Why have top teams exited the FIFA World Cup 2018?

What’s happening in Russia?

They’re calling Kazan the graveyard of the greats. It is where Germany lost to South Korea to crash out in the first round of a World Cup for the first time since 1938. Days later, Argentina fell to France in the round-of-16 at the same venue. On Friday it was Brazil’s turn, leaving us with a semi-final line-up few would have predicted at the start of the tournament. This is the first time in the history of the World Cup that neither Germany, Brazil or Argentina has made the last four. Consider Spain’s defeat to Russia in the round-of-16, and this has truly been a tournament of shocks.

What led to their ouster?

There is no common answer, no overarching theme. Each side had its own problems. Germany simply played badly, dull and ponderous in possession and lacking a focal point in attack. Some of the senior players that manager Joachim Low — perhaps wrongly — put his faith in were off colour. Midfielder Sami Khedira, defender Jerome Boateng and forward Thomas Muller disappointed. Low, it seemed, simply did not know what his best XI was. Spain was the better side over 120 minutes against Russia, but went out on penalties. The attack lacked penetration — Isco the only stand-out performer — and the defence wobbled, but the dismissal of manager Julen Lopetegui two days before the opening game did not help.

Argentina’s exit hardly came as a surprise; a poor team that had just about managed to qualify for the World Cup was no match for a hugely talented French unit. Lionel Messi’s individual brilliance has for long masked the team’s failures; this was a step too far.

Brazil’s defeat to Belgium in the quarter-final was perhaps a surprise, but it was not in the least an upset; Eden Hazard, Kevin de Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku are among the world’s best in their positions. Brazil’s defensive display, after having conceded only one goal before the game, was unexpected, though.

Are the coaches to blame?
Low seemed out of ideas when ‘Plan A’ did not work. Germany had failed to win five straight friendly matches before it laboured past Saudi Arabia days ahead of the World Cup, but he presumed — wrongly, carelessly — that everything would be all right in Russia. Fernando Hierro took charge of Spain in a crisis and was executing someone else’s plans. He cannot be faulted. A clueless Jorge Sampaoli had, according to reports in the Argentine media, been nudged aside by senior players who took matters into their own hands after the loss to Croatia. Tite had improved Brazil a great deal, especially at the back, but he will now face pressure to step down.

What about administrators?
The Spanish federation (RFEF) might have handled the Lopetegui episode better. That Real Madrid chose to name him as its next boss days before the World Cup was not ideal, but in the end, Spain was robbed of the services of a man who had revived the side. The Argentine FA, long seen as corrupt, is guilty of mismanagement. In the fortnight before the World Cup, Argentina had friendlies against Nicaragua and Israel cancelled; that they were scheduled in the first place is a bit of a scandal. The team eventually played only one international friendly in the two months leading up to the World Cup — against Haiti, ranked a lowly 104. There are concerns in Argentina over what is perceived to be a steady evaporation of the talent pool.

The current squad is old and still reliant on players who were part of the nation’s U-20 World Cup triumphs over a decade ago.

What next?
The DFB has confirmed that Low will stay on as Germany’s head coach. There is no need to panic, for Germany’s depth in talent is immense. Spain will bounce back, as will Brazil. Argentina, though, might take a while.

Rio Olympics 2016: how to watch, live stream, schedule, and what to expect

Friday, August 5, marks the start of the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

For months, people questioned whether the games would actually take place. Would the Olympic Park be ready in time? Would the Zika virus prove too dangerous for the athletes and spectators? Would the political turmoil and economic collapse bring the entire event to a standstill?

But now those questions come to an end as athletes, tourists, dignitaries, and journalists from around the world gather in Rio to kick off two weeks of sporting competition, in an Olympic Games expected to draw billions of viewers worldwide.

The 2016 Olympics will run from August 5 until August 21 and will feature 42 sports, 306 total events, 136 medals for women, and 161 medals for men. About 10,500 athletes are expected to compete at the Olympics in Rio, including the first Olympic team composed entirely of refugees.

Here is a guide to the next two weeks:

How to watch:

More than 2,000 hours of Olympic events are scheduled to air over the course of the next two weeks. While not all events will be aired on TV, NBC is slated to stream an additional 4,500 hours of Olympic coverage on its website, with concurrent streams for competitions going on at the same time. However, after a 30-minute grace period, NBC will require users to log on with their TV provider.

Rio 2016 also has an official YouTube page with clips.

The schedule:

Opening ceremony: Friday, August 5, at 7 pm Eastern at the Maracanã Stadium (NBC will stream the show at a one-hour delay on the East Coast, at 8 pm Eastern, and at a four-hour delay on the West Coast, at 8 pm Pacific)

While most of the events will start on or after the opening ceremony, the Olympic games kicked off on August 3 with soccer. The US women’s soccer team won its Olympic opening match against New Zealand. (The US men’s soccer team failed to qualify for the Olympics this year.)

The much-anticipated women’s gymnastics all-around final is scheduled for Thursday, August 11, at 3 pm Eastern.

Closing Ceremony: Sunday, August 21, at 7 pm Eastern at Maracanã Stadium

Here is the full schedule of sporting events.

What to expect:

The 2016 Rio Olympics comes at a difficult time for Brazil. As Vox’s Libby Nelson explained, Brazil is in a much different place than it was when it won the Olympics bid in the late 2000s. Then it had a growing economy and a shrinking unemployment rate. Since that time, the country has entered the worst recession in its history; the president, Dilma Rousseff, is awaiting impeachment trials for campaign finance corruption; and the country’s political foundation is still recovering from a separate, even larger multibillion-dollar corruption scandal involving many top government figures (not to mention the recent spread of Zika plaguing South America).

But even with these obstacles, and many others associated with building an Olympic Park from the ground up, the Rio Olympics also brings some high points: the introduction of the first refugee team, with 10 athletes from conflict zones across the globe competing in judo, swimming, and track and field; the introduction of rugby sevens to the Olympics; a final go at Olympic gold from American swimming favorite Michael Phelps; and a much-anticipated gymnastics matchup between 2012 American Olympic gold medal winner Gabby Douglas and first-time American Olympian Simone Biles.

As the first South American country to host the Olympics, Brazil has a lot at stake. But with all the problems that have plagued the country in the runup to the games, expectations are low. And that might very well play in its favor.