The Top Flight
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TBT: Everything to remember about the 2014 World Cup

By Orri Benatar

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - JULY 13: Lukas Podolski and Bastian Schweinsteiger of Germany pose with the World Cup trophy after defeating Argentina 1-0 in extra time during the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Final match between Germany and Argentina at Maracana on July 13, 2014 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - JULY 13: Lukas Podolski and Bastian Schweinsteiger of Germany pose with the World Cup trophy after defeating Argentina 1-0 in extra time during the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Final match between Germany and Argentina at Maracana on July 13, 2014 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Matthias Hangst/Getty Images) /
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Group E: France, Switzerland, Ecuador, Honduras

This group was pretty plain and went by the book. France under Didier Deschamps looked like a new team, beating second-place finishers Switzerland 5-2 in Salvador in the second group game. Everyone but Honduras won a game, with the CONCACAF team losing their final match 3-0 to the Swiss. Xherdan Shaqiri scored the second hat-trick of the tournament in that one.

Group F: Argentina, Nigeria, Bosnia, Iran

Lionel Messi had his best group stage in his World Cup career. He scored four times and led Argentina to nine points in Group F. Second-place was up for grabs between Nigeria and Bosnia before the World Cup started. Nigeria’s 1-0 win over Bosnia in Cuiaba settled that debate, with Peter Odemwingie scoring the lone goal.

Group G: Germany, USA, Portugal, Ghana

2014’s ‘Group of Death’ produced some of the best moments of the group stage. Germany crushed Portugal 4-0 and Thomas Muller had a hat-trick to open the campaign. The United States got revenge on Ghana in a dramatic 2-1 win in Natal. The second group games both finished 2-2, with Ghana stealing a point from Germany and Portugal snatching victory from the United States. In the end, Germany won the group and Jurgen Klinsmann got the USA out of Group G.

Group H: Belgium, Algeria, Russia, South Korea

This was the first tournament for Belgium’s golden generation and they capitalized in a weak group. They depended on super-subs to win them their matches against Algeria and Russia. The Red Devils won the group with a perfect record after a 1-0 win over South Korea. The game of the group-maybe even the game of the group stage-was an exhilarating 4-2 Algeria win over South Korea. That helped Algeria advance to the Round of 16 for the first time in the nation’s history.

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