With the 2018 FIFA World Cup less than 250 days away, the race is on to find the 32 teams that will knock it out in the Group stage. And good or bad, there has been no dearth of heart-in-my-throat moments, for, to paraphrase the American musician Frank Zappa, how can you be a real country unless you have some kind of football team?
Here are the top five surprises from the qualifier rounds till date.
Argentina almost not getting through the qualifiers
Can you imagine a World Cup without Argentina? For a moment yesterday, it looked as if 2014’s runner-ups wouldn’t be boarding the plane to Russia. But, as always, when you least expect it, Lionel Messi to the rescue. The 30-year-old scored his 44th career hat-trick to nudge them to a 3-1 victory, prompting the Argentinian coach Jorge Sampaoli to say “Messi does not owe Argentina a World Cup, but rather football owes him a World Cup.”
Netherlands not making it to the top 32
While at one end, fans rejoiced over Argentina’s entry to Putin’s land, the atmosphere was subdued when the Netherlands captain Arjen Robben announced his retirement from international football after the Dutch team failed to qualify for the 21st World Cup. The team, which holds the record for playing most number of world cups without actually winning the tournament (they lost to Germany in 1974, Argentina in 1978, and most recently, Spain in 2010), failed to make it to the qualifiers despite winning 2-0 to Sweden.
Netherlands' forward Arjen Robben acknowledges the fans following their FIFA World Cup 2018 football, Group A, qualification match between the Netherlands and Sweden at the Amsterdam Arena in Amsterdam | Photo Credit: AFP
Iceland in!
In a first, Iceland with a population of about 350,000 people (for context, this slightly more than half of Sikkim’s population), became the smallest country in the world to qualify in the FIFA World Cup. The previous smallest country to have reached the World Cup was Trinidad & Tobago (population of 1.3 million) in 2006. The island nation, whose coach was a part-time dentist, won 2-0 over Kosovo to secure a spot in the top 32.
Panama in, amidst a cloud of criticism
In another first, Panama too cleared the qualifiers, though not without its fair share of controversy. Panamanian striker Gabriel Torres’s opening header looked as if it did not clear the mark, but the referee allowed it, facilitating a 2-1 win against Costa Rica. Even though the referee’s decision was widely criticized, it was a proud moment for the fans and even prompted the President of Panama Juan Carlos Varela to declare a national holiday!
“It is a historic day for the country. Tomorrow will be free for the public and private sector workers,” the President tweeted, before following it up with a picture of him signing the decree declaring the holiday.
USA loses its spot
Life is full of ups and downs. The Unites States football team found this out the hard way when, after a 4-0 win against Panama which almost assured them of their spot in the top 32, they lost 2-1 to Trinidad and Tobago. The fact that they would have got into the Group stage if not for Omar Gonzalez’s own goal in the 17’ added insult to injury. This is the first time since 1986 that the American side is missing a World Cup.