Which phase did all the favourites to win the World Cup reach and why were they eliminated?

831

The 2022 FIFA World Cup gave football fans the greatest-ever final, as Argentina defeated France on penalties. France made two epic comebacks and could have won the match at the end of extra time only for it to go to spot-kicks.

Argentina started the FIFA World Cup as the second favourite to win it. La Albiceleste overcame an opening 2-1 loss to Saudi Arabia to win the tournament. Unfortunately for the other favourites, except France, the tournament wasn’t a success.

Pre-tournament favourite Brazil were knocked out of the competition in the quarterfinals by eventual third-place finisher Croatia. Brazil never got going as the game finished nil-nil at the end of regulation.

Neymar found the back of the net in the 105th minute, but Brazil’s defence couldn’t hold the lead. Bruno Petkovic scored in the 117th minute to force penalties. There, Croatia won 4-2 with Neymar never taking a penalty kick.

England were backed by many to have a strong tournament. For the most part, the Three Lions played well but came up short in the quarterfinals against France. Harry Kane missed a second-half penalty, allowing Les Bleus to win 2-1.

Spain blew fans away to start the tournament with a 7-0 victory over Costa Rica. It was all downhill from there for Luis Enrique’s team. Spain didn’t win another game at the World Cup, as they crashed out in the round of 16 against Morocco.

The game finished nil-nil at the end of 120 minutes. Morocco goalkeeper Bono then made two saves in the penalty shootout as Morocco won 3-0.

The Netherlands were down and out in the quarterfinals until a Wout Weghorst double in the final seven minutes rescued their tournament against Argentina. The Dutch forced extra time and penalties, but Emiliano Martinez was the hero once more for Argentina. La Albiceleste won the shootout 4-3.

Portugal reached the quarterfinals of the World Cup despite the issues of Cristiano Ronaldo very apparent.

The Portuguese looked like world beaters until Morocco’s defence stifled them in the quarterfinals. A first-half Youssef En-Nesyri goal was enough to send Morocco into the final four with a 1-0 win.

The 2022 FIFA World Cup was an utter shambles for Belgium. Anyone that believed the country’s golden generation had one more tournament in its legs, they were proven wrong.

Belgium collected four points in the group stage and failed to reach the knockout round. Belgium finished third in Group F and manager Roberto Martinez stepped down following another failure at a major tournament.

... and there was Germany. The Germans also crashed out of the World Cup in the group stage. It marked the second straight World Cup in which Germany failed to get out of their group. Germany were eliminated due to goal difference, as Spain just edged them in Group E.

Let’s not forget Denmark. The Danes had high hopes of going deep in the tournament. Yet, like Belgium and Germany, the Danes fell apart in the group, with no one to score goals. Denmark finished last in Group D with one goal scored and three against.