By Andreas Gkoumplias,
One of the biggest football tournaments has come to an end yesterday in Qatar, a tournament that posed many questions, and produced a lot of doubt, about football fans and not and undoubtedly will be the center of discussion for many years to come. Football-wise, it has been quite an interesting competition as well, with Argentina managing to defeat France in the grand final, in the penalty shootout, after an intense game that finished 2-2, that went to become 3-3 in the extra time that followed. So, in this article, we are going to be taking a look over the tournament, the best teams, the best matches and so on.
Speaking of the best matches, it is hard to pick, since most matches were very entertaining to watch and surely difficult to predict their outcome. If I had to choose a top three, I would definitely pick the grand final, where Argentina was leading 2-0 up until the 78th minute, seemingly having no troubles, up until when two swift goals from Kylian Mbappé sent the match into overtime, where Argentina retook the lead, only for Kylian Mbappé to score for a third time, sending the game to the penalty shootout, where France lost 4-2. Another great game was the draw between Cameroon and Serbia (3-3), where the national team of Cameroon came from losing 1-3 in the 50th minute to drawing the game 3-3 within 5 minutes, nearly taking the win at the end. And if I had to pick the third one, it would definitely be the match between Argentina and the Netherlands for the quarter-finals, where a staggering 18 yellow cards were issued (!) in a game where the Netherlands made a comeback from losing 0-2 to 2-2, only to be defeated in the penalty shootout by the later on finalists Argentina.
The pleasant and unexpected surprise of the tournament is without a doubt Morocco. Playing defensively, but being deadly on the counterattacks and with their goalkeeper Bono “forming” a brick wall that prevented most teams from scoring, they managed to become the first African team to qualify for the semifinals, after defeating Spain and Portugal, only to perform decently but lose 2-0 to France. They ultimately managed to end up fourth, after losing 2-1 to Croatia in the penultimate match of the tournament, but their impressive run and the big upsets that they did will surely be remembered in the years to come. An honorable mention should also be Japan, which managed to make it out of the group stage with two comebacks while behind versus Spain and Germany, only to sadly lose to the penalty shootout versus Croatia.
It goes without saying that the two most consistent teams were Argentina and France, hence why they made it to the final. However, there are a bunch of teams that we had great expectations for them to progress far but they did not. Germany for example showed great vulnerabilities in their defensive line and whilst their attack was on fire, their defense and their goal difference disqualified them pretty early in the tournament, not making it after the group stage. Spain was also a big surprise to be out so early on, after the emphatic 7-0 over Costa Rica, they managed to get knocked out in the penalty shootout by Morocco. And of course Brazil, the biggest favorite to conquer the title, while better for the majority of the game managed to lose to Croatia and get disqualified early on.
And speaking of players, Lionel Messi got the closure his career deserved. He conquered the world cup with Argentina, a title that according to his statements “was a dream for him since he was a child”. Playing with the excitement of a 20-year-old, but with the brains of a 35-year-old, he was there and played a catalytic role for his team when they needed him providing assists and scoring 7 times, including two in the final. He was probably the most useful player of the tournament, a true captain indeed. Honorable mention here is Kylian Mbappe, where the young superstar despite his tremendous efforts didn’t manage to help France win the tournament.
Overall, it could be easily said that the tournament was very special. We got the chance to enjoy great football games, passion, challenges, great goals, and a great final. Despite the dark stories that unfold regarding the human rights violations, speaking strictly about football, it was a great tournament and we hope to see more like this one in the near future.
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