Group B brought us two draws in the first round. Canada managed to draw with Bosnia and Herzegovina on their home soil in Toronto, and later on, Qatar and Switzerland did the same in San Francisco. Coincidentally, both matches ended in a 1:1 draw, which makes their group tied, and everything can still change.

Canada- Bosnia and Herzegovina

Toronto’s BMO Stadium was the scene of a duel between hosts Canada and Bosnia and Herzegovina on June 13th. Both teams entered the game without their strongest assets- Bosnia’s diamond Edin Džeko was benched due to his shoulder problems, and Canada’s finest, Alphonso Davies, is still recovering from his hamstring injury. Nevertheless, each team managed just fine and was able to secure a point in the group opener.

Never mess with Bosnia’s defence

Bosnia’s key advantage is its defence line. Coach Sergej Barbarez decided that the starting formation would be 4-4-2, which provides defensive stability, and his choice of players in the last line was on point. Players like Nikola Katić and Tarik Muharemović proved themselves to be at the task level with their defences against Canadian sprinters. One of the most memorable defensive moments from this match was when Sead Kolašinac cleared the ball off the goal line, saving goalkeeper Vasilj from a certain goal. But otherwise, when Canada was in possession, Bosnian players were in a tightly packed block around their goal, which made it significantly more difficult for Canadians to score.

Canadians shooting cannons need configuring

Many expected that this match would end with a higher score in favor of Canada, and the statistics tell us so. The Canadians had a total of 22 chances to score – 13 shots on goal and 9 corners. However, they only scored one goal. That indicates that Canadian strikers should really work on their precision when finishing the carefully crafted action. Their speed and sprints across the field give them an advantage when countering, but that’s not enough when the finish is missing. Although not everything is as dark as it seems. The only goal they scored was scored after a very good action and through a tightly packed Bosnian block. Of course, luck had something to do ith it. The away side’s goalkeeper, Vasilj, could have saved that ball if he had been better positioned when the Canadians were passing the ball, but thanks to his misjudgment, the hosts still managed to get a point in the end.

Set piece goals

Just like Canadians, Bosnia and Herzegovina also had problems with scoring goals from open play. Their only goal was scored after a corner, where captain Kolašinac shot a long ball, and Jovo Lukić managed to head it into the goal. Not one Bosnian attempt after that ended in the Canadian net. This would indicate that Barbarez’s team has problems with creating chances in open play and scoring goals from there. An additional aggravating circumstance for them is that Canada had most of the possession (69%), so there were not too many opportunities to score a field goal. This could be a problem for Bosnia in the next round, where they face Switzerland, a team that also plays on possession and likes to keep the ball between their players.

Qatar- Switzerland

And 24 hours later, on the opposite side of the North American continent, Qatar faced Switzerland in the second match of the first round in group B. Unlike Bosnia and Canada, both teams in this match started with their best players, Granit Xhaka and Akram Afif, respectively, in the first XI. But just like Bosnia and Canada, this match also ended with a draw.

Qatar should not be underestimated

After the last World Cup’s performance, when it finished the group stage in last place, Qatar wasn’t exactly coming to this tournament with a picture of a team that can make things complicated. Luckily, in the last four years, they managed to flip things around, and winning against Qatar proved to be tougher than the European team expected. One of their key advantages was their goalkeeper, Mahmud Abunada. Even though he caused and after did not save that unfortunate penalty, he still stood out with a large number of successful saves. But it’s not all about the goalkeeper, so their defensive line should be thanked for not conceding more goals from open play.

Are the Swiss “precise as the Swiss”?

The Swiss were dominating the game against Qatar, and all statistics are in their favour. They had 69% of ball possession, 10 corners, 26 total shots, and 6 big chances, but they haven’t scored a goal from open play. The only goal they managed to score was after Abunada fouled Freuler. The Swiss hero who secured the lead was forward Breel Embolo, but even he couldn’t do much against the Qatari defense. Many Swiss attacking attempts were stopped either by Abunada or by one of the Qatari defenders, or they were so imprecise that they missed the goal entirely. Of course, this tells us a great deal about Qatar’s strong defence, but also about Switzerland’s imprecision. Their next match is against Bosnia and Herzegovina, who, just like Qatar, rely on their defenders and goalkeeper, so unless Switzerland “fixes” their attacking strategy, we’ll likely witness a scenario similar to this one.

Conclusion

Switzerland and Canada arrived in San Francisco and Toronto as clear favourites, but Qatar and Bosnia and Herzegovina showed more than most expected before the matches. Both “favourites” had many opportunities to score goals, but their lack of precision and the defensive tactics devised by the coaches of Qatar and Bosnia and Herzegovina made those opportunities go to waste. Switzerland is facing Džeko’s Bosnia on June 18th at 12:00 PDT, and Qatar will try to defeat Davies’ Canada on June 19th at 15:00 PDT, so we will see whether they have learned something from the first round.