Tuesday, July 25, 2023 
Issue #3.1.2 "Favorites Revving Up" 
[||| Mini-Updates | Dailies: July 23-24-25 ]

GERMANY & BRAZIL ROUT BUT FRANCE DRAWS 0-0 TO JAMAICA
Jolly Old England sits alone on top with 14 points

HOME, CA (smt) --  After 16 matches, one for each team, there has only been two clear favorite teams who have lost (A2-Norway) after #26 H3-Colombia scored twice in the first half to beat #17 H4-Korea Rep, 2-0.  D3-Denmark and D4-China PR had about the same ranking (#15 v #13) with DEN winning 1-0 earlier.  Two heavily favorite teams suffered 0-0 draws after #5 F1-France drew with #41 F2-Jamaica (#6 B4-CAN v #42 B3-NGA), and JAM rightly celebrated like it was a win.  E2-Netherlands and G3-Italy squeezed out 1-0 wins while #3 G1-Sweden became the first team to rally beating G2-South Africa, 2-1.  It was also the only match of the 16 where both teams scored (17 teams were shut out).

#2 H1-Germany routed H2-Morocco, 6-0, in a match where MAR were ranked 70 spots behind GER.  F3-Brazil got a hat trick from Ary Borges to beat F4-Panama 4-0.  Outside these two matches, just 24 goals were scored in 14 matches.  After 16 VAR interventions in the first 11 matches, there were none in the last five.  European teams went 8-3-1 this round with Africa still seeking their first win (0-3-1).  The 8 new teams in the tournament lost all 8 and were outscored 23-0.  Only 1 of 16 matches saw a match where both teams scored, resulting in 17 teams who were shut out.

After 16 matches, Jolly Old England leads the pool with 14 points, missing NZL's win and FRA-JAM draw).  6 are tied for 2nd with 13 points.  D1-England and GER's wins were picked by all 47 entries.  Tiny Destroyer only got 6 correct, 3 behind Kung Fu Master Kai.

Will Eric's "Foster's Football Brew" be back this year?  I hope so!  If anyone else wants to contribute, let me know.  Anyone else going to down under and want to send pictures or mini-reports?

The best way to keep up with the pool is to follow @HWCI_Pools on Twitter or visit the #hwciWWC 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 - [16 Matches/2 Ties] - Goals: 34 (2.13/match) [Own: 3 (5-CRC>ESP 21', 15-MAR>GER 54', 15-MAR{2}>GER 79'), Subs: 4 (6-JPN 90'+11{pk}, 8-DEN 90' {gw}, 14-ITA 87' {gw}, 15-GER 90'), 90+/120+: 1 (6-JPN +11 {pk}), Extra Time: 0 (-)]... Scoring First: 13-1-0 [2 Nil-Nil ties (4-NGAvCAN, 11-FRAvJAM); 12-RSAvSWE]... Leading at Half: 9-0-0 [7 ties (7 scoreless); -]... Shutout: 17 [1-NOR, 2-IRL, 4-CAN, 4-NGR, 3-PHI, 5-CRC, 9-VIE, 6-ZAM, 7-HAI, 8-CHN, 10-POR, 11-FRA, 11-JAM, 14-ARG, 15-MAR, 13-PAN, 16-KOR]... PK: 5/9 [1-nzl (x) 90', 2-AUS 52', 4-can (s) 50', 3-SUI 45', 5-esp (s) 34', 9-usa (s) 44', 6-JPN <retake> 90'+11, 7-ENG <retake> 29', 16-COL 30']... Extra Time: 0 [-]... PSO: 0 (-/-) [-]... Red Card (GF/GA): 3 [4-NGA R 90'+8 (0/0), 6-ZAM 2Y 90'+7 (0/1), 11-JAM 2Y 90'+2 (0/0)]...  Multiple Goals: 4 [Smith 2 (9-USA), Miyazawa 2 (6-JPN), Popp 2 (15-GER), Borges 3 (13-BRA)]... Goal Line Tech: 1 [9-USA xG 85'].. VAR (-Reversal(Taken Away), +Reversal(Added), =Confirmed, xNo Call): 16 [ 1-NOR xHB= 52', 1-NOR xHB+{pk+NZL} 87', 2-IRL xHB= 45', 4-NGA xFoul+{PK+CAN} 48', 4-NGA Y-{R+} 90'+6, 3-PHI xFoul+{PK+SUI} 43', 9-VIE xFoul+{PK+USA} 41', 9-USA Off-{g+} 45'+7, 6-JPN xOff+{g-} 21', 6-JPN xOff+{g-} 49', 6-ZAM xOff+PK-Y= 51', 6-ZAM xEnc+{retake PK+JPN} 90'+10, 7-HAI xFoul+Foul-PK- 17', 7-HAI xHB+{PK+ENG} 26', 7-HAI xEnc+{retake PK+ENG} 28', 10-NED Off-{g+} 13']... 58%+ Poss (w/in contest): 8 [3-SUIvPHI (65/24) W, 5-ESPvCRC (64/18) W, 9-USAvVIE (59/23) W, 7-ENGvHAI (63/23) W, 12-SWEvRSA (59/27) W, 11-FRAvJAM (60/24) D, 15-GERvMAR (59/22) W, 13-BRAvPAN (61/25) W]... Zero SOG (Shots): 4 [3-PHI (3), 5-CRC (1), 9-VIE (0), 6-ZAM (0)]... 20+ Shots (S/SOG/G): 4 [5-ESP (46/14/2(1 og)) W, 9-USA (26/7/3) W, 6-JPN (26/11/5) W, 13-BRA (33/9/4) W]... Breaks (>30 min): 0 [-]... Regions (Teams/R16/QF/SF/F/C): UEFA (12) 8-3-1, AFC (6) 2-4-0, CONCACAF (6) 1-3-2, CAF (4) 0-3-1, CONMEBOL (3) 2-1-0, OCEANIA (1) 1-0-0... Match Order of Play: RR: 1-2 | 4-3-5 | 9-6-7-8 | 12-10-11 | 14-15-13 | 16¹-17-18 | 21-20-19 | 23--24-22 | 27-25-26 | 30-28-29 | 32²-33-34^A-31 | 37-38^C-35-36^B | 41-42^E-39-40^D | 45-46^G-43-44^F | 47-48^H | R16: 49-50 | 51-52 | 54-53 | 56-55 | QF: 57-58 | 59-60 | SF: 61 | 62 | 3rd: 63 | F: 64 ]...  

   SIDES 'N KICKS:  SWE's 11th CK produced the game-winner (13-1 overall)... first-time WWC teams are 0-8-0 (A3-Philippines, VIE, ZAM, A2-Rep of Ireland, HAI, POR, MAR, PAN)... 9 offsides in GER-MAR match (5 GER)... BRA had 13 CKs to PAN's 1... evenly balanced possession for COLvKOR (38/32 in contest/30%)... in 2019, just 1 of 12 first matches (only 24 teams played) were ties... KOR's Casey Phair became the youngest man/woman player in the World Cup, just at 16 years of age (16 years, 26 days)... after a PK attempt was made in each of the first 8 games, the next 7 featured none...

Locally in AUS/NZL, on Sunday, Tiocfaidh Ár Lá!!! was the only one to get all 3 games correct to move into a 3-way tie with Jolly Old England and ShrimpOnTheBarbie with 10 points; Tiny Destroyer was the only one to miss all 3 to sit alone in last with 5 pts; just one got the FRA-JAM draw, 37 got NED, and 45 got SWE... on Monday, 32 went 3-0 keeping the top 3 the same; Tiny Destroyer went 1-2 to stay in last with 6 points; 32 got ITA, 46 BRA, and all 47 GER ... on Tuesday (which includes 2 Group A matches),  5 entries went 2-1 today (Kds911-2 (7th-Tied, 12), Kds911-3 (7th-T), GenX99er (34th-T, 10), Reggae Vibes (23rd-T, 11), Eggman 2 (2nd-T)) with Eggman 2 and Tiocfaidh Ár Lá!!! joining Jolly Old England at the top with 14 points (18 matches);  7 are tied for 4th with 13 pts; Tiny Destroyer is still last with 6 pts; 16 picked COL, 5 picked PHI, and 9 got the SUI-NOR draw in the low scoring day...

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Leon, trapped in Vancouver, forces LA Galaxy Leagues Cup match to be postponed to Wednesday, which is good for me..
Scott