Argentina and France start as favorites for the Qatar 2022 final

We only have two games left to define the world champion. 32 teams arrived with the dream of competing, surprising and lifting the most coveted title at the national team level. Qatar 2022 has given us great surprises like Morocco y CroatiaOn the other hand, there are also “chocolate surprises” such as Saudi Arabia’s victory over Argentina or Japan defeating two world champions such as Germany and Spain.

We have the best teams in the world in mind no matter what the statistics or the Ranking FIFA: Argentina champion of America, Croatia runner-up in the world, Morocco the surprise team and France the current monarch of world football.

Matches to kill or be killed. Argentina is thirsty for revenge against Croatia after what happened in Russia 2018 and on the other side is Morocco, who wants to eat France to continue making history in a World Cup.

Dates and times of the Semifinal matches:

Tuesday December 13:

Argentina vs. Croatia

Venue: Lusail Stadium

Time: 13:00 pm Mexico time

Wednesday December 14:

France vs Morocco

Venue: Al Bayt Stadium

Time: 13:00 pm Mexico time

Argentina vs. Croatia: the last call for Messi and Modric?

“La Albiceleste” has the enormous opportunity to avenge and make amends for the defeats it suffered four years ago. In Russia 2018, Croatia thrashed Argentina 3-0 in the group stage and France — should both advance to the final — beat the South Americans 4-3 in the knockout stage.

This will be the third match between Croats and Argentines in a World Cup with a victory for each side. The first was in France 1998 with a 1-0 South American victory with a goal from Mauricio Pineda in the group stage and the other was four years ago in Russia with a 3-0 Croatian win with scores from Rebic, Modric and Rakitic.

If we count international friendlies, there are 5 occasions that they have met with 2 victories for Argentina, 2 for Croatia and only one draw. The CONMEBOL team will play its 58th match against UEFA teams in World Cups with 23 wins, 15 draws and 19 losses.

On the other hand, Croatia will celebrate only its seventh game against South American teams with a record of 1 game won, 1 game tied and 4 games lost.

Croatia continues to write its history in football since it gained independence from Yugoslavia in 1992. Since then, they have played 6 editions of the World Cup and in 3 of them they have reached the semifinals (1998, 2018 and 2022).

Messi vs. Modric, the last World Cup match for either of the two

35-year-old “La Pulga” has shown that he came to Qatar 2022 for one thing only, to lift the World Cup with the captain’s badge, he had never seen such leadership with “La Albiceleste” as he has done in this tournament and resembling Diego Maradona in the last match against the Netherlands.

Modric, the 37-year-old Croatian, has shown that age is only a number, class and style of play have no limits. That boy who fled with his family after the outbreak of the Balkan War and who saw his grandfather die, has shown with play, individual and collective titles why he is the best midfielder the world has seen. international football.

The legacy of both is in danger and the first finalist of Qatar 2022 will be announced this Tuesday, December 13.

Possible players in the match line-up

Ángel Dí María and Rodrigo de Paul are available to face Croatia, confirmed technical director Lionel Scaloni, however, he commented that he has not yet made the final decision on the role they will occupy in the World Cup Semifinals.

Statistics during the World Cup:

Goals scored per game: Argentina (1.67) – Croatia (1.33)

Goals conceded per game: Argentina (0.67) – Croatia (0.33)

Shots on goal per game: Argentina (6.67) – Croatia (5.33)

Field inclination: Argentina (69.6%) -Croatia (55.5%)

France vs. Morocco: David vs. Goliath

Morocco has shown throughout the World Cup that there are two types of surprises: the big ones that are characterized by beating the best teams in life or death instances in an international tournament and the “chocolate surprises” that are teams that they only give sporadic chimes without benefits.

Walid Regragui’s team is one of the big surprises and he has shown it in every match of the tournament, beating the Goliaths he has faced. Morocco became the first African team to reach the final beforehand, Cameroon came close in 1990 and Ghana in 2010, but both lost their advantage over their rivals and succumbed to them.

“We are the Rocky Balboa of the World Cup,” Walid declared after winning his pass to the Qatar 2022 Semifinals. They face the world champion, France, an invincible and powerful opponent —like Iván Drago in Rocky IV— that makes everyone tremble. his rivals just by saying the name of Kylian Mbappé.

The “Atlas Lions” have shown that soccer statistics are only numbers that are not relevant when you step on the pitch. They demonstrate with union, passion and order that they can beat the rival in front of them.

There is no history of clashes in World Cups but there is in international friendlies, the last record that is available was at the end of 2007 with a 2-2 tie.

Will the “Black Horse” put a stop to France or will the Europeans bring the Moroccans down from the cloud? The second finalist will come out of this match, who will face Argentina or Croatia on December 18.

pre-match

Dayot Upamecano and Aurelien Tchouameni did not train with France on Monday. The Bayern Munich defender and the Real Madrid midfielder were in the gym and not in training with the rest of the team preparing for the match against Morocco.

Statistics during the World Cup:

Goals scored per game: France (2.00) – Morocco (1.33)

Goals conceded per game: France (1.00) – Morocco (0.33)

Shots on goal per game: France (5.67) – Morocco (2.67)

Pitch inclination: France (62.2%) – Morocco (39%)

The cards are on the table, the ball is about to roll and very soon we will meet the finalists of the 22nd edition of the World Cup. Who are your favourites?