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Golden Goals Winners From Russia 2018

With the most famous football saying “They think it’s all over….It is Now” we come to a close on the 21^st World Cup tournament from Russia and start to think about what if?

We started off this World Cup with our fourth best number of entries in our eighth World Cup Golden Goals 2018 and we have ended up with a total of fifteen winners.

Congratulations to PHIL REEVE on winning our eighth World Cup with his winning combination of Belgium (16) Brazil (8) France (14) Spain (7). It was France who gave him the cash in the final as Tony Jenkins who had been top for most of the tournament, failed to have any teams in the final. His teams were Belgium, Brazil, Russia and Spain.

This is Phil’s second win as he also won the World Cup in our first World Cup Italia 1990 with 38 goals. As Phil’s name goes in to the record book once again, he has now finished in fourth and eighth place in our World Cup Champions League. 

     

                      SEMI                                                      GOALS     PRIZE

            FINAL   FINALS     NAME                                  TOTAL    MONEY

                   1            2            P. REEVE                               45          £45.00

                   2            3            D. HARRINGTON                  44          £35.00

                   3            1            T. JENKINS                            42          £30.00

                   4            -             A. FANE                                 41          £26.00

                   5            8            T. GUY                                   40          £22.00

                   6            10          STALKY                                 39          £19.00

                   7            11          C. BOOM                                38          £15.00

                   8            12          S. KEMP                                 38          £15.00

                   9            5            B. SAWYER                           37          £11.50

                   10          6            JAMIE WOOD                        37          £11.50

                   11          7            P. DAVEY                              36          £  9.00

                   12          13          T. KING                                  36          £  9.00

                   13          9            E. SAWYER                           36          £  9.00

                   14          15          B. BURROUGHS                    35          £  6.50

                   15          16          S. SEYEDI                              35          £  6.50

So who are the best four nations in the 2018 World Cup.

BELGIUM (16) FRANCE (14) ENGLAND (12) RUSSIA (11) Total of 53 goals.

We had five nations that picked up just two goals each and went out after the first round. They were Australia, Costa Rica, Egypt, Germany and Poland.

ENGLAND holds the record for the highest score with that 6-1 win over Panama in Group G in their second game of the group stage.

Top Goal Scorers in Russia 2018 are Harry Kane of England with 6 goals who wins the Golden Boot. In second place all with 4 goals are Denis Cheryshev, Russia, Antoine Griezmann, France, Romelu Lukaku, Belgium, Kylian Mbappe, France and Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal, .

The fastest goal was scored by Mathias Jørgensen of Denmark against Croatia in Round two or last sixteen. He hit the back of the net in just 58 seconds.

So how did your teams do in the Golden Goals World Cup 2018? Below are all of our eighteen nations with the number of votes in RED followed by the nations and number of goals in each of the six stages of the World Cup.

FIRST ROUND

(36) GERMANY 2, (4) EGYPT 2, (2) POLAND 2, (1) AUSTRALIA 2, (1) SENEGAL 4,

(1) COSTA RICA 2

SECOND ROUND

(24) SPAIN 7, (24) ARGENTINA 6, (5) PORTUGAL 6, (5) COLUMBIA 6, (1) DENMARK 3

(1) MEXICO 3

QUARTER-FINALS

(29) BRAZIL 8, (7) URUGUAY 7, (4) RUSSIA 11

SEMI-FINALS

None of our teams went out at this stage.

3^rd and 4^th PLAY-OFF

3^rd (17) BELGIUM 16

4^th (8) ENGLAND 12

RUNNERS-UP

Croatia who we did not have

CHAMPIONS

(22) FRANCE 14

Our goals total finishes at a grand total of 113 goals for the tournament which is our fourth highest score. Our top score is from the French World Cup 1998 with a total of 138 goals.

Well that’s the end to our eighth World Cup Golden Goals. The next World Cup will be held in Qatar in 2022. Let’s hope that we will be there again with another World Cup under our belts. 

The Golden Boot 2018

Well it's about time that England had a player to receive the Golden boot as the first time that we won the Golden Boot was back in Mexico 1986 with Gary Lineker with 6 goals, well done Harry he now becomes our second player.

• Harry Kane, England, 6 goals (Golden Boot)
• Denis Cheryshev, Russia, 4 goals
• Antoine Griezmann, France, 4 goals·        
• Romelu Lukaku, Belgium, 4 goals
• Kylian Mbappe, France, 4 goals
• Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal, 4 goals
• Edinson Cavani Uruguay 3 goals
• Diego Costa, Spain, 3 goals
• Artem Dzyuba, Russia, 3 goals
• Eden Hazard, Belgium, 3 goals
• Mario Mandzukic, Croatia, 3 goals
• Yerry Mina, Columbia, 3 goals
• Ivan Perisic, Croatia, 3 goals

France Are World Champions

Congratulations to FRANCE for winning the World Cup for their second time. They beat Croatia 4-2. France had won their group and then they beat Argentina, Uruguay and Belgium to get to the final.

The first half was dominated by Croatia as they passed the ball around like they were in a training session. The French did have a couple of attacks and it was in one of them that they received a free kick near the Croatian box. A lovely cross goes into the net but it was an own goal by Mandzukic as he heads in the first World Cup final own goal after 18 minutes. Croatia never gave in and continued their pressure on France and scored the equaliser in the 28^th minute with a fantastic goal by Perisic his third of the tournament. With another French attack and a corner was given with the result of a hand-ball by a Croatian player in the penalty area. The referee went to VAR (Video Assistant referee) and after some considerable time, the referee gave a penalty to France. The penalty was taken by Griezmann and France go 2-1 up with his fourth goal of the tournament in the 38^th minute. That’s how it ends at half time. In the second half it was still Croatia that started to push the ball around but it did not take long before the French players grew with confidence. A third goal from France came in the 59^th minute from Pogba to put France in full control of the game. Another France goal followed, by the young teenager Mbappe in the 65^th minute 4-1. Croatia then were all over the place as the tide turned, but a big mistake by the French goalkeeper gave Croatia their second goal in the 69^th minute by Mandzukic 4-2. The second half came very much alive by this time and since their second goal, Croatia came back hard against the France defence as they sat back for the last fifteen minutes of play. The final whistle is blown after five minutes of added on time and France won 4-2 in a very entertaining final. France have finished on a total of 14 goals and it is their second highest score since then they won the cup back in 1998 with 15 goals.

Bronze For Belgium

After their disappointed game against Croatia in the semi-finals, ENGLAND had to build up their confidence again to play BELGIUM in the 3^rd/4^th Play-Off. The game started with a very quick goal by Belgium scored by Meunier after just 4 minutes via his shin, with the English defence all over the place. The first half was all about Belgium as England struggled to get back on terms with this game with Harry Kane having the best chance to score. The second half England made a double substitution with Sterling and Rose staying in the dressing room and Lingard and Rushford coming off the subs bench. The changes made England more aggressive and started to attack the Belgium defence with some great passing. Lukaku of Belgium nearly put them 2-0 ahead after 50 minutes, but a great save by Pickford, who comes off his line, denies Lukaku a chance to grab that Golden Boot off of Harry Kane. Lukaku is then substituted after 60 minutes.  Another chance for England after 69 minutes when Eric Dier charges into the penalty area and hits the ball but it’s saved by Alderweireld with a spectacular clearance off the line. Although England had most of the play in the second half, the Belgium’s did have one or two attack where they could of scored but what a great World Cup the English goalkeeper Pickford has had. The game was all over for England after Belgium scored their second goal from a counter attack by Hazard in the 82^nd minute. That is his third goal of the tournament. The game ends 2-0 to Belgium who finished third with a total of 16 goals their best score ever, while England finished on a total of 12 which is their best score in the last eight World Cups. This is the best that Belgium have ever done in a World Cup tournament. 

Our Top Fifteen After The Semi-Finals

Here are our top fifteen winners in Golden Goals so far.

      

        SEMI           Q                                                       GOALS     PRIZE

            FINALS   FINALS     NAME                                   TOTAL    MONEY

                   1            -             T. JENKINS (B)                      40          £45.00

                   2            -             P. REEVE (B/F)                      39          £35.00

                   3            -             D. HARRINGTON (B/F)         38          £30.00

                   4            -             A. FANE (E/F)                        37          £26.00

                   5            -             B. SAWYER (B)                     35          £22.00

                   6            -             JAMIE WOOD (B)                  35          £19.00

                   7            8            P. DAVEY (B/E)                     34          £16.00

                   8            9            T. GUY (B/F)                          34          £14.00

                   9            7            E. SAWYER (B)                     34          £12.00

                   10          -             STALKY (B/F)                        33          £11.00

                   11          12          C. BOOM (B/F)                       32          £10.00

                   12          13          S. KEMP (B/F)                        32          £  9.00

                   13          14          T. KING (F)                            32          £  8.00

                   14          11          C. BAMBRIDGE (B)              31          £  7.00

                   15          -             B. BURROUGHS (F)              31          £  6.00

I have printed the nations that you still have left in the 3^rd and 4^th play-offs and who is in the World Cup Final.. They are in code in RED. If you do not have a red code by your name, then I am sorry to say that you are out of the competition. Again just to re-cap on our rules, that extra time goals DO count, but penalty shoot out’s DON’T!

(B) BELGIUM, (E) ENGLAND, (F) FRANCE,

So who are the best four teams that we have in the 2018 World Cup.

BELGIUM (14) ENGLAND (12) RUSSIA (11) FRANCE (10) Total of 47 goals.

In the last Golden Goals World Cup 2014 we reached a total of 120 goals after the semi-finals, In Russia our teams have scored two more goals in the quarter-final games and we now have a total of 107 goals over the tournament to date. 

ENGLAND holds the current record for the highest score with that 6-1 win over Panama in Group G in their second game of the group stage.

Top Goal Scorers in Russia 2018 are Harry Kane of England with 6 goals. Denis Cheryshev of Russia, Romelu Lukaku of Belgium and Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal have 4 goals each.

Tony Jenkins has remained at the top after all of the games in the semi-finals have been played. His teams are Belgium, Brazil, Russia and Spain.

So we can now confirm that in the 3^rd and 4^th play-offs to be played this Saturday we have BELGIUM playing ENGLAND and in the Final on Sunday it’s FRANCE v Croatia.

Croatia Will Play France in Final

ENGLAND has had a very successful time in Russia with coming second in their group and Knock in out Columbia and Sweden to get to the Semi-Finals against Croatia. Croatia had won all of their group games and then Beat Denmark and host nation Russia to face England.

The game was played in Moscow and England looked very comfortable and in controlled before they scored an early goal through Trippier's 20-yard free-kick after only 5 minutes, and they could of scored again to go 2-0 up through Harry Kane’s but it hit the post before being scrabbled off the Croatia’s goal line. England continued to hassle and attack the Croatia defence with them only counter attacking on two occasions in the first half. At half-time England looked very safe with their one goal lead. In the second half the game changed for England as they seemed to be lost on the pitch and our top scorer of the tournament, Harry Kane failed to be seen as Croatia grew in confidence and had the greater energy and threat while England ran out of steam. In the 68^th minute Perisic' scored the equaliser and the game ended 1-1 which then sent the match into extra time. Croatia continued as they left off after full time with great pressure and scored early on in extra time by Mandzukic in the 109^th minute. In the second half of extra time, England tried to get back into the game but the demands of extra time started to show. With the final whistle being blown, it is Croatia that go into the final for their very first time against France while England go into the play-offs against Belgium. Final score 2-1 to Croatia after extra time.