Matt Doherty's World Cup diary | 1 December

We're now into the final matches of the group stage in Qatar as Matt Doherty continues his World Cup diary...

Now capped 33 times by the Republic of Ireland, Matt has 12 Spurs team-mates in Qatar, plus the experience of playing against eight countries in the competition. He will give us his insight into the busy group stage running until Friday, then into the knockout stage which starts on Saturday.

What caught my eye yesterday

Matt: "Australia! Great for them, a little surprised with Denmark, it didn't seem like they had the same intensity to get back into the game when they needed to, when their tournament life was on the line. I was a bit disappointed with them, to be honest. Tunisia, that looks like a big surprise, but the changes France made... it's not as big a surprise as people might think. I still don't understand how Griezmann was offside for that 'equaliser' at the end. I know he was offside when the ball came in, but the ball was headed away and it's a different phase of play. I need to look at the rule book again! Poland, strange performance from them against Argentina, didn't go for it, just hoping Mexico didn't score again, or Argentina didn't score again. They were fortunate, as Argentina should really have won by three, four goals. They got lucky. Saudi Arabia v Mexico, that free-kick from Luis Chavez was crazy! I was sure they were going to score again once it went to 2-0, but maybe they didn't keep their composure, if they'd done that, maybe they would have been able to create more clear-cut chances, but then Saudi Arabia scored right at the end, so, Mexico out."

What I’m looking forward to today

Matt: "Canada-Morocco... Canada have done okay, I know they haven't won, but they've played alright, but I expect Morocco to win this. As I've said before, they have some really good players. Croatia v Belgium is a huge game. Belgium haven't looked good at all to me, considering the talent they have in the squad. That's a big game, Ivan playing as well, Croatia off the back of a nice win against Canada. I'd expect Germany to get through the Costa Rica game comfortably enough, win by a couple and I expect Spain to beat Japan, which will mean Germany with scrape through after losing their first game. Spain to top the group, they've looked impressive to me."

If you only watch one game today

Matt: "Croatia v Belgium, that's a big one. Belgium need something, but I'm not sure if they'll get it. I can see it being a draw."

Player to watch

Matt: "I'm going to with two players - Gavi and Pedri of Spain. Teenagers, both play for Barcelona, the future of Spanish football. Let's see how they get on."

My predictions

Canada 1-2 Morocco
Croatia 2-2 Belgium
Costa Rica 0-3 Germany
Japan 0-2 Spain