RONALDO VERSUS MESSI

So who is the best player in the world? Well, on the evidence of the last two weeks, you’d have to put Cristiano Ronaldo ahead of Lionel Messi in their personal battle for global pre-eminence.

Messi has endured a wretched tournament so far, missing a penalty in Argentina’s opening game with Iceland before finding himself in the role of bystander as Croatia comprehensively dismantled a shambolic Argentinian side on Thursday night.

Messi can claim to be hamstrung by the inadequacies of those around him, but the same could be said of Ronaldo in relation to his Portuguese team-mates and the Real Madrid forward has a winners’ medal from the last European Championships and four World Cup goals from the space of two matches to his name.

Ronaldo’s hat-trick display in Portugal’s opening game with Spain was dazzling, and while he wasn’t at quite that level in Wednesday’s win over Morocco, he still settled things with a thumping early header.

The Northern Echo:

Messi is still to produce a truly defining moment on the international stage; Ronaldo has added quite a few to his CV in the last two years. Don’t rule out him propelling an otherwise unremarkable Portugal side deep into the tournament.


ENGLAND RETAIN THEIR SENSE OF CALM

From the moment Gareth Southgate took charge, an uncharacteristic sense of calm has swept across the England set-up.

Qualifying was negotiated at a canter, Wayne Rooney’s international retirement was handled with aplomb, and the switch to a new system with three centre-halves was seamless.

Could the lack of drama continue at the World Cup finals? Up until now, it has been a case of so far, so good.

An untroubled preparation enabled England to head into their opening game with Tunisia in a confident mood, and while things didn’t always to go to plan in Volgograd, Southgate’s players retained their poise and claimed a last-gasp winner through Harry Kane.

The Northern Echo: England's Harry Kane celebrates scoring his side's second goal of the game during the FIFA World Cup Group G match at The Volgograd Arena, Volgograd.

Since then, Dele Alli has been diagnosed with the kind of injury that would have sent previous World Cup camps into a state of panic. This time around, the potential loss of the Spurs midfielder has been casually shrugged off. No Alli, no matter. Just play Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Eric Dier or Fabian Delph instead.

Even yesterday’s spat about the national media revealing Southgate’s planned line-up for tomorrow’s game with Panama did not have its usual bite. This is a squad that know they are on the right track.


THE BIG GUNS FAIL TO FIRE

The main story of the group stage so far has been the under-performance of most of the pre-tournament favourites.

Brazil might have beaten Costa Rica yesterday, but for the second game in a row, they failed to fire. Neymar doesn’t look fit, Gabriel Jesus doesn’t look sharp, and Tite’s formation doesn’t seem to be working. They are heading to the last 16, but this looks a far from vintage Brazilian side so far.

The Northern Echo:

Argentina look even worse, and face an almighty battle to make the knock-out rounds when they take on Nigeria on Tuesday. Uruguay are the last of the South American big guns, and while they might have won both of their games 1-0, their performances have been poor.

France have also claimed two victories, but they were laboured against Australia and extremely fortunate to beat Peru. Spain found themselves up against a well-drilled Iranian side on Wednesday, but still looked lacklustre as they scrambled a one-goal win.

And what of Germany? Having lost to Mexico in their opening match, the ultimate tournament team could be heading home if they slip up against Sweden this evening. With so many of the big guns out of form, perhaps this will be a tournament that delivers a major shock.


MIDDLE-RANKING EUROPEAN TEAMS ARE ON THE MARCH

The big guns might be struggling, but for the majority of European teams competing in Russia, this has been a hugely successful tournament so far.

The hosts are the most obvious example of European success, with Russia having become the first country to qualify for the knock-out stages when they followed up an opening-day thrashing of Saudi Arabia with an equally dominant display against Egypt.

The Northern Echo:

Denmark, who needed a play-off victory over Republic of Ireland just to make it to the finals, are also unbeaten, sweeping aside Peru in their opening game before claiming a point against Australia.

Serbia beat Costa Rica first time out, while in the same group, Switzerland held Brazil. Sweden, who often struggle to make it out of the World Cup group phase, beat South Korea in their opening fixture, while Belgium lived up to their billing in Group G as they put three past Panama.

With England also starting with a victory, European sides look to have the edge over their opponents from the rest of the world. As things stand, around half of the teams in the last 16 could be from Europe.


VAR HAS BEEN OKAY SO FAR

Prior to the start of the tournament, it was widely anticipated that the introduction of VAR would be a disaster. It hasn’t always been perfect, but 26 games in, and the advent of video technology has gone much better than almost anybody expected.

There have been teething issues, and England are the one of the few sides who can feel genuinely aggrieved at the way VAR was applied, or rather not applied, in their game. Harry Kane was wrestled to the floor on two separate occasions as Tunisia tried to defend a corner, but the video referees ignored both incidents.

However, there have also been occasions when video replays have resulted in some correct decisions that would otherwise have been wrong. Yesterday’s dramatic overturning of a Brazilian penalty that was initially awarded when Neymar clearly dived was the best advert yet for video technology. Under the most intense of pressure, a referee looking at a screen got things right.

The Northern Echo:

Sweden’s winning penalty against South Korea was another wrong decision correctly overturned, along with the Danish handball that resulted in an Australian penalty on Thursday afternoon.

Crucially, the VAR officials haven’t been urging the on-pitch referee to review every incident, and it hasn’t taken an eternity to come to a decision. So far, the system has worked well.