Day 5 of FIFA World Cup Knockout Rounds – Goals, Greatness, and Goodbyes

Today’s matches weren’t just emotional for the players; they were emotional for the fans, too. My mind kept drifting to Game 2: Portugal vs. Croatia. Would Cristiano Ronaldo be sent home in what is likely his final World Cup, or would Luka Modrić see his World Cup journey come to an end? Two legends of the game meeting on the world’s biggest stage, likely for the final time. They played together at some of the world’s biggest and best clubs, battled one another throughout their careers, and carried their nations to soccer’s grandest stages. Every great story eventually reaches its final chapter, and for three nations, that chapter closed in the Round of 32 today.

Spain vs Austria

Before this game started I was confident that Spain was going to win, and that Lamine Yamal would have at least one goal, if not more. I wasn’t surprised to see this game end 3-0, but was surprised to see Yamal not score on 6 shots! The stars of the match were Spain’s back line, while Mikel Oyarzabal was outstanding going forward. Austria didn’t even play poorly, they just got outclassed, honestly. The strong play of goalie Alexander Schlager kept Austria into the game and the goal count was only 3. Spain is meshing at the right time.

They’ve been playing well to start the World Cup but today was a different level of talent. Head Coach Luis de la Fuente is really doing a great job preparing this team for every situation on the pitch. For the Austrian Head Coach, he has made some questionable decisions this entire tournament. When you have the chance to play Switzerland or Spain… you choose Switzerland. Yet, in the final group stage game instead of managing the result, the team scored and tied, and found themselves against the best team in the world right now. Austrian Head Coach Ralf Ragnick didn’t make the right decisions today, and to be frank, he hasn’t made the right ones the past few games. Hopefully the Austrians can come back again and make a run in the next World Cup! 

Portugal vs Croatia

Unlike some of the other knockout matches, I didn’t come away blaming either manager. Roberto Martínez and Zlatko Dalić both approached this match with clear plans, and both teams created enough moments to win. In a game this tight, it didn’t feel like poor coaching decided it; it felt like execution, timing, and the smallest margins did. For Croatia, an offside call ruled out a goal after VAR (which, wasn’t really clear that the player even touched the ball to make it an offside play, but that’s not what I’m debating here).

What I will debate is that we may have seen the best game of the World Cup so far. Luka Modric was fantastic in the midfield, while Cristiano Ronaldo scored a penalty kick at age 41. I can’t remember the last time two legends of the game played in the World Cup after age 40. Both players reminded the world why they’re legends and it was fun to watch. Both coaches brought in good substitutes. Both coaches utilized set pieces well. Players on both teams were completely bought in the entire game, there were very little lapses, which is what we want to see in the World Cup. As great of a game as it was, it’s a difficult goodbye to Croatia and Luka Modric. Assuming he calls it a career, Modric may go down as the best Croatian player in history. 

Switzerland vs Algeria

Algeria came out hot. They just couldn’t keep it going. Despite having over 100 more passes made than Switzerland and 10% more possession time, Algeria could not score. I think that the Algerian head coach, Vladimir Petković, could have utilized Jaoquen Hadjam sooner as he really had a good game for Algeria. I do want to point out that any team that has Granit Xhaka is in a place to succeed. The entire game for Switzerland goes through

Xhaka and despite not scoring a goal or having an assist, Xhaka’s presence was felt all over the pitch. Switzerland plays a very interesting game of soccer, which head coach Murat Yakin has been engraving in this team since 2021. This team is fine with defending in their own zone and waiting for a breakout opportunity, but I’m not entirely sure that tactic will work against speedy teams like France, Brazil, or even England (minus Harry Kane). It’ll be interesting to see how Algeria bounces back from this loss, and how Switzerland can fare moving forward. 

Goals win matches. Greatness inspires generations. And every World Cup eventually asks us to say goodbye to someone we’ve spent years watching. That’s what made Day 5 unforgettable. On a day that saw some great goals, legends playing possibly their final games in the World Cup, and said goodbye to three more teams, one thing was made clear. As important as goals are in the tournament, players have a huge impact without being on the scoresheet. Tomorrow we will see Cape Verde try to keep Lionel Messi from scoring… who steps up for Argentina?

Can anyone stop the Egyptian offense? Will Mo Salah have an impact scoring or running the offense like we saw today with Xhaka? Can Ghana rise above issues with flooding in their nation and play a huge upset? Find out tomorrow as I recap the games again. For now, cheers!