World Cup 2022 - Qatar (with SR Pick'Em league)

Todays matches are very interesting to me.

On paper Croatia and Japan seem the most balanced match of the round of 16. Japan is very interesting in that they only had an advantage in possession in their loss to Costa Rica. In their wins they were dominated in possession. Against Germany they had 26% possession, and against Spain a mere 17%. Croatia on the other hand has been close to even in TOP with their opponents outside of dominating the ball in their draw with Morocco... the only match they did not win in the group stage. Japan has beaten two stronger sides and I could very well see them advancing over the 2018 runner up.


Brasil vs South Korea seems less compelling on the surface, but I think this is the best chance of a major upset in the tournament. First I will go out there and say that CONMEBOL has underperformed their pre-WC expectations, I expected better out of both Eucador and Uruguay. I may be undervaluing Brasil's defense a bit, as they only conceded 3 shots on target in the group stage, all to Cameroon, in a match that came after they secured advancement. However Brasil's attack, to my uneducated eye, works best when they control possession in the middle to lower 3rd of the pitch and extend and expend their opponent chasing the ball while they build up to strike... but in neither of their wins did they have the sort of possession discrepancy you would expect them to hold over their (lesser) opponents. Brasil also has some "key" injuries you might say. On paper they got about an "easy" of a draw as is possible in the 16, and with either team that advances to the quarter finals... but something about them makes me believe they will fail to see the semis.