The World Cup in Qatar made history!
Soccer fans were full of goals in the 2022 FIFA World Cup held in Qatar and Argentina won the championship. The tournament, which witnessed an unforgettable final between Argentina and France, made history in many ways.
A total of 172 goals were scored in 64 matches played in the World Cup. Qatar 2022 was the highest scoring tournament in World Cup history. The organization averaged 2.7 goals per game. France became the top scorer in the World Cup with 16 goals.
In the 2022 World Cup, the referees requested 4 red cards and 227 yellow cards. The quarterfinal match between Argentina and the Netherlands was recorded as the game with the most cards in the tournament, with 17 yellow cards and 1 red card.
SURPRISE OF THE TOURNAMENT: MOROCCO
Morocco, which won the title of the first African team to reach the semifinals at the 2022 World Cup, left its mark with its performance.
Finishing the group stage with Croatia, Belgium and Canada as the leader, “Atlas Lions” managed to eliminate strong teams like Spain in the round of 16 and Portugal in the quarterfinals.
Although the African representative put up a very good fight against France in the semifinals, they were defeated 2-0 and came back from the door of the final.
Morocco, the most colorful team in the tournament because of the football it played and the support of its fans, finished fourth in the World Cup by losing to Croatia 2-1 in the game for third place.
The Moroccan soccer players who celebrated their goal and spread the joy by prostrating themselves and rejoicing with their families after the game were among the most talked about in the tournament.
GERMANY AND BELGIUM DISAPPOINTING
Germany and Belgium, who are in the top 10 of the FIFA ranking, said goodbye to the 2022 World Cup in the group stage and were disappointed.
With 4 championships in World Cup history, Germany finished the group stage in 3rd place with 4 points. Falling short of expectations with their performance, Germany bid farewell to soccer’s number one organization at the national team level for the second time in a row in the group stage.
Belgium, which claimed to have experienced a great division in the dressing room, could not leave the group and became another country, like Germany, which did not meet expectations. The Belgium coach, Roberto Martínez, also resigned from his position after this failure.
THE RISE OF AFRICAN AND ASIAN TEAMS
The African and Asian representatives who competed in the 2022 FIFA World Cup were appreciated with their performance. Representing Africa at the tournament, Cameroon, Ghana, Morocco, Senegal and Tunisia broke new ground by picking up at least one win. Among these teams, Morocco advanced to the semifinals, while Senegal managed to play the last 16 rounds.
Among the Asian representatives, Japan, South Korea and Australia made themselves known in the last 16 rounds. Among the other 2 Asian teams that failed to make it out of the group, Saudi Arabia drew attention as the only team to beat champions Argentina, while Iran, who won the tournament with a single win, left their mark on the cup with protests and the statements of his coach Carlos Queiroz.
Host Qatar, on the other hand, became the only Asian representative not to win the 2022 World Cup.
MESSI AND MBAPPE IN THE FINAL, NEYMAR AT HOME
While Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé, one of the 3 players who continue their careers at Paris Saint-Germain in France, met in the final, Neymar said goodbye to the tournament in the quarterfinals.
Lionel Messi, who scored 7 goals in the 2022 World Cup, of which 2 were in the final, played a leading role as Argentina reached the championship. Messi was also awarded the tournament’s Most Valuable Player title.
Lionel Messi managed to break many records in Qatar 2022. The star player, who played his 1,000th match in this tournament, also managed to win the titles of “Argentine footballer who scored the most goals in the World Cup”, “The player who played the most in the World Cup” and “The player who scored the most in the World Cup”.
Mbappé, who was the tournament’s top scorer with 8 goals, became the second player to score a hat-trick in the World Cup final after English footballer Geoff Hurst (England 1966).
The Brazilian star Neymar, who came to Qatar as a favourite, could not put an end to his longing for the World Cup in this tournament either. The “Sambacilar” were eliminated in the quarterfinals on penalties against Croatia. (AA)