What happened in Group F

The World Cup continues. As the final round of Matchday 3 progresses, we can look back and reflect upon results and teams that have progressed to the latter stages of the competition. We overview and look at what happened in Group F.

Looking at what happened in Group F can help World Cup Fantasy managers prepare for next round ahead. Overviewing the results, player performances and key fantasy assets can aid in important factors like transfers, captaincy and chip strategy.

Group F

We can see from the table below that Morocco and Croatia have progressed to the next stage of the World Cup. We can also see that Belgium and Canada have failed to progress.

Morocco

Matchday 1 arrived and the Moroccan’s faced a tough task against Croatia. Both sides defended fantastically but both also failed to convert their chances. The stalemate ended in a 0-0 draw providing Morocco with their first point.

Belgium lay ahead for Morocco, and they had to get something out of the game. Belgium were awful and Morocco took advantage of that. The first Moroccan goal came from defender Romain Saiss (£4.5m) and created by midfielder Abdelhamid Sabiri (£4m). Morocco killed the game off with their second goal and it was striker Zakaria Aboukhlal (£5m) who scored whilst midfielder Hakim Ziyech (£7.5m) provided the assist.

After their win in Matchday 2, Morocco were in a fantastic position to progress and a win against Canada was needed to top the group. They were brilliant first half and capitalised on that when Hakim Ziyech pounced on a goalkeeping error to score. Their second goal came from striker Youssef En-Nesyri (£5.5m) with defender Achraf Hakimi (£5m) creating the assist. Morocco conceded but ended up winning the game 2-1 after a shakey second half.

Conclusion

Morocco were fantastic in all areas of the pitch. From defence to attack, the Moroccans were the best team in the group. Hakim Ziyech proved to be a key player with his goal and assist. Morocco provide cheap value assets in World Cup Fantasy so could be appealing moving forward.

Croatia

Croatia were favourites to progress but proved blunt in their first match against Morocco. They lacked creativity and when the chances did come, they failed to convert. From Croatia’s point of view, it was points dropped but Morocco proved to be a very tough side to beat. Nether the less, Croatia picked up their first point of their campain.

Matchday 2 came, and Croatia needed a win to get back on track against Canada. The opposition started strong and scored. However, there was a huge reaction from the Croatians. Striker Andrej Kramaric (£6m) scored via midfielder Ivan Perisic’s (£7.5m) pass. Croatia scored again, putting them 2-1 ahead after striker Marko Livaja (£5m) scored, assisted by defender Josip Juranovic (£5m). They continued their dismantling of Canada on the break with another Andrej Kramaric goal, created by Ivan Perisic. The fourth and final goal of the match came from midfielder Lovro Majer (£5m) which was assisted by striker Mislav Orsic (£5m). The match ended 4-1.

Croatia started the evening sitting on four points from their matches so far. Although they had chances, Croatia failed to convert. It was a tightly fought contest between Croatia and Belgium and ended in a 0-0 stalemate, but Croatia progressed.

Conclusion

Croatia are a well drilled machine and that was apparent, especially defensively. However, in two of their three matches they did fail to score which is slightly concerning and could be an issue against better opposition.

In terms of World Cup Fantasy, midfielder Luka Modric (£8.5m) was poor but moving forward assets like defender Borna Sosa (£3.5m) and Ivan Perisic could be very appealing in the last 16.

Belgium

Belgium started their campaign against Canada in Matchday 1. Canada started well and looked far more dangerous throughout the game than Belgium. Although that was the case, striker Michy Batshuayi (£6.5m) broke the deadlock with a great strike, his goal was assisted by defender Toby Alderweireld (£5.5m). The match finished 1-0 to Belgium, providing the favourites with three points heading into Matchday 2.

Morocco lay ahead for Belgium. Belgium were poor again but this time their opponents were good enough to take advantage. Belgium lost the match 2-0 and panic started to set in because they needed a result in Matchday 3 to progress.

Matchday 3 came and it couldn’t get any tougher. Belgium needed a win against the well organised Croatia. They were poor but managed to keep the Croatian’s out. The game ended 0-0 but their loss against Morocco was detrimental in them failing to progress.

Conclusion

Belgium didn’t look like they were going to win any of the games they played. They were poor and although defensively sound in two out of three of their matches, they got lucky with the positive results they did have.

Canada

Canada came into the group stages as major underdogs. They were fiery and fierce against Belgium, who were awful. Canada not only failed to capitalise on their opponents terrible showing, but they also lost the game 1-0 after failing to convert the good chances they had.

Matchday 2 arrived, and Canada need a result to have a good chance of progressing. The game started well for Canada after defender Alphonso Davies (£5m) scored from midfielder Tajon Buchanan’s (£5.5m) assist. However, Canada crumbled and not only did the game slip away but they also lost 4-1.

Canada went into Matchday 3 knowing they were out regardless of their result. The game ended in a 2-1 defeat against a very good side with their only goal being an own goal.

Conclusion

The lack of quality at Canada was apparent but one player stood out above the rest and that was Alphonso Davies. Although he missed a penalty, he was their best player by a mile. The issue for Davies was that he could not carry his team. Canada were lively but defensively fragile and offensively blunt.