European teams have shown clear dominance at the WMF World Cup being held in Baku. This conclusion can be drawn after the group stage – 14 teams from the "Old Continent" have qualified for the Round of 16. Among teams from other continents, only Mauritania (Africa) and Thailand (Asia) continue the competition.
Some Round of 16 matchups promise to be quite interesting, Idman.biz reports.
For instance, the Azerbaijani national team will face reigning world champions Romania. However, the course of the tournament has shown that even title-holding teams can face difficulties in terms of performance and results in Baku. For example, the USA – once world champions – failed to advance from the group stage this time, settling for one draw and two defeats.
Naturally, playoff matches have their own character – one mistake, one moment can decide the fate of the game. Therefore, teams are expected to play more cautiously. In such cases, psychological factors come to the forefront, and of course, the home advantage may play a decisive role for the Azerbaijani players.
Only two teams achieved the maximum number of points in the group stage – Portugal and Serbia. Both teams won all three of their matches. The Portuguese, in particular, demonstrated high productivity: they scored 13 goals and conceded only 2. As a result, Portugal's Tiago leads the top scorer race with 6 goals.
Quite unique teams have reached the playoff stage. For example, Georgia delivered a confident performance in the group, defeating Argentina by a five-goal margin.
A somewhat surprising result came from Bosnia and Herzegovina, who finished first in their group. This group also included Poland, Kazakhstan, and the USA. After defeating the Americans, Bosnia and Herzegovina settled for two draws, which was enough to top the group. Kazakhstan, meanwhile, finished just one point behind second-placed Poland.
The Round of 16 schedule has been arranged so that all matches will take place over the course of two days. This means that by midnight tomorrow, all quarter-finalists will be known. We hope that the Azerbaijani national team will be among them.
Zaki Feyzullayev
Idman.biz
