Verdict for Group F:
The next highly regarded European team, Belgium, got eliminated in the group stage. This was the most watchable 0-0 at this WC, but it didn't have to be, if only Lukaku had remembered how to score goals. Just like Denmark in group D, Belgium scored only one goal in three games. They got away with a lucky win against Canada, were harmless against Morocco and then inefficient against Croatia. This makes it hard to feel bad for them.
Morocco winning the group was the biggest surprise of the WC up until that point. This is the result of strong play on their own and performances of Belgium and Croatia that fell far short of expectations, both in general play and goals scored. Canada is the second team after Qatar to go out with 0 points and they'll also be the last to do so.
11 goals scored, including two 0-0 games. Weak.
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Verdict for Group E:
After the first halves of each final game it looked like an almost sure thing that Spain and Germany would advance, but then things got turned upside down quickly. While Germany fought back after trailing against Costa Rica, Spain was more or less content with a close loss; after all, the actual period of Spain sitting at #3 lasted only about one minute. On one hand it was a rather shameful advance in the round of 16 by Spain, but on the other hand the Germans go home, so it's not all bad.
Japan remains a bag of surprise where you never know what you'll get. Their prize is a match against Croatia while a progressively worse Spain gets the seemingly easier game against Morocco and the easiest path to the semifinals in general. Costa Rica was a puzzling participant where one had to wonder how they even made it to the WC, but they were oddly competitive in their final game after getting a perplexing win against Japan before.
22 goals scored combined with the craziest results and ups and downs. Amazing.
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Performance per continent:
North America reaches a final result of 25% which looks bad on the surface, but Mexico fell only one goal short of making it to the round of 16.
Africa: 2/3 - 67%
Asia: 2/5 - 40%
Europe: 6/10 - 60%
North America: 1/4 - 25%
South America: 1/2 - 50%
Legend11 correctly predicted that GTA IV will outsell Super Smash Bros. Brawl. I was wrong.
