Kansas City has delivered World Cup excellence. Here’s the remaining slate
Two remarkable group-stage games down for Kansas City, two to go, then a pair of knockout-round games.
That’s what’s left on the FIFA World Cup calendar for games at Kansas City (Arrowhead) Stadium, and the remaining contests will have to work to reach the entertainment value of what we’ve seen.
The group-stage games remaining: Netherlands vs. Tunisia in Group F on Thursday at 6 p.m. and Austria vs. Algeria at 9 p.m. Saturday in Group J.
Of those teams, Tunisia is the only one that cannot advance to the Round of 32. The other three are favored to get there, according to a bracket forecast in the New York Times.
Kansas City will be the site of a Round of 32 game on July 3 that will match the winner of Group K against a third-place team from Groups D, E, I, J or L. The projected Group K winner is either Portugal or Colombia.
According to the forecast, the third-place team with the best chance of coming to Kansas City is Ghana, at 39%. Others in the mix include Croatia (21%) and Senegal (11%).
A favorite to play in the quarterfinal on July 11 is Argentina.
A high standard already has been set in Kansas City. In the opening game last Tuesday, Lionel Messi scored his first World Cup hat trick in Argentina’s 3-0 victory over Algeria.
On Saturday, Curacao, a heavy underdog to Ecuador, rode a hot goalkeeper to a 0-0 draw, notching the first point for the island nation in its World Cup debut. Eloy Room’s 15 saves set an event record in a shutout over 90 minutes.
Another record: Curacao became the smallest nation in size and population to notch a World Cup point.
“I never played in this stadium,” Room said after the match. “But it felt good to me, so I think this is going to be my favorite city now.”