Paraguay and Australia Through on a 0-0 Draw: Both Perfectly Happy About It

[BrightRunner]

Paraguay and Australia played a 0-0 draw in their final group game that sent both teams through to the Round of 32. Paraguay finish third in Group D and will wait to see if they advance as one of the eight best third-place teams. Australia finish second having already secured their place. The match was described diplomatically as a goalless draw and less diplomatically as a snoozefest. Both teams had already done the mathematics before kickoff. A draw worked for Australia regardless. Paraguay needed a draw or better and hoped for Turkey to beat USA simultaneously, which happened. The pragmatism was complete. The entertainment was not.

[Di87]

Both teams playing for a draw they both needed is the purest expression of game theory in tournament football. Technically correct. Aesthetically grim

[CodyRhodes99]

Australia through as group runners-up is a solid achievement. The Socceroos have been quietly impressive all tournament

[MondayMoan67]

Paraguay's fate now depends on how other third-place teams performed. They wait and watch like Scotland

[JohnyBlue]

FIFA threatens teams with point deductions for not trying. Defining not trying in a match where a draw genuinely suits both sides is legally complex

[KeyboardWarrior47]

Australia vs South Africa in the Round of 32 is the confirmed knockout tie. Genuinely interesting match between two improving football nations

[Rogue Sam]

The 1982 West Germany Austria Disgrace of Gijón is the historical reference for this kind of result. Nothing reached those depths last night but the principle is the same

[MondayMoan31]

Balogun scoring twice for USA in the other Group D match while Paraguay and Australia were playing carefully for their draw is the contrast the tournament needed

[TeddyWhelan]

Tournament football produces these moments. Everyone knows it. Nobody likes it. The format makes it almost inevitable when teams can calculate what result they need