The excitement of the quarter-finals of the 2022 FIFA World Cup held in Qatar begins tomorrow.
Chasing the 6th championship with the last world cup finalist Croatia in the first quarter-finals of the tournament, Brazil will meet at the Education City Stadium at 18.00.
The two teams have faced each other twice in the group stage of the tournament so far. “Sambacılar” won the matches played in 2006 and 2014 with scores of 1-0 and 3-1.
If Brazil’s star Neymar scores 2 more goals, he will surpass the legendary football player Pele and become the top scorer of the national team with 78 goals.
In the other quarter-final appointment of the day, the Netherlands and Argentina will compete at the Lusail Stadium with a capacity of 88 thousand people at 22:00.
In the World Cup, both teams left with 2 wins from the 5 matches they played so far, and 1 group match ended goalless.
Van Gaal’s students are unbeaten in 19 matches
Louis van Gaal has been undefeated in 19 games since he took over the Netherlands in September 2021. While “Oranges” won 14 times, they left the field 5 times in a draw.
The Netherlands and Argentina met three times in the tournament, starting from the quarter-final stage. France won the Netherlands 2-1 in 1998 and remained among the last 4 teams, while Argentina defeated their opponent 4-2 on penalties in the 2014 World Cup semi-finals and advanced to the final.
The Netherlands, who lost in the finals 3 times in its history, experienced one of them against Argentina. Defeating “Oranges” 3-1 in the 1978 World Cup final, “Tango players” won the championship.
Argentina, which came to the cup with a 36-game undefeated streak but lost 2-1 to Saudi Arabia in the first match, will be the second team to achieve this after Spain if they reach the cup.
Losing 1-0 to Switzerland in their first match in 2010 South Africa, Spain won its first championship in its history in the final.
Depay or Messi will tour?
In the Netherlands-Argentina match, eyes will be turned to Memphis Depay and Lionel Messi, the scorers of both teams.
28-year-old Barcelona forward Depay has directly contributed to 34 goals in his last 30 international games, while 35-year-old Messi has directly contributed to 38 goals in his last 39 games.
Playing against the Netherlands in tournaments in 2006 and 2014, Messi failed to score goals.
Dutch National Team star Mathes Gakpo is one of the names that can change the course of the match. The 23-year-old football player had aired the opponent’s nets in all three games they played in Group A.
Portugal, the rival of the “Atlas Lions”
Morocco, which is the first African team to reach the quarter-finals without being beaten for 12 matches in the qualifiers and tournament, will face Portugal for the first semi-final ticket in its history.
The first match to be played on Saturday, December 10 at Al Thumama Stadium will kick off at 18:00.
Portugal and Morocco, who closed their goal against three important countries such as Croatia, Belgium and Spain, faced each other twice in the World Cup. While Morocco won the first match in 1986 with a score of 3-1, Portugal won 1-0 in the group fight in Russia 2018 with a goal scored by Ronaldo in the 4th minute.
Ronaldo started the national match for the first time in 14.5 years, in an organization at the level of the World Cup and European Football Championship, and later entered the game against Switzerland with the enthusiasm of the stands.
Breaths will be held in the last match
In the last match of the quarter-finals, the last world champion France and the last European Football Championship finalist England will share their trump card for the semi-final ticket on Saturday, December 10th.
The fight to be played in Al Bayt, the second biggest stadium of the tournament, will start at 22:00.
French star Mbappe, whose name does not fall on the transfer agenda and who has scored 5 goals so far, is having a very good tournament with the motivation to win the second cup championship in a row at the age of 23. Olivier Giroud, who eased the pressure on Karim Benzema by breaking records, is another trump card of “Roosters”.
Relieved in defense by the return of Kyle Walker, England coach Gareth Southgate is pleased with the performance of young stars Phil Foden and Bukayo Saka, especially Jude Bellingham. Bellingham, who opened up space for his team by taking responsibility in critical moments and preparing goals with his speed and game intelligence, will be one of the most trusted names in England against France.
Raheem Sterling, who went to London with his family due to armed attackers entering his house, is expected to be ready to play against France.
Here is the quarter-final schedule of the FIFA World Cup:
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9
18.00 Croatia – Brazil
22.00 Netherlands – Argentina
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10
18.00 Morocco – Portugal
22.00 England – France