Monday, December 19, 2022
Issue #11.2.6 "I'm Here to Win and Walk Away"
[||| Mini-Updates | Standings | Dailies: 17-18 ]

2022 World Cup Champion	2022 Winningest Region
1978   |   1986   |   2022	UEFA - Europe Union of European Football Associations
ARG - La Albiceleste Asociación del Fútbol Argentino (AFA) Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol (CONMEBOL)
#3 | C1 | Group C Winners | 4-1-2 | 15 GF-8 GA 6th Final ('30, '78, '86, '90, '14) 3rd Championship C1: Lost #53 Saudi Arabia 1-2 C4: Beat #13 Mexico 2-0 C5: Beat #26 Poland 2-0 R16: Beat #38 2D-Australia 2-1 QF: Beat #8 1A-Netherlands 2-2 (4-3 PSO) SF: Beat #12 2F-Croatia 3-0 F: Beat #4 1D-France 3-3 (4-2 PSO)	UEFA | 8 Teams | 8 Wins |  8-8 Qualified:  1A-NED, 1B-ENG, 2C-POL, 1D-FRA, 2E-ESP, 2F-CRO, 2G-SUI, 1H-POR R16 (5):  49-NED, 53-CRO, 51-ENG, 52-FRA, 56-POR QF (2):  58-CRO, 59-FRA SF (1):  62-FRA F (0): -

INSTANT CLASSIC WITH 5 GOALS BETWEEN 2 SUPERSTARS
Soccerbix is joined by SoccerWife, KevLo, AC in Doha, and Merman in top 5; Free Merman wins Bonus

MANHATTAN BEACH, CA (smt) -- Legendary superstar Lionel Messi scored twice and had a key touch for another goal to help 1C-Argentina win their 3rd World Cup title, outlasting a hat trick from new superstar Kylian Mbappé 3-3 (4-2 in penalty shootout).  Messi was there to win and walk away, playing defense and helping his team in any way.  He wins his first WC after winning his first Copa America last year and says he wants to play a few games as a champion before potentially retiring from the national team.  Messi played in a WC-record 26th match and is the first player to score at least 1 goal in all 4 knockout matches.  But it wasn't easy.

ARG jumped to their sixth straight 2-0 lead (including Messi's 3rd PK) and dominated for 70 minutes (1D-France did not even have a shot until the 67' and made two forward subs in the 41') and it felt like ARG would just cruise to victory since FRA was not putting up any sustained attacks.  But you don't need sustained attacks if you have speed, and when ARG pulled down a FRA player that blew past him in the box, Kylian Mbappé got FRA on the board in the 80' on their first shot on goal.  In the 81', quick one-touch give-and-go passing resulting in their second shot on goal, a Mbappé perfect strike to level the match at 2 apiece. 

In extra time, Messi put in a rebound in the 108' that seemed to finally seal the deal.  But an errant hand blocking a Mbappé shot off a CK gave FRA another PK and Mbappé went the same way to tie it at 3 in the 118'.  In end-to-end action, FRA could've won if not for a kick save (not taken by Mbappé) and ARG could've won if not for an open header mishit (not taken by Messi), both in the 120'+3'.   In the PSO, both Mbappé and Messi scored but ARG GK came up big with a save and ARG hit all 4 PKs to win 4-2.

What was a one-sided affair cruising to a boring 2-0 win turned into an end-to-end last 45 minutes (last 15 minutes of regulation plus 30 of extra time) with drama everywhere (must've been awful (in a good way) to be a die-hard ARG or FRA fan) and goals and missed chances. 

The 3rd place match saw an exciting first half that fizzled as players wore out as the 2-1 2F-Croatia halftime lead held up in the end.  With the Arab region and Israel behind them, 1F-Morocco couldn't get the equalizer and finished 4th, the highest for an African nation.   Tiny CRO gets their third top 3 finish (3rd '98, 2nd '18) since they played as an independent country in 1992.  The key stat for the pool was three (3) as that was 1 of 2 matches that contributed to the total goals tiebreaker.  Six goals scored in the final put the final tally at 9 (remember, PSO goals do not count).

With ARG winning (31 picked ARG) and the total goals tiebreaker at 9 goals, that gave Amy M (SoccerWife) 2nd place over Kevin L (KevLo) (134 points).  The 9 goals broke a 3-way tie and gave Adam C (AC in Doha) 4th place, Jim M (Merman) 5th place, and eliminated Keith J (Unlucky) who finished 6th (133 points).  The 9 goals and UEFA finishing with 8 wins gave Jim M (Free Merman) the $40 Bonus.  They join Fernando B (Soccerbix) who had already won the pool and finished with 137 points.  Amy, Adam, and Jim were first-time entrants while Kevin won on his 3rd WC pool.  Fernando won something for the 4th time in 6 tries, boosting his career WC pool total to a record $735.  The Amy & Jim family combined for $360.  Jim is the second person to win twice in the same pool (Tim H (EEChick1400) in 2014 - 1st & 3rd).

The best way to keep up with the pool is to follow @HWCI_Pools on Twitter or visit the #hwciWC hashtag (you don't need Twitter account to view) often for daily updates.  Less often will be our Facebook group page (post comments or organize viewing parties) and then these newsletters every 4 days or so.

   Ins & Outs - [64 Matches/15 Ties]

• Goals: 172 (2.69/match)

  • Own: 3 [42-MAR>CAN 40', 44-GER>CRC 70' | 50-ARG>AUS 77']

  • Subs: 26 [2-NED 90'+9, 3-ENG 71', 3-ENG (2) 90', 11-JPN 75' {gt}, 11-JPN (2) 83' {gw}, 15-POR 80', 15-GHA 89', 17-IRN 90'+8 {gw}, 18-QAT 78', 18-SEN 84', 24-ARG 87', 26-MAR 90'+2, 27-CRO 90'+4, 28-ESP 62', 28-GER 83' {gt}, 29-CMR 63', 43-JPN (3) 48', 44-GER (2) 73', 44-GER (3) 85', 44-GER (4) 89', 46-KOR 90'+1 {gw} | 54-KOR (2) 76', 56-POR (2) 90'+2, 57-CRO (2) 117' {gt}, 58-NED (2) 90'+11 {gt}, 62-FRA 79']

  • 90+/120+: 12 [2-NED +9, 3-SEN +13, 17-IRN +8 {gw}, 17-IRN (2) +11, 26-MAR +2, 27-CRO +4, 32-POR +3, 40-KSA +5, 46-KOR +1 {gw} | 52-POL +9, 56-POR (2) +2, 58-NED (2) +11 {gt}]

  • Extra Time: 4 [57-BRA 105'+1, 57-CRO 117' {gt}, 64-ARG 108', 64-FRA 118' {gt}]

• Scoring First: 43-6-8 [7 Nil-Nil ties (8-ARGvKSA, 5-AUSvFRA, 11-GERvJPN, 27-CANvCRO, 43-ESPvJPN, 46-PORvKOR)]

• Leading at Half: 27-3-6 [28 ties (26 scoreless); 8-ARGvKSA, 11-GERvJPN, 43-ESPvJPN]

• Shutout: 40 [1-QAT, 2-SEN, 6-DEN, 6-TUN, 7-MEX, 7-POL, 12-MAR, 12-CRO, 10-CRC, 9-CAN, 13-CMR, 14-URU, 14-KOR, 16-SRB, 17-WAL, 20-ENG, 20-USA, 21-TUN {2}, 22-KSA, 24-MEX {2}, 25-JPN, 26-BEL, 30-SUI, 32-URU {2}, 36-QAT {2}, 33-WAL {2}, 34-IRN, 38-FRA, 37-DEN {2}, 39-POL {2}, 41-CRO {2}, 41-BEL {2}, 45-GHA, 48-BRA | 51-SEN {2}, 55-MAR {2}, 55-ESP, 60-POR, 61-CRO {3}, 62-MAR {3}]

• PK: 17/23 [1-ECU 16', 3-SEN 90'+9, 4-WAL 82', 8-ARG 10', 7-pol (s) 58', 11-GER 33', 10-ESP 31', 9-can (s) 11', 15-POR 65', 22-ksa (s) 45'+1, 32-POR 90'+3, 35-SEN {2} 44', 39-arg {2} (s) 39', 45-gha (s) 21' | 52-POL 90'+9, 54-BRA 13', 58-ARG {3} 73', 59-ENG 54', 59-eng {2} (h) 84', 61-ARG {4} 34', 64-ARG {5} 23', 64-FRA 80', 64-FRA {2} 118']

• Extra Time: 5 [53-JPN:CRO 1:1 (1:1), 55-MAR:ESP 0:0 (0:0), 58-CRO{2}:BRA 1:1 (0:0), 57-NED:ARG 2:2 (2:2), 64-ARG{2}:FRA 3:3 (2:2)]

• PSO: 5 (26/41) [53-JPN:CRO 4.0 (1:3 {ssGs:GGpG}), 55-MAR:ESP 3.5 (3:0 {GGsG:pss}), 58-NED:ARG 5.0 (3:4 {ssGGG:GGGlG}), 57-CRO{2}:BRA 4.0 (4:2 {GGGG:sGGp}), 64-FRA:ARG{2} 4.0 (2:4 {GslG:GGGG})]

• Red Card (GF/GA): 4 + 2 [17-WAL R 86' (0/2), 48-CMR 2Y 90'+3 (0/0) | 58-NED 2Y post-PSO (-/-), 60-MAR 2Y 90'+3 (0/0); 30-KOR Coach R 90'+11, 61-CRO Staff R 35']

• Multiple Goals: 20 [Valencia 2 (1-ECU), Saka 2 (3-ENG), Taremi 2 (3-SEN), Giroud 2 (5-FRA), Torres 2 (10-ESP), Richarlison 2 (16-BRA), Mbappe 2 (23-FRA), Kramaric 2 (27-CRO), Cho 2 (30-KOR), Mohammed 2 (30-GHA), Fernandes 2 (32-POR), Rashford 2 (33-ENG), Havertz 2 (44-GER), Arrascaeta 2 (45-URU) | Mbappe 2 {2} (52-FRA), Ramos 3 (56-POR), Weghorst 2 (58-NED), Alvarez 2 (61-ARG), Mbappe 3 {3} (64-FRA), Messi 2 (64-ARG)]

• Goal Line Tech: 2 [42-CAN xG 72' | 64-ARG G 108']

• VAR (-Reversal(Taken Away), +Reversal(Added), =Confirmed, xNo Call): 44 [1-ECU xOff+{g-} 3', 4-ENG xFoul+{pk+IRN} 90'+10, 8-KSA xFoul+{pk+ARG} 6', 8-ARG xOff+{g-} 27', 6-TUN xHB= 90'+4, 7-MEX xFoul+{pk+POL} 54', 11-GER xHB{xPK}= 22', 11-JPN Foul{pk}= 31', 11-GER xOff+{g-} 45'+4, 9-BEL xHB+{pk+CAN} 8', 9-BEL xFoul{xPK}= 13', 9-BEL xFoul{xPK}= 38', 15-GHA Foul{pk}= 62', 17-IRN xOff+{g-} 15',  17-WAL Y-{+R} 84', 18-SEN xFoul{xPK}= 34', 19-ECU Off{xg}= 45'+4, 22-POL xFoul+{pk+KSA} 43', 26-MAR xOff+{g-} 45'+2, 28-GER xOff+{g-} 39', 29-CMR Off-{g+} 63', 30-GHA xHB{g}= 24', 31-BRA xOff+{g-} 64', 32-URU xHB+{pk+POR} 89', 36-NED xHB+{g-} 68', 34-USA xOff+{g-} 45'+7, 38-FRA xOff+{g-} 90'+8, 37-DEN Off{xFoulxPK}= 71', 39-POL xFoul+{pk+ARG} 36', 41-CRO xOff+{pk-} 15', 43-JPN xOOB{g}= 48', 44-GER Off-{g+} 89', 45-GHA Off-{URU Foul+pk+GHA} 16', 45-GHA xFoulxPK= 58' | 52-FRA xHB+{pk+POL} 90'+6, 52-FRA GKOffLine{RetakePK}= 90'+7, 57-BRA Off{xHBxPK}= 48', 60-MAR xFoulxPK= 45', 60-MAR xHBxPK= 86', 59-FRA xFoul{g}= 17', 59-FRA xFoulxPK= 25', 59-FRA xFoul+{pk+ENG} 80', 62-FRA xFoulxPK= 27', 63-MAR xFoulxPK= 75']

• 58%+ (w/in contest): 11 [3-ENGvIRN (72) W, 8-ARGvKSA (64) L, 11-GERvJPN (65) L, 10-ESPvCRC (74) W, 33-ENGvWAL (58) {2} W, 37-DENvAUS (60) L, 39-ARGvPOL {2} (67) W, 43-ESPvJPN (78) {2} L, 44-GERvCRC (61) W | 55-ESPvMAR (68) {3} D(L), 60-PORvMAR (65) L]

• Zero SOG (Shots): 8 [1-QAT (5), 10-CRC (0), 14-URU (10), 14-KOR (6), 16-SRB (4), 30-SUI (4), 39-POL (4), 42-CAN (5)]

• 20+ Shots (S/SOG/G): 12 [5-FRA (22/7/4) W, 11-GER (25/9/1) L, 9-CAN (21/4/0) L, 16-BRA (24/10/2), 17-IRN (21/6/2), 23-FRA (21/6/2) {2} W, 30-KOR (21/6/2) L, 39-ARG (25/13/2) W, 40-MEX (25/10/2) W, 44-GER (32/11/4) {2} W | 57-BRA (20/11/1) {2} L, 64-ARG {2} (21/9/3) D(W)]

• Breaks (>30 min): 0 [-]

• Regions (Teams/R16/QF/SF/F/C) [Excludes Match 63]: UEFA (13/8/5/2/1/-) 21-19-15 AFC (6/3/-) 7-12-2, CAF (5/2/1/1/-) 8-7-4, CONMEBOL (4/2/2/1/1/1) 9-4-5, CONCACAF (4/1/-) 3-7-3, OCEANIA (-)

• Match Order of Play: RR: 1 | 3-2-4 | 8-6-7-5 | 12-11-10-9 | 13-14-15-16 | 17-18-19-20 | 21-22-23-24 | 25-26-27-28 | 29-30-31-32 | 35-36^A-33-34^B | 37-38^D-39-40^C | 41-42^F-43-44^E | 45-46^H-47-48^G | R16: 49-50 | 52-51 | 53-54 | 55-56 | QF: 58-57 | 60-59 | SF: 61 | 62 | 3rd: 63 | F: 64 ]...  

   Sides 'N Kicks -  Yes, this issue's title is not a title from Star Wars: Andor, but one of its great quotes (from Episode 5), of which there are plenty to choose from (hopefully, it will get nominated for a writing Emmy)... my jersey choices:  2010 South Africa Away and 1998 FRA Home... there were 7 scoreless draws - there was just one all of 2018 (but 5th time 7 had happened)... ARG led 2-0 for the 6th consecutive match and scored first in all 7 matches... FRA and ARG both allowed 8 goals in the tourney (only SUI (9) and CRC (11) allowed more and tied with SRB and KOR)... ARG is just 2nd team to win WC after losing its first match (2-1 to KSA)... entries averaged 23.0 wins in the group stage, 10.2 teams making R16, 4.9 QFs, 1.28 SFs, 0.65 Finalists, and 0.28 Champion...46 entries had 100+ points... Meli is last with 60 pts... 3rd place match featured a QAT ref who hadn't ref'd in a month, an odd decision... this was the 4th final to go to extra time in last 5 (only '18 FRA 4-2 was won in regulation)... Mbappe had his 3rd multi-goal match of this tourney and has 12 WC goals (he's not even 24 years old yet!)... 172 goals is most in WC history (was 171 in '98 and '14)... 711 stoppage time minutes (+11.1 per match) added is most in WC history, thanks to directive to more accurately add time for delays... expected goals were off the charts with ARG at 3.34 and FRA at 2.24 (didn't have a shot for first 65 minutes)... CRO and MAR were shut out 3 times each (including their scoreless draw)... three guessed 9.0 goals exactly (AC in Doha, Ronaldinho (8th, 129), and Kicking it Old School (76th, 88)) while Ugh, as if! (81st, 86) was off by 9.0 goals (she chose 0.0)... Underground United (58th, 95) was the lowest entry to correctly pick ARG... the top 14 all picked ARG and the top 8 all picked ARG over FRA in final... CONMEBOL had best winning percentage (69%) while CAF (53.3%) and UEFA (52.5%) were just above .500... Mbappé is 2nd player with hat trick in final and had 3 multi-goal games... Mbappé won the Golden Boot (8 goals) and the Silver Ball... Messi got his 2nd Golden Ball (first player to get two, also won in '14)... ARG's Emiliano Martinez got the Golden Glove probably just for his 120'+3' save... ARG's Enzo Martinez got the Young Player Award (USA's Landon Donovan won this in 2002)... ENG won the Fair Play trophy (just one yellow card all tournament)... instituted just in 2002, Messi won a record 5 Player of the Match awards (record 11 total) as he is the first player to score in all 4 knockout matches...