Qatar Data: Senegal, USA and England secure spots in World Cup last 16
The hosts Qatar knew that their game against the Netherlands would also be their last. They were keen to put on a show but the Dutch won comfortably 2-0 with Cody Gakpo and Frenkie De Jong on the scoresheet.
The Dutch didn't have their best outing against Qatar, but you can still see with the heatmap of Gakpo how active he was in the match. He is only the second player in history to open the scoring in every group game. And at the same time, he has done it differently every time - once with his head, once with his left foot and against Qatar with his right foot.
It probably won't surprise you that the Dutch dominated every other metric of the match. For example, they had 12 shots on goal to Qatar's six. And they could have won by a bigger margin, but VAR overturned one goal when it was revealed Gakpo handled it in the build-up.
See Netherlands vs Qatar at Flashscore
The second game of Group A was the one to decide who would qualify for the last 16. It didn't bring many scoring opportunities, but there were three goals. Senegal defeated Ecuador 2-1 to advance out of the World Cup group stage for the first time in 20 years.
The match statistics show that the Ecuadorians had more possession of the ball, but the Lions of Teranga were more active in front of goal. They scored two goals from just three shots between the sticks to become the first African team to beat any South American side at the World Cup since 1990. In that time, the two continents have played against each other 21 times.
Chelsea defender and national team captain Kalidou Koulibaly was Senegal's hero. He scored the winner - his first-ever goal for his national team. It could not have come at a more important time and overall he performed impressively as confirmed by his other statistics.
See Ecuador vs Senegal at Flashscore
The Welsh knew before their derby game against England that they would need to win by a big margin to advance. But instead of pressing the English goal, they sat back from the start and it backfired in the second half when England's three goals decided the game.
Gareth Bale hasn't fulfilled his role as a Welsh star man throughout the tournament and the game against England only confirmed that. He lasted only 45 minutes on the pitch due to a thigh injury and Wales never managed to get the ball in England's penalty area during the game. Bale's heatmap proves he wasn't dangerous in the slightest.
The story of the match is clearly demonstrated by the development of the expected goals. England had been in control of the game, and after the break they ran riot, scoring goals and creating chances. In this game alone England created a higher xG than an innocuous Wales side throughout the tournament.
See England vs Wales at Flashscore
The USA vs Iran match had strong political overtones in addition to the sporting drama. The Iranians were fighting for a chance to unexpectedly advance out of the group and unlike Wales against England, they didn't go defensive against the USA. But they lost anyway, with Christian Pulisic’s goal deciding the game.
The winning goal was assisted by Sergino Dest, who was very active on the right side and involved in a lot of the American action. Check out the overview of all of his passes. Let's add another interesting fact - the first 26 passes in the game by Dest found his teammates and the 26th was the goal.
So we know the first two round of 16 games of the World Cup in Qatar. The Netherlands will play the United States, who were guided by Serginho Dest, a native of the Netherlands, while England will take on Senegal. Stay tuned and look forward to our next summary again tomorrow morning. See you then.
