1. Tunisia
After a dominant qualification to their third consecutive World Cup, conceding 0 goals in 10 games, the expectation was fairly high. Playing against the sheer juxtaposition of a Sweden side that didn’t win a single game in qualifying, many tipped the African side for a win. Despite the distinct gulf in quality, a result was certainly not off the cards, however a set of disastrous decisions from manager Sami Tralbesi left many Tunisians speechless and has rightfully led to the sack of the 58 year old. Whether it was the use of a 5-3-2 formation that he has never used before, or playing a goalkeeper who had only ever played three games for his nation, or even selecting five defenders and five midfielders only to replace all five midfielders with attackers in the 70th minute. All in all, it was simply bizarre, and has ultimately led to the first sacking of the tournament.
2. Curacao
While it may seem harsh to put the third-lowest-ranked team against World Cup giants Germany this low, the scoreline can’t be overlooked. Curacao actually gave the Germans a battle, scoring their first ever World Cup goal to level the scoring, but ultimately a lapse in concentration and a penalty on the stroke of half-time gave them a mountain to climb. Overall, Curacao’s main achievement is being here in the first place, and scoring a goal that seemed so important at the time is still a major achievement.
3. South Africa
On the opening night, I think we all expected the hosts to win, but the utter implosion from the African side was quite the spectacle. From start to finish, they looked dreadful on the ball, constantly giving it away and losing the battle in midfield abhorrently, at times they looked half-capable, but ultimately couldn’t fashion a single chance all game and only managed a 0.07xg. The two red-cards represent headloss to the highest degree and overall gave a thoroughly frustrating account of what should be a capable side. Perhaps the occasion of playing against the hosts got the better of them, but with such expectation for the first match, the fans have been let down.
4. Turkey
Although the rankings have these sides just five places apart, on paper, Turkey are a much better side with a much better squad, and were many people’s dark-horses going into the tournement. It may seem harsh to put a side that completely dominated this low, but the fact that they had 30 shots without scoring (the most by any team in World Cup history) represents a wider problem of clinical efficiency. 16 of the 30 shots were from outside of the box and mostly desperate or rushed, furthermore, the talent in attack have such high expectations that, for me, the Turks were thoroughly disappointing.
5. Paraguay
Playing against the hosts in GW1 is never going to be easy, but for such a proven side in qualifying, Paraguay offered very little in this match and were ultimately suffocated and outclassed by Pochettino’s tactics. Like South Africa, they can be given the benefit of the doubt against a nation on home soil but need to improve dramatically against Turkey.
6. Algeria
Surprisingly, Algeria had the weight of some expectation before this match after an impressive friendly win against the Netherlands, however this performance certainly didn’t give a great account of them. After an initial goal was ruled out, they looked completely flat, struggled to create anything, and showed Lionel Messi way too much respect. Ultimately, against the #1 ranked side, Algeria aren’t expected to do anything, but the failure to create anything meaningful and the allowance of a 38-year-old Messi to roam as he pleases is enough to warrant the sixth-worst performance this week.
