Others that had started off with goals, such as Spain, were left at the point of finishing second.

And others, on the other hand, that had started very badly, such as Argentina, Morocco and Japan, losing in their debut against Saudi Arabia, have recovered and have ended up qualifying with winners in the result and in the game, finishing winners of their groups.

But the most remarkable thing is that none of them, not even the top candidates, got the 9 points that would mean three victories. The top scorers were the Netherlands, England and Morocco. Consequently, they were the only undefeated teams in this group.

Even Brazil itself (today with an alternative team) with 6 points shared that score with Switzerland, which it surpassed only by goal difference. A system that, on the other hand, led to the elimination of Mexico, Germany and Uruguay.

Uruguay defeats Ghana, but still leaves Qatar 2022.

Giorgian De Arrascaeta's two goals were not enough to qualify, after South Korea defeated Portugal in the last minute.

The Uruguay national soccer team was eliminated on Friday (02.12.2022) from the Qatar 2022 World Cup despite defeating Ghana 2-0. Giorgian de Arrascaeta's two goals were not enough for the South American team, once a world power, to advance to the next stage, as South Korea defeated Portugal and obtained the same number of points as La Celeste, but with a higher number of goals scored.

Uruguay had not been knocked out in the first round since the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan. In Qatar, the team coached by Diego Alonso opened with a draw against South Korea (0-0) and then lost to Portugal (2-0), so they were forced to beat Ghana, but they also needed a draw or a defeat of the South Korean team. In other words, their fate did not depend entirely on their performance.

In need of the victory that had eluded them in this tournament, Alonso opted for a 4-4-2 with the talented 'Cocho' De Arrascaeta starting for the first time in the World Cup and Suárez and Darwin Núñez in attack, leaving Edinson Cavani -who made some controversial statements about the coach- on the substitutes' bench. Cavani would replace Suárez in the second half.

Uruguay's spirits were boosted after goalkeeper Sergio Rochet saved a penalty in the 17th minute. The penalty was taken by André Ayew, the sole survivor of the Black Stars' memorable quarter-final at South Africa 2010, when Uruguay eliminated the Africans on penalties, losing a penalty in the last minute of extra time. 

However, the 2-0 scoreline ensured the South American team's qualification to the round of 16, until in the 90+1 minute Son Heung-min scored for South Korea in the match that was being played in parallel to define the destiny of Group H, scored the necessary points and, on the hour, when everything seemed ready, left Uruguay out of the tournament thanks to the Asians scoring more goals.

South Korea beat Portugal in agonizing fashion to reach the round of 16 at Qatar 2022.

The 'Tigers of the East' achieved their epic day after coming from behind against the Lusitanians to win 2-1 in stoppage time and seal their ticket to the World Cup finals, leaving Uruguay out. Kim Young-Gwon and Hwang Hee-Chan scored the goals.

Al Rayyan's Education City was the scene of a new World Cup coup: South Korea beat Portugal 2-1 after starting from behind and will have their place in the World Cup play-offs.

During the first half, Portugal showed its credentials as the best team in the group against an opponent that repeated its weaknesses in both areas. Fernando Santos' men struck at the beginning of the game.

In the fifth minute, Diogo Dalot climbed up the right flank, overflowed and assisted Ricardo Horta, who only had to push the ball into the small area to open the scoreboard.

However, as the minutes went by, Portugal felt the massive rotation (they made six changes to take advantage of the fact that qualification was assured) and did not find fluency when it came to handling the ball.

The opposite was the case for South Korea, who were strong from possession, but paid dearly for their offensive anemia and lack of variants. The marauding in Diogo Costa's area was changed by goal situations in the 27th minute, when Kim Young-Gwon found a loose ball after a corner kick and scored to make it 1-1.

With just a few advances from their star player, Cristiano Ronaldo, the Portuguese were able to reach Kim Seung-gyu's area, but without much danger.

In the second half, the Asians went in search of the goal they needed to qualify for the round of 16. Relying on their star player, Heung-Min Son, they cornered a lukewarm Portuguese team that was out of sync with the previous games.

While continuing to look out for players for the Round of 16, Santos sent Bernardo Silva on the field to try to make some sense on the pitch, but his team's disarray outweighed the quality of the Manchester City midfielder.

Even without laying siege to Costa's goal, the Asians insisted with aerial deliveries. However, the goal came from underneath. In the first minute of stoppage time, Korea regained the ball when Portugal was ready to counterattack and, on the edge of the box, Son slipped a superb pass to leave Hwang Hee-Chan one-on-one against the goalkeeper.

After the attacker's subtle finish, the Koreans took the lead for the first time in the match. There was little time for more. However, there was a gap of about ten minutes between Ghana and Uruguay in Al Janoub.

Switzerland won against Serbia in a hotly contested match to qualify.

At Stadium 974 and in the third matchday of Group G of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, Switzerland advanced to the round of 16 with a 3-2 win over Serbia, who were eliminated.

From the opening whistle, the match was a back-and-forth affair, with the midfield a transition zone in which both teams had plenty of space and opportunities to attack.

In this context, the large number of goals scored, which could have been even more, came as no surprise. Ten minutes into the first half, Andrija Zivkovic, who had tried from half distance, was denied a goal by the post.

In the 19th minute, assisted by Djibril Sow, Sherdan Shaqiri opened the scoring with a left-footed shot that deflected off Strahinja Pavlovic and made Vanja Milinkovic-Savic's attempt to react impossible. Switzerland took the lead.

Serbia's response was swift: in the 26th minute, Dusan Tadic lifted a perfect cross for Aleksandar Mitrovic, who appeared alone in the heart of the box and leveled the score with a remarkable header.

Dragan Stojkovic's men, aware that the equalizer was not enough, continued to attack and found themselves 2-1 up in the 34th minute, when Shaqiri made a mistake at the start. Tadic, in a great performance, looked for Dusan Vlahovic with a low pass that Remo Freuler failed to clear, and the Juventus striker gave his team the lead.

However, just before the break, Silvan Widmer broke down the right flank and set up Breel Embolo, who only had to push the ball in for the equalizer.

At the start of the second half, Murat Yakin's team went back in front thanks to a brilliant team move, which was crowned with a backheel by Ruben Vargas and a left-footed finish by Freuler to make it 3-2 for the Swiss.

Desperate for the result and pressed for time, Stojkovic brought on Nemanja Gudelj, Luka Jovic, Nemanja Maksimovic, Filip Djuricic and Nemanja Radonjic. In any case, his players lost clarity and went in search of a comeback with more drive than lucidity. They tried until the end, but were left empty-handed.

Towards the end, the match became a little heated with several crosses between the players of both teams, making the work of the Argentine referee Fernando Rapillini difficult, who had to intercede several times to calm the waters.

In the end it was a victory for Switzerland, which, despite Brazil's loss against Cameroon, finished in second place with six points, the same number as the Scratch, but with a worse goal difference. Switzerland just missed out on a goal to finish top of the table. Serbia finished last with just one point, while the African team finished third with four points.

Brazil's substitutes failed to make the grade against Cameroon.

The group stage of the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar could not end without a surprise. This time it happened at the Lusail Stadium, where Cameroon secured an agonizing and historic 1-0 win over Brazil.

With qualification assured, Tite decided to rest several of his regular starters in order to be fresh for the Round of 16. However, this worked against him.

Gabriel Martinelli was the only one who left a good impression during his time on the field in Doha, while others like Anthony or Gabriel Jesus, for example, did not make the necessary impression.

Dani Alves at least got to play in the match. Although the right back was not influential, he became the oldest Brazilian player to play in a World Cup match at 39 years and 210 days. Despite this experienced presence, the Scratch started with a starting lineup that averaged 27 years and 101 days, the youngest since the final against Germany in 2002 when they had a starting XI of 26 years and 236 days.

Returning to Martinelli, the Arsenal player had three shots on goal (the most in the Canarinha), four in total, made two key passes, won a foul at the end in which he had to be tackled like a rugby player and completed 79.2% of his 24 passes.

In total, according to Stats Perform data, there were 21 shots for the South American team and they still ended up with a clean sheet. This is the first time this has happened since 1994 against Italy.

Clearly, taking control of the ball was not a complicated task for Brazil, which was superior in the 90 minutes and even in the aggregate. But not winning leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Could it be that there is too much dependence on Neymar?

Well, who took the place of the Paris Saint-Germain '10' was Rodrygo, who touched the ball 44 times and released it with 28 deliveries for less than 80% efficiency in the midfield position, a key for the generation of play. At 55', after failing to convince, he came off in place of Éverton Ribeiro.

It remains to be seen how the Verdeamarelha will react to this historic defeat, as a false step now means going home. Their first opponents will be South Korea, who also surprised Portugal in Group H.

Source: FIFA.