A breathtaking World Cup in Qatar that captivated the planet from start to finish
The 64 matches featured a record 172 goals, with six coming in the final as Messi’s Argentina are crowned world champions
CAUGHT your breath yet? No? Neither have I, nor anyone else who stayed up late on Sunday night (Dec 18) to witness and savour what has already gone down in sporting history as the greatest World Cup final of all time.
Forget, for a moment, all the controversy that plagued the host nation Qatar and its less-than-ideal build-up to the event.
Forget, for a moment, those bribery charges against Fifa officials, and the never-ending debate about why a tiny Middle Eastern nation with almost zero football history and infrastructure was awarded the rights to stage the planet’s largest and most prestigious football tournament.
The month-long World Cup in Qatar deserves to be remembered for footballing reasons. The vast majority of the 32 teams played with desire, guts and verve. They served up a feast for the senses, with results that often bordered on incredulity.
Surprises and shocks
“Amazing” is probably the word that I used the most during the past four weeks, as almost every day of the competition delivered a surprise result that will be talked about for decades to come.
The World Cup was barely 48 hours old on Nov 22 when the unfancied Saudi Arabia inexplicably overcame a one-goal deficit to score twice and take Argentina’s scalp.
A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU
Friday, 2 pm
Lifestyle
Our picks of the latest dining, travel and leisure options to treat yourself.
The upsets kept on coming as one favourite after another were felled by football’s lesser likes. The four-time winners Germany didn’t even make it out of the first round, with Japan producing a fightback for the ages to stun the 2014 champions.
The Blue Samurai not only qualified for the Round of 16, they did so in some style by topping the so-called Group of Death as they also bagged maximum points against another European heavyweight, Spain.
Brazil and their talisman Neymar made it to the quarter-finals and had one foot in the final four, only to crumble to Croatia in a penalty shoot-out.
Croatia’s 37-year-old captain Luka Modric has surely played at his final World Cup, but at least he led his nation to a more-than-respectable third place after finishing runners-up in Russia four years ago.
The same could not be said for Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, who’s also 37 but had a tournament to forget as he was dropped from the starting line-up in the quarter-final loss to African upstarts Morocco.
The only consolation for Ronaldo was the distinction of being the first man to score in five different World Cups, but that will hardly placate the proud player who was desperately looking to add the one major trophy missing from his cabinet.
Speaking of Morocco, they ended up in fourth place and the tournament’s greatest underdogs returned home as heroes of the entire African continent. The Atlas Lions punched far above their weight, beating a toothless Belgium and Portugal before giving France a decent fight in the semi-final.
This World Cup truly had it all – spectacular goals, controversial video reviews, logic-defying saves by the goalkeepers, and a record-breaking 172 goals in all (an average of 2.69 per game).
Final showdown
As if the drama, emotion, intensity and unpredictability of the first 63 matches in Qatar were not enough, the championship final at the majestic Lusail Stadium somehow managed to exceed all expectations. Argentina and France locked horns in a titanic duel that left the 88,966 lucky fans in attendance – and over a billion more around the world tuning in on TV and their mobile devices – spellbound.
These two behemoths of the game traded blows like professional boxers, with Argentina landing the first two punches – a Lionel Messi penalty and a classy Angel di Maria strike – in the first half to leave the French rattled.
France were in a slumber for much of the match, only for the sharpshooter Kylian Mbappe to blow the roof off with two goals in the space of 97 seconds to level the tie.
In extra time, Messi bundled the ball in to put Argentina within touching distance of the golden trophy once more, but Mbappe had the final say as he became the first player in 56 long years to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final.
With both teams still standing somehow after 120 minutes, the dreaded penalty shoot-out was required to determine a winner. Argentina were perfect from the spot, while France’s Kingsley Coman and Aurelien Tchouameni were left to rue their misses as the defending champions surrendered their hold on the trophy they’ve owned for the last four years.
In the end, it was Messi’s night. After all that Argentina had to endure, it had to be. The 35-year-old finally – at his fifth attempt – laid his hands on the World Cup trophy and hoisted it up high.
It was a fitting end to a tournament that captivated the world from start to finish. What’s clear is that the high-octane action in Qatar has certainly set the bar extremely high for the next World Cup hosts – the United States, Canada and Mexico in June 2026 – to follow.
Copyright SPH Media. All rights reserved.
