Going into Matchday 3, here's whats at stake:

Group A
Russia and Uruguay are already through with 6 points a piece. Due to Russia's +7 GD, a draw will give them the group, while Uruguay would need a win.

Group B

• Spain and Portugal both need a point to guarantee a place in the last 16
• Spain can qualify if they lose and Portugal lose by a bigger margin or Spain lose by no more than one goal and Portugal and Iran draw 0-0, 1-1, 2-2 or 3-3
• Portugal can qualify if they lose and Spain lose by a bigger margin to Morocco
• Portugal and Spain have to produce a better result than the other to win the group
• Iran must beat Portugal to qualify
• Iran can win the group if they win and Spain lose

Group C

• France have qualified and need just one more point to win the group
• Denmark need one point to qualify - or Australia to lose or draw with Peru
• Denmark will win the group if they beat France
• For Australia to qualify they must beat Peru and hope Denmark lose by two goals or more to overturn the goal difference
• Peru are out

Group D

• Croatia have qualified
• Nigeria can qualify with a draw or win against Argentina if Iceland lose or draw against Croatia
• If Argentina beat Nigeria in their final game and Croatia beat Iceland, Argentina go through. They will also go through if they beat Nigeria, Iceland beat Croatia, and Argentina's goal difference betters Iceland
• Iceland must also beat Croatia in their final game to give themselves the chance of qualification and currently have a better goal difference than Argentina

Group E

• Brazil can qualify for the last 16 with a draw or win against Serbia
• Serbia could also qualify with a draw if Switzerland lose to Costa Rica by two or more goals
• Switzerland can make the knockout rounds with a win, or with a draw as long as Serbia draw or lose to Brazil
• Costa Rica are out

Group F

• All four teams can still qualify
• Mexico need only a draw against Sweden on Wednesday to qualify for the last 16, while a win would see them top the group with maximum points
• Germany, who face bottom side South Korea, need to at least match Sweden's result
• Draws in both games would see qualification determined by goals scored. Identical records would then see qualification decided by the better result when the teams met, which would see Germany go through courtesy of their 2-1 win
• South Korea need to win to have any chance of qualifying for the last 16. They will only qualify with a win against Germany combined with Sweden losing to Mexico and a better goal difference than Germany and Sweden

Group G

• England qualified for the last 16 with victory over Panama
• England's result also confirmed Belgium's progression
• The winner of England v Belgium will top the group. In the event of a draw, disciplinary points will decide the group winner. England are currently ahead having picked up two yellow cards to Belgium's three
• Panama and Tunisia have been knocked out

Group H

• Japan need to only draw with Poland, who have been eliminated, to progress to the next round
• Senegal and Colombia play off with the winner qualifying, while a draw will be enough for the African side to progress

Blue parachute for you, kind sir.

Even if you ripped that off the interwebs, that's a quality summary.

I hate my phone. Here's your parachute.

oh, i absolutely ripped it off(sky sports maybe? it was the 1st result on a duckduckgo search), but texags' formatting junk still made it fun and suspenseful.

Why are they doubling up on games now? I'm hoping they're not telling the score of the other as you're watching one. At least right now, no interest in Egypt / Saudi Arabia. Other than watching Salah...is he even playing?

Unthought Known said:

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Why are they doubling up on games now? I'm hoping they're not telling the score of the other as you're watching one. At least right now, no interest in Egypt / Saudi Arabia. Other than watching Salah...is he even playing?

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To prevent teams from reaching an agreement to a tie or other result that favors the teams playing against each other

Unthought Known said:

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Why are they doubling up on games now? I'm hoping they're not telling the score of the other as you're watching one. At least right now, no interest in Egypt / Saudi Arabia. Other than watching Salah...is he even playing?

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It's a common soccer thing in these situations. You don't want collusion between two teams that just need a tie to advance.

Unthought Known said:

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Why are they doubling up on games now? I'm hoping they're not telling the score of the other as you're watching one. At least right now, no interest in Egypt / Saudi Arabia. Other than watching Salah...is he even playing?

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The two teams that would play after the first two would get an advantage so they dont do it that way.

That makes sense..unless of course you're Costa Rica and Panama.

well, obviously in certain groups that wont be a problem as the two teams playing each other are already eliminated.

Like this morning.

right...thats another one

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South Korea need to win to have any chance of qualifying for the last 16. They will only qualify with a win against Germany combined with Sweden losing to Mexico and a better goal difference than Germany and Sweden

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So you're saying there's a chance!

Nvm...just saw the recap.

gambochaman said:

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Unthought Known said:

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Why are they doubling up on games now? I'm hoping they're not telling the score of the other as you're watching one. At least right now, no interest in Egypt / Saudi Arabia. Other than watching Salah...is he even playing?

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To prevent teams from reaching an agreement to a tie or other result that favors the teams playing against each other

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This is why I'm a bit peeved that they switched group E to play after group F in the final round. They are giving Brazil the ability to try to get Mexico instead of Germany.

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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gambochaman said:

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Unthought Known said:

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Why are they doubling up on games now? I'm hoping they're not telling the score of the other as you're watching one. At least right now, no interest in Egypt / Saudi Arabia. Other than watching Salah...is he even playing?

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To prevent teams from reaching an agreement to a tie or other result that favors the teams playing against each other

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This is why I'm a bit peeved that they switched group E to play after group F in the final round. They are giving Brazil the ability to try to get Mexico instead of Germany.

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I don't think you have much to worry about. Brazil would be foolish to play for a draw when an accidental loss would mean they're out. I think Serbia is dangerous enough to keep them honest (they'll want 2 goals before they slow down).

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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gambochaman said:

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Unthought Known said:

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Why are they doubling up on games now? I'm hoping they're not telling the score of the other as you're watching one. At least right now, no interest in Egypt / Saudi Arabia. Other than watching Salah...is he even playing?

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To prevent teams from reaching an agreement to a tie or other result that favors the teams playing against each other

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This is why I'm a bit peeved that they switched group E to play after group F in the final round. They are giving Brazil the ability to try to get Mexico instead of Germany.

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Yes, well, you are making an assumption there. Brazil could get Sweden

Sorry. Couldnt resist.

On the other side of the coin, I'm really glad they flipped G and H... England-Belgium was guaranteed to be a meaningless game if G played first... Now at least, if Colombia climbs up to 1st place in H, then trying to win G will be worth the effort.

which game to watch? Spain or Portugal?

I feel like Spain v Morocco has a chance to be more interesting. Portugal should run all over Iran.

I like watching Ronaldo, but I think that makes sense.

A goal from Iran and one more from Morocco late...

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• Spain can qualify if they lose and Portugal lose by a bigger margin or Spain lose by no more than one goal and Portugal and Iran draw 0-0, 1-1, 2-2 or 3-3

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Wow.

VAR is garbage.

fig96 said:

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I feel like Spain v Morocco has a chance to be more interesting. Portugal should run all over Iran.

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Portugal didn't exactly show out today, but very happy with my pick to watch the other match.

There is far less controversy than ever in these games than any world cup Ive ever watched, because for the most part mistakes are getting fixed. Its not just penalty decisions either, marking off or allowing goals wrongly for offsides has so far been totally eliminated and that was at least as big of a problem as getting penalties wrong.

The argument against VAR now seems to be "its not perfect" so lets throw out the whole thing and put it back so its solely in the hands of clowns like the guy who was the CR in the Portugal-Iran game? That's essentially what Carlos Quieroz said yesterday. It's bad for the game since "fans dont know whats going on and who is in charge and its not perfect so it sucks."

JJxvi said:

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There is far less controversy than ever in these games than any world cup Ive ever watched, because for the most part mistakes are getting fixed. Its not just penalty decisions either, marking off or allowing goals wrongly for offsides has so far been totally eliminated and that was at least as big of a problem as getting penalties wrong.

The argument against VAR now seems to be "its not perfect" so lets throw out the whole thing and put it back so its solely in the hands of clowns like the guy who was the CR in the Portugal-Iran game? That's essentially what Carlos Quieroz said yesterday. It's bad for the game since "fans dont know whats going on and who is in charge and its not perfect so it sucks."

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VAR has a place in the game. Offsides decisions, or checking certain calls. However, that Portugal game was ruined by VAR. They went back and reviewed a no-contact dive and decided to issue a yellow to Ronaldo, while many people were calling for a red. There was almost no physical contact. Then the handball that gave Iran a penalty was a bad call. The dude had no idea where the ball was when it hit his arm, clearly unintentional. Maybe this was just a really bad game, but the way they are applying it so far does not seem good for the game.

Current as of today's matches:

Aggies1322 said:

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JJxvi said:

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There is far less controversy than ever in these games than any world cup Ive ever watched, because for the most part mistakes are getting fixed. Its not just penalty decisions either, marking off or allowing goals wrongly for offsides has so far been totally eliminated and that was at least as big of a problem as getting penalties wrong.

The argument against VAR now seems to be "its not perfect" so lets throw out the whole thing and put it back so its solely in the hands of clowns like the guy who was the CR in the Portugal-Iran game? That's essentially what Carlos Quieroz said yesterday. It's bad for the game since "fans dont know whats going on and who is in charge and its not perfect so it sucks."

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VAR has a place in the game. Offsides decisions, or checking certain calls. However, that Portugal game was ruined by VAR. They went back and reviewed a no-contact dive and decided to issue a yellow to Ronaldo, while many people were calling for a red. There was almost no physical contact. Then the handball that gave Iran a penalty was a bad call. The dude had no idea where the ball was when it hit his arm, clearly unintentional. Maybe this was just a really bad game, but the way they are applying it so far does not seem good for the game.

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Intention isn't in the applicable rule, although a lot of announcers don't seem to know that either. It was the correct call. His arm was in a position where it made him bigger, and they gained an advantage. If it was straight by his side they would likely not have called it. Again, correct call, good job VAR.

The only problem with VAR right now is that there should be more of it - there are times when it isn't being applied and it should be. Almost every time they rejudicate something that happened based on being able to view slow motion replays, they make the correct decision, which is exactly what anyone would expect.

Edit: Apparently intention IS in the rules, and now I'm more confused than ever. It seems that the common interpretation is that if a player deliberately uses their arm to make themselves "bigger", then contact with the ball is considered to be deliberate.

VAR has been everything i'd hope for and more

I understand the sentiment. Maybe I'm in the vast minority.. but soccer (even with the human mistake element) is much better when it flows freely. VAR is creating a stutter in that flow. And it's still getting calls wrong (Ronaldo yellow). I'd rather them get call wrongs in a free flowing game, than get them wrong in a stuttered contest. I think the VAR is an Americanization of a game that most Americans cant create an intelligent thought about. Maybe I'm just a stubborn purist though.

Aggies1322 said:

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I understand the sentiment. Maybe I'm in the vast minority.. but soccer (even with the human mistake element) is much better when it flows freely. VAR is creating a stutter in that flow. And it's still getting calls wrong (Ronaldo yellow). I'd rather them get call wrongs in a free flowing game, than get them wrong in a stuttered contest. I think the VAR is an Americanization of a game that most Americans cant create an intelligent thought about. Maybe I'm just a stubborn purist though.

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I agree with you when talking about other sports but soccer has been a disaster in this regard for a long time. My hope is that VAR is able to be streamlined to where it causes almost no disruption. Give coaches 1 challenge per half or whatever.

They use it correctly like all sports should to an extent. They review all offsides and potential penalties, etc. If they feel it was called right, they don't do a thing.
The issue is when they stop down the game and the center disagrees with the VAR team, like in the Ronaldo situation. I didn't think it was intentional, and I can't see how anyone without an agenda doesn't think it was incidental.

And why did Landon Donovan spend $150 on a tshirt??

I love it when groups are really tight going into the third game.

If Denmark wins 1-0, they win the group.

If Denmark loses 1-0, they go home if Australia wins.

Crazy how one lucky goal could mean the difference of failure or success.


Group D, E and F all are so tight, anything could happen.

• For Australia to qualify they must beat Peru and hope Denmark lose by two goals or more to overturn the goal difference

And Austrailia is losing right now.

If current scores hold, France wins the group and Denmark is second. If France wins 1-0, same results.