The Moroccan team abandoned what the adults had been saying at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and deservedly reserved a place in the quarter-finals, rewriting the history of Arab participation in the World Cup, becoming the first Arab team to reach the quarter-finals – an achievement that will forever be remembered by those more that it was achieved at the expense of the Spanish team won the shoot-out with a score of 3: 0 after a goalless draw in regular and extra time.
Features of the race for the title have emerged in two parallel tracks, with the first track featuring the Netherlands, Argentina, Croatia and Brazil for a spot in the first semi-final, while the second track includes England, France, Morocco and Portugal looking to reach the second semi-final amid big expectations. collisions if the results converge in the round. The next one has the same pre-nominations and therefore the predictions become more difficult to appear in the narrowest limiting the ability of any of the participants to win and complete the journey in light of the almost minor technical differences between the eight teams.
The Moroccan national team ignored all these considerations when coach Walid Regraki and his cadets believed in their chances, even if they were small, according to observers and followers, in light of talk of large technical differences, so they adopted a tactical method that relied on the firmness of the defense. , fighting spirit and patience in the face of pressure from the opponent. The teenagers of coach Luis Enrique were late with goalkeeper Yacine Bono, which sowed doubts about their ability to win.
On the same track, Portugal rebuffed all accusations of modesty after losing to South Korea at the end of the group stage to secure a place in the quarter-finals for the third time in their history after a clear and wide six-goal victory over Switzerland, which unexpectedly fell apart in front of Cristiano Ronaldo’s comrades, who did not start.
The Portuguese national team set up a meeting with the Moroccan national team, “a pleasant surprise at the World Cup”, but without a deficit connection for the Arab team, which will face the historical memory when it defeated the same competitor by three goals on June 11, 1986, a victory that gave “Atlas Lions” advance to the second round of the tournament. price.
The Argentina national team, which benefited from an initial setback against Al Akhdar, and the loss made them more solid and powerful, advanced to the quarter-finals confidently after thwarting the Australians’ plan to come back from afar and introduce extra time to secure a well-deserved two-goal victory to one in order to pass for this role for the tenth time in its history.
competitive track
The competitive path spawned a long-standing rivalry between the national teams of Argentina and the Netherlands, in a scene reenacting the historical conflict between the two sides at the World Cup, which began in Germany in 1974 and was repeated four times, the last time was at the World Cup in Germany in 2006, before than it was revived in Qatar 2022 amid memories of beautiful epics, especially that confrontation that took place in France in 1998, when the Dutch won by two goals: one. The French team, the reigning champions, dispelled all doubts about their level after the defeat they suffered from Tunisia at the end of the group stage, as they regained full health, especially as they faced the Polish team with a perfect formation to achieve a well-deserved victory with three goals and continue the path of defending the title he won in Russia 2018.
In turn, the England team proved that this is not an easy number at the World Cup and an extraordinary candidate for the fight for the title after a long absence from the coronation stage, after the adventure of the Senegal team ended with a clear victory and three goals.
The eyes of the whole world will be on the big caliber clash in the quarter-final between France and England, a match that is considered one of the football classics compared to the history of the two teams and their presence in the World Cup, despite the lack of confrontation between them in the World Cup, which was limited to two meetings, the first was in the 1966 edition in which the England home team won by two unanswered goals before moving on to achieve their only title, while the second was in the 1982 World Cup and the English also won 3-1, but this round’s showdown is an early clash between two candidates for Qatar’s 2022 World Cup victory.
The Croatian national team, runners-up at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, suffered hard before ending a series of Japanese surprises that remained the subject of world talk after Samurai beat two former world champions in the first round. , Germany and Spain, respectively, to referee the German team to leave the World Cup out of the group stage, trailing the tails of disappointment.
In the next match, the Brazilian national team worked magic against South Korea, recording their best performance of the tournament, revealing the traits of a champion capable of reaching a sixth title in their history, especially after reviving some stars such as Neymar, who performed well and was selected best player of the match.