The quarter-finals of this World Cup are confirmed!

12/8/2022 11:10:59 AM

With Portugal's 6:1 victory over Switzerland, Qatar's World Cup quarter-final matchup will also be determined. Among the teams participating in the quarter-finals this time, the traditional strong teams from Europe and America occupy 7 seats, and the Morocco team is the only African team.

The quarter-final matches are as follows: in the first half, Croatia meets Brazil, and the Netherlands meets Argentina; in the second half, Morocco meets Portugal, and the collision between England and France deserves attention.

5 European teams, 2 South American teams and 1 African team advanced to the quarter-finals

In this World Cup, Germany, Belgium, Mexico, Uruguay and other strong teams in people's impression failed to qualify for the group stage, which is surprising. Entering the knockout stage, the result of the game seems to be closer to the predictions of the fans. In the 8 top 16 matches, only the Moroccan team eliminated the Spanish team through a penalty shootout, which was regarded as a weak victory over the strong team. In the remaining 7 games, the teams with stronger overall strength all won smoothly.

In the 8 round of 16 matches, except for the 0-0 score between the Morocco team and the Spanish team, the remaining 7 games produced a total of 28 goals in the regular game time, with an average of 3.5 goals per game, higher than the group stage. 2.5 goals per game.

The increase in the number of goals is related to the fact that each team will attack with all their might in the knockout round: Portugal’s 6-1 victory over Switzerland produced the most goals; Brazil played traditional offensive football and scored in the first half. Leading by 4 goals, they finally defeated the South Korean team 4:1; England and France showed control over the game situation, scoring 3 goals in the defeats of Senegal and Poland; the Netherlands, which performed steadily in the group stage The team also played a very efficient counterattack and eliminated the US team 3:1.

In this World Cup, 5 European teams and 2 South American teams entered the quarter-finals. In the 1998 World Cup in France, the number of participating teams increased to 32. At that time, 6 European teams and 2 South American teams won all the quarterfinals. Since then, the situation has not changed fundamentally in previous competitions. Relatively speaking, European teams have maintained a stronger momentum. Since the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup Brazil won the championship, the four consecutive World Cup champions have come from European football.

In the group stage, three AFC teams from Japan, South Korea and Australia successfully qualified from their respective groups, setting a record for the number of AFC teams that advanced to the knockout stage. It is a little regrettable that none of the three teams could make further progress, but apart from the big gap between the overall strength and the game scene between the South Korean team and the Brazilian team, the Japanese team and the Australian team competed with the Croatian team and the Argentine team respectively. He fought hard until the last moment of the game and left a deep impression on people.

The results of the game also showed that if the AFC teams want to catch up with the world-class level, they need to have a stronger mentality and more accumulation. Among the top eight teams, except for Morocco, which is ranked 22nd in the world, the other 7 teams are all in the top ten. It also proves that experience in competitions and football background are always the winning factors that can be relied on on the pitch.

Messi played 5 times and advanced to the quarter-finals 4 times. Mbappe has scored 9 goals in 2 World Cups

Many well-known players who are familiar to the fans entered the quarter-finals with the team. In the round of 16, they played well and became a key factor for the team's advancement, and also set a number of new football records.

The game against the Australian team was the 1,000th game of the Argentine player Messi's career. Since the 2006 World Cup in Germany, he has participated in the World Cup 5 times with the team and reached the quarter-finals 4 times. In this 2:1 victory, Messi scored his first goal in the knockout stage of the World Cup in the first half, thus surpassing Maradona with 9 World Cup goals and occupying the history of Argentina's World Cup scorer The second place on the list.

The 23-year-old French player Mbappe is also following in the footsteps of his predecessors. He scored 2 goals in France's 3-0 elimination of Poland in the round of 16 and currently ranks first in Qatar's World Cup scorer list with 5 goals. This is also his ninth goal in the two World Cups he participated in personally. This data has tied Messi. At the same time, 5 goals in the knockout stage also made Mbappe the youngest player to achieve this achievement outside of the Brazilian football legend Pele.

Mbappe's teammate Giroud also scored a goal in the game against Poland, thus surpassing the French football star Henry with 52 national team goals and rising to the first place in the French team's historical scorer list. After the game, Giroud believes that Mbappe will surpass his achievements in the national team: "Mbappe is one of the best strikers I have worked with. He is incredible, and he is still so young and will be stronger. We Haven't seen the best Mbappe yet."

Portugal player Cristiano Ronaldo (C Ronaldo) failed to get a starting spot against Switzerland. When he came off the bench, the team has basically locked the victory. Another player with many appearances and rich experience for the team, central defender Pepe, scored a goal in this game and used a powerful header to set the record for the oldest player to score in the World Cup knockout stage In the bag.