On the most exciting moments during the world championship.
One of the first and main sensations of the tournament
On November 22, a meeting between Saudi Arabia and Argentina took place, which gave the world one of the main sensations of the tournament. As it turned out later, the only defeat of the Argentines in the tournament was only victories.
Even before world Cup all the players in Argentina unanimously insisted they would fight for Messi. No one could have imagined that the team would have started the last World Cup like this for him. And only a notorious Arab fan could tell that his team would win against Argentina.
That defeat was an excellent “click on the nose” for the Argentines and gave an additional impetus to the rest of the matches, and for the Arabs, that match entered not only the sports archives, but also the history of the country as a whole.
Neko Williams tears after match against United States of America
The former Liverpool defender made his debut in Wales’ first World Cup since 1958. That match finished 1:1, and Neko himself played 79 minutes.
After the match, the camera lenses caught Neko crying. And in a post-match interview, he said he dedicated that match to his grandfather:
Yesterday my mother told me that grandfather left last night. The transition from this news to the World Cup was extremely difficult, but I made it through with the support of my teammates and family. Therefore, I dedicate this game and high score to my grandfather.
Neko said he received great support from his grandfather throughout his life, from his first steps to his trip to the World Cup. He often traveled to matches around the world following Neko and played an important role in his career.
Embolo’s goal against the native of Cameroon
At the World Cup in Qatar, the first such event occurred – the player who scored did not celebrate the goal. The reason is that Brel Embolo, who plays for the Swiss national team, was born in Yaoundé, the capital of Cameroon.
His parents are from Cameroon, but as a child he left his father with his mother and moved to France. Shortly after the move, his mother married a Swiss and the family moved to Basel. Embolo’s career started at the local club.
That ball was the only one in the game. The Swiss national team defeated Cameroon, reached the round of 16, but flew out due to the crushing defeat of the Portuguese.
Iran’s victory over Wales in the 101st minute
90th minute of the match. There are zeros on the scoreboard, and the referee, as is typical for all other referees of the last tournament, added more than usual – 9 minutes. In the 8th minute of stoppage time the Iranians opened the scoring and after another 3 minutes they scored the 2nd goal with no answer.
However, that match will also be remembered for its political background caused by problems inside Iran. In the first round, the players didn’t sing the anthem, and this was logically considered a step against the authorities. However, before the match with Wales, they performed it, but did not sing their hearts out, as is customary.
During the playing of the anthem and after the victory, there were many shots of both the fans and team members, which showed how much emotion that evening brought them.
Lewandowski’s first goal in the World Cup
Undoubtedly one of the best forwards in history and a man who broke many records, Robert Lewandowski had never scored in a World Cup before.
In principle, Robert was unsuccessful in tournaments in the national team – he missed the 2010 and 2014 championships, and in 2018 he did not score a single time. In Euro 2012 and 2016, he scored one goal, and in 2020 he scored three goals, which did not help the Polish national team, which flew out of the group.
After the match against Mexico in the first round, the pressure on him became even greater, as his penalty kick was not crowned with a goal – it was saved by Guillermo Ochoa.
In the second round, the Poles had to play bold Arabs, full of confidence after the victory over Argentina. However, this did not save them – Robert was able to provide an assist and later scored a goal himself.
After the goal, Robert could not hide his emotions and, while celebrating the ball, he remained with his face buried in the grass for a long time. That goal was very important to Robert:
This goal is the end of the curse, as well as the fulfillment of another dream of mine. And I say it with joy. I am happy that I managed to score in the World Cup match.
Failures of Ronaldo, Suarez and Lukaku
All of the above strikers were their teams’ main hopes, despite their age. The last tournament was most likely the last for all three, but it ended far from the way they wanted.
Ronaldo lost his place early on during the tournament and against the backdrop of his career situation, this was a major blow to his ambitions. Yes, Ronaldo is 37 years old, but he still craves titles, goals and playing time. Unfortunately, the last few months have become decadent for Cristiano and the World Cup in Qatar has become just an additional burden.
And if at least the Portuguese team left the group, then Uruguay and Belgium, contrary to expectations, completely failed the tournament. The Uruguayans, led by Luisito, were toothless for all 3 group stage matches, and the Belgian team solved more problems in the locker room than playing on the pitch. Romelu, coming off the bench in the match of the 3rd round, missed 5 serious moments for the goal of the Croatians. After the defeats and international departures, it was these forwards who directed most of the cameras. It’s not hard to guess what we saw in these frames.
The mothers of the players of the Moroccan national team world Cup
After the sensational entry of the Moroccans in the semifinals of the World Cup of the Moroccan national team, videos circulated on the net in which Sofyan Boufal dances with his mother on the pitch.
And even fifa did not stand aside, captioning the photo on Twitter: “The important guest could not stay in the stands, so she took to the field of the Al-Tumama stadium to celebrate the victory. Sofiane Boufalya’s mother is the protagonist of today’s celebrations in Morocco”.
Walid Regragui not only rallied the team and built the football that allowed Morocco to reach the semi-finals world Cup, also allowed the players’ families to visit them at the national team headquarters, which gave the players a great emotional charge. Yes, and Regragi himself literally became father and brother for each of the players:
“He was the one who brought us here. Regragi teaches us a lot not only on the field, but also in life. If we have a problem, we turn to him as a father, as a brother. I wish him all the best, if he deserves it, ”said Moroccan international midfielder Ilas Khair on the eve of the round of 32.
Scandal and conflicts in the match between Argentina and Holland
After the penalty, the Argentines mocked the Dutchman, Messi sent an opponent to extend his hand, and Emiliano Martinez ordered 71-year-old van Gaal to shut up.
The match between the teams will go down in the history of the World Cup not only as the plot of the game itself, but also as the toughest duel in history. What happened between the players overshadowed what was happening on the field.
The game had many episodes that had a background. Paredes fired the ball with all his strength towards the Dutch bench after committing a bad foul on Aka. A fight broke out after that.
Everything escalated to such an extent that even the usually calm Messi began to climb and fight with van Gaal. And after the penalty, he repeated the celebration of his idol Juan Riquelme, who at one time also had a conflict with the Dutch specialist.
Already during the penalty shoot-out, Dutch striker Weghorst provoked each of the opposing team’s batsmen. It was he who approached each of the Argentines before the strike and tried to piss him off, which caused a violent reaction from the Argentine players after winning the series. After the match, Weghorst approached Messi to shake his hand, but was sent: “What are you looking at, idiot? Idiot, get out of here.”
