The 2018 FIFA World Cup is down to only four teams vying for the most important trophy in the wide world of soccer.
This weekend marked the end of the road for Brazil and the hosts, confirmation for the ever-hyped England, Belgium and France, and another extra time effort for Croatia.
Ring in the final week of Russia 2018 with another weekend edition of 90 Minutes’ Top Five.
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1. Too little, too late
Brazil may have played their best 45 minutes of the 2018 World Cup and showcased the kind of soccer that had them pegged as favorites to win the trophy, but it was simply too late.
The five-time world champions suffered another early elimination at the hands of Belgium on Friday, failing to even repeat their performance from Brazil 2014 in which they made the semifinals before crashing out spectacularly against Germany.
Just when Brazil seemed to hit their stride with an impressive performance against Mexico in the Round of 16, the side coached by Tite failed to perform for 45 minutes and that did them in.
Roberto Martinez went with a starting XI featuring the players that led the comeback against Japan, picking up right where they left off by notching two goals in the first half, which proved too much for Brazil to overcome.
It took Renato Augusto coming off the bench for Brazil to click together and put on their best performance of the tournament in the second half, but the ‘Canarinha’ crashed against an unbreakable wall time and time again: Thibaut Courtois.
The Chelsea goalkeeper had himself a stellar night, saving shot after shot when Brazil steamrolled their way into this box consistently. A team with such talent as Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku, all who had a stellar night themselves, now have Courtois at a world-class level behind them.
If Belgium seemed scary on paper, they look even scarier after a historic win for the “golden generation.”
As for Brazil, the title drought will reach its 20-year anniversary come Qatar 2022. Russia 2018 seemed to be the year for them after the 2014 fiasco. How will they respond this time?
2. Beat them at their own game
If the victory over Colombia was England getting over the proverbial hump, this weekend’s win is the establishment of a legitimate player on the international level.
England added another chapter to their incredible story with a 2-0 victory over tournament darlings Sweden, reaching their first semifinal since Italy 1990.
But the victory alone is not the story of the day. The way the did it makes even more impressive.
Sweden entered the game as a team full of confidence and momentum, having overcome Germany, Mexico, South Korea and Switzerland to get to this point. They proved to be more than just the team that eliminated Italy from the World Cup by only scoring one goal.
On this day, however, one of Sweden’s best weapons -aerial balls- was their undoing against England.
Dele Alli and Harry Maguire, one of the unlikely heroes of this English campaign, both scored off headers to seal the victory against a Swedish side that lack that same confidence that carried them to Saturday’s game.
Gareth Southgate and England have transformed from a team discarded by most, to being on the brink of one of the most unlikely of World Cup victories ever.
3. Character built
It takes character to defeat a team like Uruguay at a World Cup.
It takes even more character to do so in commanding fashion.
The latter is just what France did on Friday, eliminating Uruguay from Russia 2018 in their best performance of this tournament.
France entered this World Cup with the same rhetoric surrounding them for the last four years: plenty of talent but lacking character.
On Friday, ‘Les Bleus’ took a giant step into fulfilling their incredible potential by outplaying a rough-and-tough side like Uruguay, something this generation of French players had not done at this level.
They did get some help from Fernando Muslera, who pulled off a Loris Karius to make it 2-0. But that cannot overshadow an impressive team effort by France, led by standout performances by Antoine Griezmann and Hugo Lloris.
Up next, Didier Deschamps’ team faces a more finesse-based side in Belgium. Should France bring out that toughness from Friday, they could very well be on their way to a second World Cup trophy.
4. Party like it’s 1998
Speaking of a talented team that couldn’t win the big one, that is no longer the case for Croatia.
The generation that was notorious for the nonsense happened off the field than on it finally live up to their billing by beating Russia and reaching the World Cup semifinals on Saturday.
The victory required another 120-minute effort plus penalty kicks against a valiant Russian side, overcoming the hosts by being mentally stronger more than by outplaying them.
Croatia outlasted the Russian despite injuries to Danijel Subasic and Sime Versaljko, as well as an erroneous initial strategy by coach Zlatko Dalic. If anything, such a talented team has survived more than thrived in the knockout stages.
But these types of tournaments sometimes are won by simply surviving and advancing, as Portugal did in Euro 2016. Croatia only need to survive two more matches to conquer the promised land.
5. Goal of the Weekend
We brought up Romelu Lukaku and Kevin De Bruyne earlier. Here is a perfect example of their performance on Friday against Brazil.
The Manchester rivals combined for another devastating Belgian counterattack, but with their roles reversed as Lukaku made a fantastic run to set up De Bruyne for the second and, ultimately, winning goal to send the Red Devils to the World Cup semifinals
