Matt Doherty's World Cup diary | 29 November

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 (2 December), then into the knockout stage which starts on Saturday (3 December).

What caught my eye yesterday

Matt: "What a game in the morning, Cameroon-Serbia. Wow! Cameroon 1-0 up, I thought they could do something, then Serbia blitzed them, 3-1, but then Vincent Aboubakar came on and changed the game completely. Serbia were on the ropes, might even have lost it! That was an absolute cracker. Sonny lost again, which is so unfortunate, but Korea-Ghana was a great game as well. Mohammed Kudus is going to be a very good player, he plays for Ajax, looks really good. Ghana look strong, powerful, athletic. Korea were banging the door down at the end but couldn't get it done. I was a bit disappointed with Brazil, actually. I feel they could start with a more attacking line-up, especially when you look at the midfield options on the bench. Portugal against Uruguay, Rodrigo almost scored such a good goal, it would have been so nice, I thought he might go around the goalkeeper but he decided to shoot, got saved. I felt they deserved a draw, to be honest. The penalty at the end, I know people questioned that but he had to give it as Bruno was through on goal. I know people think it's harsh, but he would have had a tap in. Uruguay and Korea both on a point, so they'll probably have to win their last games (Korea v Portugal, Uruguay v Ghana)."

What I’m looking forward to today

Matt: "So, it's the final group games. I fancy Ecuador to do the job against Senegal, I've been quite impressed with them in the two games so far and, on another day, they might have beaten Holland. Holland should be comfortable against Qatar. Iran-USA, what a big game. Iran are better than people think. I know England smoked them 6-2, but they're better than that. Then we've Wales v England. We've lads playing for both teams there, but I just think Wales won't quite have enough. I think England will be too strong for them. Wales need a huge performance, but England could pick them off. If that's the case, hopefully H gets on the scoresheet. Also, hopefully Eric gets on, and we've Ben and Joe lining up for Wales, I just think England will have too much."

If you only watch one game today

Matt: "It's got to be Wales-England, 7pm, even better because the lads are playing."

Player to watch

Matt: "Not an easy one today, but I'm going to go with Antonee Robinson of the USA, left-back, athletic, fast. He looks a good player."

My predictions

Holland 3-0 Qatar
Ecuador 2-1 Senegal
Wales 0-2 England
Iran 1-2 USA