Four teams have booked their spots in the World Cup round of 16. Now Mbappé, Haaland, Ødegaard and Diomandé try to send their teams through, while Mexico find comfort in the friendly, high altitude confines of Estadio Azteca.
Dave Clark
Today's games
Ivory Coast vs. Norway
Time: 10 am Pacific
Where: AT&T Stadium, Arlington, TX
TV: Fox, Telemundo
Online: Fox One, Peacock
France vs. Sweden
Time: 2 pm Pacific
Where: MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ
TV: Fox, Telemundo
Online: Fox One, Peacock
Mexico vs. Ecuador
Time: 6 pm Pacific
Where: Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, CDMX
TV: Fox, Telemundo
Online: Fox One, Peacock
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What’s interesting today?
This World Cup may revolve around the United States and its NFL stadiums have awed foreign visitors, who cannot believe the size of the venues or scale of the video boards, but the most famous and historic ground of the tournament resides south of the border.
Estadio Azteca hosted the 1970 and 1986 World Cup finals, is home to Mexico’s most successful club, América, and has hosted almost every important home game the national team has played since it opened in 1966.
That last part is particularly relevant now, with El Tri set to host today’s round of 32 clash at the famous Mexico City stadium.
Mexico went undefeated in three matches at the Azteca in the 1970 World Cup and one-upped that the next time they hosted, going four matches without a loss in 1986. They’ve been nearly as good in World Cup qualifying too, losing just twice in 58 qualifiers.
It’s not hard to imagine why Mexico are so good at the Azteca. It once sat 120,000 people and while modernity and renovations have scaled that number all the way down to 87,000, that is still a lot of Mexicans packing the stadium all the way up to the top of the massive upper deck that kisses the sky.
Mexico City also sits at more than 7,000 feet above sea level, leaving opponents gasping for air while the acclimatized El Tri have no idea making sprint after sprint. And just to make matters tougher on visitors, the city can be covered in smog at times, once again benefitting a Mexico team that has been adjusting to the unhealthy air.
All of this is especially important now because, frankly, this isn’t a great Mexico team.
They don’t have the elite players that they used to, with Raúl Jiménez now 35 years old, Santiago Gimenez coming off the worst season of his career and the brightest talent residing the likes of Gilberto Mora and Obed Vargas, young players nowhere near finished products. It shows in their play, as they often struggle to build from the back and create chances from settled possession.
What they have is a solid defense, which pitched three clean sheets in the group stage and Javier Aguirre plotting out a conservative approach that emphasizes their strength at the back.
While that has been enough so far at this World Cup, where they were drawn into a weak group, that gets tougher to pull off as the tournament goes on and the competition gets tougher.
That is where the Azteca comes in.
It’s much easier to defend when your opponent is struggling with the altitude, while you feel good having spent the last month training five miles away. The edge of a referee giving you a call because tens of thousands of people are busting his ear drums whenever he brings his whistle to his mouth can make all the difference. The roar of the crowd to win that last 50/50 ball with the game on the line might close out the win.
Ecuador is full of players who grew up at high altitudes, but all but one of them plays abroad now and the entire team has been in Ohio for weeks. They are also a defensive team that Mexico, so there’s not likely to be much in this one.
It’s likely a moment here, a call there, maybe one last run determines the winner. At the Azteca, that’s advantage Mexico.
And if El Tri can get through this one, they get to play in Mexico City again. That will likely be against England, setting up one match at the Azteca with a spot in the quarterfinals on the line.
Mexico have made the quarterfinals in every World Cup they’ve hosted and they’ve never lost a World Cup game at the Azteca. If they’re going to make the final eight this time, it’s going to be with a healthy dose of Azteca magic.
Neither Ivory Coast nor Norway are world powers, but when they meet in Arlington today, they are going to put an astonishing amount of attacking talent on the pitch.
Eling Haaland is arguably the best striker in the world. Standing 6’5’’ and built out of granite, he’s every bit the big, physical striker who bullies opposing centerbacks in front of goal, except he’s also one of the fastest players in the world. There’s never been a striker that blends that size and pace before, making him nearly impossible to defend, and it showed as he banged in four goals before sitting out Norway’s group stage finale.
Behind him is Martin Ødegaard, one of the best attacking midfielders around. His ability to hold the ball under pressure, contribute to static possession and also drive the ball forward either in transition or create a chance against a set defense is almost unmatched.
And on the other side is Yan Diomandé, the most sought-after attacking player in the summer transfer window who exists in such rarified air at just 19 years old that he got to choose his destination and now that he’s picked Paris Saint-Germain, the only question is how much over €100 million Red Bull Leipzig will receive for him. Anyone who’s watched the World Cup can see why he’s commanding so much, with the way that Les Éléphants have run their entire attack through the teenager and he’s demanded the attention of several defenders every time he touches the ball. You’d be hard-pressed to find anyone more dynamic in space or from a stop than Diomandé.
To be able to put all three of those players on one pitch, especially this early in the World Cup, is a treat. Norway have the advantage because, well, they have two superstars to Ivory Coast's one, but this match might very well come down to a single moment of excellence. Diomandé is just as capable of that as either of the Norwegians, especially with this World Cup ball proving especially amenable to anyone who can hit it cleanly.
Knowing that whose World Cup dream stays alive, and who goes home, could rest on the best touch from one of three magicians is about as good as it gets.
There will be more than three stars on the pitch when France meet Sweden, but all of them are on the same team. Les Bleus’ embarrassment of attacking riches means they will almost certainly have players on the bench as good as anyone the Swedes have on the field.
The tricky part for France is trying to figure out which of their supremely talented players to start and how they fit together.
Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé are both sensational and they’ve each scored four goals, but they’ve also had stretches where it looked like they couldn’t play well together. Mbappé, who is a fabulous left winger, demands to play center forward, while Dembélé is a great center forward who has found himself isolated at times further away from goal.
To get Dembélé more involved, he’s had to pinch more centrally, but that’s taken space away from Michael Olise, who is sensational in his own right. At no point in this tournament have Dembélé and Olise both been near their best at the same time, with one generally taking center stage while the other watches.
Thus far, France have gotten away with their problem. And too many world class players is a good problem for Didier Deschamps to have, but it is a problem, and one that figures to become more acute as they face better teams. Or maybe talent really does conquer fit. After all, one of Dembélé and Olise being cast aside at any given time just means the other one is combining with Mbappé. That duo, either duo, is better than pretty much anything anyone else can offer.
