Proving that money makes whores of us all, the political tensions of the Qatar World Cup are increasing by the day. Plans from several European countries – most notably England, who play in today’s first game – to wear a ‘One Love’, pro-LGBT captain’s armband have been squashed after FIFA’s threats to give an instantaneous yellow card to anyone who attempts to wear it. Far be it from high-profile football nations to do any meaningful statement if it detracts from the game itself, but we roll on.
Hopefully for us, the games today are better than the tournament’s opener. Qatar wrote themselves into the record books, again, by becoming the first host nation to lose their opening game – a 2-0 loss at the hands of Ecuador, a scoreline that ultimately flattered the home team. The South Americans looked to have a near-instant lead before a VAR call (that was ultimately correct, but hilariously predictable) overturned it; a karmic penalty in the 16th minute followed by a perfectly timed header in the 31st saw captain Enner Valencia lead from the front with a match-winning performance. He was almost injured before half time, and ultimately subbed out, but the bite was out of the game and Ecuador cruised to an impressive victory against a truly woeful Qatari side.
Unsurprisingly, there’s not much change to our World Cup predictions of the first game, barring Qatar and Ecuador essentially swapping places. The interesting thing is that the other Asian teams have had their chances take a hit, with their performances against Qatar being retroactively deemed less impressive (something that makes sense, as far as I’m concerned).
Today’s games:
- England 51% chance to defeat Iran (26%, draw 23%) – expected score England 1.82 v Iran 1.25
- Netherlands 56% chance to defeat Senegal (21%, draw 23%) – expected score Senegal 1.03 v Netherlands 1.82
- United States 37% chance to defeat Wales (35%, draw 28%) – expected score United States 1.20 v Wales 1.13
The Flag 