Olivia Thompson's World Cup Round Up So Far

The Liberty Guild’s CFO Olivia Thompson was previously a semi-pro footballer, reigning as captain of Queens Park Rangers Ladies team. Not losing her passion for the games and with her years of experience and expertise of the sport, Olivia gives us her insights and hot takes on all the action at the 2022 QATAR world cup.

We started the day with Switzerland vs. Cameroon. Cameroon knew a loss would mean that they’ll match the worst winless run in World Cup history having lost 8 consecutive games in the competition, their last win in 2002. Unfortunately for them, Switzerland's Breel Embolo secured their 1-0 victory, but his celebrations were muted as a sign of respect to Cameroon, his country of birth. 

Next up was Uruguay vs South Korea. Uruguay combining Liverpool's’ past and present with Suarez and Nunez up top, whilst South Korea were reliant on the 5(!!) Kims to defend their chances of progressing past the group stages. A goalless draw with Valverde hitting the upright was as exciting as it got, not even Spurs’ masked Son Heung-min could liven it up.

In the previous 64 World Cup matches we have had just one 0-0 draw, already in Qatar we have had four. Let's hope this tournament is not as dry as the desert air….. 

The penultimate game of the day saw the most talked about man in football open the scoring with a penalty. Christiano Ronaldo's Portugal secured their first win of the World Cup with a 3-2 win over Ghana. It was a nail biting finish with Ghanaian Inaki Williams cheekily hiding behind the Portuguese goal to steal the ball, only to slip at the vital moment, a slip almost as costly as Gerard’s in Liverpool's 2014 title race hopes. 

The final match saw Brazil beat Serbia 2-0. Whilst Serbia were doing their best to rule Neymar out for the rest of the competition, a Richarlison masterclass gave the FIFA No. 1 ranked nation in the world an opening World Cup victory in a dominant display.