World Cup Results 2014: Tracking Final Scores, Golden Boot Contenders for Day 14
In world football, you can't win with just one player. It's a team sport, after all. Of course, if you only watched Wednesday's games—namely the Argentina vs. Nigeria match—you might be thinking otherwise.
With places in the knockout phase up for grabs and seeding to be decided, Wednesday's action at the 2014 World Cup was once again intense. Let's take a look back at the day's action, the goalscorers and review the race for the Golden Boot.
Results
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| F | Argentina | 3-2 | Nigeria |
| F | Iran | 1-3 | Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| E | France | 0-0 | Ecuador |
| E | Honduras | 0-3 | Switzerland |
Golden Boot Watch
| Neymar | Brazil | 4 |
| Lionel Messi | Argentina | 4 |
| Xherdan Shaqiri | Switzerland | 3 |
| Karim Benzema | France | 3 |
| Enner Valencia | Ecuador | 3 |
| Arjen Robben | Netherlands | 3 |
| Robin van Persie | Netherlands | 3 |
| Thomas Mueller | Germany | 3 |
| James Rodriguez | Colombia | 3 |
| Jackson Martinez | Colombia | 2 |
| Gervinho | Ivory Coast | 2 |
| Luis Suarez | Uruguay | 2 |
| Tim Cahill | Australia | 2 |
| Mario Mandzukic | Croatia | 2 |
| Ahmed Musa | Nigeria | 2 |
| Andre Ayew | Ghana | 2 |
| Clint Dempsey | United States | 2 |
| Memphis Depay | Netherlands | 2 |
| Ivan Perisic | Croatia | 2 |
| Wilfried Bony | Ivory Coast | 2 |
| Edin Dzeko | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 1 |
| Miralem Pjanic | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 1 |
| Avdija Vrsajevic | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 1 |
| Reza Ghoochannejhad | Iran | 1 |
| Marcos Rojo | Argentina | 1 |
| Juan Cuadrado | Colombia | 1 |
| Andreas Samaris | Greece | 1 |
| Georgios Samaras | Greece | 1 |
| Diego Godin | Uruguay | 1 |
| Blaise Matuidi | France | 1 |
| Mathieu Valbuena | France | 1 |
| Moussa Sissoko | France | 1 |
| Blerim Dzemaili | Switzerland | 1 |
| Granit Xhaka | Switzerland | 1 |
| Bryan Ruiz | Costa Rica | 1 |
| Wayne Rooney | England | 1 |
| Juan Quintero | Colombia | 1 |
| Ivica Olic | Croatia | 1 |
| Mile Jedinak | Australia | 1 |
| Eduardo Vargas | Chile | 1 |
| Charles Aranguiz | Chile | 1 |
| Sofiane Feghouli | Iran | 1 |
| Marouane Fellaini | Belgium | 1 |
| Dries Mertens | Belgium | 1 |
| Lee Keun-Ho | South Korea | 1 |
| Alexander Kerzhakov | Russia | 1 |
| Mario Balotelli | Italy | 1 |
| Claudio Marchisio | Italy | 1 |
| Daniel Sturridge | England | 1 |
| Edinson Cavani | Uruguay | 1 |
| Joel Campbell | Costa Rica | 1 |
| Oscar Duarte | Costa Rica | 1 |
| Marcos Urena | Costa Rica | 1 |
| Pablo Armero | Colombia | 1 |
| Teofilo Gutierrez | Colombia | 1 |
| Stefan de Vrij | Netherlands | 1 |
| Xabi Alonso | Spain | 1 |
| Oscar | Brazil | 1 |
| Oribe Peralta | Mexico | 1 |
| Alexis Sanchez | Chile | 1 |
| Jorge Valdívia | Chile | 1 |
| Jean Beausejour | Chile | 1 |
| Keisuke Honda | Japan | 1 |
| Admir Mehmedi | Switzerland | 1 |
| Haris Seferovic | Switzerland | 1 |
| Carlo Costly | Honduras | 1 |
| Vedad Ibisevic | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 1 |
| Mats Hummels | Germany | 1 |
| Olivier Giroud | France | 1 |
| John Anthony Brooks | United States | 1 |
| Mario Gotze | Germany | 1 |
| Miroslav Klose | Germany | 1 |
| Asamoah Gyan | Ghana | 1 |
| Peter Odemwingie | Nigeria | 1 |
| Divock Origi | Belgium | 1 |
| Islam Slimani | Algeria | 1 |
| Rafik Halliche | Algeria | 1 |
| Abdelmoumene Djabou | Algeria | 1 |
| Son Heung Min | South Korea | 1 |
| Yacine Brahimi | Algeria | 1 |
| Koo Jacheol | South Korea | 1 |
| Nani | Portugal | 1 |
| Jermaine Jones | United States | 1 |
| Silvestre Varela | Portugal | 1 |
| David Villa | Spain | 1 |
| Fernando Torres | Spain | 1 |
| Juan Mata | Spain | 1 |
| Leroy Fer | Netherlands | 1 |
| Rafael Marquez | Mexico | 1 |
| Andres Guardado | Mexico | 1 |
| Javier Hernandez | Mexico | 1 |
| Joel Matip | Cameroon | 1 |
| Fred | Brazil | 1 |
| Fernandinho | Brazil | 1 |
Analysis
The Argentine superstar was up to his old tricks on Wednesday, notching a brace in Argentina's 3-2 win over Nigeria. It was another case of Messidependencia, as explained by Sid Lowe of The Guardian before the match:
"Messidependencia has made it to the World Cup along with the 150,000 Argentinians who have started arriving in the city of Porto Alegre for Wednesday’s match with Nigeria. It is a word that periodically appeared in Catalonia and now it is back again here in Brazil, with Argentina’s manager, Alejandro Sabella, admitting that, yes, his side do have Messidependence.
"
Here are Sabella's comments, via Lowe's report: "Whenever there is a player like Messi, there’s a dependence. We are trying to improve but dependence always exists. We have to try to take the pressure off him between all of us because we are a team. But for a great player there is always pressure at a World Cup."
Folks, just sit back for a moment and embrace the Messidependencia. Here's his first goal, minutes into the match, via ESPN FC:
Ahmed Musa would pull Nigeria even about a minute later, but Messi wasn't done. Just before the end of the half, he struck again, this time on a scintillating free-kick:
But that Musa fellow, he wasn't going to allow Nigeria to go down without a fight. Two minutes into the second half, he had his own brace, and Nigeria were once again within striking distance of winning the group.
But Argentina were just too good. Marcos Rojo would put the winner in the net in the 50th minute on a set piece, and Argentina made it three wins in three games to top the group.
Just in case you weren't aware of how excellent that Messi guy has been in this World Cup, Gary Lineker can fill you in:
So, could Iran pull out a win against Bosnia and Herzegovina and top Nigeria on goal differential to advance out of the group?
Well, no, they couldn't. Edin Dzeko, Miralem Pjanic and Avdija Vrsajevic all scored for the European side, leading Bosnia and Herzegovina to a 3-1 win. But it wasn't all bleak for Iran, as they managed to get their first goal of the tournament, via Reza Ghoochannejhad.
With that tally, this year's World Cup reached an interesting milestone, as Paul Carr of ESPN noted:
While France and Ecuador played to a pretty dull scoreless draw in the later games, Xherdan Shaqiri put on an absolute show in Switzerland's 3-0 win over hapless Honduras, notching a hat trick.
His first strike was his best one (and one of the best of this tournament, quite frankly). ESPN FC passes it along:
To be fair, his third goal was pretty as well, per ESPN:
It was quite the historical hat trick, as both Carr...
... And ESPN FC pointed out.
With Wednesday's action, the Golden Boot race also took an interesting turn, with Shaqiri's hat trick shaking things up while Neymar and Messi are now tied atop the scoring lead with four goals apiece. Not only that, but with both teams winning their groups, the bitter rivals can't meet until this year's title game.
Wouldn't that be something if Brazil and Argentina met, continental and world bragging rights on the line while Messi and Neymar battled for the Golden Boot?
There will be other contenders for the throne, of course, but at the moment, Neymar and Messi are the front-runners. It's a tribute to just how special both are that, with each facing enormous pressure in their home countries, they've delivered thus far.
Don't expect either to let up anytime soon.
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