We have reached the final few days of the world’s greatest sporting event! The 2022 FIFA World Cup is slowly ending and before it does, I think it is well worth our while to have a look at a couple moments which have played a part in etching the tournament into the pages of history.
Admittedly, it started a little flat, but the FIFA World Cup soon exploded into life! The knockout stages loomed and with it came unprecedented highs and lows with its usual captivating style.
Nobody has been able to take their eyes off of the action in Qatar and whether it be for the football or peripheral stories.
Records will always tumble
So far in Qatar, most of the records have remained in one piece, but we have a few that have fallen. A host nation usually aims to make their World Cup the best they can and leave a legacy – Qatar, I suppose you can say, have done that but for the very wrong reasons.
Qatar have become the only host nation to lose every single group stage game, obviously then failing to progress through to the knockout stages.
However, there are a couple records which should be shared, and which could possibly bring a smile to your face. Among them, we have seen a World Cup which has had the very first female officiating involvement and the very first World Cup to be held in the Middle East
And of course, it would be remiss of me to leave out the fact that Lionel Messi is the first male to register an assist at five consecutive World Cups! Or that Cristiano Ronaldo became the first male to score at five consecutive World Cups. Olivier Giroud has also become the highest goal scorer at a World Cup for France, scoring 52 (at the time of writing) but with the ability to extend his record.
OLIVIER GIROUD PASSES THIERRY HENRY TO BECOME FRANCE'S ALL-TIME LEADING MEN'S GOALSCORER!!! 🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/5gQzZMO4Fo
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) December 4, 2022
Big Moments in Qatar
What is a World Cup without the big moments dominating the headlines? Allow me to take you back to Iran’s first game against England, the Iranian players took the bold and courageous choice of not singing their national anthem before kickoff. It was a gesture of good faith and support for the nation’s protests against the treatment of women, but human rights violations in general.
Their silence echoed around the world, and just last week we heard of the Iranian government suspending the morality police from service!
Another massive moment was Argentina losing to Saudi Arabia in their opening game! the second-lowest-ranked team in the tournament mounted an incredible comeback to score twice and send absolute tremors around the globe. Nobody seems to care that Saudi Arabia lost their subsequent games. Their nation is still celebrating, and their players have a Bentley each.
And then Croatia. Who can call themselves a football fan and not respect Croatia? Japan took them to penalties in the round of 16 and then they had to hold their nerve against Brazil just to earn themselves a place in the final four of this year’s tournament – but that’s not the point I’m making.
Croatia have participated in six World Cups, and they have made the final four on three occasions! That is huge. They were uninspiring and rather dull early on, and nobody would have given them even a sniff – but they have undeniable ability competition experience.
Finally, Africa – stand up! Morocco have done us proud, epitomising the African spirit and fighting even when nobody gave them a chance. At every World Cup there is a team who punches above their weight and this year Morocco have taken up that mantle! They have created history by becoming the first African side to reach the final four,
Incredible! Morocco is the first ever African country to make it to the semi finals. The entire continent is rooting for you 👏🏿 pic.twitter.com/TtUZZrl3jr
— Samuel Eto'o (@SamuelEtoo) December 10, 2022
Any surprises?
Cristiano Ronaldo taking a seat on the bench… is that a surprise? I’m not sure that it is to be fair. Ronaldo had been benched in the round of 16 game against Switzerland, and while it felt like a big decision, I assure you those who were tasked with taking up the mantle did so with absolute ability and conviction.
Coach Fernando Santos (and I suppose every coach who had engaged with Ronaldo over the past few years) indicated his displeasure with being taken off against South Korea and then chose to make a statement. Personally, the statement seemed to allow Portugal to play with freedom – but that’s just me.
Talking about time on the field, this World Cup has seen a sizeable amount of injury time being applied. 563 minutes of injury time had been played in the group stages of the World Cup! This is of course because of the deliberate decision by FIFA to add on time for all stoppages.
Another 𝗕𝗜𝗚 name out of the World Cup! 😲
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) December 6, 2022
🇧🇪 Belgium ❌
🇩🇪 Germany ❌
🇪🇸 Spain ❌#BBCWorldCup #BBCFootball pic.twitter.com/jQtNeeLDn9
