Supertópico sobre as zebras da Copa do Mundo

Última atualização em 15 de dezembro de 2022 às 21h00 por Erwin Noguera

If there is something that characterizes a World Cup more than a party, excitement and worldwide attention is competitiveness, and competitiveness brings with it surprises, a lot of them. This World Cup has already brought us two massive upsets in just 4 days of the championship, so we are excited to see what’s yet to come.

It is the dream of any bettor that has an insightful eye, and a nightmare for those that always go for the secure, but, undoubtedly, in the entertainment department, no sporting event comes even close. To that, we have to add that this atypical World Cup comes in the winter months, in a different context than all the others before. That’s the magic of Qatar, for good or bad.

Now, before starting the analysis, let’s remember that, for a result to be considered an upset, there should be a massive difference, not only in the Odds pointed out by bookmakers, but also in terms of history and sporting capacity. So, Ecuador’s victory over the host doesn’t enter this category quite that much, although we massively respect the South American team’s heroics.

World Cup Qatar 2022 – Most Impressive results and Upsets – Arabia Saudi 2 – 1 Argentina

Quando:

Tuesday, November 22 at 5:00 AM no Estádio Lusail

Probabilidades de apostas:

Argentina -724

Saudi Arabia +2100

Empate:

+690

The national team from the Arabic Peninsula shocked the world this Tuesday, November 22, as in the first game of the day they pulled a massive comeback against Messi’s Argentina, in a game when the South American Astro scored.

The match started as expected, with the Albiceleste dominating the game and constantly entering the Saudi area, although without much effectiveness. However, in a set piece for the Argentines, a little pull in the area by the defender was deemed enough by the VAR to sanction a Penalty, which Messi converted.

O primeiro tempo foi um mar de jogadas externas da Argentina, uma para Leo e outras duas para Lautaro Martinez, já que os sul-americanos foram eficazes nas jogadas de ataque, mas faltou concentração para finalizar bem.

Como diz o velho ditado, quem não dá recebe, e os argentinos receberam duas facadas no fígado em pouco mais de cinco minutos. Primeiro, uma grande jogada no flanco de Saleh Al-Shehri foi finalizada por ele mesmo batendo Dibu Martinez no poste mais distante.

Mais tarde, Salem Al-Dawsari dribbled inside the area and put an impressive ball inside the Argentines’ net, which shut down immediately the South Americans in the stands, that couldn’t believe the Arabic heroics. Argentine tried to recover from the hit, but their best chances were stopped by the Saudi goalkeeper who was enormous.

World Cup Qatar 2022 – Most Impressive results and Upsets – Japan 2 – 1 Germany

Quando:

Wednesday, November 23 at 8:00 AM ET in the International Stadium Jalifa

Probabilidades de apostas:

Germany: -222

Japan: +675

Empate:

+300

The Asian nations started slow on this world cup, first, the host was the first ever home nation to lose the inaugural match, then Iran (one of the strongest Asian nations on paper) received a massive beating by England. However, Saudi Arabia decided to ruin the Argentine’s party, and, just minutes ago, Japan gave Germany yet another World Cup upset, after their disaster in 2018.

Just as in the previous match, it started as expected, and as it started it ended. We could say both games mirrored each other in many aspects. However, one of the differences was that Japan’s goalkeeper was enormous from the first minute, being one of the figures of the match, although he got a little over-excited in the play that ended up in Germany’s penalty, que Gundogan converteu com classe.

Outra diferença é que o domínio da Alemanha se estendeu no início do segundo tempo, mas, em contra-ataque, um grande cruzamento longo para a área acabou em um chute que Neuer parou, mas dando um rebote central que Ritsu Doan não perdoou. Mais tarde, com os teutões no ataque, uma grande arrancada de Asano acabou num chute forte que queimou a rede do alemão.

We could say that this was a little payback the Europeans receive, as the Bundesliga compensate for its lack of resources in front of other leagues by picking players in exotic markets, and Japan is one of their favorite hunting grounds. As we mentioned in our Group Preview, the Asian team has a spine composed of current and former Bundesliga players, and they used their experience to good profit.

World Cup Qatar 2022 – Most Impressive results and Upsets – Morocco 2 – 0 Belgium

Morocco gave Belgium a massive blow in the Europeans’ search for their first major title. Yes, the Red Devils were giving many doubts, especially after their pre-world cup friendlies and their suffered victory against Canada. However, nobody expected this kind of breakdown so soon.

The game was tight and even for most of it, with few and scarce goal chances for every team. But Belgium’s defense give up again and this time Courtois was not enough, we could even say that he had responsibility for the first goal of the game by Roman Saiss. It wasn’t until Zakharia Aboukhalal sealed the encounter against a pushed European side that everything crumbled.

After the game, there were controversial declarations from side to side. De Bruyne criticized the lack of generational change in the squad, while Jan Vertonghen said that the attack is at fault for the team’s problems. It was later known that there is a massive breakout in the squad, with many players having important personal disputes and that things are looking bad for Roberto Martinez.

Morocco, meanwhile, has a great generation of players in important European teams and wants to be the dark horse nobody expected.

World Cup Qatar 2022 – Most Impressive results and Upsets – Tunisia 1 – 0 France

Quando: 

Quarta-feira, 30 de novembro, às 9h (horário do leste dos EUA). no Estádio da Cidade da Educação

Probabilidades de Moneyline:

Tunísia +510

França -173

Empates:

+295

Segundo muitos, inclusive nós, o grupo D era um dos mais previsíveis desta Copa do Mundo. Primeiro a França, depois a Dinamarca e as duas nações mais fracas vão lutar pelo terceiro lugar, certo?

Longe da realidade acabou sendo um dos grupos com mais surpresas e now we must highly Tunisia’s impressive and hard-fought victory over France, one that should have given them the ticket to the round of sixteen, but it ended up being just a consolation prize as the other game of the group was almost as impressive in its result.

We must highlight a couple of things. First, France was already qualified, with the first-place guarantee, and put on the field a pretty weird alternative squad, that neither on paper nor the ground made much sense. However, the players on the field were still miles away from a Tunez that came as an underdog to the World Cup, managing to qualify with a squad full of unknown players and with Wahbi Khazri as their figure (an attacking midfielder best remembered as a Sunderland AFC flop and for a couple of good seasons in France).

Precisely, Khazri was the one in charge of surprising France at the 58 minutes, obligating the Gales to put heavy artillery on the field to prevent a humiliating result. However, it wasn’t enough to break the North African resilience. With this result, Tunisia leaves the World Cup holding their heads high.

World Cup Qatar 2022 – Most Impressive results and Upsets – Japan 2 – 1 Spain

Quando:

Thursday, December 1 at 2:00 pm ET at the Khalifa International stadium

Probabilidades de Moneyline:

Japan +764 

Spain -253

Empates:

+378

Who would have said, that Japan will appear here again? The Nippon team started the World Cup by giving a heavy blow to a favorite. Then after a terrible loss to a weak Costa Rica we all thought: it was just luck and the magic dried out. However, far from reality.
Now is even harder to explain that loss to the Centroamericans, maybe the Asians were over-confident after their achievements.
The point is that in a practically equal manner to the first game of the group, Japan gave a lesson of humbleness to Spain and almost takes them out of the World Cup (as the Costa Ricans were giving their own surprise on the other match of the group for a moment).
After Morata’s goal and the dominance of the Iberians, everything seemed sealed and done, but in a spark of brightness, Ritsu Dõan got the drawing goal, and shortly after a play by himself ended up in a discussed goal by Ao Tanaka.
Just as a colorful tip, Spain lost a match where they had 83% of possession and made more than 1000 passes (four times the passes the Japanese gave).

World Cup Qatar 2022 – Most Impressive results and Upsets – South Korea 2 – 1 Portugal

Quando:

Friday, December 2 at 10:00 pm ET no Estádio da Cidade da Educação

Probabilidades de Moneyline:

Portugal -143 

South Korea +379

Empates:

+305

When we started this thread we believed that it would be a testimonial with just a couple of inclusions, mostly regarding the World Cup disappointments (as there always are one or two). Far from the case, as counting this entry and the category below we account for 8 (for the moment), and at this very moment, the group phase hasn’t even ended. We must highlight the resilience of the big underdogs in this tournament.

Back to the point, Portugal and South Korea were expected to have a tight match, as the Europeans were already qualified and the Asians were desperate and with a knife in their teeth. It was in the first half, although the Lusitanos looked better with a rotated squad that still kept a good amount of World Class talent.

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De referir que Portugal tentou vencer o jogo colocando em campo alguma artilharia pesada. Porém, no final das contas, foi apenas ingenuidade, pois não se concentrou em se defender contra um elenco carente que tinha Son Heung Min no ataque. Precisamente, num contra-ataque após lance de bola parada, o atacante dos Spurs correu todo o campo e fez um excelente passe a dispensa de João Palinha que deveria ter cometido uma falta táctica. O atacante do Wolverhampton Wanderers que entrou em campo no segundo tempo, Hwang Hee-Chan, apareceu no espaço entre os zagueiros e definiu com precisão para colocar os coreanos na arquibancada aos prantos, em imagens que vão rodar o mundo.

No outro jogo, houve uma batalha crua entre dois grandes rivais: Uruguai e Gana. Os uruguaios foram superiores, mas os ganenses alcançaram o último objetivo: vingar-se dos Charruas deixando-os de fora da Copa do Mundo, ao não permitirem mais de 2 gols.

Copa do Mundo Catar 2022 – Resultados e surpresas mais impressionantes – Camarões 1 – 0 Brasil

Quando: 

Sexta-feira, 2 de dezembro às 14h00 horário do leste dos EUA no Estádio Lusail

Probabilidades de Moneyline: 

Camarões +1050 

Brasil -390

Empates: 

+500

Mais uma surpresa no final da fase de grupos desta Copa do Mundo e a lista não para de crescer. Desta vez o protagonista foi uma nação africana já que os Camarões lutaram até ao fim pela sua qualificação, mas este resultado massivo não foi suficiente.

O Brasil, já classificado, entrou em campo com um elenco bastante forte, incluindo nomes como Ederson, Militão, Fabinho e outros. Foram bastante agressivos, mas os camaroneses resistiram até ao fim. E justamente nesse final, Aboubakar colocou a bola na rede e acendeu a comemoração dos africanos, embora de curta duração, já que o resultado da outra partida os deixa sem chances de classificação. Mais uma nação humilde que sairá deste torneio de cabeça erguida.

Copa do Mundo Catar 2022 – Resultados e surpresas mais impressionantes – Marrocos 0 (3) – (0) 0 Espanha

Quando:

Tuesday, December 6 at 10:00 am ET no Estádio da Cidade da Educação

Probabilidades de Moneyline:

Morocco +550 

Spain -177

Empates:

+290

Quando você passa tanto tempo falando sobre apostas você desenvolve uma espécie de sexto sentido. Nem sempre é preciso, mas, às vezes, leva a previsões impressionantes. Desta vez fomos com Marrocos para a virada e acertamos, embora não muito bem, pois o jogo foi para os pênaltis, então é um empate tecnicamente e do ponto de vista das apostas. Porém, vamos aproveitar um pouco.

A Espanha de Luis Enrique apresentou os mesmos sintomas que todos apontamos: muita posse de bola sem sentido, sem um soco no ataque. Eles tiveram a bola durante grande parte do jogo sem fazer nada com ela e não se preocuparam seriamente em chegar ao gol do Marrocos até faltarem apenas 20 minutos para o fim, então o relógio se tornou seu inimigo.

Além disso, o Marrocos também teve muitas chances no contra-ataque, já que Sergio Busquets foi completamente anulado pela abordagem norte-africana, então o meio-campo era uma estrada.

Quando chegou a hora dos pênaltis, os fantasmas da eliminação surpreendente diante da Rússia vieram à mente dos jogadores, e os espanhóis foram horríveis, principalmente Carlos Soler, já que o jogador do PSG chutou como se não fosse problema dele. Para encerrar a noite de Busquets, seu chute foi interrompido por um gigante Bono antes de Hakimi converter o pênalti da vitória.

Agora Luis Enrique não tem resultados nas costas devido à sua abordagem criticada, e o futuro da Seleção Espanhola está no ar com duas eliminações consecutivas nas oitavas de final de uma Copa do Mundo.

Copa do Mundo Catar 2022 – Resultados e surpresas mais impressionantes – Marrocos 1 – 0 Portugal

Quando:

Sábado, 10 de dezembro, 10h ET em AL Thumana, Qatar

Probabilidades de dinheiro: 

Marrocos -144

Portugal +460

Empate:

+260

Quem diria que esta Copa do Mundo nos surpreenderia novamente, não uma, mas duas vezes nesta fase? Marrocos partiu o coração de muitos torcedores ao redor do mundo que buscavam uma final da Copa do Mundo Messi x Ronaldo mas, em vez disso, iluminou os corações de nações inteiras do mundo árabe e da África em geral.

Morocco did what they know to do: defender. Tem sido a unidade defensiva mais sólida do torneio e nem mesmo um Portugal que parecia um rolo compressor nas oitavas de final poderia fazer alguma coisa.

El-Nesyiri put his team up-front and the rest was history. A great header beat up Diogo Costa, that was an important figure by himself throughout the tournament, and the Lusos were ineffective up-front, encountering a great Bono in the few chances they had.

Now Cristiano Ronaldo has left the pitch in tears again and his terrible second half of the year ended with him on the wrong side of yet another surprising result, adding to his unknown future.

World Cup Qatar 2022 – Most Impressive results and Upsets – Croatia 1 (4) – (2) 1 Brazil

Quando: 

Friday, December 9 at 10:00 am ET no Estádio da Cidade da Educação

Probabilidades de Moneyline: 

Croatia +740

Brazil -259

Empates: 

+380

Yet again a European nation has left Brazil out of the World Cup in a defining stage. In Germany 2006 (France), South Africa 2010 (Netherlands), and Russia 2018 (Belgium), it was in the quarter-finals, just like this time, while in Brazil 2014 (Germany, in the most humiliating fashion possible) it was in the semifinals.

However, this time we cannot blame it entirely on the team. Up front, the Canarinha faced a team with a strong defensive mind that wanted to go to extra time at any cost and achieve it by totally blocking the Brazilian association game.

When Neymar scored that incredible goal, appearing at a crucial time like his fans always wanted him to, it seemed all over, just for a wonder goal by Petkovic to put the winning card in the Croatian’s hand again.

Livakovic was the hero one more time in a mostly boring game and Croatia’s fame as a powerful and dangerous black horse is gaining force.

Betting Upsets

As we said before, for something to be considered a major upset it has a bunch of elements to cover. However, from a purely betting perspective, did the underdogs cover this World Cup?

Senegal vs. Netherlands

Quando:

Monday, November 21, at 11:00 am ET in the Al Thumama Stadium

Probabilidades de apostas:

Senegal -155

Netherlands +450

Draws Offs:

+270

The Netherlands was somewhat of a weird underdog. Is a team with a fair amount of World Class players and they were facing an excellent team, yes, but one without its major star. However, the Odds are law and they came with a +450 to take a victory that was close to being a draw (and truth be told, looked like a draw for most of the game) as we predicted, but two late goals put the Europeans well positioned to take the group, as they just did.

Inglaterra x Seleção Masculina dos EUA

Quando: 

Friday, November 25 at 02:00 pm ET at the Al Khor Stadium, located in Doha, Qatar

Probabilidades de Moneyline: 

USA +490 

England -177

Empates: 

+320

Another massive surprise was the USMNT draw against the talented England squad. As it wasn’t a win it doesn’t fit quite well in the massive upsets category but does fairly well here. As it is quite obvious, the USMNT recurred to a defensive approach that allowed them to get some good counter-attack opportunities. However, in the end, it was just a duel of defensive solidity.

On the other hand, the USMNT keeps its status as England’s boogie team in the World Cup with fair reason.

Denmark vs. Australia

Quando:

Quarta-feira, 30 de novembro, às 9h (horário do leste dos EUA). at the Al Janoub Stadium

Probabilidades de apostas:

Denmark -166

Australia +650

Empates: 

+205

This game was just as impressive as the other one of the group, and if it wasn’t for the fact that Denmark is not quite a heavyweight of European football, it would be in the superior category. Whatever the case, the Oceanic nation surprised everyone by beating Denmark, a European cup semifinalist, and leaving them last in the group while getting their pass to the round of 16 for the first time in 16 years and just the second time in their history.

This fantasy tale has three protagonists: Souttar, Rowles, and Leckie. The first to are the center-halves, that have had an impressive World Cup, while the third is the one who scored the wondergoal that will put his nation in all the sporting newspapers’ first pages for tomorrow.

Switzerland vs. Serbia

Quando: 

Friday, December 2nd at 9:00 am ET at the Al Thumama Stadium

Probabilidades de Moneyline:

Serbia +155

Switzerland +179

Empates:

+234

This match was very close, on the names, on the paper, and the odds. In the field, it was not a different history, but for the sake of entertainment, they didn’t nullify themselves for a 0-0 but instead had a give-and-take battle that we all enjoyed.

This game is always spicy due to the amount of nationalized Kosovars in the Swiss National Team, and precissly one of them, Granit Xhaka, ended up in a heated discussion with the Serbians towards the end of the match.

Breel Embolo foi a estrela da partida com um gol, enquanto Shaquiri e Freuler colocaram os outros dois que garantem o passe do seu time. A Sérvia lutou e subiu no placar através de Mitrovic e Vlahovic no primeiro tempo, mas os suíços mostraram grande resiliência mental.

Porém, devido ao resultado da outra partida do grupo, as chances claras que Embolo e Fassnact desperdiçaram pesarão em suas mentes, pois mais um gol lhes daria o primeiro lugar no grupo, fugindo de Portugal de Ronaldo e enfrentando a Coreia do Sul. .