As we are leaving Guadalajara today I thought I’d do a little summary of my impressions.
With a metropolitan area of about five million plus inhabitants it’s a big city, the third-largest in Mexico. It’s a centre of business, arts, culture, technology and tourism, as well as the economic motor of the Bajío region.
Nevertheless most of the downtown zone has a pretty relaxed vibe, much assisted by pedestrianised areas and lots of tree plantings. While I realise that cities do get tarted up for something like the World Cup, it’s impossible to fix every curb, streetlight, etc. In general the city appears quite well looked after.
It might be unremarkable to Tasmanians but in most parts of the city cars can be left parked on the street at night. That is not the case just about anywhere in Colombia which is something of a reference point (for us) for Latin America.
In general the parks, public transport, plazas and other public spaces and facilities were excellent and much used. As a jelly vendor (!) told us the other day in Zapopan: “In Guadalajara we have nice things. But we pay for them. The cost of living is high compared to other parts of Mexico.”
Whilst it was hottish and rainy at this time of year, the sub-tropical climate keeps it warm and dryish most of the time.
We saw and visited a good variety of restaurants, although Australians need to remember that our multicultural society means we are particularly spoiled for ethnic cuisine choice compared to most parts of the world. Here the variety was pan-Mexican with a few foreign specialties thrown in. Americans might even appreciate the presence of Starbucks but the local-style cafes with their spectacular array of flans, cakes, cookies and whatnot were delightful.
Even the fussy vegan was quite well catered for in Guadalajara. Behold flautas stuffed with potatoes.
As far as I can tell the international destinations available from Guadalajara’s shiny new airport are all in the Americas but connections to Europe and Asia are quite convenient through major hubs.
I’d definitely consider visiting again. There’s plenty to see and do and just enjoy being in a place that is ‘very Mexico’. After all, Jalisco is the home of both tequila and mariachis. I daresay it would even be a good place for a digital nomad to hang out for a while; Mexico’s Temporary Resident Visa usually serves that niche.
We spent our last morning there strolling around and popped into another market.
Lots of fresh herbs at the medicine stall.
There’s nothing like the thrill of discovery at a market stall loaded to the gunwales.
The demons are to ward off evil spirits. Not sure that evil spirits could be worse than having this 2-metre high monstrosity in your living room.
While we were getting ourselves organised and on the way there was football being played, in fact it was D-Day for the last three groups as teams jockeyed for top places or indeed survival.
England clinched top spot in their group with a 2-0 win over Panama, highlights here. Croatia edged Ghana 2-1 (highlights here) but both teams were able to progress. Panama is on the short trip home.
With flights booked way in advance it turned out that unavoidably we were at the airport and then flying as Colombia faced Portugal for top spot in their group. Aeroplane mode cut off the signal with about 20 minutes still to play so we had to wait until landing in Mexico City to find out the final score: 0-0 (highlights here). That sealed top spot for Colombia and second for the Portuguese, though both teams will be concerned about their blank-firing attacks. DR Congo made a miraculous comeback for a 3-1 win over Uzbekistan (highlights here) and progressed as one of the best third-placed teams.
Lastly the Messi show rolled on as Argentina defeated Jordan 3-1, highlights here. Algeria and Austria played a thrilling 3-3 draw (highlights here) that served to put both teams through to the elimination round. Jordanians can go sit on the beach.
Now that we are at the stage where teams are being eliminated I will keep a running list of them and also do a brief summary of how they went. The list will be in three groups: Overachieved, About As Expected, Underachieved.
Overachieved – Curacao, Haiti
Curacao – the smallest nation at the tournament, and from their first appearance they will go home with a goal and a point. The entire squad will be legends in the nation’s footballing history.
Haiti – not the worst, and if they had got something out of their first game to Scotland instead of a 1-0 loss maybe things could have been different. They put a couple of goals on the board against decent teams in Morocco and Brazil and overall put up a better showing than their only previous World Cup appearance in 1974.
About As Expected – Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Panama, Iran, Uzbekistan, Jordan, Scotland
Saudi Arabia – the team struggled in qualifying and is clearly going through a generational change. I expected them to slot into third at best and in the end they were stonewalled by the brave Cape Verde unit.
Tunisia – before this tournament Tunisia had qualified for the World Cup finals six times and failed to progress beyond the group six times. Make that seven and seven. Sacking the manager after game 1 smacked of chaos in the camp. They have a major goalkeeping problem with Chamakh rating 2.9 for the first game loss against the Netherlands, one of the lowest I have ever seen on Flashscore.
Panama – only their second appearance at the finals, they lucked out with a difficult group. They drew three teams that have been at the quarter-finals or better since 2010 and all still with decent pedigree. Unsurprisingly they went down to straight losses, although all quite competitive. Better luck with the lotto ball sorting next time.
Iran – on paper a good side but war and US immigration hard-ball was against them. Their travelling fans being denied entry and having their tickets revoked also didn’t help. I expected the dramas to be a bit much to handle and they were.
Uzbekistan – first time at the Big Dance for the Uzbeks. They certainly boasted a star coach in former WC winner Fabio Cannavaro, but still lack a bit of quality on the field. Some impressive moments and they will not be too disappointed in the end.
Jordan – another debutante who copped a group with very experienced opponents including of course reigning champions Argentina. Three defeats was in the tarot and thus it was.
Scotland – ‘as expected’ as this is their first appearance at a Finals since 1998 and they clearly lack major tournament know how. That said, with the classy McTominay and other players from the Serie A and Premier League this is a somewhat golden generation that were very impressive in qualifying. After a win against Haiti the lack of any points against Morocco or Brail left them flapping in the third-place repechage. I think they’ll go on from here and Scots fans can look forward to next European Championship with a positive mood.
Underachieved – New Zealand, Qatar, Uruguay, Czech Republic, Turkey, Iraq, Korea Republic
New Zealand – the All Whites dared to dream after a promising 2-2 draw to start and fine team goals. That was as good as it got with Egypt and then Belgium showing the gap in quality that is still to be bridged. I think third in the group was gettable so it feels like an underachievement to head home with another wooden spoon to add to that of 1982.
Qatar – playing their second World Cup in a row, and in hot conditions, and presumably with a generation coming through that was inspired by hosting the tournament in 2022, I thought the Qataris might have been competitive. A 1-1 with Switzerland must have given hope of qualifying, but a 6-0 reverse to Canada flipped the script. Another loss to Bosnia and the departure lounge it is.
Uruguay – trying to find something polite to say. Failing. Uruguay fans expect better than third place in the group and a miserable two points. As coach Marcelo Bielsa admitted, he failed to get the best out of the squad he had available. No excuses, their tournament was a disaster.
Czech Republic – have players playing in top leagues but did not put it together as a team. Just disappointing all round and the side looked strangely intimidated by the atmosphere and conditions.
Turkey – they were a bit full of themselves prior to the tournament and paid the penalty. Their very expensive forward line failed to hit the target in the first two games and by then it was too late. Personally I think they were flattered by their ranking of 22 in the world and it will perhaps fall back to a more realistic 30-something after this tournament.
Iraq – 1-4, 0-3 and 0-5, the Iraqis leaked goals to everybody. The Lions of Mesopotamia (spoiler: there are no lions and never have been in Mesopotamia) are renowned as a steely side and it just vanished here. See ya! As a caution to Australia, some of the Asian sides that have been caned at the World Cup will be licking their wounds and determined for a better showing in the Asian Cup in early 2027.
Korea Republic – a shock 1-0 loss to South Africa in the final game left them on only three points. The Koreans generally put themselves about pretty well in World Cup group stages and this is definitely a fail by their standards.
Phew!
The pairings are now in for the elimination round. See them all below or click here. Note that the times and dates are local.
Today’s only game is South Africa v Canada to get the Round of 32 under way. Canada unfortunately cop an ‘away’ fixture in California (USA) despite being a host country; that’s the unluck of the draw.
Enjoy the football and have fun!
Alan Whykes is a Tasmania-based writer and an ex- too many things to list.
This blog is the start of a new section called Tas At Large which showcases stories of Tasmanian diaspora let loose upon the world.
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