FIFA World Cup 2022: The Headlines So Far

• First Week saw four goalless draws
• Several teams stamped their name as favourites to win
• Major upsets for some of the big countries

Whatever one’s opinion of Qatar, the FIFA World Cup 2022 has produced some excellent football. During the tournament’s opening week, there were some significant upsets, rebellious moments, tough matches, and firsts for Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

The competition demonstrated that there is unquestionably more to football than Herve Renard’s white shirts. The Frenchman’s tactical brilliance led to an early setback in Messi’s bid for World Cup victory. The majority of the stadiums were empty on the first day because Qatar dropped their opening game. The Middle Eastern squad made history by losing its first game as hosts.

Here at SportsLeo, we break down Week 1’s events, from the reaction to FIFA’s threat of yellow cards to players wearing “One Love” armbands to Ronaldo becoming the first person to score in five World Cups:

The Favourites Upset

A day after the Middle East team shocked Argentina 2-1, Saleh Al-Shehri and Salem Al Dawsari compelled Saudi Arabia to declare a national holiday. Argentina was outplayed as Saudi Arabia recovered from behind to win the game, despite Messi being the first Argentine to score in four World Cups. Argentina, which had a star-studded starting lineup, dominated the first half but ran out of energy in the second.

Mohammed Al-Owais of Saudi Arabia made two key stops in the waning seconds to prevent Argentina from drawing, which was another game highlight. Japan, who painted five-time winners Germany blue, proved to be the Asian murderers. Japan overcame a deficit in the second half to upset Germany 2-1.

Germany’s Silent Protest

Germany, a five-time world champion, made a point of bringing attention to the discrimination and human rights abuses in Qatar. In order to highlight how the world football governing body is preventing them and other federations from standing up for the ideals they share, German players held their hands over their lips during the team photo before their match versus Japan.

Even some of the athletes wore rainbow-coloured footwear. Despite Germany losing the game and receiving criticism for emphasizing politics over the sport, the public was quite vocal about their quiet protests.

Germany Silent Protest.|PHOTO: The Mirror|

Super Ronaldo Heroics

Cristiano Ronaldo’s exhausting week came to a happy conclusion. The explosive interview with the Portuguese legend overshadowed his arrival in Qatar. He made sure to silence the outside commotion before taking centre stage on the field as he and Manchester United divorced amicably and immediately.

Ronaldo became the first player to score five goals at the World Cup, despite the fact that this marked the end of his United career with 145 goals in 346 games. To set the record, he won and successfully executed the second-half penalty.

Tiki-Taka Spain Dominance

The world champions in 2010, Spain achieved their greatest victory in the competition’s history. The expert will have enjoyed Spain’s 7-0 victory over Costa Rica, where Luis Enrique’s team displayed their Tiki-Taka mastery. The Spanish outfield put Costa Rica to sleep in the first half alone before writing individual and group records.

In the first half of a FIFA World Cup game, Spain became the first team since 1966 to complete 500 passes. At 18 years and 110 days, Gavi became the youngest player in the history of the Spanish football team to represent Spain in a significant international competition. He scored Spain’s first goal of the World Cup in the second half.

Brazil celebrate Richarlison Goal.|PHOTO: EuroSport|

Brazil Talent clear to See

Many people questioned whether nine strikers were too many and wondered if Brazil boss Tite would really dare abandon his normally defensive tactics to unleash such a wealth of attacking skill.

The solution came in an impressive 2-0 victory over a tough, well-prepared Serbia team that frustrated Brazil in a scoreless first half.

It should not have come as a surprise that Tite started Vinicius Jr. alongside Neymar, Richarlison, and Raphinha because the Brazil coach has recently been much more inclined to unleash his gifted young forwards collectively.

In a game that saw their star man, Neymar, taken off for an ankle injury.

Neymar’s status for Brazil’s World Cup team in 2022 is still unknown, as is whether or not his most recent injury will mirror his 2014 nightmare.

As the medical professionals attended to his injured ankle, he stood on the sidelines looking dejected.

Lucas Paqueta, a teammate, seemed upbeat following the game and told TF1: “Concerned with Neymar? No, we’ll find out in the changing rooms. He was hurt. We’ll check with the doctor, but we anticipate no problems.”

Neymar will have a few days to determine whether or not he can play in Brazil’s upcoming match against Switzerland on November 28.