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10Story of the tournamentSTORY OF THE TOURNAMENTGroup stageGroup A: Brazil advance as expectedHosts Brazil started strongly with a 3-1win over Croatia while Mexico overcameCameroon 1-0 in the opening round. Afterbeing held to a goalless draw against Mexicoin their second match, Brazil had to wait untiltheir last match to ensure their passage tothe round of 16, which they did with a 4-1victory over Cameroon. Meanwhile, Mexicoput in a rousing second-half performance tobeat Croatia 3-1 and advance with the hosts.Cameroon lost all their matches, including 4-0to Croatia, who finished in third place.Group B: an early exit for the defendingchampionsThe Netherlands cruised into the knockoutstage on the back of three victories in thegroup stage: a 5-1 demolition of reigningworld champions Spain, followed by a 3-2win over Australia and a hard-fought 2-0 winin the final group clash with Chile. La Roja’searly departure was confirmed after they lost2-0 to Chile in the second game, though theytook away a 3-0 consolation victory againstthe Socceroos in their final match. Chile joinedthe Oranje in the next round by overcomingAustralia 3-1, with six points proving enoughto advance. Australia suffered three defeatsbut put in a memorable performance againstthe Netherlands as they went down 3-2.Group C: teams on equal footingSouth American hopefuls Colombia madea good start by beating Greece 3-0 in theopening match and went on to win theirother games: 2-1 against Côte d’Ivoire and4-1 against Asian champions Japan to marchconvincingly into the second round. Greece