The 2018 World Cup has seen plenty of thrills and spills, goals and saves already, but it’s been largely marked by physicality and narrow, binary scorelines. As often said in Brazil these days, there are no fools in football anymore.
Among the 32 teams at play on the world’s biggest stage, very few have managed to stand out and even fewer have been truly convincing of their quality so far. The hosts, Russia have the best goalscoring form of the competition, with 8 goals in 2 games against Saudi Arabia and Egypt, and Croatia, of all teams, have perhaps been the most impressive, with multi-goal wins and two clean sheets kept against Nigeria and Argentina.
Two of the biggest favorites, and the two featuring the most Chelsea representation, are Belgium and England, both in Group G and both starting with solid victories over Panama and Tunisia, respectively.
On the key players in England’s 2-1 win was Chelsea midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who leveraged his excellent season on loan at Crystal Palace to a World Cup spot at the tender age of 22. And while he didn’t start against Tunisia, his 10-minute cameo was decisive and has led to calls for more minutes, especially with Dele Alli ruled out through injury. A leaked lineup has RLC penciled in, and manager Gareth Southgate, who’s worked with the youngster since the U21s, did not dissuade that notion with recent praise.