Clinton Morrison's World Cup Round Up, England Impress, Messi Stuns & Six Spot On Predictions
The World Cup has well and truly burst into life. England turned on the style against Croatia, Messi scored a hat trick, Cape Verde stunned Spain, Morocco rattled Brazil and the tournament is delivering everything it promised.
Clinton Morrison joined us to review the opening round of fixtures, grade his predictions and look ahead to the second group stage games, all while fitting around his radio commentary shifts that start as early as 4 in the morning. What a man!
Here's what Clinton had to say, and don't forget to check out the best World Cup Betting Sites, courtesy of Freebets.com.
IN FULL: Clinton Morrison's World Cup Review
ENGLAND VS CROATIA, LET THE SHACKLES OFF
Second half they were outstanding. They played with tempo, played with pace. You could see how disappointed Tuchel was at half time, and then Harry Kane at the end said the manager told them it wasn't good enough. And they responded. They could have won by more to be fair. Every substitute that came on made an impact. It's a really good start from England.
The only worry:
The only worrying thing is conceding the two goals. Better teams will cause England problems defensively. But at the same time England will cause good teams problems going forward. Saka, Rashford and Rogers coming on all caused a lot of problems.
On Jude Bellingham:
Just everything about him. His tenacity, his will to win, even tracking back and closing down. It just makes me laugh how he gets a lot of bad press when he's just a person who wants to win and he's a top class player. He's world class. Jude Bellingham is world class and he proved it. There's no question now who should be starting in that number 10 role. He turns up at big tournaments and that's what you want. Big tournament players with experience.
Can England win the World Cup?
If England turn up in every game like that they're good enough to go on and win it. They have talented players and they have one of the best strikers in the world in Harry Kane. The tournament really started last night with that England game.
MESSI, THE GOAT OF ALL GOATS
Messi is the GOAT, by the way. The greatest of all goats. Unbelievable player. And I'll wait and see when we're going to see another player who can do what Messi does. I think it'll be a very long time. And there are been doubts about his fitness and his age but he just turns up on the biggest stage. That's what great players do.
CAPE VERDE STUN SPAIN, PORTUGAL HELD BY DR CONGO
Huge credit to Cape Verde. What a performance. Spain weren't at the races. But the Cape Verde goalkeeper was outstanding, made some big saves. They defended brilliantly. You love the underdogs getting a result. When you see the goalkeeper with tears in his eyes at the end, he's 40 years old and he just kept out Spain. That was a special moment.
DR Congo were outstanding against Portugal. Going a goal down so early and then you're thinking this could get out of hand. But they stuck together, looked a real threat and deserved the draw. João Vítor looked really good. You love the underdogs getting results.
MOROCCO, NO ONE WILL WANT TO FACE THEM
Really impressed. Remember they got to the semi final a few years back so they're a good team. The boy in midfield, Ayyoub Bouaddi, the 18 year old, wow. He oozed quality. All the big clubs will be looking at him after this World Cup. Fantastic. No one will want to face Morocco because they will get out of that group for sure.
THE MBAPPÉ PENALTY CONTROVERSY
I was watching it with my sons and I said straight away, stonewall penalty. Mané's rushing back, doesn't get any of it. I thought it was a bad decision, he got it horribly wrong. But it didn't change anything because France won. And France were brilliant when they switched Olise to the number 10 role in the second half. When you look at that front four, Dembélé, Olise, Mbappé, Kolo Muani, and you've still got Camavinga, Tchouaméni, Upamecano and Saliba. They've just got so many options. Even when you're playing well against them it can just change in an instant.
CAN THE PREMIER LEAGUE TAKE LESSONS FROM WORLD CUP VAR?
100%. If the referee thinks VAR has sent him to the monitor, he still stands with his decision. The referee is still in charge and the buck stops with him. That's the way it should be. You've got to respect it. It's been refreshing that we're not talking too much about the officials so far.
CLINTON'S PREDICTION SCORECARD, ROUND ONE
| Match | Clinton's Prediction | Actual Result | Correct? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mexico vs South Africa | Mexico 2-0 | Mexico 2-0 | ✅ Spot on |
| South Korea vs Czech Republic | South Korea 2-1 | South Korea 2-1 | ✅ Spot on |
| Canada vs Bosnia | 1-1 | 1-1 | ✅ Spot on |
| USA vs Paraguay | USA 2-1 | USA 4-1 | ✅ Winner correct |
| Qatar vs Switzerland | Switzerland 2-0 | 1-1 | ❌ |
| Brazil vs Morocco | Brazil 2-1 | 1-1 | ❌ |
| Haiti vs Scotland | Scotland 1-0 | Scotland 1-0 | ✅ Spot on |
| Australia vs Turkey | Turkey 2-1 | Australia 2-0 | ❌ |
| Germany vs Curaçao | Germany 2-0 | Germany 7-1 | ✅ Winner correct |
| Netherlands vs Japan | 1-1 | 2-2 | ✅ Result correct |
| Ivory Coast vs Ecuador | 1-1 | Ivory Coast 1-0 | ❌ |
| Sweden vs Tunisia | Sweden 2-1 | Sweden 5-0 | ✅ Winner correct |
| Spain vs Cape Verde | Spain 3-0 | 0-0 | ❌ |
| Belgium vs Egypt | 1-1 | 1-1 | ✅ Spot on |
| Saudi Arabia vs Uruguay | Uruguay 2-1 | 1-1 | ❌ |
| Iran vs New Zealand | New Zealand 2-1 | 2-2 | ❌ |
| France vs Senegal | France 2-1 | France 3-1 | ✅ Winner correct |
| Iraq vs Norway | Norway 2-0 | Norway 4-1 | ✅ Winner correct |
| Argentina vs Algeria | Argentina 2-1 | Argentina 3-0 | ✅ Winner correct |
| Austria vs Jordan | Austria 2-0 | Austria 3-1 | ✅ Winner correct |
| Portugal vs DR Congo | Portugal 2-1 | 1-1 | ❌ |
| England vs Croatia | England 2-1 | England 4-2 | ✅ Winner correct |
| Ghana vs Panama | Ghana 1-0 | Ghana 1-0 | ✅ Spot on |
| Uzbekistan vs Colombia | Colombia 2-1 | Colombia 3-1 | ✅ Winner correct |
Six spot on scorelines!!! 16 correct winners from 24 games.
Clinton Morrison's Round Two Predictions
| Match | Clinton's Prediction |
|---|---|
| Czech Republic vs South Africa | 1-1 |
| Switzerland vs Bosnia | Switzerland 2-1 |
| Canada vs Qatar | Canada 2-0 |
| Mexico vs South Korea | Mexico 2-1 |
| USA vs Australia | USA 2-0 |
| Scotland vs Morocco | Morocco 2-1 |
| Brazil vs Haiti | Brazil 3-0 |
| Turkey vs Paraguay | 1-1 |
| Netherlands vs Sweden | Netherlands 2-1 |
| Germany vs Ivory Coast | Germany 2-1 |
| Ecuador vs Curaçao | Ecuador 3-1 |
| Tunisia vs Japan | Japan 3-1 |
| Spain vs Saudi Arabia | Spain 2-0 |
| Belgium vs Iran | Belgium 2-0 |
| Uruguay vs Cape Verde | Uruguay 1-0 |
| New Zealand vs Egypt | Egypt 2-1 |
| Argentina vs Austria | Argentina 3-1 |
| France vs Iraq | France 4-0 |
| Norway vs Senegal | Senegal 2-1 |
| Jordan vs Algeria | Algeria 2-1 |
| Portugal vs Uzbekistan | Portugal 2-0 |
| England vs Ghana | England 3-1 |
| Panama vs Croatia | Croatia 2-0 |
| Colombia vs DR Congo | 1-1 |
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