamps substituted him relatively early. 

The French defence, meanwhile, let themselves down against their easy first opponent, as some sloppy positioning from Les Bleus’ back four allowed the Aussies’ Craig Goodwin to score that shock opening goal in the 9th minute. 

But all of these problem should be relatively easy for Deschamps to correct – especially seeing as the ex-midfielder whom Eric Cantona once dismissed as a mere “water carrier”, one of just three men to have won the World Cup as both player and manager – is renowned for his tactical and strategic flexibility. 

Raphael Varane has already returned to the fold after a hamstring injury ruled him out of the Australia match – providing much-needed ballast to that slightly rickety French defence. That’s while it seems churlish to note Mbappé’s rare faltering moments considering how much he has sparkled, not to mention his double against Denmark. As for Giroud, surely the chance to smash the legendary Henry’s record at international football’s highest competition will seem irresistible to one of the most underrated strikers in the world.

In light of all this, betting odds highly favour France. It doesn’t help Tunisia that they lost 1-0 to Australia on Saturday – letting the Aussies’ grit and determination overcome them days after Les Bleus found the Socceroos so easy to vanquish. 

But everything is to play for in Wednesday’s match. The Eagles of Carthage, as Tunisia are nicknamed, showed similar grit and determination to hold the pertinacious Danes to a goalless draw in their first game. 

They also have some strong players – albeit nothing like the world-class calibre of the Mbappés and Griezmanns. Goalkeeper Aymen Dahmen has shown himself to be a safe pair of hands; the only shot he conceded was the goal against Australia, which was the kind of shot many of the world’s best keepers can do nothing about. Mohamed Drager is an energetic and dynamic presence down the right flank, although lacks consistency. Striker Anis Ben Slimane did not feature in the Australia game, and was greatly missed for it; he is a solid goalscorer for his Danish club Brondby.

Yet it would be the brave pundit who bet money against France. History shows that World Cup champions keep faltering – and perhaps that will happen in the knockouts, as it did for Brazil in 2006 and Italy in 2010. But as things stand, France look like fairly decent contenders to pull off a whopping achievement and seize the World Cup twice in a row.

Source: France 24

Vincent Aboubakar scored one of the most eye-catching goals of the World Cup – but only with the help of VAR.

Unfortunately, Aboubakar wasn’t able to properly celebrate his glorious lob of Serbia goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic because the assistant referee raised his flag for offside straight away.

But video assistant referee Mohamed Al Hammadi ensured one of the best-taken goals of the tournament wouldn’t be wasted by checking the replays and finding Aboubakar had timed his run to perfection.

Source: Daily Mail

The Italian who ran on to the World Cup pitch wearing a T-shirt in support of Ukraine and Iranian women is a football player with a history of similar stunts.

Mario Ferri, 35, who calls himself “The Falcon”, interrupted the Portugal-Uruguay game on Monday when he sprinted on to the pitch wearing a blue Superman T-shirt with “Save Ukraine” on the front and “Respect for Iranian Woman” on the back.

He also carried a rainbow-coloured flag adorned with the words PACE, meaning peace in Italian.

“I’m BACK,” wrote the footballer on his Instagram page, where he describes himself as a “modern pirate”.

Ferri said he wanted to send “important messages”, including for Iran “where I have friends who are suffering, where women are not respected”.

“FIFA banned rainbow captain’s armbands and human rights flags in the stands, they blocked everyone, BUT NOT ME, like a Robin Hood,” he wrote.

“SAVE UKRAINE. I spent a month in the war in Kyiv as a volunteer and saw how much those people are suffering,” he wrote, adding that “breaking the rules for a good cause is never a crime”.

Italy’s foreign ministry confirmed Ferri had been briefly detained following the pitch invasion, before being “released by the authorities without any further consequences”.

Gay rights and the use of the rainbow flag have been a simmering issue at the World Cup in Qatar, where homosexuality is illegal. The rainbow features in both the flag for LGBTQ rights and the peace flag.

According to the Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper, Ferri has played football in India, Jordan, San Marino, the Seychelles and Switzerland.

In 2010, Ferri invaded the Club World Cup pitch in Abu Dhabi during an Inter-Mazembe game furling an AC Milan scarf.

Four years later during the World Cup in Brazil, he again sported his Superman T-shirt as he ran onto the field during a Belgium-USA game.

The T-shirt read “Save the children of the favelas,” or the slums of Brazilian cities, with underneath it “Ciro lives”, in memory of Naples fan Ciro Esposito who shot by an ultra before the Coppa Italia final. He later died.

In 2017, Ferri threw a Naples scarf in the face of Juventus player Gonzalo Higuain during a Naples-Juventus match.

“I decided to avenge the Neapolitans for Higuain’s move to Juventus,” he told Corriere dello Sport.

“I said, ‘Traitor!’ and left.”

Source: AFP