Welcome to the fourteenth update of the World Cup 2022 ONS Superbru competition and the end of the last 16. It is the last 16 in more than ways than one, as the last 16 also means that there are 16 games left in the competition. Anyway, we have now whittled it down to the last 8.
Japan 1 Croatia 1*
For the first time in the competition, Japan took the lead first and ultimately that was their fatal mistake. Croatia got back into the game with a goal from Perisic, but it ultimately ended up as a draw. This gave us our first penalty shoot out of the World Cup, and we can now see that Japan are shit at penalties. Croatia limp through the competition and move onto the quarter-finals after their 3-1 win on penalties.
In our competition we had four people picking the 1-1. Gavin Edwards, Gareth Luckwell, Andrew Walton and Alex Rose.
Brazil 4 South Korea 1
An imperious performance from Brazil taking South Korea apart in the first half hour of the game with some excellent goals. This was partly helped by South Korea’s cavalier approach to fighting fire with fire. In the end it was a comfortable win, but South Korea certainly had plenty of chances on goal. Brazil look impressive, but have they been stretched yet (ignoring the B team performance against Cameroon)?
In our competition we had no-one going for the 4-1.
Morocco 0* Spain 0
A game where both teams went for it but it ultimately went to penalties where Morocco triumphed with ease. Despite apparently doing lots of penalty practice, Spain didn’t score a single one. I think they have just as bad a record as England with penalties (one out of four at the World Cup).
Great to see an upset in the knockouts – and Morocco will be a difficult team to beat. Amazing that Morocco have only conceded 1 goal so far in the World Cup (against Canada!) and shut out Croatia (ranked 12th in the world), Belgium (ranked 2nd) and Spain (ranked 7th).
In our competition, we had the majority going for Spain. We had four people picking the draw but only one the 0-0. Massive cojones from Craig McLaren!!!
Portugal 6 Switzerland 1
A rocket goal from Ramos and a header from Pepe saw Portugal take a 2-0 lead into the half-time break. Pepe at forty is doing a great job and keeps popping up in the opposition box. In the end it was a demolition job by Portugal and they took Switzerland apart.
In our competition, plenty of people went for the Portugal win, but not surprisingly, not 6-1.
Pool Results
Our leader going into the quarter finals is still Pete Reynolds. followed by the Taylors. So our top three look to have consolidated their hold over the field, but with eight games to go, can they all continue their top tipping?
In the last 16 round itself, Gavin Edwards takes the stage win.
Top of the overall leaderboard as follows:
- Pete Reynolds – 53
- Craig Taylor – 51
- Mark Taylor – 51
Another update once the quarter-finals is over – and either the pain of being an England fan continues or ends. We see 5 UEFA teams, 2 CONMEBOL teams and 1 CAF team in the last eight – game over for CONCACAF, AFC and OFC.
