The FIFA World Cup 2022 has met and for many exceeded its enormous global fanfare. For those who have traveled to the tournament’s host country Qatar, which in 2010 shockingly won the bid to become the first Arab nation to stage the event in a ballot of FIFA’s (International Federation Association of Football) 22 executive members, they have been the beneficiaries of superlative play by some of the sport’s foremost stars, dramatic finishes, stunning upsets and the continued dominance on the pitch of historically superior countries.
The single elimination event, the 22nd edition of the men’s FIFA World Cup—the first was held in 1930 in Uruguay—began on Nov. 20 with the group stage consisting of eight groups A-H and has been chipped down to eight with the quarterfinals set for tomorrow and Saturday. Most of the usual powers still remain. On Friday, Dec. 9, the pre-tournament favorite Brazil will face Croatia at 10 a.m. (East Standard Time) and the Netherlands will take on Argentina at 2 p.m.
On Saturday, Morocco will try to engineer another astonishing win squaring off with Portugal at 10 a.m. On Tuesday, they took down Spain, the 2010 champions and a side some predicted would be the last standing, 3-0 on penalty kicks in a shootout after ending the 120 minutes of play 0-0. Morocco is the third African nation to reach the quarterfinals round, joining Cameroon (1990), Senegal (2002) and Ghana 2010. They are the first Arab country to be one of the final eight teams.
In Saturday’s other pairing, two giants, France and England, will do battle starting at 2 p.m. France, who captured the last World Cup title in 2018, is led by their electrifying 23-year-old forward Kylian Mbappe, who showed glimpses of brilliance as a 19-year-old in the previous World Cup and has since become one of soccer’s best and most dazzling practitioners.
In 2018 in Russia, Mbappe became only the second teenager, etching his name with Brazil’s legendary Pele, to notch a goal in a World Cup Final. Mbappe leads this year’s competition with five goals, two ahead of nine players with three, including the great Lionel Messi of Argentina, and is ahead of the chase for the Golden Boot, awarded to the World Cup’s top goal scorer.
Missing from the aforementioned list is Portugal’s Cristiano Renaldo, who a plethora of soccer aficionados consider the best player in history, although supporters of the 82-year-old Pele, who’s currently battling a lung infection in a Brazilian hospital and in recent years cancer, vehemently differ.
Renaldo has just one goal and was not named a starter by Portugal’s coach Fernando Santos for their 6-1 romp over Switzerland on Tuesday. The decision by Santos came after the two had a conflict regarding the 37-year-old’s frustrated reaction to being pulled in the 65th minute in a 2-1 loss to South Korea last Friday.
Fans of the U.S. team should be optimistic looking towards the 2026 World Cup, which will be played in North American stadiums in the United States, Canada and Mexico, including MetLife in New Jersey.
Designated to Group B, the U.S. had ties with Wales (1-1) and England (0-0), and defeated Iran (1-0) to move on to the round of 16 where they were eliminated 3-1 in a knockout test against the Netherlands last Saturday. They had the second youngest team in the tournament (25.2 years), with Ghana fielding the youngest (24.7 years) and should be primed for a strong run four years from now.