I Went To Two World Cup Games

I was lucky enough to watch two World Cup games live in the US, and I wanted to share my experience from both games.

Germany vs Paraguay 1(3)-1(4), Boston

Going into this game, I had a weird feeling Paraguay would win… and they did.

This game was one of the craziest things I've ever seen. The game started off as everyone expected, with Germany dominating possession. They had shots and made some crucial passes, but they still lacked something special. The interesting thing with Germany is that they have a great squad, not an amazing squad. Players like Musiala, Kimmich, Neuer, Undav, and even Havertz are playing across the best leagues in Europe and show why they are crucial star players. That said, I do believe they are missing a key top 10-15 player in the world.

When you look at the best countries in the world, they have a player or players who are arguably top 10-15 in the world currently. For example:

And other players too. I haven't listed all of them, but you get the point. I feel like Germany doesn't have a star player. Musiala might be the closest thing, but I just think they need someone who can dictate a game. When Havertz scored that goal, it was a great goal, but again, he's inconsistent. For some reason, he will score in Champions League finals but then ghost in every other game possible.

The game was interesting. Germany kept trying to cross the ball, and it made sense because both Kai Havertz and Nick Woltemade are good aerial threats. Still, it felt like they weren't good enough.

After Paraguay scored the first goal, they played a low block, which makes sense. I think sometimes neutral fans don't like this style of play, but when you go against Germany, you don't really have a choice.

The most controversial thing about this game was the disallowed goal that Jonathan Tah scored. On corners, there is always one player whose job is to distract the keeper. That means being physical, pushing them, and trying to make space for the other players. Waldemar Anton was this player. He slightly pushed the keeper, and the keeper actually tripped himself. The most interesting thing about this goal was that nobody was protesting it. Not the Paraguayan fans, players, or keeper. This should've been a goal. And it doesn't make sense because Arsenal does this every game in the Premier League. It should've been a goal, and Germany should've won the game.

It went to penalties, and it was interesting. Both teams weren't amazing. The stutter step, I guess, is the new meta, but it never works. Penalties are one of those things where they can go for you or against you. It's luck. And Paraguay was luckier, but honestly, they were not the better team.

Germany needs to find a star player. I'm not sure if Kimmich can lead this team, and it's sad to see Neuer end his international career like this.

Amazing game to watch, as it went to extra time and penalties, and I genuinely had no idea who would win.

Belgium vs Egypt 1-1, Seattle

I was really excited for this game because Kevin De Bruyne is one of my favorite players ever, and I even wore his Man City jersey to the game. Growing up as a City fan, it has always been a goal of mine to see him play live, and he was great. The atmosphere was genuinely amazing. Both the Belgium and Egyptian fans were insane. The Belgium fans were the Belgian Red Devils, but the Egyptians were the Pharaohs. The atmosphere and weather were perfect.

Talking about the game in detail, it was very interesting. Even though Belgium was the favorite to win the tournament, they didn't look like it.

The main thing about Belgium was that they had a lot of possession, but they didn't even play their striker, Lukaku. While Romelu Lukaku is one of those inconsistent players in this team, KDB thrives on having a striker to feed the ball to. At Man City, he had the likes of Agüero and Haaland. Lukaku might not be on that caliber of striker, but by no means is he a bum. As soon as he got subbed onto the pitch, he scored. Well, it was an own goal, but it was basically his goal.

Mohamed Salah is slowly fading, in my opinion, and it is hard to say. Growing up watching the Premier League, Mo Salah was one of the best players I've ever seen kick a football. He can do anything and everything. However, it genuinely feels like he's not on the pitch. It feels like he's running out of gas and barely surviving. No creativity, low confidence, and just not showing up. One of Salah's main playstyles is running down the wing with his pace and dribbling past players. However, I'm not sure if he's losing that pace or trying to conserve more stamina, because he isn't doing that anymore.

For example, the most important player for Belgium is Jeremy Doku. He is such a hard player to defend because you don't know if he's going to cut inside or outside, shoot, or cross. And guess what? He's ridiculously fast. One of my favorite things about Doku is that he isn't a pass-first type of player. Most wingers in this generation have become inverted wingers, trying their best to keep the ball and find the optimal pass so they don't lose possession and get counterattacked. Doku constantly tries to take on his defender, and he's comfortable failing. Most wingers don't have that confidence anymore because it's risky.

Overall, this game was great to watch live. However, in my opinion, I don't think either team will go far. Belgium plays Senegal and Egypt plays Australia in the round of 32. I think both teams need to heavily rely on their star players to play with full confidence.