In the group stage, the Netherlands won Group A. England won Group B. Argentina won Group C. France won Group D. Japan won Group E. Morocco won Group F. Brazil won Group G. Portugal won Group H. The Netherlands, Senegal, England, the United States, Argentina, Poland, France, Australia, Japan, Spain, Morocco, Croatia, Brazil, Switzerland, Portugal, and South Korea have advanced to the elimination stage. Ecuador, Qatar, Iran, Wales, Germany, Costa Rica, Belgium, Canada, Cameroon, Serbia, Uruguay, and Ghana were all eliminated in the group stage.
The first big thing to happen was Qatar was the first team eliminated. They were the first host nation to be eliminated in the group stage. While not surprising it was historical. Qatar was historically bad. Japan winning their group was surprising to some people. I knew they were a good team and I don’t think people really gave them credit for how good they are coming into the tournament. Germany was eliminated which was a huge disappointment for them. They are supposed to be one of the top teams in the world. Morocco winning their group was a surprise to everyone. At the same time, Canada didn’t play as well as they were expected too. They have definitely fallen off from how good they were during 2021 and the beginning of 2022.
The United States started the tournament by drawing with Wales. While not the start we wanted it wasn’t the end of the world. Then they drew England which was a solid result. We wanted a win but will take a draw as it still upset all of England. The United States finished the group stage by beating Iran. That game came down to don’t mess it up. We knew we could win the game but the United States tends to shoot themselves in the foot. I would have liked to see them win the group but they didn’t lose a game or get eliminated in the group stage so I think it was a fairly positive performance in the group stage.
The Netherlands, the United States, Argentina, Australia, Japan, Croatia, Brazil, South Korea, England, Senegal, France, Poland, Morocco, Spain, Portugal, and Switzerland were in the elimination stage. Argentina and France made it to the final. Argentina won. Spain had an early exit in the round of 16. Brazil losing to Croatia was a big upset. Brazil was expected by a lot of people to go to at least the semi-finals. Portugal being eliminated in the quarter-finals was a hug upset too. A lot of people had them going to the final with Argentina. England was eliminated by France which was sweet. England couldn’t beat the United States who they were “supposes to beat” then their rivals eliminate them. Morocco had a great run making it all the way to the semi-finals. They beat the big dog Spain the powerhouse Portugal. Croatia had a good run too making it to the semi-finals. They had to go through Brazil so that should be celebrated.
The final itself is probably one of the best Soccer matches I have ever seen. I don’t think there could have been a better final or a better way for Messi to finally win a world cup. Credit to Mbappe as he carried France. He gave his team the chance to win. He could be the best player in the world when Messi retires.
The Netherlands beat the United States. I was hoping for the USA to win. That didn’t happen. The United States played with a lack of energy. The Netherlands was able to put the game outside of the United States reach. This is about as well as I think a lot of USA fans expected them to do. I had them moving on to the quarter-finals in my predictions but it would have been a miracle for them to go past that.
On the pitch, it was a solid world cup. I would rank it higher than some of the other recent world cups. I think off the pitch, it was terrible. There is no reason for what happened leading up to the world cup. There is no reason for the world cup to be surrounded by human rights violations. There is no reason for so many migrant workers to die. The cost to build is crazy but I don’t think the cost to host this event will effect Qatar like how the Olympics effected Brazil. This is what it is going to be known for. Yes Messi won. People will remember that. However it is not enough for people to forget how we got here or the other negative things that happened. Ultimately this shouldn’t have happened. There was too much money and corruption though for it not to happen. The reality is teams could have chosen not to go or teams could have forced FIFA to relocate the event or FIFA could have just relocated the event. It did not happen though. Teams had years to do something and didn’t. FIFA just looked the other way while teams played nice so they could continue to play. Sport brings humanity together in unimaginable ways. Especially with events like this. Unfortunately Qatar2022 will forever be scared.
Zac Electrifly 