Since the Opening Game of the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar on Sunday 20 November 200, there have been foorball matches every day, sometimes up to four; yesterday and today have been the first rest-days since then, as the tournament readies itself for the quarter-finals.
Just eight teams remaining. Before we look at them, we can have a quick look back at those who have not made it this far.
Back in the qualifiers for the tournament, the likes of Italy were major surprises of not qualifying, likewise Colombia and others. Then, in the group stages, there were a number of shocks, with Germany and Belgium arguably the two biggest casualties (Japan defeated both Germany and Spain)), also Denmark, Uruguay and Mexico falling at this hurdle.
And now, in the last-16 matches just completed, Spain was the biggest casualty, with no Asian (or Australasian) countries remaining. Africa has one (Morocco), South America two (Argentina, Brazil) and Europe five (Croatia, the Netherlands, Portugal, England and France).
So, how does the tournament look now that it has reached the last-eight? We shall look purely at the teams left and their chances of getting through.
Quarter-final line-up: In the first half of the draw we have (A) Croatia (ranked #12), Brazil (#1), and (B) The Netherlands (#8) - Argentina (#3); In the second half we have (C) Morocco (#22) - Portugal (#9) and (D) England (#5) - France (#4). So, 6 teams in the Top 10 of the FIFA Rankings, with 2 outsiders..
Each team individually
Croatia: have had three 0-0 draws and one 4-1 win in the group stage. They have the knack of surviving but, apart from Modric and maybe a couple of other players, do not have the skills and the squad depth to trouble Brazil, at least on current form. But they do grind out results, are good at penalties and reached the final 4 years ago...
Brazil: started the tournament tentatively, only really coming to life in their last game, the 4-1 last-16 win over South Korea in which they played some sublime football, particularly in the first half. Thes started off with two wins (2-0, 1-0) but then lost unexpectedly when they rested most of their first team. Brazil are a "tournament team" but, historially, can become rattled if they go behind. Neymar is back from injury and Richarlison is scoring spectacular goals. Will this team of skilled players have the mentality to go all the way?
The Netherlands: were steady if unspectacular in the group stages, recording two victories (both 2-0) and a 1-1 draw, before upping a gear in the last-16 match to dispatch of the USA 3-1. They have some exciting players but not necessarily the stars of previous generations.
Argentina: are another slow-burner. They surprisingly (astonishingly) lost their first match to Saudi Arabia to set the tournament alight, but recovered to win their other group games (both 2-0 scorelines) and then play well against Australia - one of the tournament's surprise packages - to proceed. They are no stranger to tournament football and they do have Lionel Messi...
Morocco: have been the most successful African team at the tournament (Senegal lost their last-16 tie and Ghana and Tunisia both failed to get out of their groups). The have scored just 3 goals to date, with two 0-0 draws and two wins (2-1, 2-0). Realistically, they need to score more to progress; however, they were very impressive in the penalty shoot-out against Spain. Not unline Croatia.
Portugal: are one of the in-form teams of the tournament, getting better as they progress; or, have they peaked? They scored 6 goals in their group matches comprising two wins (3-2, 2-0) and a loss (1-2) but the latter only after the had qualified for the knock-out phase. And then they put 6 past Poland in their last-16 match, and that without talisman Christiano Ronaldo who came off the bench for the last quarter of the match. Are they united as a team, r are there cracks appearing in the dressing room?
England: hit the ground running with a 6-2 rout of Iran, the two goals conceded coming late in the game being the only goals they have conceded in the tournament to date. They had a 3-0 win, after a 0-0 draw when playing safe. Then they had a 3-0 win over Senegal in their last-16 game. England got to the final of EURO 2020 last year, had an unimpressive run-up to the World Cup, but have the best scoring record courtesy of 8 different scorers, with Kane just with one so far.
France: scored 6 goals in the group stage, winning two (4-1, 2-1) and losing one (0-1) after having qualified for the knock-out phase; they also conceded a goal in each match to date. So they are fallible. But they have Kylian Mbappe, as well as Griezmann and Giroud, despite losing Benzema and others before the tournament.
Prediction: A South American semi-final between Argentina and Brazil; and a European semi-final between Portugal and England. With Messi, Neymar, Ronaold and Kan (or would it be Mbappe?). Beyond that, it really is impossible to call...
