The opening round of fixtures from the World Cup are now in the books, and there has been plenty to sieve through. Each of Spain, Brazil, Portugal, the Netherlands, and Belgium were all shockingly held to draws in results that no doubt ruined plenty of bet slips. But for Crystal Palace supporters, perhaps the most important result came on the final evening of the opening round of games as England kicked off their campaign with an emphatic victory.
A brace from captain Harry Kane, as well as second-half strikes from Jude Bellingham and Marcus Rashford, sealed an impressive 4-2 win against perennial banana skin Croatia, handing Thomas Tuchel’s men the perfect start. In fact, the result was so impressive that online betting sites have since slashed odds on the Three Lions going all the way this summer. Prior to their opener kicking off, England were way out at 15/2, but the latest Bovada World Cup betting odds now make them a 6/1 second-favourite, with only 4/1 frontrunners France considered more likely champions.
Les Bleus famously have two Palace players in their squad in the form of Jean-Philippe Mateta and Maxence Lacroix, neither of whom featured in France’s 3-1 opening day win against Senegal. But which Eagles shone in the opening round of fixtures? Let’s take a look.
Daniel Munoz Gets Colombia Off to the Perfect Start
The Crystal Palace duo of Daniel Munoz and Jefferson Lerma had to wait until the very last game of the opening round to finally strut their stuff for Colombia, but boy, was it worth the wait. Expectations were high for the Los Cafeteros following their run to the Copa America final two years ago, and with both Bayern Munich’s Luis Diaz and Sporting CP’s Luis Suarez in the form of their life, there’s a feeling around this team that something special could be in the offing.
Munoz, in particular, wasted no time in ensuring that those expectations were met. The Palace right back opened the scoring for Colombia in their 3-1 victory against debutants Uzbekistan, netting a stunning volley after fine work from the aforementioned Diaz. Lerma, meanwhile, delivered a more workmanlike display in central midfield, doing much of the dirty work without serious recognition.
Things could have ended very differently for the Colombians, though. The underdog White Wolves — managed by Italian World Cup winner Fabio Cannavaro — struck back on the hour mark through Istanbul Basaksehir striker Abbosbek Fayzullaev, and for five minutes, they dared to dream of a famous upset. Then, Diaz extinguished those dreams when he slotted Colombia back in front, and from there, they never looked back.
Rosario Central attacker Jaminton Campaz sealed all three points with an injury-time goal, securing a 3-1 win for the Colombians and top spot in Group K following Portugal’s shock 1-1 draw with DR Congo hours prior. Munoz’s display would probably secure him a spot in the Team of the Round.
Chris Richards Anchors Stunning US Display
Did any national team head into the World Cup with more unjustifiably high expectations than the USA? The Stars and Stripes are hosting the vast majority of this tournament, and both sports media and supporters in the Land of the Free genuinely feel that Mauricio Pochettino’s men could win the tournament. Most neutral observers think such a triumph would be one of the biggest upsets of all time, but regardless, the team must now somehow find a way to make good on the lofty expectations.
Should the USMNT have any success at all at this tournament, then Palace’s central defender, Chris Richards, will be imperative. The Eagles behemoth has proved to be one of the stars of Selhurst Park over the last two years, and he carried that form into the US’s opener against Paraguay, proving to be a rock at the heart of the defence and allowing the wealth of attacking talent ahead of him to shine.
With Captain America himself, Christian Pulisic shining, the Stars and Stripes ran out with a stunning 4-1 win in their opener against Paraguay at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. The Americans were 3-0 up at halftime after a brace from former Arsenal youngster Folarin Balogun and an own goal from Damián Bobadilla, with Richards and veteran defensive partner Tim Ream looking watertight.
In the second half, that defense was breached when attacking midfielder Maurício netted a well-taken left-footed strike, but Paraguay never truly looked like getting back in the game. Gio Reyna scored perhaps the pick of the goals deep into injury time, handing the Americans a 4-1 win and providing Richards and Co. the perfect platform upon which to build. But turning that perfect start into a genuine assault on the famous gold trophy still seems somewhat unlikely.
