Photo credit Myroslava Terlecky
headway. Group B was in contrast the most one sided group of all with both Germany and Norway being far too strong for Thailand and Ivory Coast. Germany won the group on goal
difference from Norway largely helped by a 10-0
win over the Ivory Coast in their opening game. The 1-1 draw between Germany and Norway was one of the better of the first round while
Thailand’s 3-2 win over the Ivory Coast was one of the most entertaining.
Holders Japan won all three matches in group
C as expected but what was not expected was
Cameroon beating Switzerland to second place
and becoming the only African side to make the second round. The Swiss did however scrape
through in 3rd place. Group D was another
very competitive group which was won by the USA with Australia upsetting the form-book
to finish second. Sweden drew all 3 games to
also qualify for the second round. Brazil led the way in group E with a 100% record with
South Korea in second. Spain finished bottom
of the group, only getting one point and thus becoming one of the biggest disappointments
of the whole tournament. France won group F but only after being on the end of the biggest
shock result of the tournament when they lost to 2-0 to Columbia. England took second spot with Columbia in 3rd. Second round Most of the last 16 games were close as
the action started to hot up. Canada beat
Switzerland 1-0 to set up a last eight clash with
England who came from behind to stun Norway late on. Australia won a knockout game for the
first time at a World Cup beating Brazil 1-0. This
booked a date with Japan in the quarter finals who had eased past the Netherlands 2-1. Over on the other side of the draw Germany thrashed
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