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#3 Underdogs playing to their potential
Russia 2018 has indeed been an inspiring story. While the big teams faltered early during the tournament, the lesser known teams like Iceland, South Korea, Japan and Iran showed the world the potential that they have.
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While the likes Belgium, England and Croatia punched far above their weight to defeat the likes of better teams to reach the semi-finals. But the ultimate compliments should be showered on the Croatian team for reaching their first ever World Cup final.
The big players from the Croatia and Belgium team have underachieved in their previous tournaments, so the time was almost right for them to deliver in the biggest stage of them all. And the likes of Eden Hazard and Luka Modric playing to their potential helped their respective teams to achieve their highest finish at the World Cup. Any World Cup underdog story has the potential to be an inspiration for future teams, and this World Cup had plenty.
