We're well into the second round of games and we've already had our first formal elimination.
It turns out it's the hapless hosts who are first to bow out. They suffered another defeat by a two-goal margin, their interest officially ended by Netherlands and Ecuador's subsequent 1-1 draw.
If their alleged sportswashing efforts have proven at best a mixed success thus far, then winning the World Cup hosting rights has certainly failed to bring along the standard of their football team. It's the first time a host nation has ever lost the first two games of a World Cup.
Four more games today, with the reigning champions back in action, while one of the pre-tournament fancies is already supping in the last chance saloon.
Playing in their fifth World Cup, the Tunisians are seeking to break into the knockout phase for the first time. They've given themselves a reasonable puncher's chance now thanks to a creditable goalless draw in their opener against the Danes.
They had to survive an injury-time VAR check, when Mexican ref Cesar Ramos scurried over to the monitor to inspect Yassine Merriah's handball at a 93rd minute corner. Justice was probably served as Ramos opted against changing his on-field decision. A Tunisian defender had clearly been shoved in the back at the near post as he went head clear, the ball flying into Merriah's arm a split second later.
The north African outfit have an enormous travelling contingent backing them. Their game against Denmark in Doha was, in atmospheric terms, a virtual home game.
With France looming in the final group game, this is their most realistic prospect of a win - unless les Blues really have the feet up at that point.
The Aussies may be demoralised after their 70 fruitless minutes of huffing about, chasing shadows against France. Like the Irish rugby games of old, the French just had to wait for the opening 20 minutes of boot, bollock and bite to subside and then take control.
Australia, again under the management of veteran boss Graham Arnold, did at least score one of the goals of the opening round, Matthew Leckie controlling a crossfield ball beautifully, cutting inside Lucas Hernandez, who injured himself in the move, sliding over a perfect cross for Craig Goodwin to side-foot to the roof of the net.
Fed up near the end, the Socceroos started picking up yellow cards, Jackson Irvine and Aaron Mooy both going in the book, the former doing his utmost to receive yellow cards.
With Denmark likely needing a result in their final game, this is pivotal for Australia. Anything less than a win against Tunisia and they'll presumably be heading for the exit door at the earliest opportunity.
The Saudis were one of the stories of the opening week - all the faintly tasteless Marty Morrissey template jokes have been made.
Saleh Al-Shehri and Salem Al-Dawsari wrote their names into the annals of Saudi football folklore, with two goals in five minutes shortly after half-time to stun the Argentinians. Mr Said Al Owarain can finally step into the shadows, no longer responsible for Saudi football's most glorious moment.
While their World Cup will likely always be remembered for the opening win - as Ireland's USA 94 campaign is for Giants Stadium - they now have a chance to press that home against Poland, with a win guaranteeing them a spot in the second round.
"It was an excellent match for us. We were able to show an excellent image for the Saudi Arabia national team," observed Al-Shehri afterwards. "But it is just three points, we haven't qualified yet."
Poland featured in one of the many goalless draws of the first week, albeit one of the more entertaining ones. The pivotal moment of their 0-0 draw against was Robert Lewandowski's second half penalty miss, the Barcelona goal-machine side-footing unimpressively into the palms of Mexico's ageless keeper Guillermo Ochoa.
Lewandowski, for all his bewildering goalscoring numbers, has never yet scored in a World Cup finals, though the caveat is this was only his fourth game and they failed to get past the group phase in 2018.
A Poland victory would likely wind up doing not only themselves, but also the Mexicans a favour, with none wanting to see the Saudis nail down a knockout spot with Argentina still lurking.
The Danes were the uplifting story of Euro 2020/1, powering all the way to the semi-finals, bonded by the trauma of Christian Eriksen's cardiac arrest.
Happily, Eriksen is back directing operations on the pitch this time around and Denmark manager Kasper Hjulmand set out that their ambition in Qatar was to win the World Cup, no less. However, they were under the weather in the first group match, unable to put away Tunisia.
The Danes did ramp up the pressure in the closing 20 but blew some gilt-edged chances, Dolmen missing a couple of headers before Andreas Cornelius' extraordinary miss from practically a yard out.
France have been hit with the kind of injuries to key players that might hole another team's chances below the waterline. But for Didier Deschamps' men, it merely gives them an opportunity to showcase their depth. N'golo Kante, Paul Pogba and Karim Benzema are all unavailable to them but it's not so catastrophic when Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann and Theo Hernandez are in the sort of form they showed on Tuesday against Australia.
After Spain and possibly England, no team was more impressive in the opening round of games. They had to overcome a rather sluggish start against the Aussies. 20 minutes in, we were speculating that this might be another abject, half-hearted title defence reminiscent of 2002. Then, Juventus' hugely influential midfielder Adrien Rabiot, persona non grata with the French management four years ago, boomed home a header to equalise and from then on, it was party time, the poor Socceroos getting the run-around.
This pair have met three times in World Cup finals before, Denmark faring up well in the head-to-head. Eamon Small (or Emmanuel Petit) scored the winner in Lyon in 1998, the Danes putting Zidane and co out of their misery with a 2-0 win in 2002, while they played out a 0-0 draw in a group game four years ago. However, probably the most famous meeting between the sides came in Euro 92, when the Danes, just off the beach, shocked the favourites France in the final group game, booking their spot in the semi-final en route to an improbable triumph.
They never thought they'd be standing here. Argentina's second group game has an unexpectedly urgent feel to it following their shocking 2-1 loss to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.
We were informed by all and sundry that the Argentinians had never been ruder health heading to a major tournament - 35 game unbeaten run and all that.
We should have known to heed that as a warning. The last time they were similarly bullish was back in 2002, when under revered tactical sage Marcelo Bielsa, they crashed out in the first round, partly thanks to Michael Owen's talents in the field of simulation.
It doesn't get any easier in their second match. Messi's shoulders were as drooped as they often have been in World Cups, as reality began to dawn that Argentina weren't getting out of the Saudi defence. Will the fatalism have entered their soul?
Mexico have a proud(ish) history of invariably reaching the last-16 in World Cups - and no further, mind.
They have done so in every World Cup since 1994, when Jackie Charlton's plan of raining down long balls on the little Mexicans foundered in the heat of Orlando. The last time they failed to reach the second round was in Italia 90, when they were banned outright for fielding overage players in 1988 Concacaf U20s tournament.
Their path to that phase has perhaps been complicated this time by the Saudi curveball in Round 1, meaning the Argentinians have limited room for error from now on. The Poles had more of the chances in the opening game but the Mexicans have a decent World Cup pedigree and are awkward opposition for Argentina with everything on the line.
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