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Brazil adds matches in the final phases of World Cups, the country with the most duels in said instances.
new disappointment of Spain, and historical feat of Morocco, which eliminated La Roja on penalties (0-0; 3-0). The Atlas Lions earned a place at the table of the greats in the quarterfinals of the World-2022, that will give away stellar clashes like the Netherlands-Argentina or England-France. Morocco will face Portugal, meanwhile, which left Switzerland (6-1) on the road; while Brazil will face Croatia.
In line with the early eliminations of Belgium (2nd in the FIFA ranking) or Germany (11th) In the group stage, the debacle of the team led by Luis Enrique (7th) augurs that this atypical World Cup due to its dates and its geographical location still reserves surprises.
Morocco slipped for the first time in its history in the quarterfinals and equaled the best performance of an African country in the World Cups, and will be played against the Portuguese to get among the four best teams in the world. “It is historic for Morocco, historic for Africa. We said that we had come to represent Africa, we saw that our level had increased”, celebrated the Moroccan coach Walid Regragui.
In 2018, the rooms had been summed up in a pulse between Europe and South America. Four years later, Morocco broke that duopoly, although the number of European nations (five out of eight) fuels the risk of seeing the hegemonic dominance of that continent continued, which has lasted since Italy’s victory in 2006.
Will that dominance end?
Brazil and Argentina, of course, have not yet said their last word. Led respectively by Neymar and Lionel Messi, the Canarinha and the Albiceleste believe in their options in this tournament, which is the last chance for ‘Ney’ and ‘Leo’ to achieve glory.
“The World Cup in Qatar is an excellent opportunity to put an end to European dominance,” Cafu, a former winger and captain of the 2002 world champions of Brazil, declared before the tournament.
After three weeks of competition, Brazil has impressed with its offensive strength and defensive rigor, despite a ten-day absence for Neymar, injured in an ankle. Argentina, for its part, has gone from less to more after its unexpected setback against Saudi Arabia (2-1).
complicated task
But the South American teams will not have it easy in the quarterfinals: Croatia, current runner-up in the world and still guided by its conductor Luka Modric, appears as a tough rival in the quarterfinals on Friday (10:00 am).
The same can be said of the coach’s Netherlands Louis van GaaHe, a disciplined and coherent team capable of frustrating the team of Lionel Scaloni.
“It will be a very beautiful match between two historic teams. Unfortunately, one of them will have to leave”, commented the Argentine counselor.
Meanwhile, in England players like Phil Foden, Harry Keane and Marcus Rashford stand out; Although players who are inspired, unbalanced and goals like Olivier Giroud and Kylian Mbappé, top scorer so far with five goals, hope to continue imposing conditions on the French team. There will be the challenge of the English, to stop this outstanding duo.