Well, after the events of Monday, June 28th, 2020, I can say that is no longer the case. We just wrapped up maybe the most insane day of Knockout soccer in a long, long time. Later on I'll go through some contenders and while there have certainly been days that matched the intensity, nothing matched the absurdity and the brilliance of a 5-3 (ET) game followed by a 3-3 game.
You had two teams coming back from 3-1 down in the last fifteen minutes. A 3-1 lead with in the 70+ min is generally locked in, well - we saw again that lead blown twice in one day. You had in one of the games, the team blowing the lead scoring twice in extra time, and in the other it going down to the 10th and final penalty kick. You had the first major upset of the tournament, ended when one of the best players in the world had a penalty kick denied. You had maybe the rebirth of Spain, twice in one game. You had it all.
If for whatever reason this is not yet to be believed, you had the following in the games as well. A once-in-a-decade blunder of an own goal to put Spain down early. A missed penalty that would've put a team up 2-0 just to see that team then go down 1-2 in about five minutes. Multiple point blank shots saved. 9 incredible penalty kicks. And so much more.
So many times both games seemed to change, from of course the ridiculous own goal that preceded Croatia running play for about 10 min. From Pogba's incredible goal to make it 3-1, seemingly absolutely ending the game. To the start of extra time in the first game where Croatia was very much on the front foot, right before the point blank shot was saved. It was madness.
The games as a whole were excellent from storylines as well, from Croatia's final stand against a Spain team trying to make a name for themselves after a dry spell in 2014 - 2018. You had France trying to do the World Cup & Euro double against a Swiss team that has always been decent but looking for a signature win in its history. You had so many key players make big contributions, from Modric's calm brilliance, to Morata's wonder-strike to win it. You had Pogba continuing to be a monster when playing for France, to Benzema's insane touch.
Of course you had the moments from the 'others', such as most of the other goal scorers for Spain and Switzerland. In the end, there was nothing I've seen like this. I remember right at the end of the Spain v Croatia game one of the announcers on ESPN said something to the effect of "France and Switzerland will have a very tough act to follow." They did, but they arguably exceeded it. We all were the better for it.
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If you want some days that could start to compare, I went back to 2002 (have little memory of knockout stages before this), and there's some that at least had great drama (I only looked at specific days that had multiple games). Nothing will compare in terms of goals. You're lucky to get one knockout-stage game with six goals, let alone two in one day.
2002 World Cup, Round of 16, June 16th
Senegal beats Sweden 2-1 & Spain beats Ireland 1-1 = only maybe is deserving of mention because Senegal won on a Golden Goal, this being the last tournament with that rule.
2008 Euro, Quarterfinal, June 19th
Germany beats Portugal 3-2 & Turkey beats Croatia 1-1 = Obviously doesn't match in goals, but it was one round later. On the plus side, Turkey's win was absolutely as bananas, them being the ultimate late goal team. Croatia scored their goal in the 119th minute, but Turkey answered in the 121nd. Anyway, the Germany game had them up 3-1, not as close as the score, but entertaining nonetheless.
2010 World Cup, Quarterfinal, July 2nd
Netherlands beats Brazil 2-1 & Uruguay beats Ghana 1-1 = The Dutch scored their winning goal way too early to give thsi serious consideration. However, the Ghana game featured the memorable intentional handball by Suarez, the subsequent penalty miss by Gyan, and all the drama that the handball created, ending the run of the last African team in the African world cup.
2014 World Cup, Round of 16, June 29th
Netherlands beats Mexico 2-1 & Costa Rica beats Greece 1-1 = Ok, now we're talking. Again, way less, goals, but the late drama was incredible. Netherlands goals came in the 88th minute by Sneijder and then the 94th min. The Greece game featured a 91st minute equalizer.
2018 World Cup, Round of 16, July 1st
Russia beats Spain 1-1 & Croatia beat Denmark 1-1 = Ok, neither of these games were that exciting other than the fact both went to penalties. From what I can tell, this is the only time both knockout games on a specific day go to penalties.
