The 2018 World Cup has got off to a rather perplexing start. This edition of the tournament follows a season of European football in which we saw the big clubs win all the big pots and pans, to quote the legend that surrounds Brian Clough. The financial gulf that exists between them and the lesser clubs was more apparent than ever on the football pitch. In stark contrast to that, the traditional strong hands have fallen limp in the first round of matches at this World Cup.
Argentina’s grossly unbalanced squad makes them vulnerable against any decent counter attacking team but few would have bet on Iceland holding them to a draw despite conceding first. Spain encountered a purring Cristiano Ronaldo who had only a few touches on the ball but made almost every one of them count. The squads that Germany and Brazil possessed looked too good to be true on paper; they fell short as soon as they were taken out of it. France managed to scrape through against Australia and England did the same against Tunisia, surprisingly enough considering their penchant for bottling in major tournaments regardless of the opposition. Belgium looked the only team that could live up to their place in the top three of the FIFA rankings. 2014 quarter finalists Colombia became the only South American team to lose to an Asian team at a World Cup. Senegal beat Poland 2-1 and in the ongoing second round of matches, Spain could only manage a hard-fought 1-0 win over Iran.
These results have not only given a sense of unpredictability to the tournament, but also sent out a message that the World Cup remains in good health.
Underdogs are hence the overwhelming majority in all forms of professional football and the game is infused with a sense of freshness when one of them reach up and grab a golden apple. This hasn’t happened often at the international stage with the only case of an underdog truly challenging the big guns in the World Cup the way Leicester City did in the 2015/16 Premier League and the Champions League in the subsequent season, being that of Senegal in 2002. The West African country was making its first ever World Cup appearance and the team made it all the way to the quarter finals, beating defending champions France along the way.