Messi, Mbappe and the best World Cup in history

"World Cup 2022 is the best in history," FIFA President Gianni Infantino commented after the final match between France and Argentina ended on the evening of December 18. In the midst of this match, Google also received a record 25 years of traffic for the search engine. The old record was created in the group stage and round of 1/8 this period.

The climax of the 2022 World Cup is the final at Lusail Stadium on December 18, where Messi completed his football career with the first Golden Cup. Before the tournament, Messi had never scored in the knockout round, and Argentina also suddenly lost 1-2 to Saudi Arabia in the opening match of Group C. But after that match, the Argentine captain reassured fans: "The Please continue to trust us."

Messi is not talking nonsense, because Argentina are unbeaten in the remaining six matches in the tournament, when he averages one goal per game. When the home team struggled against Mexico in the second round, the 35-year-old superstar shone with a long shot to open the scoring in the 64th minute. He also scored the first goal in the 1/8 round with a shot through the Australian players' feet, or created an unbelievable assist for Nahuel Molina to open the scoring in the quarterfinals against the Netherlands.

In six of the seven matches at the tournament, Argentina's first goal was scored or assisted by Messi. In the final, he opened the scoring from the penalty spot, contributed to Angel di Maria's goal, then kicked to score the third goal for the home team. From a player who is said to have no charm for the World Cup, Messi has set a record of 21 goals in the tournament's history.

Before that, the last time Argentina won the World Cup was in 1986 with the brilliance of the legendary Diego Armando Maradona. Winning the World Cup after 36 years helps Messi to match and even surpass the shadow of his late predecessor.

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Fans expected the match between Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in the final but failed. But they are comforted when Mbappe matures dramatically at the 2022 World Cup, to emerge as a rival to Messi.

After the group stage, Mbappe scored three goals and led the race for the World Cup Golden Shoe. In the 1/8 round, Messi equalized that achievement, but the French "number 10" immediately responded with a double and an assist against Poland. The 24-year-old striker remained silent in the quarter-finals and semi-finals, allowing Messi to equalize the record of five goals before the two competed in the final.

The two stars of PSG once again chased goals together in the final. They both enjoy the privilege of being allowed to walk most of the time, with Messi 58% of the walking distance, and Mbappe 52%. But once accelerated, both deal damage to the opponent. If Messi has a double, Mbappe will score a hat-trick to become the highest scorer in the history of World Cup finals.

When France could not finish a single time in the first half and was led to two goals, Mbappe boldly stood up at halftime and gave an inspirational speech to his teammates. "If they score two goals, we can do it too," he said as his teammates all sat quietly listening.

Mbappe has done it all but France lacks a brave goalkeeper before the penalty shootout like Emiliano Martinez. Unsatisfied with the position of the top scorer when the team only finished second, Mbappe did not rest but rushed to practice immediately with PSG. The 2022 World Cup could be the turning point for him to turn from a good player to a great.

In the World Cup or every other tournament, only one team can win and the rest suffer defeat. While Messi fulfills his wish with Argentina, Cristiano Ronaldo's dream is shattered. England need extraordinary efforts to be able to attend the 2026 World Cup at the age of 41, but it is likely that the Portuguese captain will have to end an incomplete career. Compared to legends like Pele, Maradona or even Messi, Ronaldo is the only one missing the World Cup.

2022 could hardly be worse for Ronaldo, when he lost his child in April, and then clashed with the governing club Man Utd in the second half of the year. His poor form caused him to lose his starting position in the club and the national team. For the first time in World Cup history, he had to sit on the bench for two games, giving way to Goncalo Ramos.

Initially, everything went smoothly when Ronaldo started and scored in the opening match to become the first player to score in five World Cups. But that is all he can do, if not counting the missed header that led to Bruno Fernandes' goal against Uruguay.

Like Messi, Ronaldo went to Qatar without scoring in the knockout round of the World Cup. But in the 1/8 round and quarter-finals, he had to be substituted due to a loss of form. Portugal was once thought to be the easiest team in the quarterfinals, but lost 0-1 to Morocco and missed the chance to reach the semi-finals for the third time in history. If Messi brings the gold cup back, Ronaldo leaves Qatar empty-handed, leaving only tears on the field.

Victory over Portugal also helped Morocco become the first African and Arab team to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup. With a low and mid-range block defense, Walid Regragui created the most solid defense until the semi-finals. No player has scored against Morocco in the first five games, if you ignore central defender Nayef Aguerd's own goal. Despite losing to France in the semi-finals and Croatia in the third place match, Morocco still returned home as heroes.

More than half of Morocco's squad are foreign-born players, including Hakim Ziyech, Achraf Hakimi, Sofyan Amrabat, Sofiane Boufal, Noussair Mazraoui or captain Romain Saiss. The policy of attracting talent from abroad is the key to Morocco's success this period. Because before, they were not among the highest performing teams in Africa. The last time Morocco won the Africa Cup was 46 years ago, and in the past 10 years they have not been crowned in the Arab Cup.

Goalkeeper Yassine Bounou was also born abroad, but grew up in Morocco. He impressed in the penalty shootout round of 16 against Spain, with two interceptions from Carlos Soler and Sergio Busquets. But that was not the best performance of a goalkeeper in this round. Dominik Livakovic even blocked three penalties from the Japanese player, to send Croatia into the quarterfinals.

Bounou or Livakovic are just two of many impressive goalkeepers at the 2022 World Cup. In the group stage, Wojciech Szczesny impressed when he pushed out two penalties from Salem Al-Dawsari and Messi. He is also the second-most saved goalkeeper in the tournament, behind only Livakovic one save despite playing three fewer games.

Livakovic also maintained his mark in the quarter-finals as Croatia sent Brazil into a penalty shootout despite being trailing in extra time. In the first set of shots, he blocked Rodrygo's kick and helped send Croatia to the semi-finals.

However, not Szczesny, Bounou or Livakovic, Emiliano Martinez won the Golden Glove award. The Argentine goalkeeper ranked only 24th in the number of saves at the tournament, but was honored for his bravery at a crucial moment. In the quarter-finals, Martinez blocked Virgil van Dijk and Steven Berghuis' first two penalties, helping Argentina knock the Netherlands out. In the final minutes of the final, he blocked a stretch shot in the face of Randal Kolo Muani. Then in the penalty shootout, the Aston Villa goalkeeper blocked Kingsley Coman's shot and put pressure on Aurelien Tchouameni to shoot it out.

Martinez or Livakovic both blocked the opportunity to continue the two representatives of the Asian Football Confederation, respectively Australia and Japan in the 1/8 round. In addition, Korea also fell to Brazil in the first knockout round. However, in addition to the host, Asian teams can still leave the tournament with their heads held high because they have created history and earthquakes.

Google can break the traffic record right from the 2022 World Cup group stage, thanks to the opposite victories with the same score of 2-1 by the Asian representatives. Starting on November 22 at the packed Lusail stadium, Saudi Arabia only finished three times but knocked Argentina down thanks to the masterpieces of Saleh Al Shehri and Al Dawsari.

A day later, Germany also led Japan and then squandered a series of opportunities and paid the price in the second half. Ritsu Doan and Takuma Asano scored in turn to help Japan beat Germany for the first time. In the last turn, Doan and Ao Tanaka scored two goals in three minutes to help Japan beat Spain 2-1 to top Group E - the table considered "death".

Australia also shared the joy of Asia when defeating Tunisia and then Denmark with the same score of 1-0, to follow France in the round of 16. In the final match of the group stage, it was Korea's turn to create an earthquake when defeating Portugal with Hwang Hee-chan's goal in the second half. Before that match, Korea's chance to continue was considered the lowest, and even they were led early. These results help Asia have three representatives in the round of 16 of the World Cup for the first time, although they have only gone so far.

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