International Football
At the World Cup, opening matches are often crucial
As the first World Cup in the Arab world kicks off, it is pertinent to note that in the tournament, the outcome of the first match is often crucial and goes a long way in shaping a team’s prospects.
Such matches are sometimes tension-filled, irrespective of the relative strength of the teams. With
three first round matches, a team may not feel same pressure at their first match of the World Cup as they might prior to their third match.
But the opening matches may hold more importance than many realize. Take for instance France ‘98. Of the 16 teams that advanced into the second round, not one of them lost the opening match.
Ten of the 16 teams that went through to the next stage attained the required two victories necessary while four others went undefeated with a win and two draws.
Only Denmark which eliminated Nigeria in the second round of France ‘98 went through with just a win and two draws. Chile was able to keep afloat with three draws in their Group B encounters.
The trend is carried over to the next two World Cup finals. At Korea/Japan 2010, only two of the 16 qualifiers for the second round lost their opening matches.
They were Mexico and Turkey who lost their opening matches 0-1 and 2-1 respectively. Some others who drew
their opening games were also able to scrape through.
Such included both England and Sweden who played 1-1 draw in their opening game. Ireland drew 1-1 with Cameroon and was able to advance just as did Belgium and Paraguay.
The same thing happened at Germany 2006 when Ukraine and Ghana were the only teams that lost their opening games and still got to the Round of 16. The 11 others of the remain ing 14 had outright victories leaving Sweden, Switzerland and France as teams with barren draws in their opening game and still managed to advance.
However at the last World Cup in South Africa, Spain achieved a rare feat. The country became the first to lose an
opening round and still went on to win the final match. Also in winning the cup, Spain became the first European team to win the World Cup outside Europe.
The in-built rule therefore for ambitious teams in the World Cup or any tournament with similar format is to avoid an opening match defeat. A win of the first match can buoy confidence as it happened to Cameroon at Italia ’90 against Argentina and also to Nigeria 28 years ago as well as Senegal in 2002.
A defeat could be devastating to the psyche of a team as did to the potentially strong Spanish side that surprising
lost 3-2 to Nigeria in their opening game in Nantes.
Spain who were upset in the first match tried to make up and looked ahead to Paraguay and Bulgaria, and still looked good bet to still pick scale through to the round of 16.
But a scoreless draw with Paraguay made their 6- 1 pounding of Bulgaria in the last match worthless after the Super Eagles lost their last match to Paraguay in the final group match.
France ‘98 was the first tournament that comprised 32 teams divided into eight groups of four. The 16 teams that move into the second round are two top finishers of the groups. In the four World Cup tournaments before France ‘98, just 24 teams were involved, meaning four third place finishers also advanced out of group play.
Whereas in USA’94 for instance, a team could almost assure itself of a fourth match with four points from the first
round, the general consensus now is that a team must try to win twice to continue to the second round.
One fact that has emerged in the 92-year history of the World Cup is that only one team ever lost the opening match and went ahead to World Cup .
Only two teams have won the cup after drawing in the opening game. Paulo Rossi-inspired Italy in
1982 did not even record its first win until after the group games. Also in 1966, England recovered from their scoreless draw with Uruguay to win their next five games and eventually the cup.
The aspiring teams of Qatar 2022 will be wise to avoid defeat in the opening games
In a compelling twist of football destiny, Davide Ancelotti is stepping into his own spotlight as he begins his first head coaching role at Brazilian club Botafogo—just months after parting ways with his legendary father, Carlo Ancelotti, at Real Madrid.
The 35-year-old has been appointed as Botafogo’s new manager, the club announced on Tuesday, following the sacking of Renato Paiva. Davide, who has spent the last decade working alongside his father at some of Europe’s top clubs—including Bayern Munich, Napoli, Everton, and Real Madrid—has signed a one-year deal with the Rio-based team.
This marks a significant milestone for the younger Ancelotti, whose career has long been shaped by his father’s influence, but who now faces the challenge of carving his own identity on the touchline.
The move comes shortly after both father and son departed Real Madrid at the end of last season, with Carlo taking over the Brazilian national team. Now, in a poetic alignment, father and son find themselves on different paths within Brazilian football—one leading the Seleção, the other steering the fortunes of a storied domestic club.
Botafogo’s decision to appoint Davide follows a controversial parting with Paiva, who was dismissed just days after their exit from the Club World Cup. Though he oversaw a stunning win over Champions League holders Paris Saint-Germain, a 1-0 extra-time loss to Palmeiras in the round of 16 proved to be his final act after just four months in charge.
As Davide Ancelotti begins this new chapter, all eyes will be on whether the son of one of football’s most decorated managers can step out from his father’s shadow—and perhaps, in time, build a legacy of his own.
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International Football
Players’ union, FIFPRO, wants 20-minute halftimes, more cooling breaks amid extreme heat
Global players’ union FIFPRO is exploring whether extending halftime to 20 minutes and introducing more frequent cooling breaks could better protect players from extreme heat.
Nine of the 16 host cities for the 2026 World Cup face conditions considered “extreme risk” for heat-related illness.
Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Guadalajara, Houston, Kansas City, Miami, Monterrey and Philadelphia are expected to face dangerous levels of heat and humidity, posing player safety concerns and fuelling calls for mandatory cooling aids or schedule changes.
FIFPRO’s heat risk assessments are based on wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT), a measure combining temperature, humidity, solar radiation and wind speed to estimate how environmental conditions affect the body’s ability to cool itself.
Under FIFPRO guidelines, a WBGT reading above 28 degrees Celsius indicates conditions in which matches should be postponed or rescheduled to protect players’ health.
By comparison, world soccer governing body FIFA’s own guidelines set the extreme risk threshold higher, at 32 degrees Celsius WBGT – but even by that standard, six of the nine cities are still projected to exceed safe limits.
Major League Soccer in the U.S. has a threshold of 29 degrees Celsius WBGT.
“Cooling breaks at the 30th minute and 75th minutes are quite traditional, but from a physiological point of view it does not make sense,” said Vincent Gouttebarge, FIFPRO’s Medical Director.
“Even if you ingest more than 200 millilitres of fluid, you already cannot take it all. So I would definitely like to see some project where we look at the efficacy of perhaps more frequent but shorter cooling breaks – every 15 minutes, rather than only one during each half.”
LONGER HALFTIMES
Gouttebarge also questioned whether the traditional 15-minute halftime interval is sufficient when matches are played in extreme heat.
“You can imagine that halftime of 15 minutes might not be enough in order to decrease the core temperature,” he said.
“It could be a halftime of 20 minutes which would be significant. That has been shown in the laboratory and FIFPRO, together with the national union in Portugal in August, we are going to test this kind of mitigation strategy.”
The urgency of stronger heat protocols became clear at this month’s Club World Cup where two matches — Benfica-Bayern Munich in Charlotte and Chelsea-Esperance in Philadelphia exceeded the WBGT threshold FIFPRO considers unsafe.
“According to our position, those games should have been postponed later that day or rescheduled,” Gouttebarge said.
FIFPRO officials acknowledged that FIFA has responded constructively during the tournament by lowering thresholds for mandatory cooling breaks and improving pitch-side hydration, but stressed that proactive planning is critical.
“FIFA have been quite responsive once the tournament was under way,” said Alex Phillips, FIFPRO General Secretary.
“They have actually modified how they’ve been dealing with heat during the matches based on FIFPRO’s input, which is credit to the work of the team. Obviously, it would have been better if that happened in advance, but it’s better that they have adapted.”
FIFPRO warned that the risks highlighted at the Club World Cup are a preview of what players could face at the expanded 2026 World Cup.
“This is not just affecting the Club World Cup, but also future tournaments either in the U.S. or elsewhere in the world,” said Alexander Bielefeld, FIFPRO Director of Policy & Strategic Relations.
“We need a better balance between commercial interests and the health and safety of players,” he added, referring to earlier kick-off times to accommodate European television audiences.
-Reuters
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Former Manchester United and England midfielder Paul Ince has been charged with drink-driving, police said on Monday.
Ince, who earned 53 caps for England and won two Premier League titles during his six years at United, has been released on bail and will appear in court on July 18.
“The incident involved a black Range Rover which had collided with the central reservation barrier. Officers attended the scene and arrested a 57-year-old man,” the Cheshire police said in a statement.
“Paul Ince, of Quarry Road, Neston, has since been charged with drink-driving.”
Reuters has contacted Ince’s representative for comment.
After retiring as a player, Ince led Milton Keynes Dons to a League Two title in 2007-08. He most recently managed Reading during 2022-23.
-Reuters
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