After each matchday of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Sportsnet.ca’s World Cup Daily blog will recap the day’s events and look ahead to the next day’s slate of games.
Here’s what happened on Saturday in Qatar, in case you missed it:
Morocco 1, Portugal 0 in Doha: Match report || Match stats
England 1, France 2 in Al Khor: Match report || Match stats
Semifinals matchup: France vs. Morocco in Lusail (Dec. 14 at 2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT)
MAIN TALKING POINTS
Morocco’s magical run in Qatar continues
Lifted up by their three African neighbours that came before them, the Atlas Lions of Morocco moved on Saturday with a 1-0 win over Portugal to become the first nation from Africa to reach the semifinals of the FIFA World Cup. Cameroon (1990), Senegal (2002) and Ghana (2010) all put forth brave efforts and pulled off upsets in admirably reaching the quarterfinals. But there is something much different about this Moroccan side that has knocked off European giants Belgium, Spain and Portugal at this World Cup.
“At some point in Africa, we have to be ambitious and think, why not win the World Cup, even if it’s going to be hard,” Morocco coach Walid Regragui said in the aftermath of his country’s triumph over Spain earlier this week. Indeed, why not? Morocco is the in-form team at this World Cup, having gone unbeaten in five games while conceding only once – and that was an own-goal in a 2-1 win over Canada in the group stage.
The Moroccans lost key defender Nayef Aguerd to injury before Saturday’s match, and his centre-back partner and captain Romain Saiss early in the second half. But the Africans put forth one of their best performances of this World Cup, thwarting the high-scoring Portuguese at every turn with determined defending and hitting out against them with carefully crafted counterattacks. Youssef En-Nesyri majestically leapt high in the air to head home, a goal that stood up as the winner and struck a blow against the sport’s established order.
As the first Arab nation to make it this far at the World Cup, Morocco’s victory over Portugal has to be celebrated and viewed as an encouraging development for the global game. It hasn’t been champagne football from Morocco, but respect must be bestowed about the Atlas Lions for their remarkable run in Qatar.
It’s not coming home for England
It’s now 56 years and counting since England last won the World Cup, a record that eclipses the Toronto Maple Leafs’ infamous streak of Stanley Cup futility by 12 months. The Three Lions cruised through the group stage and round of 16 in Qatar, going unbeaten against four lower-ranked nations. But when tasked with taking on France, the reigning World Cup champions, England came up agonizingly short despite outplaying Les Bleus during the second half.
The memory of Harry Kane’s penalty attempt in the 84th minute that ballooned high over the crossbar will surely leave a sour taste in English mouths for another four years, as it would’ve levelled the score and forced extra time. It will also leave the country that bequeathed the sport to the rest of the world to ponder what exactly it has to do to win a second World Cup or a European Championship. A semifinal loss to Croatia four years ago was followed by a heartbreaking loss to Italy in last summer’s Euro final at London’s Wembley Stadium.
Whenever England plays, there are three words that are unavoidable: “Football’s coming home.” You’ll see it on shirts, banners, flags and tattooed on the bodies of English supporters who sing out from the terraces of stadiums. It started out as a tongue-in-cheek gag when English comedians David Baddiel and Frank Skinner released a song titled “Three Lions” to coincide with the country hosting the 1996 European Championship. It was meant to capture the collective exhaustive experience of English fans since their country won the World Cup 30 years previously.
But the song has taken on a life of its own since then, adopted as a mantra by English supporters and media every two years when a major tournament rolls around. Those three words – “football’s coming home” – continue to haunt England more than half a century since its lone World Cup victory, as the inventors of the game remain one of its greatest underachievers.
GOAL OF THE DAY
In the 17th minute, a French counterattack featuring a marvelous sequence of passes ended when midfielder Aurélien Tchouaméni took a touch and then unleashed a right-footed shot from 25 yards out that made its way through traffic inside the box and squeezed inside the post.
MOMENT OF THE DAY
American journalist Grant Wahl passed away after covering Friday’s quarterfinal between Argentina and Netherlands. He was supposed to be at the France-England match.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I do not regret it. It wouldn’t change anything. In terms of the team, I can’t be thinking with my heart. I used the team that played really well against Switzerland and there was no reason to change it (against Morocco).” – Portugal manager Fernando Santos on not starting Cristiano Ronaldo for the second straight match.
SIX PACK OF STATS
• Morocco’s Yassine Bounou is the first African goalkeeper to record three clean sheets in a single edition of the men’s World Cup.
• Youssef En-Nesyri has now scored more goals (three) than any other Morocco player in World Cup history.
• Cristiano Ronaldo has failed to score in all eight of his knockout stage appearances at the World Cup (including the third-place game), going 570 minutes without scoring and taking 27 shots in the process.
• Harry Kane has captained England 11 times at the World Cup, a record for the men’s side.
• Goalkeeper Hugo Lloris earned a record 143rd cap for the French men’s team on Saturday.
• The English men’s team has never won a World Cup match in which it has been losing at halftime (two draws and seven losses), while France has won 25 of its 26 World Cup matches when leading at halftime.
Stats courtesy of Opta
THREE STARS OF THE DAY
1. Antoine Griezmann (France): The Atlético Madrid forward set up both of his team’s goals, with his sublime delivery into the box from the left wing for France’s winner ranking as one of the best crosses at this World Cup.
2. Youssef En-Nesyri (Morocco): Registered a team-high three shots and scored on a majestic header to send his country through to the semifinals for the first time in six World Cup appearances.
3. El Yamiq (Morocco): He filled in brilliantly for the injured Nayef Aguerd in the heart of defence, anchoring a Moroccan back line that turned away the Portuguese at every turn.
LOOKING AHEAD TO TUESDAY
We’re down to the final four in Qatar, with Croatia taking on Argentina on Tuesday (2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT) at Lusail Iconic Stadium in the first semifinal match. The Croatians are on the cusp of back-to-back appearances in the World Cup final after a dramatic penalty shootout win over Brazil in the quarterfinals, and are getting the best out of the world-class midfield trio of Luka Modrić, Mateo Kovačić and Marcelo Brozović. Argentina has been inspired by Lionel Messi and its core of exciting young attackers, most notably Enzo Fernández, to get within a game of returning to the World Cup final for the first time in eight years.
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John Molinaro is one of the leading soccer journalists in Canada, having covered the game for over 20 years for several media outlets, including Sportsnet, CBC Sports and Sun Media. He is the editor-in-chief of TFC Republic, a website dedicated to in-depth coverage of Toronto FC and Canadian soccer.
