#World Cup Quarterfinal

[bts-trans]

221203 Suga’s Instagram Story 

오아아아이아이이이이ㅣ아아 아아아아아아아앙

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

(Screen translation: Group H Final Placement Portugal South Korea Uruguay Ghana)

Trans cr; Ali @ bts-trans © TAKE OUT WITH FULL CREDITS

[allthefandomss]

Fucking wild day for the World Cup. Not me low-key hoping tomorrow goes the shoot-outs as well 👀 a quarterfinal of pure shoot-outs? Hell yeah

[sasa-chan]

Argentina 🇦🇷 won!!!Argentina 🇦🇷 won!!!Argentina 🇦🇷 won!!!

Argentina 🇦🇷 is on to the Semifinals!!!

[paulodybaeeela]

The United States proving this is why we can’t ever have nice things once again.

[sayheykid]

Getting dangerously close to writing something emo and poetic about ireland's rwc loss even though I was rooting for new zealand

[uniteds]

I know I’m a hater and I love being a hater but I love football when the best teams get through and matchups are more or less even

[emo-dreamgirl]

This is easily the finest World Cup I’ve ever watched

[latestnewsbysportstiger]

Croatia vs Brazil Quarterfinal Live Stream

FIFA 2022 Quarterfinals: Croatia and Brazil will lock horns in the quarterfinal on Friday, December 9 in the FIFA World Cup 2022 at the Education City Stadium. While the 2018 runners up defeated Japan 3-1 on penalties in their Round of 16 tie, Brazil dominated South Korea by 4-1 to reach the quarterfinals.

Croatia vs Brazil Quarterfinals Live Stream, Telecast

The quarterfinal match between Croatia and Brazil will take place on December 9 at 8:30 pm IST at the Education City Stadium.

The live telecast of the quarterfinal match between Croatia and Brazil will be available on Viacom 18-owned Sports18 in India.

[newzzwired]

Watch: Brazil Star Richarlison Teaches Ronaldo "Pigeon Dance" After FIFA World Cup Quarter-final Entry

Watch: Brazil Star Richarlison Teaches Ronaldo “Pigeon Dance” After FIFA World Cup Quarter-final Entry

Richarlison teaching the ‘pigeon dance” to Ronaldo.© Instagram Brazil hit top gear with Neymar back in the line-up to brush aside South Korea 4-1 on Monday and ease into the quarter-finals of the World Cup where they will face Croatia. Neymar had been sidelined for two matches with a sprained ankle but with the world’s most expensive player restored to their side, Brazil’s yellow shirts poured…

[vuyisani]

World Cup Predictions

Am I late to the party? I too want to join in the action, the FIFA World Cup is at the back end, and I’ve seen many predictions being a miss. So I too will weigh in. My predictions will be based on a whim, because seemingly any team can catch hands in this world cup. Quarter Final Brazil v Croatia is the 1st game of the Quarter finals, and it’s as easy a guess as I will ever make, Brazil to win…

[sasa-chan]

ARGENTINA 🇦🇷 WON!!! They're through to the Quarterfinals!!!!

[stateofsport211]

All-In Regulars: Morocco Became Africa's First Semifinalist, Set A Clash with Defending Champion France

Cristiano Ronaldo's World Cup dreams were crushed upon the loss against Morocco (📸 Associated Press via The Hindustan Times)

The quarterfinal days continue with two possibly history-making matches, for some reason. Morocco tried to become the first African and Arab semifinalist by taking a strong team in Portugal, while England took on France for another classic encounter.

Here was how everything unfolded, before the winners of the aforementioned matches took each other on the semifinal.

Morocco v. Portugal

The first match had a history-making possibility as Morocco took Portugal for a spot in the semifinal. For note, Morocco became the fourth African country to advance to the FIFA World Cup quarterfinals. However, a tough contest in Portugal, whose one of the key players, Cristiano Ronaldo, could have his last international dance in this year's World Cup. Furthermore, Ronaldo once again started the match on the bench for tactical reasons, taking into account Goncalo Ramos' contribution in the last round.

Youssef En-Nesyri's goal in the 42nd minute of the match secured Morocco the lead and the victory at the end (📸 Getty Images via Northern Public Radio)

The first half was already fast-paced from the way both teams approached the match: Morocco was thought to be the more aggressive side compared to Portugal's tactical. This materialized in one of the first notable Portuguese chances, where Joao Felix fired the ball right to the Moroccan penalty box, only to be saved by Yassine Bounou at 4'. However, Morocco picked up their pace by producing a shot that flew over the bar; unfortunately, it was offside.

Another notable Moroccan chance in the first half was a header from Youssef En-Nesyri, where he shot a header after receiving a preceding ball, just still above the goal post. The Moroccan defense was tested even further when Joao Felix struck the Moroccan penalty box numerous times, only for it to be either: (a) executed too far and wide, or; (b) saved by Bounou himself. Toward the end of the first half, En-Nesyri scored the (maiden) goal for Morocco, where he scored a perfect header to Diogo Costa's surprise. As a result, Morocco led 1-0.

However, the pace slowed a little in the second half, despite the Portuguese counter-attack attempt. Ronaldo's entrance to the game at 50' with Joao Cancelo increased the intensity of the Portuguese game, with his one chance being saved by Bounou. Not only Ronaldo, several other players, such as Goncalo Ramos, Bruno Fernandes, and even Felix again, have had their chances, to no avail. The Moroccan side parked the bus in an extraordinary way thanks to their defense in this half (and the non-existent middle efforts from Portugal), which ended right after Pepe's wide header.

Left: Morocco's Badr Nenoun celebrated after Morocco's victory against Portugal (📸 Getty Images via The Times of India); right: scenes as Cristiano Ronaldo, Pepe, and Ricardo Horta were dejected as Yassine Bounou, Badr Benoun, and Jawad El Yamiq celebrated their semifinal qualification (📸Reuters via The Gulf News)

With this victory, Morocco became the first African (and Arab, even) country to reach the World Cup semifinal. Furthermore, due to Portugal's loss, Cristiano Ronaldo was seen leaving the pitch first in tears, sparking divisive reactions around the internet.

England v. France

Jude Bellingham reacted right in front of Wilson Sampaio, the referee of the match (📸 Sky Sports)

The second match of the day featured another big match between England, who became the runner-up of the Euro 2020 (held in 2021), and France, the defending champion of the FIFA World Cup. One would say this was a heavy clash of "the two football giants [imperials, specifically]," considering the possible dynamicity of the match.

The first half started rapidly with a "tug-of-war" style, where both teams tried to drive each other to their rhythm according to the early ball possession rates, where each team held 44% and the ball was contested in 12%. However, France seemed to take more initiative with their possible chances, one of them was close at 16', where Jordan Henderson tried to pass to Bukayo Saka, only for the ball to get to Adrien Rabiot in an attempt to assist Ousmane Dembele, which went too wide. The proactivity bore fruit when Aurelien Tchouameni scored a goal at 17' after a series of smooth passes, slowly breaching the English defense, thus catching Jordan Pickford off-guard. It took England several moments until they tried to counter-attack, for example from an on-target chance by Harry Kane, where it got saved by Hugo Lloris at 28', showing an intense French defending. This score stood until the whistle blew to mark the first half ending.

Harry Kane scored a goal from his first penalty in the second half (📸 Reuters via The Guardian)

Olivier Giroud celebrated after he scored the French second goal of the match (📸 AS)

The intensity raised in the second half when Jude Bellingham already had another on-target chance for England, where he fired right from the edge of the area, only for Lloris to save it. Several minutes later, Tchouameni fouled Saka in the penalty area, followed by a successful penalty execution by Kane (all of these happened within 51-52'). The equalizer heated everything up in this match, proven by how the teams tried to outbalance each other with their counter-attack and defense capabilities. There were several remarkable chances from England, especially coming from Saka until France took over the situation and produced additional rounds of scoring opportunities, for example from Giroud, where his second chance was saved by Pickford or defended by Kyle Walker. Giroud then finally scored at 78', assisted by Antoine Griezmann right after the corner.

To prevail, England had to give them all in the last 14 minutes. Somehow, Theo Hernandez fouled Mason Mount when he barged Mount from behind, hence England was awarded another penalty after a check with the Virtual Assistant Referee (VAR). In contrast with the first penalty, Kane did not manage to score a goal, sending the ball up in the sky instead. Since England had to score by the end of the match, they tried to pressure France further and produced several occasions to score, and they could not materialize any (even after the 8 minutes of injury time), lacking precision. To top it off, there was a free kick before the final whistle blew, where Marcus Rashford executed it closely, but still above the bar.

The French victory secured their second consecutive World Cup semifinal, just like Croatia, where they will face an inspired Morocco. On the other hand, Wilton Sampaio's decisions became another different point of attention. For Gary Neville, for example, the French first goal should have been ruled out due to Saka being fouled midway through the goal construction. Furthermore, Stuart Parker also thought there was a moment where England deserved a penalty when it did not happen, while both Bellingham and Henry Maguire thought "it was a poor refereeing, although it was not all his fault."

Refereeing aside, the English head coach, Gareth Southgate, saw this match as a positive improvement for the team while needing time to reflect and make correct decisions. For the French side, Giroud admitted parts of this match were rather mental, especially after conceding, but they worked their way out.

The General State of Draws

The current situation of the knock-out stage (📸 Eurosport)

Time flies: it looked like not a while ago the World Cup started, and we are now down to the final four. This means we only have four matches in six days to spare: the two semifinals, held separately between December 13-14, and the last two rounds: the third place play-off (on December 17) and the finals (on December 18). Looks really quick, right?

Two interesting semifinals are on the look in the next four days. There is a likelihood of repeating the 2018 finals, which was France v. Croatia; however, the chance of this happening would not be as easy as one would flip their hands. Although during both years Croatia survived numerous extra times and penalty shootouts, the Argentinean counter-offensive capability should not be underlooked, especially knowing the peak 2022 Argentina.

On the other hand, the next match in discussion (Morocco v. France) looks even tougher: not only Morocco did not concede any goals coming to this round (except the own goal against Canada) but also the French balancing capabilities, as demonstrated in the last few matches. Or, there could be more on the floor as things progress.

Morocco v. France: Will Morocco Defy the Odds Again?

The two key players for France & Morocco: Kylian Mbappe for France (left) and Achraf Hakimi (right) (📸 Associated Press via News 9 Sports)

France and Morocco have yet to face each other in a FIFA World Cup match before, which means this would be their first meeting. The last time they met, it was an international friendly match from 2007, where France drew Morocco 2-2. Bear in mind that it was an entirely different era, where from the French side, Sidney Govou and Samir Nasri scored; while Tarik Sektioui and Youssef Moukhtari scored for the Moroccan side.

Going back to 2022 and the World Cup, this is another entirely different stage, composition, approach, and form for both countries. While the French rapidness can still be relied on, as effectively as it was against England, today's Morocco is something else: when they are at their peak and go more offensively, they could drive the rhythm until the other succumbed to the pressure, something that was effective against Portugal (minus the lacking central from the Portuguese side). As a confirmation, in the past few matches, regardless if they involve both teams or not, had effective counter-attack and counter-pressing capability as the main importance compared to ball possession, where organization becomes crucial to determine their level.

This match would be an intriguing test of both teams' ability to balance both, which might boil down to the teams' executions: their ability to proactively create chances and effectively capitalize on them. For Morocco, it was tested in the previous matches coming to this round: defeating Belgium and Canada and drawing Croatia in the group stage, as well as defeating Spain (albeit in the penalty shootout) and Portugal to top it off. Apart from the slight 1-0 defeat against Tunisia, France had been solid: scoring 11 goals and conceding 5. This is where, speaking of being conceded, the offense-defense balance should be checked out: it would not take a single goalkeeper carriage to keep a clean sheet (in the case of Yassine Bounou for the last 3 rounds, especially), but it needs strong defenders to assist holding the fort (in the general Moroccan case).

Expect a heated dramatic match flow for this one. While it is possible for a penalty shootout to be served as a last resort, the team that could outbalance the other would prevail in this match. The French ceiling is high, knowing their experience, but the Moroccans should not be ruled out. Pulling a classic line: it is worth seeing what is going to happen here; who knows, this will be the way Morocco writes another history in this World Cup.

[realmadridnews]

World Cup 2022 quarterfinal - results

Militao, Vinicius and Rodrygo (Brazil) got eliminated from the World Cup. Modric (Croatia), Tchouameni and Camavinga (France) are play in the next round.

Croatia - Brazil 1:1 (p. 4:2) (Petkovic 117′ - Neymar 105+1′ (Vlasic, Majer, Modric, Orsic - Casemiro, Pedro))

Luka Modric - played the whole match and hit the penalty in the penalty shoutout.

Eder Militao - played 106 minutes.

Vinicius Junior - played 64 minutes. Inexplicable substitution so early in the match.

Rodrygo Goes - played 56 minutes and missed his penalty in the penalty shoutout. He was shooting first.

England - France 1:2 (Kane (p) 54′ - Tchouameni 17′, Giroud 78′)

Aurelien Tchouameni - played the whole match and scored.

Eduardo Camavinga - didn’t play.

[nbafastbreaks]

#FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 #QuarterFinals Schedule

[intheupside]

addressing the boys in the locker room and living his ted lasso dreams

also there’s an athletic article about it:

“It was a roller coaster,” Crosby told The Athletic of the game, shaking his head and smiling. “I feel like there’s been a lot more eyeballs, a lot more attention on this team.”

Crosby, wearing Canada’s red home kit, watched one of the more thrilling games of Copa America. Canada took an early lead thanks to Jacob Shaffelburg, who not only comes from the same province as Crosby, Nova Scotia, but is just the second men’s national team player from the province. Canada’s very own ‘Maritime Messi’.

Venezuela tied the game thanks to captain Salomon Rondon’s long-range chip in the 64th minute but Canada looked composed through penalties and midfielder Ismael Kone scored the winning spot-kick.

And not long after Canada entered their locker room to continue celebrating, Crosby joined them.

“Crosby said it was an ‘Unbelievable Canadian moment,’” defender Alistair Johnston said. “He said ‘The penalties were insane’ and something that he couldn’t even imagine doing.”

Crosby then singled out what midfielder Jonathan Osorio called the “guts of the group” to step up and score in penalties. “They look like a real tight-knit group,” Crosby said.

Crosby’s visit to Canada’s dressing-room soon began trickling out on social media but it wasn’t planned. Crosby said that every summer he and a group of teammates from his days playing junior hockey for Rimouski Oceanic in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League organize a trip together. This year, once Canada qualified for the quarterfinal, they made the decision to travel south to Arlington.

It was only in the hours leading up to the game that a mutual friend of one of the Canadian players extended an invite to Crosby to come into the dressing room.

As he made his way around the room, Canadian players beamed. Osorio said Crosby nabbed Shaffelburg’s jersey postgame.

“I got to see a Nova Scotia legend,” Shaffelburg said. “I’ve always looked up to (Crosby). To meet him was unbelievable.”

Crosby then encouraged the team for the future and reminded them how proud they have made Canadians.

“His words mean a lot,” goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau said. “But it’s an example of how we are slowly changing things for our country.”

Crosby then posed for a photo with the entire team. He’s no stranger to winning over the hearts of an entire country, having scored arguably the most important goal in Canadian sports history to win the 2010 Olympic gold medal over the United States.

And Crosby understands what so many others are coming to learn as well: This Canadian team is becoming a truly special one.

“The way they reacted after (Venezuela’s tying goal) — it’s a tough goal to give up, but they kept coming,” Crosby said when asked what makes this team special.

Canada is no stranger to having heroes visit the team: Famed astronaut Chris Hadfield joined them for a pre-game speech before their 2022 World Cup opener.

But Crosby’s star status is as radiant as they come in Canada. For generations, Canada’s national team was looked at as an afterthought. Qualifying for the World Cup began to change the perception of the team at home. Yet what they have lacked as of late are results against top teams to earn more fans.

That’s changing, and Crosby isn’t just witness to it. Against Venezuela, he was part of it. “With the games that they’ve put together, they’re only going to get more and more (attention). It’s fun to see. They deserve it. It seems like they’re a really great group of guys,” Crosby said.

This Canadian team is tasked not just with winning matches as they’ve done under new head coach Jesse Marsch; they also understand it’s their responsibility to continue to grow a game that might enjoy heavy participation among children but still falls behind hockey in terms of national popularity.

“What a legend to have on our side,” Marsch said of Crosby. “This is important for us in 2026 (at the World Cup with Canada hosting alongside the U.S. and Mecico). We want to feel the power of the entire nation.”

Now, the team is looking at Crosby’s endorsement as another example of their own star in Canada growing brighter.

“You can tell how much it means to the team that we are taking that next step in Canadian pop culture,” Johnston said. “You could see that we’re reaching a bigger crowd than just the football mad crowd. We’re inspiring a lot of people.”

Canada’s next chance to inspire will undoubtedly be their most difficult test yet: A semifinal against world champions Argentina.

As difficult a test as it might be, Canadian players all agree they believe more people than ever will be watching their team. And that includes Crosby.