A bit late for it but here a thread to discuss whats going on in the 2022 Qatar World Cup.

What already happened as of making this thread:

• Qatar historical defeat as a WC host vs Ecuador
• Senegal brave effort vs Netherland despite their 2-0 defeat
• England 6-2 trashing or Iran
• 1-1 game of two halve between USA and Wales
• Argentina unpredictable defeat at the hand of Saudi Arabia

If you wanna discuss any of those match, or any of the upcoming games, this is the thread for it.

@Footy_watch Gotta agree about their defense, only worry about their injury though. If this defense keep going on like that... yeah, they can go all the way.

@Pelle I agree, africain team are incredible in this world cup, could have more in the knockout phase as well. Insane historical moment for them and they did it against 2 big name.

Still can't believe it happened... Ronaldo last world cup game, pherhap last international game, maybe his last change to get a major trophy... I mean, who's gonna move for him after his first half of season in United and this performance for Portugal? Surely no Champion League team. Is he gonna join a Saudi Arabian team for real? Is this it?

I mean, that wouldn't take anything away from what he did but if its truly what happen, I'm gonna say this went a lot quicker and a lot more brutally than I would have expected.

SO happy for Morocco, well done to our friends :)

A bit sad for CR7, but why didn't he start? Such a dumb move by santos.

@expertfootball Hard to bench Gonçalo Ramos after he scored that hat-trick in last game. It does feel like Santos underestimated Morocco and didn't expect them to score in the first half though. Ronaldo did play most of the second half but in the end it wasn't enough.

Tragic for Ronaldo really and you can understand why he'd be heartbroken. Even if I've never been his greatest fan, this hurt a bit to see. Hope he hang in there.

Is there seriously anyone thinking Ronaldo should start?

Hopefully France is not underestimating Morocco

Allez les bleus👍

Im so happy for Maroc💪💪💪

Well and congrats to France.

But I hope Morocco will spank France good😂😂

France didn't deserve to go through but im happy southgate got eliminated. I expect Morocco to make the final. I hope Croatia can knock out Argentina.

Crazy game between France and England. Didn't thought France were terrible, but their defending was pretty horrific, need to fix that or they will end up regreting it.

England were unfortunate in both half and the score is harsh for them. Despite my conflicted feeling for them, its hard not to find the whole thing dissapointing as they were propably the better team at times.

Now, I do think despite the record, Kane shouldn't taken the second pens, the more you go 1v1 vs the keeper and the more you think and I really believe he over-thought about everything going on. Rashford was so close to bring them back in with his freekick at the very end as well.

While England has reason to be dissapointed, I would have love to see them actually score in that game in open play and not just from the penality spot, so in a sense, I'm kinda glad the second pen didn't go in but still, the whole thing just felt weird, maybe I was somehow expecting them to force additional time at the very end but they just got out like that.

Still think that there no shame to losing to France even if they propably will regret not having made more out of their momentum, they looked really good this world cup tbf.

Oh and finally, Saka was crazy good, propably their best player. Arsenal got one heck of gem.

Semi-Finals time!

Argentina vs Croatia

France vs Morocco

Crazy that Brazil is not in the semi's but it stands to an old adage that "defense wins championships". Had Brazil made just a few defensive tweaks, I think they would have won that match, but you dance to dance, so they played how they play. (Spain is also a victim of their own style). That said, Croatia has such a smart defensive posture that if you don't capitalize on chances, you slowly fall into their game plan. Argentina has the talent to break through, but they HAVE to put those chances away. They can't let the game drag on without true pressure on the keeper and backline. Use the wings, pull players out, and work your magic by pinging the ball quickly through the lines. If they don't, and if Messi and company don't finish chances, Croatia will only bend, but not break. I do think they will suffer by some quality execution from Argentina this match and move to the third-place game.

France is surely the favorite. Morocco is suffering on the back line due to injuries and as plug-in as they have been, missing your best defenders will take a toll. If they can get those guys back, and if they can stay as disciplined as they have been all tournament, France will get frustrated and expose themselves. I would LOVE to see Morocco make it past France to move to the final, but I think France will have too much in the end and pull through in regulation. An early French goal will be very tricky to get out from, even if the defense has been lights out.

Your picks?

Gonna say Croatia vs France final, can't see Morocco doing it with its current injury which is honestly too bad for them.

As for Argentina, I don't trust them enough after their recent performance to get a decisive lead over Croatia. I mean, they got enough quality for it but get a feeling they won't do enough somehow and get punished in later part of the game, like with Netherland.

I'd be happy for Modric, I'd be happy for Messi, I'd be happy for Morocco, I'd be happy for Saliba, and this would be probably my favourite order for winning. Only reason why I'd prefer other teams to beat France is that France team is absolutely stacked for years to come. For remaining 3 teams, it may be once a lifetime opportunity to win it.

I can’t make up my mind if Argentinas penalty was a correct call.

The goalkeeper couldnt just make himself disappear to avoid bumping in to the attacker.

@Pelle For me, I'd argue thats a penalty, I mean, once you come out to get the ball and fail to do so and stand in the attacker path blocking his run, its very hard not for the ref not to call. Tbf, if he managed to make himself a tiny bit bigger, he'd propably would have gotten a touch on the ball and the discussion would be different.

@quikzyyy Yeah but its propably the last chance for the GGOAT (greatest Giroud of all time) to get another one. Joke aside, no matter who win it, its gonna be a mighty impressive deed. Last time Argentina won it, I wasn't even born, if France win it, it will be the first time since 1962 any team won it twice in a row and if Morocco win, well it will be the first time a africain team win it which would be a tremendous accomplishment.

Oh yeah, I was totally wrong with my prediction. Congrats to Argentina though, great performance by Alvarez and Messi. Croatia was quite unfortunate imho though, was sad they subbed off Modric before final wistle.

I'm also happy the game ended in better fashion than against the Netherland.

This France team is strong, not breath-taking strong but strong in a manner where even if its not going alright for them, things just seem to work out in the end. The whole joke surrounding Didier Deschamp being super lucky are true though, this team alway seem to have good fortune for some reason. But yeah, they win and somehow, they seem relatively confident doing it, even if they don't win by huge margin. They got this feeling of alway just doing enough.

Final gonna be lit. May the best team win.

France is not a team that typically plays a posession style of football. It suits them better with the speed of Mbappe and Dembele to counterattack. It’s scary to watch at times because they tend to let their opponents back into the game like that. Like Morocco, who btw played good.

Anyway it’s going to be interesting against Argentina.

Just want to point how class Mbappe is. Man moves insanely quick

The all-star African team is once again in the final of the world cup whilst not being impressive. I hope they thrash Argentina

I agree that France does just enough to get the win or move on. Sure they can dazzle with that counter, but they are not eye candy when it comes to controlling the ball and complete domination.

Morocco suffered too many key injuries and fatigue set in. Had they capitalized on just a few of their chances, that would have been a different match, but the better team did win. Lots of players from this Moroccan team will be eyed by some big players in club footy.

I am a bit torn on the final. Outside the USA, my favorite team has been Brazil since the late 70s. I picked them vs France in this final, but Brazil fell a dance or two short. Given that Arg is the main Brazilian rival, it is difficult to root for them outright, but I am going to. I would love to see Messi get his Cup win. I really don't want to see France go back-to-back.

They do have the team to do it and if they did win it, it is deserved, no doubt.

Before the closing of the Cup, I just wanted to say that I very much enjoyed this tournament. Yes, it will have a darker shadow over it, but the matches and level of play were so fun to watch. We saw a lot of upsets which caused way more chaos. Lots of tight groups to make the final matches respectively feel like those relegation battles.

Players stepped up and balled out. Most, I should say....... I think the almost mid-season timing was a factor in that quality and fitness. I just wish each team could have had a longer camp than 10 days, but each team had that, so no excuses.

I have had some old playmates and friends go out to Qatar and they all said they had a great time. Overall, this tournament has been a blast! Footy brings the world together!!

Come on France. Messi is so overrated that I want Argentina to lose badly.

@Emo this might be the best thing I've read here, thank you

GGOAT (greatest Giroud of all time)

Morocco should be really proud of their performance, they played amazing, just lacked a decent striker or someone who can finish their chances and ref was shit as usual.

Hope Messi gets his WC trophy.