What a World Cup! Seeing the world come together to support their home nations as well as seeing England reach a World Cup Quarter Final was something else!
There was obviously controversy! Within the first 10 minutes of the first game there was VAR decisions that were not only confusing but very very wrong. A disallowed goal. It didn’t stop there though, multiple penalties given that were soft, other clear penalties that were not given it didn’t necessarily shine VAR and referees in a good light. For me the worst display from a referee was England vs France in the quarter final, France’s first goal a Tchouameni wonder goal should have been disallowed due to a foul of Saka in the build up to the goal. Later on a penalty shout for England which was waved away by the Ref and then VAR for a clear foul. Multiple yellow cards not given out then another penalty shout for England, this time it was given and Kane scored making it 1-1, Giroud sent France 2-1 up with another brilliant goal from the French all time top goalscorer. Then another penalty shout, Mason Mount was sent through by a beautiful pass and he was pushed away, the ref waved it off and even without the camera zooming in it was clearly a penalty, VAR this time gave it but denying a clear goal scoring opportunity is no longer a red card even with VAR having an input apparently. Kane was given a chance to equalise once more, this time his club teammate Lloris got into his head making him sky it, some say they are still waiting for the ball to land. With more tackles being made and the young Jude Bellingham having torn socks from all the tackles he had to endure there was barely any fouls given and the ref (France’s man of the match) waved them off again and again. A frustrating time to be a fan of England.
There was other notable games from the tournament including a real underdog story of Japan beating German ultimately sending them crashing from the World Cup, once again not making it out of the group stage. Portugal’s Ronaldo was not having the best tournament and was not picked in their final two games in the competition, in an enthralling 6-1 win vs Switzerland his replacement who had only played a handful of minutes for his country started and got a fantastic Hat Trick that even Ronaldo couldn’t hold back his emotion for. The World Cup is a cruel competition and it got even more cruel for Ronaldo after losing to underdogs and one of my teams of the tournament Morocco, Ronaldo was seen crying as his hunt for a world cup was over prematurely which has to be his last attempt at world cup glory.
Let’s talk about Morocco, picked by Samuel Eto in his World Cup prediction to reach the final that everyone thought was ridiculous. What a tournament they had, not losing a single match until the semi final vs France their road to the semi final included them beating a poor Belgium side, Canada, a great looking Spain side, and Ronaldo’s Portugal! With them reaching the Semi Final it wrote them into the history books by becoming the first African side to ever reach a World Cup Semi Final!
Back to England. It should have been our year, with a convincing win vs Iran we looked great, scoring for fun. The USA was a tougher challenge and the hunt goes on to beat them in a World Cup match, our newest youngster Jude Bellingham had a fantastic tournament and could have easily been man of the match in every game, for a 19 year old he has great authority on the pitch, amazing awareness and is not afraid to make a last ditch tackle to win back possession. When Kane missed the penalty vs France he was the first person to console the Tottenham striker and England captain and at 19 years old that shows real leadership, there is no doubt in my mind that he will be a future captain for his country. The pride that the England team have given the country is something I’m proud of, seeing how the country comes together during these tournaments gives me a real pride in my country.
One last dance on the biggest stage in football for Messi, it didn’t look possible with a fantastic Brazil and Spain side, and once again the little magician got into the history books by having the most goal involvements in World Cup History as well as scoring in every knockout round including the final. What a final it was, vs current world champions France it was a tough game for Argentina but after a rash tackle in the penalty area Messi stepped up to slot home a beautiful penalty making it 1-0 before 25 minutes played. Then once again Messi was involved, picking out Brighton’s Mac Allister who slotted it over to Di Maria who finished the play beautifully with a slot past Lloris. Mbappe had something to say about Argentina’s 2-0 lead when in the 80th minute after Otamendi brought down Muani in the box and Mbappe stepped up to smash in a great penalty, 90 seconds later Mbappe stunned Argentina by smashing in a half volley with a great acrobatic goal, the rest of the 90 minutes was a close game with France looking the better side. Extra time was uneventful, who am I kidding, extra time made the game one of the all time greats, Messi had something to say (again) and tapped in the ball from a great Martinez run but was it in? The referee looks at his watch and signals GOAL!!
10 minutes later and the referee points at the spot for a handball on Montiel, Mbappe steps up and gets the better of Martinez for the third time giving him a hat trick and getting France through to penalties at the death. Up steps Mbappe again for his third penalty of the match and he slotted it home, then the GOAT Messi who rolls it into the net with probably the coldest moment in football history. Coman and Tchouameni both miss their penalties where Argentina’s Dybala and Paredes scored, Muani scored for France however it was to late and Montiel slotted in the winning Penalty making Lionel Messi’s Argentina World Cup Winners making Messi himself to win every major trophy available to him!
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