World Cup staying Messi Collusion in Russia? France and Denmark advance after purposeful draw.»
Marcos Rojo of Argentina celebrates with teammate Lionel Messi after scoring his team's second goal Tuesday during the FIFA World Cup in St. Petersburg, Russia. The 2-1 victory over Nigeria advanced Argentina to the knockout round.
MOSCOW» Fans hated the battle of backpasses that the DenmarkFrance World Cup match devolved into, and they probably will watch more teams collude when soccer’s showcase expands to 48 teams.
The sellout crowd at Luzhniki Stadium started booing early in the second half, angry that two talented teams were passing the ball back to goalkeepers and refusing to go on the attack. It was a throwback to the 1982 “Disgrace of Gijon,” which pushed FIFA to run group finales at the same time so teams wouldn’t know what they needed to do to advance.
That didn’t work Tuesday as word spread that Peru was beating Australia, meaning Denmark and France were safe, even when the game ended 00.
No great Danes here, even though Denmark earned a berth in the round of 16 against Croatia.
Vive la France? Hardly, despite Les Bleus winning their group for the second straight World Cup and advancing to a secondround matchup vs. Argentina.
“It was a shame,” said Alison Elias, a 34yearold from Puebla, Mexico, who watched from the upper deck. “We were actually expecting a nice game. They knew that Peru was winning, so there wasn’t much at stake. Well, it was fun to be there. And let’s see what happens in the next round.”
FIFA decided to expand the World Cup from 32 nations to 48 starting in 2026, when the tournament will be hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Adding a dozen weaker teams will probably produce more groupstage blowouts. And the expansion forces a format switch making collusion more likely in a sport known for shenanigans.
In 2026, two teams will advance from each of 16three nation groups. One country will be done with group play before the other two meet in the finale. If neither team needs a win, well, you know what to expect.
World Cup groupstage finales have been played simultaneously since 1986, a change instituted after West Germany and Austria played listlessly four years earlier, knowing a German win by one or two goals would advance both countries and eliminate Algeria, which had beaten Chile the day before. Horst Hrubesch scored in the 10th minute, and attackers pretty much took a siesta for the rest of the evening. West Germany’s 10 win caused a protest by Algeria, which FIFA dismissed.
A similar mindset was in place Tuesday. France began the day with six points, Denmark four, Australia one and Peru none. Australia needed to win and overcome a minustwo disadvantage in goal difference. Andre Carillo put Peru ahead in the 18th minute, and when Paolo Guerrero doubled the lead in the 50th, Denmark’s offense vanished like the ghost of Hamlet’s father.
“At the end, when it’s 10 minutes left, of course, you’re going to keep on your feet and just avoid in the air really dangerous things,” star Danish midfielder Christian Eriksen said. “Yeah, we got what we wanted. Probably from the fans, it was a bit disappointing, of course. But I’ll make sure if they come to the next game it will be much more exciting.”
Denmark extended its unbeaten streak to 18 matches dating to October 2016. Coach Age Hareide admitted his strategy was play for a draw.
“We didn’t need to take any risk given that they wanted this result,” said French coach Didier Deschamps, a member of the 1998 champions.
FIFA should worry that mindset becomes more common.