Championship for Dummies: what will the group stage of the 2018 FIFA World Cup be remembered for?

The World Cup is in full swing. Everyone around you is talking only about soccer. If you know nothing about it, have not heard and live in a vacuum bag, then nothing will help you. And if you just don’t get into it, here are a few facts from the actor of the show “Improvisation” on TNT Anton Shastun, which will help you keep the conversation going with your friends.

Russia in the playoffs?!

Naturally, everyone is discussing the success of the Russian national team. Finally, the successes are really there. Our team is showing very nice soccer. In the opening match of the championship, the national team beat Saudi Arabia with a score of “5:0”. And then won against Egypt “3:1” and early formalized the exit in the 1/8 finals. For the first time in 32 years. Dzyuba is a machine! Cheryshev – fire! You are just a cosmos, Stas! All these phrases you can safely say to friends and collect approving glances. It is better not to be clever and not to say that the Saudis are weak footballers, and the leader of the Egyptian national team – Mohamed Salah – played against us after an injury, for the first time in a month. You will definitely get a bat in the face. Naturally, a tricolor bat. Naturally, an inflatable one.

Messi vs Ronaldo

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo don’t often face each other on the soccer field. But their permanent rivalry has been going on for 10 years now. In fact, it’s impossible to say exactly which of them is cooler, but if you take the dry numbers at this championship, the answer is obvious. The Portuguese scored 3 goals for Spain and snatched a draw for his team, and his goal against Morocco brought Portugal their first 3 points. Messi in turn did not score a penalty in the match with Iceland, and the match ended “1:1”, and then disappeared on the field in the duel with the Croats, and Argentina lost “0:3”. Now it has a ghostly chance of making the playoffs and conflicts with the coaching staff. So if asked who is cooler at this championship, the answer is obvious – Ronaldo!

Nikolskaya never sleeps

Nikolskaya Street has become the unofficial center of the World Cup in Moscow. If you are a real fan or want to become one for a while, you are there. In normal times it is a pedestrian street. But now it is a singing, dancing, yelling, drinking, yelling again and dancing again street. Only here you can see a Mexican, an Argentinian, a German, a Peruvian, a Pole, a Dane, a Portuguese and a Russian trying to sing a song in English. Or a girl who has climbed a lamppost and the fans below are chanting to her, “Show the fans your tits, hey, hey!”. Nikolskaya Street. Welcome. Round the clock.

Group stage matches to remember.

It’s clear that for us the most colorful matches are those involving Russia. But there have already been many other confrontations that will definitely be remembered. Portugal-Spain, for example. Or Ronaldo-Spain. A hat-trick by the Portuguese and a 3:3 draw. Or the unexpected defeat of reigning world champions Germany. The Mexican national team won 1:0, and now it is impossible not to cheer for it. The most effective games of this championship are Belgium-Tunisia and England-Panama. In each of these matches 7 goals were scored: “5:2” and “6:1” respectively. The match “Argentina-Croatia”, which ended with the score “0:3”: the whole stadium in Nizhny Novgorod was painted in white and blue colors, and many fans after the final whistle could not hold back tears. But the most dramatic, in my opinion, was the Germany-Sweden match. It was a draw until the last minute of the match. Germany plays in the minority, and in the 95th minute Toni Kroos with a free kick brings victory to his team.

Germany, auf Wiedersehen!

Only those who are “in the tank” don’t know about the fact that the “invincible” Germans didn’t make it out of the group. Although judging by the numerous jokes of our fans in social networks about the fact that “the Germans are unlucky on Russian soil”, it is simply impossible not to see this news with at least one eye. Even the governor of the Lipetsk region couldn’t resist a comment, read it at your leisure.

In general, this is a brief summary of the main events of the past two weeks. Ahead is the most anticipated match for Russian fans. Jokes are jokes, but what if it’s not “they us”, but “we them”?