#广场预测世界杯赢40000U

Small God’s review of the first round of the World Cup stars and team performances, from solid to weak!

June 18th, the first round of the World Cup group stage, Uzbekistan lost 1-3 to Colombia. Asian teams initially showed some strength, with 2 wins and 4 draws, but in the last 3 days, they lost 3 straight matches, directly reverting to their usual level. Even more outrageous, after the first round of this World Cup, two giants with a total value exceeding 1 billion euros—Spain and Portugal—did not win a single game, one was held to a 0-0 draw by the African debutant Cape Verde, and the other was held to a 1-1 draw by Democratic Republic of the Congo, pressed to the ground.

Is there a mistake? Valued at 1 billion, can't beat a debut team?

That's right, in this match, Spain had 74% possession, took 27 shots on goal, but what happened? The opposing 40-year-old goalkeeper still saved the best of the match. On Spain’s side, Rodrigo, Pedri, and Yamal, all main players from top clubs in the midfield and forward lines, but they couldn’t deliver a single lethal pass. Cape Verde, with a population of just over 500,000, making their first World Cup appearance, directly held the World Cup favorite to a draw.

Don’t tell me Spain’s ball control is awesome, it’s useless. Cape Verde’s entire team shrank into a 30-meter penalty area, Spain just couldn’t get the ball in. In plain terms, passing and controlling football against a packed defense is just a waste of effort.

Portugal is even more frustrated. Cristiano Ronaldo participated in his 6th World Cup, but all three shots on goal were off target, earning the lowest score on the team. Democratic Republic of the Congo played like a wild field—chaotic, fierce, unreasonable. Portuguese players all wanted to showcase their skills, but all their passes were ineffective, unable to deliver a single ball through midfield. Instead, DRC relied on a counterattack to score a goal against Portugal.

Ronaldo’s expression on the field was one of utter despair.

Guess what? After the match, some fans directly criticized: “Should Ronaldo retire?”

After the first round, let’s talk about the hottest teams: three—Argentina, France, England.

Argentina crushed Algeria 3-0, with Messi scoring a hat-trick. All three goals were created by himself, no penalties, no opportunistic goals. After the match, 23-year-old Algerian defender said: “I can’t defend against him, he’s like playing in a simulation game.”

That statement is indeed spot on. Messi’s three goals: one long-range shot close to the ground, one dribble past defenders into the far corner, and the third was simply a solo run and powerful shot. At 38, in his 6th World Cup, how incredible is his form?

France beat Senegal 3-1, with Mbappé scoring twice. Senegal’s goalkeeper, in an interview after the match, sighed: “He’s too fast, I couldn’t react at all.”

Mbappé’s first goal in this game started with a burst of speed that left the defender three yards behind, the goalkeeper only managed to get a hand on it, but the ball already flew into the corner.

England defeated Croatia 4-2, avenging their semi-final loss in 2018. Bellingham played like a war god, with 2 goals and 1 assist, completely confusing Croatia’s veteran players. Croatian midfielder Luka Modrić said after the match: “I want to play another round, but my body told me to stop.”

These three teams are all solid in the first round, none relying on luck.

Now, look at the underperformers. Spain and Portugal, these two brothers, their first-round performances are not much better than those of the losing teams. Spain can’t score, Portugal can’t move. One suffers from passing control constipation, the other from offensive silence.

Although South Korea won against Czechia, Son Heung-min’s performance was heavily criticized. In that match, Son Heung-min played like he was sleepwalking, with all four shots off target, and only 71% passing accuracy. Korean fans were furious: “Is this the captain? Is this the Premier League Golden Boot?”

But if we talk about the most disappointing player in the first round, it has to be Cristiano Ronaldo.

Why? Because expectations were too high. Ronaldo is Portugal’s biggest IP in history, and this World Cup was almost seen as his “last dance.” But what happened? Invisible all game, shots all way off target, even miscontrolled twice. After the match, Portuguese media gave him a “4” rating, and the comments were full of words like “farewell,” “retirement,” “legend’s end.”

What’s confusing is that the entire Portuguese team kept passing to him, but he didn’t even get a decent shot on goal. Democratic Republic of the Congo’s defender said after the match: “I defended him at his peak, now he can’t run anymore.”

That sounds harsh, but the data doesn’t lie.

In the first round, Ronaldo’s three shots were all off target, with less than 8 kilometers of running distance, the least among Portugal’s starters.

Liverpool legend Carragher immediately criticized after the match: “This isn’t the Ronaldo I know, he looks like he’s clocking in at work.”

Conversely, Messi, in his 6th World Cup, scored a hat-trick, leading the scoring chart, and equaled Miroslav Klose’s all-time World Cup goal record—16 goals. Two veterans in football, one still playing, the other being kicked by the ball.

Of course, this is just the first round of the World Cup, with two more group matches to come. Spain will face Germany next, Portugal will play Uruguay.

Do you think Ronaldo can still go all out?

Waiting for your answer in the comments.