The 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar will certainly go down as one of the best in the 90-year old history of the competition.
For a tournament that was vilified by the Western media prior to its start – due to Qatar’s poor protection for migrant workers – it lived up to unexpected levels.
The football was good. The competition was even. The stadia were superb and for the first time an African team went to the semi-final stage.
Let’s check up some of the interesting moments that are expected to be in the memories of fans forever
1 . Cameroon defeating Brazil: The Central African nation became the first side from the continent to beat Brazil at the World Cup.
As the match headed for a draw, Vincent Aboubakar, the Cameroon skipper and striker, hammered in the 92nd minute of the match to create history.
Cameroon had never won a match at the World Cup since 2002, when they defeated Saudi Arabia. Aboubakar himself became only the third African player after Didier Drogba in 2010 and Joel Matip in 2014 to score against Brazil in a FIFA World Cup.
2 . Cristiano Ronaldo’s contested goal: Portugal’s match against Uruguay on 28 November led to a brief controversy over Portugal’s opening goal in the match.
That goal came at the 54th minute of the game from Portuguese attacking midfielder Bruno Fernandes, with whom Ronaldo played at Manchester United also, till the latter had an unceremonious exit on 22 November.
When Fernandes made a cross, it appeared as if Ronaldo had headed it into the goal. He even briefly celebrated on the field before the official scoreboard gave the goal’s credit to Fernandes. Even FIFA’s official Twitter handle had initially indicated that it was Ronaldo who scored before putting out the official stand.
Neither Portugal manager Fernando Santos nor Fernandes could clarify after the match whether Ronaldo did indeed make a touch — which social media users dubbed ‘hair goal.’
Reports said that the Portugal team was willing to submit evidence to FIFA to prove that the goal came from Ronaldo’s head.
But Adidas, the official ball manufacturer of the tournament, and FIFA later confirmed that there was no contact.
3 . Argentina losing to Saudi Arabia: Saudi Arabia caused one of the biggest upsets in the history of the World Cup by beating Argentina.
This was one of the great World Cup shocks, up there with Senegal beating France in 2002, Algeria beating West Germany in 1982 and the USA beating England in 1950. This was only Saudi Arabia’s fourth win in 17 World Cup matches.
It all seemed to be going to plan for the Argentines after their captain and talisman Lionel Messi slotted in a penalty 10 minutes after Saud Abdulhamid hauled down Leandro Paredes in the box.
In the second half, a reinvigorated Saudi team took the field. Saleh Al-Shehri opened their scoring in the 48th minute after latching onto a long ball before guiding a shot through Argentine goalkeeper Damián Martinez’s legs and into the far corner.
A few minutes later, winger Salem al-Dawsari cut inside and curled a beauty into the top corner of the goal. If the first half had belonged to Argentina, it was Saudi Arabia’s moment to shine in the second as their fans celebrated in excitement — and possibly some disbelief — at Lusail Stadium.
4 . Japan beating Spain: Japan went 0-1 behind Spain when Álvaro Morata scored a goal in the 11th minute. But the famous grit that the Japanese displayed throughout the tournament was not subdued. Just after half-time, Ritsu Dōan, the one who turned the tide against Germany, came in as a substitute and quickly scored the equaliser in the 48th minute.
Three minutes later, midfielder Ao Tanaka gave Japan the lead — a goal that effectively knocked Germany out of contention.
As the final whistle rang, Japan became the only team in Group E to enter the Round 16 of the tournament after winning two matches.
5 . Morocco being the 1st African team to make the semis: Youssef En-Nesyri scored the winning goal in the 42nd minute and wrote his country into the history books.
Never before has an African nation made it into the World Cup semi-finals, but Morocco did it this time.
Amongst African teams, Cameroon reached the quarter-finals in 1990, Senegal in 2002 and Ghana in 2010, but no further than that.
A cross was swung in from the left and En-Nesyri leapt between Portugal goalkeeper Diogo Costa and defender Ruben Dias to head into the empty net.
Pulse
