Which teams made it to the final 4?
The Qatar 2022 World Cup is slowly coming to an end. It is currently in the semi-final stage and all four teams that qualified for that round have been confirmed. In retrospect, let’s look at the results from the quarter-final round and all the drama that ensued.
In the first quarter-final game, Croatia faced Brazil. It was one interesting and fiercely contested match that ended goalless in regular time and had to be extended into extra time. The game was so close that the first goal of the match was scored by Brazil came in the 105th minute. The goal was scored by Neymar and it all looked like it all done and dusted until Croatia pulled one last act and equalized in the 117th minute of extra time, taking the game to penalties. Brazil went on to lose the penalties; 4-2, causing a big upset in the World Cup.
The second quarter-final game between the Netherlands and Argentina had more drama than the first. The Argentines took the lead in the 35th minute with a goal from defender Nahuel Molina assisted by Lionel Messi. In the second half, Argentina was awarded a penalty that was converted by Lionel Messi to make it 2 -nil. The game looked like it was already decided until the Netherlands rallied back and got a goal from Wout Weghorst in the 83rd minute. They continued to piled the pressure on the Argentines and in the 11th minute of injury, it paid off as Wout Weghorst scored again to equalize for them. The game stretched to penalties and the Argentines won 4-3.
The referee of the game awarded almost 15 yellow cards and a red card.
In the third game of the quarter-finals, Morocco faced Portugal, and Cristiano Ronaldo was benched for the second game in a row. The game started really well for Morocco and they piled a lot of pressure on the Portuguese, the pressure paid off in the 43rd minute when Yahia Attiyat Allah managed to cross the ball into the box and Yousef En-Nesyri rose the highest to head the ball past the onrushing Portuguese goalie Diogo Costa into the goal. The Portuguese tried all they could in the second half but the goal didn’t come and Morocco eventually won the game thanks to that lone goal. They officially became the first African team to reach the World Cup semi-finals.
In the last quarter-final game, England was up against defending champions, France. The French took the lead early in the game as Real Madrid’s young midfielder, Aurelien Tchouameni, struck a ferocious shot into the bottom corner of Pickford’s goal. The lead was cancelled out early in the second half as Harry Kane from the penalty spot scored to make it 1-1. The defending champions piled the pressure on the three lions again and it paid off in the 78th minute as Olivier Giroud scored a fantastic header from an Antoine Griezmann cross to put them in the lead again. England was awarded another penalty as Mason Mount was fouled in the box and VAR deemed it a penalty but Harry Kane skied his effort and the score remained 2-1 in favour of the French. The game ended 2-1 in favour of the defending champions.
In the semi-final matchups, France will face Morocco, and Argentina will square up against Croatia. There is a possibility of a repeat of 2018’s final between Croatia and France.
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