Morocco’s first-ever semi-final and more World Cup first and stats

As the World Cup in Qatar is unfolding right before our eyes, we are witnessing football history being made live. It’s the most popular sport event in the world, and millions of die-hard football fans are religiously following the event day in and day out. 

Every new World Cup is an opportunity for old players to finish their careers in a blaze of glory, and for new players to pave the path to greatness in their careers. This is an event that makes and breaks talent, gives unconditional national pride to many countries, and record-breaking events happen.

A lot of surprises are happening at the World Cup, as all-time favourite teams lose to countries with seemingly much weaker and less prepared teams. Overall, we can confidently say that this World Cup in Qatar has been one of the most fun football cups in decades. Let’s see what interesting events unfolded so far.

Ronaldo Scoring More Firsts

Christiano Ronaldo is a great football talent, maybe one of the greatest in his generation. Despite his older age, at currently 37 years old, he managed to continue his record of scoring at each World Cup he has played at so far.

He continued his scoring streak in the Qatar World Cup and he became the oldest player to score for his home country of Portugal at the Qatar World Cup. In 2006, when he was only 21 years old, he also became the youngest player to score for Portugal.

At the same time, he is one of the few football players to even at five different FIFA World Cups. 

Gavi And Spain: A Perfect Match

Gavi is one of the youngest players in the Spanish national football team, and incidentally one of the most promising rising talents at the moment. He has proven his worth over and over, especially at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar where he became the first player born in 2004 to score a goal at the current World Cup.

This was in the match when Spain triumphed over Costa Rica with an astonishing 7-0, which is also the most goals Spain has ever scored against any team in a single World Cup event. Fused, Gavi and the Spanish national football team seem to be working quite well. 

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Saudi Arabia Surprises Everyone

One of the biggest surprises in this World Cup is Saudi Arabia’s performance against Argentina. Nobody had any doubt who the favourite would be in that match, and apparently, every single person expected Argentina to easily win over Saudi Arabia.

However, exactly the opposite happened when Argentina arrived in Qatar, totally undefeated in the last 36 games, and lost 2-1 against the second-lowest-ranked team that participated in the World Cup. This came as a shock to everyone, but such events are history worthy and should be remembered by all.

According to many people, these events have made this World Cup one of the best and most interesting to ever take place.

Morocco Advances To The Semi-Finals For The First Time Ever

Another underdog has managed to defeat two of the strongest teams on the planet – Spain and Portugal. By defeating Spain 3-0 on penalties, Morocco first advanced to the quarter-finals to everyone’s surprise, which at the time seemed almost impossible. Their goalkeeper managed to defend two penalties and take Morocco to the stars.

Yet again to the surprise of everyone, Morocco also managed to beat Portugal and Christiano Ronaldo and advance to the semi-finals. It looks like Morocco’s performance at the World Cup isn’t solely based on luck, and there is some serious skill involved. This World Cup has been great so far for the underdogs, which has made it that more fun to watch.

Some Stats and Facts About The 2022 World Cup:

• Qatar became the first home team to ever lose an opening match in any World Cup.
• Messi is the only player to never have been eliminated from a group stage at a World Cup.
• Since 1978, Mexico failed to advance past the group stage for the first time.
• Argentina was only one match away to crush the record of being undefeated until Saudi Arabia defeated them 2-1 at the World Cup.
• The first player to get a red card at the World Cup in Qatar is Wales’s goalie Wayne Hennessy.
• France’s goalkeeper Hugo Lloris appeared 142 times with the French national football team.
• Stephanie Frappart is the first woman ever to referee a men’s football tournament in history. 

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