So it ends. The Group Stage of the 2018 FIFA World Cup is over and with it, the dreams of 16 different teams of lifting the trophy. The eliminated teams range from first-timers Iceland and Panama to defending champions Germany. Some of these teams were completely inept (Panama), others fought valiantly but did not have the required talent (Iceland and Peru), while some put in great performances and barely missed out on the knockout stages. It is the latter set of teams that will be discussed.
It should be noted that Germany are missing from this list. While their elimination was indeed heartbreaking for German fans as they held out hope until the final minutes, there is nothing ‘heartbreaking’ for the neutral about the exit of a (slightly complacent) defending champion. Instead, this list will focus on teams that won our heart with brave performances despite adversity and still did not make the knockout stages:
5 Morocco
It is true that Morocco were eliminated even before the last round of matches and thus their elimination wasn’t as gut-wrenching as the others on this list. However, there were few eliminated teams in the tournament that played better football than the Moroccans.
In their first game vs Iran, the African team dominated the match as they had more shots (13 to 9), possession (68% to 32%), pass success (81% to 58%), dribbles (10 to 8) and corners (5-2) than their rivals. Nonetheless, the Moroccans failed to convert their chances and this cost them dearly as Iran nicked the game due to an injury-time own goal.
What was even more impressive was how Morocco recovered from their heart-breaking loss as they faced a Portugal team led by Cristiano Ronaldo. The Moroccans battled valiantly as the likes of Nordin Amrabat and Younes Belhanda caused countless problems for the Portuguese defence.
4 Serbia
Serbia do not strike one as a typical plucky underdog. One of their centre-backs Branislav Ivanovic is a Premier League legend who won every English and European trophy there is to win while playing for Chelsea.
Their midfield heartbeat is Nemanja Matic, a player in his prime who has played for two of Europe’s biggest clubs in Chelsea and Manchester United. They have one of Europe’s biggest talents in Sergej Milinkovic-Savic. They also include players from European giants like Liverpool, Benfica, Roma and Villareal.
3 Iran
While undoubtedly lucky in their first game against Morocco, anyone who understood the Iranian team’s backstory could not help feel sympathy after their elimination from the group stages. This was a team full of enigmatic individuals who overcame all sorts of adversity to get here. Perhaps the best example of this is their goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand once fled his home to pursue his footballing dreams, living on the streets of Teheran. Other examples include Sardar Azmoun, Saeed Ezatolahi, Karim Ansarifard, Masoud Shojaei and Ramin Rezaeian- all of whom overcame controversy and adversity to get to Russia.
2 Nigeria
In the immediate aftermath of the Nigeria-Argentina game, a vast majority of the footballing world was celebrating. Argentina had made the knockout stages and that meant that the magician that is Lionel Messi could continue to weave his magic in the tournament.
Yet, what was forgotten in all the hoopla was the heartbreak faced by the Nigerian team. Finally possessing a team with a mix of experience (John Obi Mikel/Victor Moses) and youthful exuberance (Alex Iwobi/Kelachi Iheanacho), big things were expected of Nigeria in this World Cup.
1 Senegal
The defensive dominance of Kalidou Koulibaly and Salif Sane. The midfield solidity of Cheikhou Kouyate and Idrissa Gueye. Exciting wingers like Ismalia Sarr and Keith Balde. A star striker in Sadio Mane. An exciting young manager in Aliou Cisse. Senegal had all that a non-European, non-South American team could have. Even more importantly, they had a tactical system that worked for their personnel and a team spirit that was obvious to anyone who watched them play.