Morocco entered the new history of Arab football after the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup quarter-finals showed the amazing achievement of the Moroccan team, which reached the semi-finals and became the first Arab and African team to receive this award in the first edition. The World Cup, which will take place on Arab soil, is exceptional in terms of organization and technical level.
And The Lions of Atlas became the talk of the town after the epics they wrote, after they came out from behind the scenes of the nominations, so they began the journey with surprises that soon became reality, step by step disproving any role of chance or luck, because what was achieved was the result of a lot of work and strenuous effort. Coach Walid Regraki, who took on the task a few months before the start of the World Cup, to make the impossible possible through the efforts of players who believed in themselves and their abilities until their dream became reality, in line with the high hopes of the Moroccan and Arab fans to look for more with ambition born from the womb of confidence that has become great in the players and their coach, reaching the point of striving for a world title.
The French side will next face the Moroccan side in next Wednesday’s semi-final at the Al-Bayt Stadium after the defending champions in the previous edition, Russia 2018, outclassed their English counterpart by two goals to a goal in a tough caliber confrontation that saw two an outstanding candidate for the cup crown, and it has become one of the most beautiful matches of the World Cup. And excitement, as the French team has handled its details with great intelligence.
Surprises and excitement in the quarter-finals were not limited to what the Moroccan team came up with. The departure of the Brazilian team from the Croatian team with a 2-4 penalty shoot-out difference after a draw in the original and extra time with a goal for the same, fell under the category of exciting and unexpected results , because Seleção entered the tournament as an outstanding candidate for its sixth title in its history, sympathizing with the great opportunities that characterize it with the presence of a large group of first-class stars from major European clubs, led by Paris Saint-Germain French star Neymar, who hinted at his retirement from international football following this defeat.
Tears and brokenness
The 2022 FIFA World Cup quarter-finals in Qatar saw a number of World Cup game legends say goodbye with tears of grief as their dreams of winning the title evaporated, especially those who saw this World Cup as their last chance to lift the World Cup, and led by these Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo, who aroused the sympathy of millions around the world, left his country’s match against Morocco in tears.
Brazilian star Neymar also said goodbye to the tournament with tears in his eyes after the defeat of the Selecao at the hands of the Croats, and before them Suarez, the Uruguayan star.
Croatia experience
But the Croatian team, which did not steal the victory, is credited with the mastery of handling the stars of the Brazilian national team, the great experience of the team-mates of Real Madrid star Luka Modric, who provided strong defensive play at the starting time and relied on counterattacks, then showed a strong personality with the ability to return to the match after Neymar’s goal. In the first extra period with a great reaction in the second extra period, which allowed them to adjust through Bruno Petkovic, take the match to a penalty, which led them to win and advance to the semi-finals.
In turn, Argentina narrowly advanced to the semi-finals after a thrilling 4-3 win over the Netherlands on penalties after drawing in regulation and extra time with two goals on the same score. , so that the companions of the star Lionel Messi made an appointment in the semi-finals with Croatia, “runner-up in the last edition, Russia 2018. Next Tuesday at Lusail Stadium, in a rematch confrontation after losing to the same opponent in the group stage of the previous edition by three unanswered, which is a defeat that doomed the Argentina national team to two things before reaching the quarter-finals for the second time, but fate was the entry into the hands of the French team, who subsequently became champions.
Private numbers
According to official statistics released by the International Federation of Football Associations, goals have been scored in the 60 matches that have been played up to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, whether in the group stage or the final round and then the quarter-finals. out of 158 goals, while England were the top scoring team with 13 goals.
– 19 penalties were awarded, with Argentina scoring the most with three penalties.
The most famous referees had 207 yellow cards and Al-Akhdar received the most yellow cards with 14 cards in total.
Three red cards were issued to teams: Wales, Cameroon and Morocco.
The number of assists reached 59 thousand and only 981 assists, and the Spaniard became the most productive passer with 3819 assists.
– Successful passes totaled 51,308 and Spain also had the highest number of assists with 3,527.
The crosses reached 2223 crosses and the highest was the French team with 122 crosses.
As for errors, they amounted to 1486, and the Netherlands team was the most admitted team, which made 87 errors.
– The number of offsides amounted to 232, and the most offsides were in Argentina, a total of 18 times.
– Number of corners – 541, with an average of 9 corners per match, while Brazil won the most with 37 corners.
– The number of free kicks was 1,695 and Argentina scored the most free kicks with 95.