World Cup quarter-finals: another sensation

On December 10, all the semi-finalists of the World Cup were determined in Qatar. In the 1/4 finals, the Moroccan national team sensationally knocked out Portugal (1:0), and France defeated the England team (2:1) not without difficulty.

Morocco – Portugal – 1:0

The Moroccan national team became the first ever team from the African continent to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup.

The author of the only goal was striker Youssef En-Nesiri, who plays for the Spanish Sevilla. At the 42nd minute, he closed the canopy with his head from the flank, ahead of the Portuguese goalkeeper.

In general, the game developed according to the classic scenario for matches involving Morocco: the team defended deeply, did not allow anything to be created at their gates and ran out into smashing counterattacks. Therefore, despite the total advantage in possession of the ball, the Portuguese team can not boast of truly dangerous moments.

The situation escalated when, in the third added minute, the referee sent off the midfielder of the African team. The last few minutes the team played out in the minority, vigilantly guarding their gates. And they successfully completed this task, the match ended with a minimal victory.

Goalkeeper Yassin Bunu has already scored three clean sheets at the 2022 World Cup. Recall that at this tournament, Morocco has already held matches with Belgium, semi-finalist Croatia, Spain and now Portugal. Moroccans’ only goal was an own goal in the match with Canada.

As a result, it is even difficult to say what became the main sensation at the 1/4 final stage: the defeat of Brazil or the relegation of Portugal.

England – France – 1:2

For the first time at the playoff stage at this World Cup, two teams met, between which it was impossible to single out a clear favorite. However, many experts gave slightly more preference to the French, given their status as reigning world champions.

So, already in the 17th minute, the midfielder of the “tricolors” Aurélien Tchouameni opened the scoring with a long-range shot from outside the penalty area. Such a quick goal played into the hands of the fans, who were lucky to see a really spectacular game performed by the British. The Three Lions team quickly recovered after a missed goal and was able to organize a powerful attack on the opponents’ goal.

However, this pressure resulted in a goal only at the beginning of the second half, when the referee awarded a penalty kick – the score was equalized by Harry Kane. After this ball, the teams began to act more carefully. Nevertheless, in the 78th minute, the English defender Harry Maguire still missed the main scorer of the French national team, Olivier Giroud, who once again brought the French forward.

Despite the whole 8 minutes added by the referee of the meeting, it cannot be said that England was able to organize any serious final assault. Only in the last seconds of the meeting they got the right to a dangerous free kick, but Marcus Rashford sent the ball over the gate.

The final whistle marked another setback for England against France. The “three lions” have only 1 win in the last 9 meetings. Also, England has not won a top tournament for 56 years. The only victory in history – at the 1966 World Cup.

In turn, France repeated the achievement of the Argentina national team 92 years ago, winning the World Cup match after two own penalties.

Thus, in the second semi-final of the 2022 World Cup, the French team will face Morocco in a principled match. The game for the right to reach the final will take place on December 14. The beginning is at 22:00 Moscow time.

Daniel Prilepsky.