And in the end, it was Emiliano Martínez and Argentina prevailing largely thanks to his having made two key saves. After Martínez made his second PK save to put the Argentinians and the legendary Lionel Messi in position for a World Cup win — you wouldn’t have been able to tell the pressure was getting to him.
That’s because Martínez did a joyful shimmy to celebrate his clutch play:
A goalkeeper is in a seemingly impossible spot during a penalty shootout. They essentially have to make a really good guess just to have a chance at making a save. It doesn’t appear that these tall odds faced Martínez in the least, as he helped spur Argentina to an incredible World Cup win.
For nearly two decades, Lionel Messi has captivated the international soccer community as the arguably greatest player of all time. After a certain point, some said he had achieved enough to stand alone above all the other legends of the game. To others, he still needed that elusive World Cup championship. That is no longer a gap in Messi’s resume.
After all the goals, incredible assists, and other titles, with Argentina’s win on penalty kicks over France in an instant classic 2022 World Cup Final — the legendary Messi can finally call himself a World Cup champion. And in his likely last World Cup game, too.
As Argentina celebrated its first Men’s World Cup championship since 1986, the man who took them there, Messi — the unquestioned Golden Ball winner for best player of the tournament — was understandably elated and relieved at climbing soccer’s highest mountain.
Just look at him celebrating this incredible moment with his kids:
How can you possibly not be happy for this legend? And to do it under such thrilling circumstances, where Argentina blew a late 2-0 lead and another late 3-2 lead in extra time … but still won in Messi’s last-ever World Cup game.
We saw an all-time classic unfold in the World Cup Final. And, perhaps more importantly, we saw an all-timer in Messi get the crown he’s been chasing his entire life.
Even this video can’t do Messi’s unique brilliance justice.
Whenever he does hang his cleats up, Lionel Messi will probably be remembered as the greatest soccer player in history. And with his likely last World Cup game on the docket — the 2022 Final this Sunday — he may well capture the one title that has eluded him over his entire career.
During Argentina’s semi-final bout with Croatia, the 35-year-old Messi showed why his trademark dominance has him again on the precipice of soccer’s greatest team honor. The Argentinians, of course, humbled the Croatians in a 3-0 win. And after he scored an easy penalty kick goal, Messi later decided to stunt on his opponent with an exclamation point play/pass that set up Argentina’s third tally.
While there are countless broadcast replays of the Messi highlight, a close-up video from actor Connor Kalopsis at the stadium in Qatar shows just how unbelievably hard the superstar worked before setting up Julián Álvarez on the doorstep.
I mean, COME ON! Messi takes a play that took around 10 seconds to develop and seemingly does it all in the blink of an eye when you see it presented like that.
I’d say other soccer players could replicate what Messi did with his assist, but we all know that probably isn’t true. Messi now leads this World Cup in both goals (6) and assists (5). All he needs is that elusive World Cup title to cap what has been a truly immaculate tournament for the legendary No. 10.
It was a pretty bad time to rifle an equalizing PK over the crossbar.
England had its chances in the quarterfinals of the World Cup in Qatar. But like Christiano Ronaldo and Portugal, the British are going home.
After Olivier Giroud scored the go-ahead goal for France in the 78th minute, England had a chance to equalize just moments later when Theo Hernandez committed a foul in the box. Stepping up to the spot for England in the crucial moment against goalkeeper Hugo Lloris was Harry Kane – who had just buried a penalty kick in the 54th minute.
But this time, Kane’s penalty kick was off by a wide margin. He rifled his right-footed attempt well over the crossbar and into the stands.
But England fans watching back home were distraught. At this watch party that Fox Sports shared a clip from, screams and gasps can easily be heard as Kane misfired on the kick.
England added to its feeling of heartbreak when, at the death of the match, it missed on another game-tying opportunity.
In the 100th minute, Marcus Rashford lined up for a free kick from just outside the top of the semicircle. His right-footed attempt was so close that it went just over the crossbar before banging off the back stanchion of the net.
With the 2-1 victory, France becomes the first defending champ of the men’s World Cup to advance to the semifinals since 1998. And with France’s victory, the semifinals are set: France will face Morocco – an unlikely Cinderella – on Wednesday, while Argentina will take on Croatia on Tuesday. Among the teams remaining, the odds are in France’s favor to repeat as champs. The men’s World Cup has not seen a team win back-to-back crowns since Brazil in 1958 and 1962.
Since winning the World Cup in 1966, England has advanced past the quarterfinals just twice, 1990 and 2018. It finished in fourth place both times.
The journalist known for his incredible coverage of soccer died at the age of 48.
Grant Wahl, a longtime American sportswriter, died on Friday.
The journalist and New York Times best-selling author was covering the World Cup in Doha, Qatar and reporting on the quarterfinals match between Argentina and Netherlands.
His wife, Dr. Céline Gounder, confirmed the news on her Twitter account. The United States Soccer Federation celebrated Wahl’s ability to “advance human rights” through his words.
Wahl reportedly collapsed in the media tribune and was removed from the stadium on a stretcher, per the Los Angeles Times. The initial cause of death is unknown.
Wahl’s brother, Eric, posted on Instagram that Grant was healthy and believes that the journalist was killed.
The media world and the soccer world remembered Wahl after the horrible and unimaginable tragedy.
The bracket of 16 teams is quickly shrinking as the 2022 World Cup has reached its quarterfinals stage. Only six teams remain following thrilling victories by Argentina and Croatia on Friday to place themselves in next week’s semifinals. And after Saturday’s two quarterfinal matchups, we’ll head into next week’s games with just four countries still playing.
Fewer teams mean fewer games, and for the sake of this article, fewer opportunities to bet big and potentially win ever bigger.
So, as we roll into the weekend of games, here is an updated look at the title odds, courtesy of BetMGM, of the six remaining participants.
Argentina and Brazil losing would be pretty, pretty, pretty good for the sportsbook.
There’s not much in the sport of soccer that Lionel Messi hasn’t accomplished.
He’s won league and international championships, ranging from UEFA Champions League to the Copa America. Messi even has an Olympic Gold Medal from 2008. But a World Cup title still eludes him.
But on Saturday, Messi did something he’s never done before. The 35-year-old Argentinian forward finally scored in the knockout stage of a World Cup.
In the 35th minute against Australia, Messi dribbled the ball just outside the box on the right wing, then laid the ball off to a teammate as he wandered into the penalty area. Two passes later, the ball was again on the left foot of the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner.
Messi launched the shot, which nutmegged one defender and flew by two others and Australia’s diving goalkeeper before it smashed against the back of the net, giving Argentina a first-half advantage.
Another first for a legend of the game.
Lionel Messi has scored his first goal in the knockout rounds of the #FIFAWorldCup! 🇦🇷
This is the fifth World Cup that Messi has played in. Beginning with a strike against Serbia and Montenegro in 2006, he has now scored nine goals on the game’s biggest stage. But before Saturday, he had never scored in a knockout match for his country.
Argentina is still looking for its first World Cup title since 1986, when one of the players Messi long looked up to – Diego Maradona – led La Albiceleste.
Messi’s side took a 2-0 lead versus Australia when Julián Álvarez scored in the 58th minute.
Poland is already overmatched against France. If it sits back, it’s guaranteed embarrassment.
On paper, France and Poland’s game in the Round of 16 couldn’t be a bigger mismatch.
The French, led by Kylian Mbappe, are the defending World Cup champions for a good reason. Between Mbappe, Olivier Giroud, and Antoine Griezmann, among others, France have a bevy of world class finishers who have been there and done that. They have a squad of heroes from top to bottom.
On the flip side, Poland’s Robert Lewandowski is one of the greatest goal-scorers ever. But the Poles are only playing beyond the group stage for the first time in over three decades for a good reason, too. This team has one hero, and they ask him to put out all of the fires across Metropolis, even though he’s not from Krypton and has human limitations.
But the way the Poles play — a backward, conservative, defensive counter style — is just them begging to get destroyed by the world’s premier soccer power.
You see, while Poland can’t match France in talent at all, if it concedes possession voluntarily, hoping to counter with Lewandowski on a handful of chance opportunities, it’s writing its own death sentence. We saw evidence of this firsthand against Lionel Messi’s juggernaut in Argentina. The Argentinians are far more balanced and gifted than the Poles, but Poland had no interest in sustaining consistent offensive pressure from its 4-4-2 formation.
As these conservative strategies often tend to do, Poland’s shell invited Messi and Co. to sustain relentless pressure as they pounded the Poles with 23 shots (13 on goal). On the flip side, Poland’s offense (three shots, none on goal) was nonexistent. Leaving Lewandowski and whoever his partner striker is on a distant island allowed Argentina to effortlessly double or even triple-team the superstar striker into irrelevance on the pitch. This is how Poland has usually played in Lewandowski’s decade of international play — trying to protect its inferior overall talent — while hoping Lewandowski goes super-Saiyan. Again: It’s not hard to see why this is the first time Poland’s played beyond the group stage since 1986.
Unfortunately, a No. 9 like Lewandowski needs better service and support to wreak havoc. If you allow the defense to isolate him, he becomes just Another Guy like anyone. And if the other team — like Argentina in the Group C finale — is locked-in possession-wise (74 percent!), there won’t be many chances to push the ball the other way, hoping for a quality shot attempt. You need the ball to do damage and to protect your defense. A novel concept, I know.
If Szczęsny doesn’t stand on his head in an all-time performance, a final 2-0 margin from that Argentina match is probably more in the range of 4-0 or 5-0 (if not more). Asking him to do the same for 120-plus minutes and in a penalty kick shootout (the only “realistic” way Poland could win against France) is a Herculean task with the tactic his team utilizes.
All this to say: France should be heavily favored to continue its World Cup quest to repeat and demolish Poland. Where Argentina fell short on finishes, the French assuredly will not, no matter how well Szczęsny plays. But if the Poles don’t even attempt to attack with regularity from their defensive shell, if they cede ground by default to the more talented squad — we’ll have one heck of a French rout on our hands this Sunday. Book it.
Betting odds for each match in the Round of 16, including USA vs. Netherlands.
With the group stage of the 2022 World Cup all wrapped up following the final four matches Friday, it’s time to take a look at where the betting odds stand as the tournament advances to a single-elimination format for the Round of 16.
The knockout stages begins Saturday with none other than the United States, which gets set to match up against Netherlands. While the U.S. is an underdog, it isn’t as big a dog as other teams across the eight games being played through Tuesday.
Here’s a look at all of those matchups and updated title odds entering the Round of 16.
The U.S. has its best shot to advance to the quarterfinals in a long time.
If you stripped away all context from the United States Men’s National Team’s matchup with the Netherlands in the Round of 16, you’d wonder how the USMNT could possibly survive the “Oranje.” Take a closer look and, whoa, wait — you realize the current Dutch squad is actually a shell of the team featuring Arjen Robben, Wesley Schneider, and Robin Van Persie that lost in the 2010 World Cup Final.
(Robin Williams in Jumanji voice): What year is it???
At this incredibly late realization, I tell you the USMNT should not be intimidated by the modern iteration of the famed Scandivanian Orange in the least. If anything, this is one of the more favorable matchups on paper for an American squad that seems primed to finally make a deep World Cup run.
It’s easy to say that Memphis Depay and Co. should have the edge over USMNT. After all, they had relatively little trouble running rampant through Group A of this World Cup. The Dutch recorded two clean sheets, conceded just one goal and otherwise mostly did what they pleased to their group. At the moment, the young Cody Gakpo (three goals) could be in line for the Golden Boot, and the Dutch play a quality, balanced attacking style out of a solid 3-4-1-2 formation. Given their established reputation of past success, they might be a legit dark horse for a solid run through the knockout stages.
On the other hand, we saw cracks in the Dutch armor against Ecuador. The speed of the Ecuadorian team, led by Enner Valencia, saw it pepper the fateful Orange with 15 shots (four on goal), while the Netherlands barely sustained any offense (two shots; one on goal) in a 1-1 draw. On a better day for Ecuador, they rout the Netherlands, upsetting a traditional European power.
On paper, the USMNT have more firepower and better defensive integrity to make the Dutch regret avoidable mistakes. Thanks to the efforts of lightning-quick talismans like Tyler Adams, the U.S. conceded just one goal in the group stage, even nullifying the offense of a World Cup favorite in England. (Not to mention that a healthy Christian Pulisic might be the best player on the field and can influence the action the most as a true No. 10.) Aside from a glaring gap of a truly great striker — the reason the USMNT offense can often be underwhelming in the final third — there’s enough American speed here to push most comers, especially if those opponents don’t bring their A-game.
Plus, seriously, look at this underlying statistical performance from Adams against England — who is, once again, a huge World Cup favorite and a true soccer titan. It’s absurd:
Tyler Adams has all of the dog in him. 🗣️ (Stats from @Squawka)
100% final third pass accuracy 87% pass accuracy 60 touches 46 passes 8 times possession won 4 duels won 2 fouls won 2 clearances 1 interception 0 times dribbled past
I’m not sure if this iteration of the Dutch even if have an A-game! That is unless Robben is coming out of retirement at 38 years old. (I wouldn’t advise that.)
Nonetheless, I understand the aversion to favoring the USMNT on a platform they’ve failed to advance past since 2002. Younger squads like this must prove they belong before you start betting on their success. But the Dutch — currently No. 8 in FIFA’s official World Rankings — have the pungent scent of “overrated”. The expectation from the international community will be that they dispatch the pesky, upstart Americans. But I wouldn’t overlook the USMNT here. I see a straight-line path to the quarterfinals for an “underdog” already punching above its weight class on the world stage.
