The 36-year wait for Argentina is finally over as the most coveted 18-carat gold trophy in the world of football is again in the hands of the Albicelestes after winning a nail-biting 4-2 penalty shootout against reigning champion France on Sunday night (Monday morning in the Philippines) at the Lusail Iconic Stadium in Qatar.

Only two World Cup Final matches were decided on a penalty shootout. Brazil won 4-2 after a scoreless draw with Italy in 1994, and so did Italy, 5-3, after a 1-1 tie with France.

For the Lionel Scaloni-coached Argentinian team, the win gave Argentina its third World Cup title (1978 and 1986) while repaying their captain, Lionel Messi, for everything he has given to the game.

For Messi, playing in his fifth World Cup, this Final match would be remembered as the moment when the stars aligned for the 35-year-old forward for him to clinch the one prize that had eluded him in one of the most storied careers in football history.

Related : World Cup: Argentina in final as Messi’s last-dance dream stays alive

It wasn’t an easy win for Messi and Argentina though, as young French superstar Kylian Mbappe kept on pulling his team back from the brink of defeat three times—converting a penalty shot in the 80th minute to cut Argentina’s lead to one, rifling the ball into the net a minute later to even the score at 2-2, and converting another penalty on the 118th minute to again even the score, 3-3, before the extra time ended.

Hat trick not enough

But Mbappe’s hat trick (the second player to do so in World Cup Final history) wasn’t enough as his French squad faltered in the shootout. Only Mbappe and Randal Kolo Muani were able to pass through Emiliano Martinez, the maverick Argentine goalkeeper and World Cup 2022’s best goalkeeper.

Argentina remained perfect in the penalty shootout as Messi, Paulo Dybala, Leandro Parades, and Gonzalo Montiel blanked French goalkeeper Hugo Loris.

Messi, playing in what could be his last Word Cup, responded to the adulation as he converted Argentina’s first goal, a penalty kick in the 23rd minute and another one in the 108th minute, a close range right-footer, to top France, 3-2.

The French team looked lifeless during the first 79 minutes of the game—the Les Bleus haven’t made any meaningful shot on goal—so French coach Didier Deschamps tried to reignite his team by making substitutions in the 41st minute (pulling out Dembele and Olivier Giroud) and in the 71st minute (inserting Eduardo Camavinga and Kingsley Coman).

With the fresh legs of Randal Kolo Muani, Marcus Thuram, Eduardo Camavinga and Kingsley Roman, the French side had their first sign of life when Muani was fouled in the penalty area in the 80th minute. A minute later, Mbappe, assisted by Thuram, again right-footed a shot that sailed to the bottom right corner of the net to even the game, 2-2.

Messi and Argentina thought they had the game in the 108th minute as they led 3-2, but another foul committed in the 118th minute led to Mbappe’s penalty kick to tie the score for the last time.

Argentina had already experienced the scary prospect of surviving a penalty shootout when they edged the Netherlands in the quarterfinals, 4-3, after finishing the game at 2-2.

Messi, in one of his pre-Final interviews, said: “People have understood that this is something we have to enjoy. We did extraordinary things: the Copa América, the 36 games unbeaten, a World Cup Final. Obviously, we all want to win it but it’s a football match and anything can happen. Hopefully, this will be different to Brazil [in 2014, when Argentina lost against Germany]. I don’t know if this is my best World Cup, but I’ve been enjoying it since we got here.”

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Is there a more bittersweet match in the FIFA World Cup than playing for third place? The teams  facing off lost in their respective semifinal: Croatia, 2018 World Cup finalist, were denied passage to the final by Argentina, who cruised past them, 3-0, while Morocco were beaten 0-2 by France, the 2018 World Cup champion.

But for Croatia, defeating Morocco, 2-1, at Khalifa International Stadium, and finishing third among 206 nations in the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, is still a huge feat. The bronze medals given to the Croatian squad serve as a permanent reminder of a run that still ended on a high note. A $27-million cash prize was also awarded to the Croatian federation. 

Morocco’s historic fourth-place finish, the highest by any other African nation in the tournament, received $25 million.

Related: It’s France vs Argentina in World Cup final

Feisty exchange

Croatia drew first blood as the masked defender Josco Gvardiol executed a header at the 7th minute. Gvardiol, an RB Leipzig German football club defender, had to don the mask due to an injury he sustained before the start of the World Cup.

Two minutes later, Morocco’s Achraf Dari also made a header from close range to even the score.

The match featured a feisty exchange between the two squads known for their stout defense. But by the 42nd minute, Croatia’s Marko Livaja was able to assist a shot to Mislav Orsic who, in turn, made a right-footer. The ball sailed past goalkeeper Yassine Bounou’s head to the left side of the netting after it hit the right post to give Croatia the 2-1 edge to survive a scoreless second half.

Croatia’s and Morocco’s fate seemed to be intertwined. Both were in Group F during the eliminations and settled to a 0-0 draw when they fought. Both advanced to the knockout stage, with Morocco topping Group F with 7 accumulated points against Croatia’s 6.

Both were admired for eliminating the tournament’s heavyweights like Belgium’s “Golden Generation” in the Group Stage. Croatia shocked football fans when they ousted Brazil via a penalty shootout in the quarterfinals, and Morocco ended Spain’s title campaign in the Round of 16 with a penalty shootout and Portugal’s in the quarterfinals.

While receiving bronze medals pales in comparison to lifting the most prized trophy in football, Croatia, in placing third, represents the pinnacle of their international success in this edition of the World Cup.

The post Croatia holds off Morocco, 2-1, gets World Cup bronze appeared first on CoverStory.

History is not kind to FIFA World Cup defending champions. In the past three tournaments before this one, they all crashed in the first round. And yet, here is France making it to their second successive final, where Lionel Messi and Argentina await them on Sunday, Dec. 18, at 11 p.m. (Philippine time).

The Les Bleus, as they are also known, overpowered Morocco 2-0 in the semifinals held at the Al Bayt Stadium this morning, ending the African side’s dream run in Qatar.

France is now a win away from becoming the first team since 1962’s Brazil to win back-to-back World Cup trophies.

The nightmare came early for Morocco when, just 5 minutes into the game, Theo Hernandez delivered a left footer that found the left bottom corner of the goal. With that first goal, France masterfully doused the hopes of another Moroccan miracle.

Remarkably, it was the first goal Morocco conceded from an opponent’s player in this edition of the World Cup, and the first time the team trailed in this tournament.

At the 21st minute, Morocco suffered another setback when captain and defender Romain Saiss, already nursing a thigh injury before the match, had to be substituted; coach Walid Regragui was forced to switch from a 5-4-1 formation to a 4-3-3 as they sought to find a way back into the game. But with an inexperienced pairing in the middle of their defense, Morocco’s notoriously tight backline faced a real struggle to contain France’s array of attacking threats.

Related: Messi powers Argentina past France in dramatic World Cup Final shootout

Morocco remained competitive—their best opportunity came in the 43rd minute when Jawad El Yamiq made a beautiful bicycle kick off a corner kick, only to be deflected by French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.

Last-minute substitute

France made sure there would be no equalizer and a penalty shootout that could give Morocco an advantage. In the 79th minute, 23-year-old forward Kylian Mbappe danced around the Moroccan defense and powered through a shot that landed on the right foot of Randal Kolo Muani, who calmly kicked it into the net to give France a 2-0 lead.

Kolo Muani had substituted into the game just a minute earlier.

For France, a mouth-watering final against Argentina will see Mbappé—the leader of a new wave of football superstars—facing his Paris Saint-Germain (a professional football club based in Paris) teammate, Messi, who at 35 years old, might be seeing his last World Cup participation.

Morocco faces Croatia this Saturday, Dec. 17, at 11 p.m. (Philippine time) to determine the World Cup third placer.

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Lionel Messi’s Argentina is now a win away from its goal of World Cup glory after dismantling a weary-looking Croatia, 3-0, in the first semifinal match this morning (3 a.m., Dec. 14 in Manila) at Lusail Stadium.

It is the sixth time Argentina reached the World Cup final, and they are now waiting for the winner of the France-Morocco game tomorrow (3 a.m., Dec. 15 in Manila) to determine their opponent.

A World Cup trophy is the one thing missing from Messi’s illustrious collection, so he made sure he converted the penalty kick—Argentina’s first goal—on the 34th minute after Croatian goalkeeper Dominik Livacovic fouled Julian Alvarez (that also earned him a yellow card).

With a left-footed shot that sailed to the top right corner of the goal, the 35-year-old Messi also became Argentina’s all-time leading scorer at World Cup games, overtaking Gabriel Batistuta’s previous record of 10 goals made in the 1994, 1998 and 2002 World Cup matches.

After scoring the first goal, Messi made sure he had a hand in the other two that was both delivered by fellow forward Julian Alvarez. On the 39th minute with Messi releasing the ball on their own half in a counter attack, Alvarez charged through the center, leaving a trail of defenders in his wake. He then benefitted from a couple of fortunate deflections before he was able to poke the ball home from close range to make it 2-0 before the first half ended.

The third goal was more dramatic. With the Croatian defense converged on Messi as he neared the goal post on the right side, he saw a slightly open Alvarez and slipped in a quick pass. Alvarez was able to slip the ball past the right side of the goalkeeper for Argentina’s goal No. 3 that definitively ended any attempt for a Croatian comeback.

Related: It’s France vs Argentina in World Cup final

Against the odds

The match began with the odds stacked against Messi and Argentina. Due to yellow card suspensions in their quarterfinal match with the Netherlands, Argentina played without left back Marcos Acuña and right back Gonzalo Montiel. Even midfielder Alejandro Gomez was not available as he was still nursing an ankle injury sustained in the Round of 16 match with Australia.

Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni lined up Nicolás Tagliafico to replace Acuña at left back, and Leandro Paredes was deployed into the midfield in place of Lisandro Martínez.

Argentina last reached the final in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. only to lose 1-0 to Germany. That was as close as Messi had come to hoisting football’s most prestigious trophy, and many believe that this tournament will be his last shot at capturing the coveted prize.

As for Croatia, a win could have been their second consecutive World Cup final appearance after failing to beat France in 2018. But unlike their previous games, Croatia looked toothless against Argentina, and though they controlled the ball 61 percent of the time, they registered just a single shot on target.

It marked a disappointing end for the team’s array of experienced stars, most notably team captain Luka Modric who, at 37, is unlikely to take part in another World Cup tournament.

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Except for some shockers like powerhouses Argentina and Germany losing to unheralded opponents at the start of the Group Stage, the 22nd FIFA World Cup in Qatar began uneventfully. But as expected, the quadrennial event exploded into life with the semifinals set this week.

Anxiety levels soared through the roof in this weekend’s quarterfinals, in which four of the remaining eight teams were decided via the cruellest method for ending tournament dreams: penalty shootouts.

Favorites Brazil have crashed out after losing 4-2 on penalties to Croatia. Meanwhile, Lionel Messi and Argentina survived the Netherlands in a nail-biting 4-3 shootout, right after blowing a 2-0 advantage in the final 20 minutes of regulation.

For those not yet familiar, a penalty kick is resorted to in order to break a tie. Per current FIFA rules, if a World Cup knockout match ends level after 90 minutes, a 30-minute extra time, divided into periods of 15 minutes, is given. Teams also swap ends at half time.

Should the game remain in a draw by the time it hits the 120th minute, a penalty shootout will be the next deciding factor, in which each team will initially take a total of five penalties. As soon as one of the teams has gained an unassailable lead, it will progress to the next round. Per FIFA rules, if the scores are still tied after both teams have taken five kicks, the shootout continues until “one team has scored a goal more than the other from the same number of kicks.” 

The semifinalists are now set with Croatia and Argentina facing off on Wednesday, Dec. 14 (3 a.m. in the Philippines), and Morocco against the defending champion, France, on Thursday, Dec. 15 (also at 3 a.m. here),

Related: Messi powers Argentina past France in dramatic World Cup Final shootout

Meanwhile, chew on some gripping tidbits that CoverStory compiled:

— There’s a chance a game in the semifinals could be decided on a penalty shootout. Croatia is peerless from the penalty spot so Argentina should avoid, if they can, going into a penalty shootout. During the Round of 16, Croatia beat Japan on penalties (3-1) after ending the match at 1 all.

— While Argentina is a clear favorite with the bookmakers, one should remember that Croatia finished second in the last World Cup (2018) held in Russia. It was Croatia’s first-ever finals appearance where France beat them, 4-2. Incidentally, it was Argentina that France defeated to reach the finals.

— Argentina won the World Cup as the host nation in 1978, and again in the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. The Albicelestes (white and sky blue) as they are known, have since lost in the final of the 1990 World Cup in Italy (vs West Germany) and the 2014 World Cup in Brazil (vs Germany). 

— There could be a looming battle of two goalkeepers when Argentina and Croatia face off. Saving spot-kicks has become the specialty of Croatian goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic, and he now has quite a collection just from the past week: versus Japan during the Round of 16 last Dec. 5 and versus Brazil last Dec. 10. Meanwhile, Emiliano Martinez came to Argentina’s rescue as he saved three penalties in the penalty shootout.

— For all that Messi has achieved in his club career in Europe, hoisting the famed World Cup trophy is still what separates him and his fellow Argentine, the legendary Diego Maradona. “El Diego” did it in 1986. Messi–who at 35 years old may be retiring soon–has just two more games left to try and match Maradona’s feat.

–The Croatia-Argentina match could also be the last World Cup appearance for the Croatian legend, and team captain, Luka Modric. The 37-year-old midfielder also plays for Real Madrid.

— On the other side of the semifinals bracket, underdog Morocco became the first African team to advance to the semifinals of a World Cup after beating Portugal, 1-0, through a Youssef En-Nesyri header on the 42nd minute of regulation, last Sunday morning, Dec. 11.

— The Atlas Lions (the Morocco team, as they are also known) heads to the semifinals having conceded just one goal in their five games, and even that was an own goal against Canada during the Group Stage.

— In that Morocco-Portugal quarterfinal match, 37-year-old and five-time world player of the year Cristiano Ronaldo did not start for the second straight game but came in as a substitute in the 51st minute. Regarded as one of the game’s greatest players, Ronaldo is likely to finish his 20-year professional career without capturing the World Cup, or ever getting to the final.

— In their World Cup quarterfinal match this Sunday morning (Philippine time), England blew a huge chance to tie the game in the 82nd minute against France. Harry Kane booted a penalty kick well over the bar, allowing France to advance to the semis on 2-1 score.

The post Where we’re at in World Cup: 4 teams remain in thrilling tournament appeared first on CoverStory.

As the biggest show on earth reaches fever pitch in Qatar, fans are being treated to thrilling sideshows that have little to do with the tournament, but with far-reaching implications for the participating countries.   

Since kicking off on Nov. 21 at the Khalifa International Stadium, the 2022 FIFA World Cup has been abuzz with news, videos and images of fans, players and teams using the world’s biggest stage to make a political statement, specifically to protest human rights abuses in countries like Iran and, in other cases, FIFA’s ban on rainbow armbands and “offensive” costumes.  

From Day One of the 22^nd edition of the quadrennial tournament, FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) has made it clear: Focus on football and stay out of world affairs. 

But this has done little to dampen passions in Qatar, where protests are uncommon and domestic dissent is not allowed. 

The United States’ 1-0 victory over Iran on Tuesday, for example, was “overshadowed by political tension,” according to Reuters. After the game, Reuters reported, stadium security guards chased and pinned to the ground a man who was wearing a T-shirt bearing the words “women, life, freedom”—the battle cry galvanizing the raging protest movement in Iran. An eyewitness was quoted as saying that the scuffle began when guards demanded that the man remove his T-shirt.

Muted but loud

Some of the protests have been deliberately muted, with players either staying silent or covering their mouth during the national anthem, or with fans simply displaying messages on T-shirts. But the images have been so clear and the message so loud that these have generated public debate—and backlash.

Amid civil unrest at home over the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old woman arrested for “improper hijab,” Iran’s players refused to sing their national anthem ahead of their opener against England. 

“They should know that we sympathize with them,’’ the team captain, Ehsan Hajsafi, said of the antigovernment protesters demanding regime change, hundreds of whom have been killed in clashes with Tehran’s security forces.
The team, under intense pressure to show unequivocal support for the protests at the World Cup at a cost of earning the Iranian regime’s ire, has since found itself between a rock and a hard place.

After getting criticized by Iranian officials for their behavior in their opener and fearing retribution, the players half-heartedly sang their anthem in their next match against Wales, eliciting jeers from other Iranians in the stadium.

In contrast, Welsh players sang their anthem with vigor along with thousands of fans watching from the stands.

Iranian women have reported being “spied on” by persons snapping pictures and using binoculars at the stadium since Qatari security men accosted fans holding up a shirt bearing the name of Amini, who was detained by police for allegedly violating rules on head coverings and later died in custody, sparking the continuing mass protests in Iran.

Tehran’s security forces have also arrested celebrities backing the protests.

In and out of the tournament, there’s more than meets the eye for Iran and its people.

Related: It’s France vs Argentina in World Cup final, Messi powers Argentina past France in dramatic World Cup Final shootout

‘OneLove’

And as the spectacle unfolded, with fans gasping in awe at national teams scoring their first World Cup goal or mounting come-from-behind thrillers, certain teams were kicking off a different campaign and chasing other goals on the field.  

Teams from England, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland and Wales had something up their sleeve before the games began: Wear rainbow “OneLove” armbands in support of LGBTQ+ communities.  

But they scrapped the plan after FIFA threatened them with sanctions, including a yellow card for any player wearing the armband that was seen as a rebuke to Qatar, which has passed a law criminalizing homosexuality.     

Germany’s national team responded with a silent protest. Its players covered their mouth with their right hand during a team photo ahead of their match against Japan, and wore warm-up tops with rainbow-colored sleeve stripes.   

“It was a sign from the team, from us, that FIFA is muzzling us,” Germany coach Hansi Flick said.  

In a statement, the German soccer team said: “It wasn’t about making a political statement—human rights are nonnegotiable. That should be taken for granted, but it still isn’t the case. That’s why this message is so important to us. Denying us the armband is the same as denying us a voice.”

Wales, calling the armband rule a “terrible decision,” prominently displayed a rainbow flag at its training base in Qatar.

Fans were just as riled by FIFA’s regulation forcing them to remove rainbow bucket hats, wristbands and shoelaces before entering the stadium.  

Football Association of Wales chief Noel Mooney commented: “We were told this was going to be a really inclusive, welcoming, warm World Cup. That is not what I have seen, I have to say.’’

Crusader costumes
And as soon as images of England supporters clad in Crusader costumes in their team’s opener against Iran emerged, FIFA banned the wearing of imitation outfits consisting of chain-mail, shields and swords in the stadium.

The goal was to foster a “discrimination-free environment” and promote diversity across the organization, the soccer governing body explained.

“Crusader costumes in the Arab or Middle East context can be offensive to Muslims. That is why antidiscrimination colleagues asked fans to wear things inside out or change dress,” it said.

Between 1095 and 1291 AD, European Christian powers waged a series of military campaigns to check the spread of Islam and, ultimately, conquer Jerusalem and the Holy Land from the Muslims. It was called the “crusades.” 

World stage

Since its inception in 1930, the World Cup has been used as a stage for political statements. 

In the 1938 tournament held in France, members of Italy’s national team set off a political storm when they wore an all-black outfit with fascist colors and made a fascist salute before kickoff, in an attempt to showcase their country’s supremacy under dictator Benito Mussolini. They took home their second trophy that year.

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