World Cup Highlights

By Connor Polizzi ('26)

Photo Courtesy of Sky Sports

An Overview:

The FIFA 2022 World Cup was held in Qatar from Nov 20, 2022 through Dec 18, 2022. This made Qatar the first Arab nation to host a World Cup. Also, due to Qatar’s extreme heat, this was the first World Cup to be held during the later part of the year.

The World Cup begins a group stage format, having 32 teams in eight groups of four nations each. After each team plays three games, the top two teams from each group advance to the round of 16. If a team continues to win, they advance to the finals, where a winner will be chosen. However, the teams have to make it past the quarterfinals and semifinals before getting to that point.

Messi Leads Argentina to Glory

At last, Messi has done it. He has won the one trophy that has eluded him all throughout his career: the World Cup. Not only has he won it, but he played a key role in every game Argentina played. He accumulated a total of seven goals and three assists, earning him the Golden Ball (player of the tournament) for the second time in his career. He also tallied up a record number of five MOTM (man of the match) awards, including one in every one of the knockout matches. He still produced many moments of brilliance throughout the tournament, even at the age of 35. Could he now be considered the greatest player of all time to play the game?

Photo Courtesy of The San Diego Union-Tribune

Photo Courtesy of Fox News

Africa’s Dark Horses

Morocco has made history. They have become the first African nation to reach the semifinals in a World Cup. Along the way, they have represented the whole of the African and Arab worlds. Their journey involved knocking out many big name teams, including Belgium, Spain, and Portugal. They achieved this with key players such as Achraf Hakimi locking up the defense, Sofyan Amrabat controlling the middle, and Hakim Ziyech creating opportunities up front. Not only did the players on the field excel for Morocco, so did the managing off it. Walid Regragui turned this average Moroccan side into a World Cup worthy team.

Unstoppable Mbappe

Mbappe narrowly missed out on his second World Cup trophy, but performed outstandingly throughout the tournament. He scored eight goals, helping him claim the Golden Boot (top goalscorer of the tournament) and led France all the way to the final. He has proved himself to be a real force to be reckoned with and don’t be surprised to see him back at this stage in four years. Mbappe really shined in the final, becoming only the second player in history to score a hat trick (3 goals) in the World Cup Final. At only 24 years old, Mbappe has a bright future ahead of him.

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Photo courtesies of Independent and BBC

Underwhelming Performances

This World Cup had teams with expectations crumble and underperform. This included two teams ranked in the top 15 worldwide, Germany and Belgium. Germany had high hopes entering the World Cup, with stars such as Jamal Musiala and Joshua Kimmich. However, a shock loss to Japan and a draw with Spain set them back, seeing their World Cup hopes come to an end. Belgium entered the World Cup with an old squad featuring the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Eden Hazard, and Romelu Lukaku. They saw the end of their golden generation with a lucky win and two poor performances leading to their exit. In addition to heavyweights falling out early, this World Cup had anticlimactic returns. Wales and Canada, with a 64 and 36 year absence respectively, had poor returns to the big stage. Wales received only one point in their three games while Canada took zero from all three. Talk about disappointment!

Huge Upsets

Germany 1 - 2 Japan and Japan 2 - 1 Spain:

These games proved to be almost identical replicas of one another with Japan featuring as the beneficiaries in both of them. Spain and Germany dominated their first halves, both going into the break 1-0 up and looking confident. However, from nowhere comes an energetic, hungry, and fearless Japanese team. In both games, they scored two quick goals in the second half to flip the scoreline. They held on for these two wins to help them top the group.

Photo Courtesy of Sportsnet

Photo Courtesy of The New York Times

Croatia 1 (4) - 1 (2) Brazil:

This game showed how resilient this Croatian team is and why they have made it to two consecutive World Cup semifinals. The score was 0-0 until the 105+1 minute when Neymar scored a goal to see Brazil surely hold on for a win. However, Croatia fought back and in the 117 minute found an equalizing goal through Bruno Petkovic. Heroics from goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic during the penalty shootout saw him help Croatia into the next round.

Argentina 1 - 2 Saudi Arabia:

Argentina came into this game full of confidence and with much expectation. They had a chance to break the record for most international games unbeaten, 37 games, and thought they were going to brush aside this Saudi Arabian team. During the first half, Saudi Arabia went down 0-1, but never gave up hope. Goals from Saleh Al-Shehri and Salem Al-Dawsari helped Saudi Arabia go up 2-1 to shock Argentinians around the world. Brilliant goalkeeping from Mohammed Al-Owais kept that scoreline until the final whistle was blown.