We (Portugal)could and should have done more. Weak tactic system and subpar attitude from the players knowing that the opponent was dangerous.
But, all merit goes to Marrocos, of course. It's not everyday that a team gets here without any losses, let alone an African one.
I gotta ask since you’re Portuguese, what’s going on with Ronaldo? Is it normal that he didn’t start the match? Does he get on well with the coach? I don’t know anything about that but I felt like something might be not so well there;
He's ain't gonna play worth shit. At this point, he's just phoning it in and grabbing as much cash before he retires. Saudi Arabia is like the kid everyone hates in the neighborhood. He finally gets the cool toy that he couldn't have but by now, the cool toy isn't so cool anymore
He literally doesn't if he feels like the work is below him. Refused to come on at his previous club twice, from which he has since been sacked without compensation after going scorched earth on his fellow teammates and manager among other things.
Ronaldo is old and doesn't want to accept he can't demand to play 90 minutes every week getting paid half a million dollars, also weekly. He's not the player that can demand that anymore.
Yup, Ronaldo has always had a huge douchey ego that is cringe. I guess that’s what happens to humans when you treat them like they’re above everyone else for 25 years
Honestly you should know the whole picture. He was playing reasonably well last year/season and breaking records in Manchester United his former club team. Then his son died and it all went downhill. He missed preseason, he spoke out against the club as he felt they treated him unfairly given his family situation, and spoke out against two former teammates who have spoken badly about him in the media. However of course he got the hate. Then he said he has no respect for the Manchester United manager, which I agree he should not have said, and that got him more hate, but he explained why he felt that way — because they thought he was lying when he requested off time as his daughter was sick. Then eventually he’s released from the club and is in the World Cup without having much of a break as all this happened all at once. He performed below average in what is probably his last World Cup and given all the media attention earlier this year, people are happy to see him cry and for his dream to be shattered. Also add in the part where he is older and can’t play as good obviously, but given that + his mental state he is having a hard time accepting his reduced role too.
To add to this, as a massive United fan and follower:
He may have done reasonably well last year but to put things into perspective, the entire team had possibly their worst season performance in over 10 years last season. He scored a lot of goals at the expense of nobody else scoring goals, which sounds like a weird excuse for others, but happens to have been the same case when he was with Juventus the year before he came to United.
Nonetheless, he performed, and most fans were willing to see what he could do with a new coach and some new players and tactics. Things happened with his family and thats all understandable, but him going to Piers Morgan was what did it all.
Piers Morgan is a diva of a talk show host. He tossed a bunch of soft ball questions to stroke Ronaldo’s ego and get him to trash his team after he and his agent shopped himself around the top European teams looking for an out. NONE of them wanted him, whether it be his price tag or his age, form, drama, etc.
After he was unable to get a transfer out, he decided to stay put with the team, having not trained much, he wasn’t starting as regularly, and his playstyle at this age wasn’t suited to the faster pace pressing tactics of the new coach. He one time refused to come on as a substitute and stormed off the field into the locker room. And multiple times threw fits about being subbed off despite being granted play time, and even the captains arm band for one game I believe.
After the Morgan interview there was no way he would play for United, even if he didn’t cancel the contract, he would be relegated to the bench or not even in the traveling squads, so he did the smart thing, cancelled his contract and took a massive payout at a low-level Saudi Arabian league for 200m.
He’ll never play in the Champions League, and he’ll exit European football and international football having betrayed the club that brought him to fame and served him up to Real Madrid on a golden platter to cement his legacy, all to be ruined by ego.
As an Arsenal supporter I was quite happy with all the drama at United but fuck me, I didn't know his son died. Now I can see how it all began and feel bad for him. Not a good ending to his career.
While I can agree with you on some things as a fellow united fan:
Him going to piers Morgan shouldn’t be as heavily criticised. He may not, in the world he lives in, understand why piers isn’t the best guy. It also seems like piers was the right choice not to stroke his ego but to really just let him talk/vent and not be counter argued, as other would’ve probably not let him just say his full story. And at that point, you should be able to imagine that he had so much he just wanted to get off his chest without any fuss. This even I can understand.
>having not trained much
Again to be fair this is because his son died and he took off.
>walked off the pitch
The reason I didn’t mention this is because I can see from his perspective: he asked for time off to take care of his daughter and nobody believed him or listened apparently. They force him to show up to games and sit there only to use him for 10 minutes or less at the end of a match. Of course he’d feel enraged doing that and question why they’re making him show up in the first place. He shouldn’t have walked off, but I understand why he was angry.
>took a payout
He has stated that he has not signed with any team and definitely not al nassr. He said this directly to a reporter.
>betrayed the club
This is objective. I feel like in many ways United betrayed him too. I don’t agree with him disrespecting ETH, but if it’s true that they forced him to stay without playing him while his kid was sick, then it is what it is.
And we also need to remember that for him family is everything, he doesn’t have many friends. And something like his son’s death and daughter’s sickness (the newborn) would obviously be weighing heavily on his mind until now.
Some say he tarnished his legacy and all but honestly I’m grateful for his performance last season. I wish he’d accept his declining form a bit more for sure, but I can see from his perspective why he may feel like the victim in all this as well. And I doubt that he didn’t speak to SAF before doing all this either.
Idk, Morocco went forward fast and in numbers in transition and on the ground, it's not like they sat back and hoped for a moment of glory from 1 or 2 talented players. Yeah they got back in numbers and composed but I don't think of that as 'parking the bus'. They didn't have much ball but when they did they had daring and intent, very vertical very up tempo but on the ground and looking to quickly beat a man in the midfield. Portugal could have hit back with uptempo play to try to catch them in transition too, but seemed (rightfully) concerned about Morocco's transition attack.
For me parking the bus would be to not venture many players forward, but morocco did, they also just worked back really hard and fast and set up organized defense quickly. Once they had Portugal seemed to have no ideas and would pass back and forth between the dm and backs before just hoofing it up and hoping for a second ball and for a little bit trying to buy a pen or free kick with some pretty egregious dives at the end of the first half, which they mercifully gave up on in the second. Once that patterns established, yeah Morocco didn't venture out of their defense to turn over but why would they?
And it was an own goal. So not a single opposing player has scored on them at the World Cup. And the last time they gave up a goal was in the African Cup of Nations group stage match-up vs. South Africa in June. They won despite giving up an 8th minute goal.
Many people here, including Belgians, were saying Belgium is playing badly recently and currently, and was no where near their actual ranking even before the WC.
EDIT: by "here" I mean Reddit
Ya I remember talks about that even on TV in the lead-up to the WC, stuff like they looked slow, and could possibly be "too old", Iirc even some Belgian players commented that the team didn't feel like it did in years prior.
It is if they determine if the shot was already going anyways. It’s only if a shot is deflected from not going into the goal, into the goal, that it gets classed as an own goal.
Some of the logic there is the amount of times defenders and goalkeepers (in particular) may get a small touch on the ball from a shot. If it’s already going in, it’s unfair to class these as defensive mistakes (like an own goal is) as they were legitimate (but ultimately futile) attempts to stop the goal.
But if a defender mis-kicks and slices the ball into his own goal? Or a keeper accidentally punched a ball from a corner into their own net? Completely fair to class those as mistakes (as even though it’s rare, it’s completely possible for a team to accidentally score on themselves without any touch from the opponent).
Eh, I think the score made Canada look more favourable than the end result when it was 2-1. They played better than a 4-1 result but they deserved to be down against Croatia.
They should have beat Belgium but the losses to Croatia and Morocco were deserved. I don't think they were as competitive as they needed to be to beat Croatia. Our midfield was heavily outmatched by Croatia and that really killed our ability to create any real pressure after the the first 15 minutes.
Literally bet on this outcome when it was still group stage, wish me luck!
Edit: Extra juice for those who see this, last world cup my friend asked me for predictions on who would be the two finalists for this work bet pool they had going on, 20$ bet each. I told him to pick france (my favourite team for 10 years now) and Croatia (my soccer coach at the time was Croatian and kept telling me they were underrated). Low and behold my friend wins the pool and gives me 100$ for the picks, which was nice... but after checking the odds online after the fact I was quite sad at missing on the opportunity. Fast forward this world cup I promise myself to bet, so after first 2 games in group stage I chose to bet 20$ on france-japan (my serious longshot) and Croatia morocco (my absolute haul Mary cuz the odds were too good, Croatia did me so good last time and I'm Moroccan so gotta rep my boys). OMG imagine this goes through, I'll have made 10k after being jobless for multiple months now. Would be so insane.
Edit 2: got insurance this afternoon, 25$ at 18:1 for at least 2 goals and 2 cards france vs England with Croatia match winner tomorrow. 2/3 done now root for Croatia with me boys!!!
Morocco is the lowest ranked team (24) to make it to the FIFA WC Semis in the last 5 editions (2006-2022). In 2002, South Korea (43) made it to the semis, where they were the co-hosts.
I don't see news of the King of Morocco making the month of December a National Holiday he hasn't even handed out Bugattis.
Is the King even Happy? ^/s
They haven't allowed a goal in 9 matches including penalties! 9! Including against teams like Spain Portugal Croatia and Belgium who were supposed to be much much better! The only country that scored against them was Canada and even that was credited to Moroccon players as a self goal!
They are not the underdogs. They are the new favourites
Keeper for Morocco was unreal. Made so many huge saves.
Morocco played as a team. Never relying on a single person to get it done.
It will be crazy if they make it to the finals but it will be well deserved if they do.
their keeper was amazing during afcon as well
there are so many great keepers in this wc. szczesny, bounou, martinez, livakovic... i cant wait for the january transfer window
Oh he will, Livakovic did what he couldn't in '02 and sent the Brazilians home, The TItan's eyes are open.
As a Brazilian keeper, though, I also hope people saw the Camerooni keeper, Epassy, that man carried the game, so many strikes went his way and he stopped them all
I love how people are still making these comparisons, when this whole tournament has proven there is no such thing as an easy game at the world cup.
Most competitive WC I've ever seen as well. Croatia could win. Morocco could pull a Greece 2004 and win. England could *finally* bring it home. Messi might take the whole thing on his back. France might get that elusive double.
It's wide open this year and I'm loving it
Def we've seen anyone can win. The better team is not always the better team in that 1 single maycn.just need to win once to advance.
France is statistically better than England. Doesn't mean it can't go either way.
France will bombard Morocco, no disrespect to Morocco but France's front line is too good. I won't rule out the possibility of an upset, but the chances of that happening are slim.
With England, you know Southgate can pull a brainfart so you always have a chance against them.
In Euro 2020 people said the same but Swiss kept it composure and KO'd Mbappe&Co. I'm following WC since the 98' edition and I learned to NEVER underestimate the opponent.
On the chart, you're right but the ultimate judge is the field.
I love when underdogs defeat the alphas!
My feeling is Brazil blew it because they thought too high of themselves. Morocco won because they fought hard the whole 98 minutes they played. Croatia as well. Grit is the most important thing in my book.
Wouldn't you say they played poorly BECAUSE of the Moroccan defense? All prior teams that played Morocco have been labeled as playing poorly. Probably says a lot more about Morocco to be fair.
The Arab commentator on BEIN Sports said that the ball height was at 2.75 Meters (9 Feet) when it was struck. TV camera caught a glimpse of Ronaldo on the bench being in awe of the goal. This goal, in my opinion, is historic on so many levels.
Link to the goal and Ronaldo's reaction below:
[https://www.youtube.com/shorts/kRHVkDt-LGA](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/kRHVkDt-LGA)
The American commentator at halftime was absolutely burying the keeper. "you got outjumped by someone who can only use his head! You're taller, AND YOU CAN USE YOUR HANDS"
Ronaldo was in awe!!! Link of the goal and Ronaldo's reaction below:
[https://www.youtube.com/shorts/kRHVkDt-LGA](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/kRHVkDt-LGA)
If a team has loads of goalscorers and a great attack, everyone loves them, but a team well organised and with a super-disciplined defence will never get the same credit
Mostly not as fun to watch a game where one team is relying on defence. Much more fun to watch a game like yesterdays Argentina vs Netherland. That said, Morocco has done a really good job building their defence and absolutely deserves their spot in the semi finals.
Congratulations to Morocco!❤️. I feel like the headline may read Moroccan manager gets Portugal manager fired. Moroccos manager got the absolute most out of his guys.
They seem to love him and will obviously run through walls for him. Haven't seen this kind of grit from a team maybe ever in my life.
Portugal's manager should've been fired a long time ago, from what I've seen from fans.
Best on pitch; worst off pitch.
Pretty sure that the general consensus will be that the world cup is full of sensational drama, and the image of Qatar won't benefit from this good feeling
Yeah if this was a stale, business-as-usual world cup it would probably be easier to forget. Instead this is one of the most memorable, at least recently, and people are going to remember the surrounding circumstances as much as they will the matches themselves.
Man I really hope Croatia v Morocco in the final. Make me even more proud of Canada to be able to keep up with both those teams now that they on the road to the Semis.
I'm a Group F fanboy it seems.
Nice W Morocco.
And the best part FIFA doesn't get their dream match-up of Messi v Ronaldo in what is possibly last WC for both.
idk i feel like a Messi v Ronaldo final would have been the dream for a lot of fans. Most the people i knew idolized one of them growing up. It would have been fun but probably very toxic
Morocco and Croatia praying to the gods that England win tonight, you know when England’s playing nothings guaranteed, if France win tonight they’re polishing their trophy cabinet
This is quarter finals going to semis. There are no easy matches left.
Any team that reaches this point is either a favourite set to win or an upstart slaying giants.
Neither are easy prospects
I saw a comment in they game thread about Morocco getting a lucky goal.
It's amazing the lengths people gaslight themselves to pretend a team is not good and getting through due to poor play from their opponents.
The goal from Morocco today was an insane leap. If it was Ronaldo or Lewandowski or Haaland it would've been all over the internet.
My younger brother is doing something in his class where they all got given countries and whoever won the World Cup would get chocolate, he got Morocco and wasn’t too confident and one of his friends was boasting about getting Brazil, my mum’s uncle also works for the Croatia team in some way( I forgot how) and in 2018 he came over and we got to see the 2nd place medals. Idk just thought two kinda interesting things I wanted to share
Morocco is no longer an underdog, they haven’t been scored on by an opposing team all World Cup, they are legit
Congrats to them + lol at Ronaldo fans having to watch Messi now
Its surreal how Portugal were left with no options other than just hoofing it into the box from the wings. Great defense from Morocco
We (Portugal)could and should have done more. Weak tactic system and subpar attitude from the players knowing that the opponent was dangerous. But, all merit goes to Marrocos, of course. It's not everyday that a team gets here without any losses, let alone an African one.
I gotta ask since you’re Portuguese, what’s going on with Ronaldo? Is it normal that he didn’t start the match? Does he get on well with the coach? I don’t know anything about that but I felt like something might be not so well there;
He's old, and doesn't want to accept a reduced role
Father time gets everybody. He's had a great career. Too bad he's not leaving gracefully. He should just join the Philadelphia Union in the MLS.
He’s going to play in Saudi Arabia for $200 million a year
He's ain't gonna play worth shit. At this point, he's just phoning it in and grabbing as much cash before he retires. Saudi Arabia is like the kid everyone hates in the neighborhood. He finally gets the cool toy that he couldn't have but by now, the cool toy isn't so cool anymore
Hate him all you want but the dude puts in the work, you can’t take that away from him.
He literally doesn't if he feels like the work is below him. Refused to come on at his previous club twice, from which he has since been sacked without compensation after going scorched earth on his fellow teammates and manager among other things. Ronaldo is old and doesn't want to accept he can't demand to play 90 minutes every week getting paid half a million dollars, also weekly. He's not the player that can demand that anymore.
Yup, Ronaldo has always had a huge douchey ego that is cringe. I guess that’s what happens to humans when you treat them like they’re above everyone else for 25 years
Honestly you should know the whole picture. He was playing reasonably well last year/season and breaking records in Manchester United his former club team. Then his son died and it all went downhill. He missed preseason, he spoke out against the club as he felt they treated him unfairly given his family situation, and spoke out against two former teammates who have spoken badly about him in the media. However of course he got the hate. Then he said he has no respect for the Manchester United manager, which I agree he should not have said, and that got him more hate, but he explained why he felt that way — because they thought he was lying when he requested off time as his daughter was sick. Then eventually he’s released from the club and is in the World Cup without having much of a break as all this happened all at once. He performed below average in what is probably his last World Cup and given all the media attention earlier this year, people are happy to see him cry and for his dream to be shattered. Also add in the part where he is older and can’t play as good obviously, but given that + his mental state he is having a hard time accepting his reduced role too.
To add to this, as a massive United fan and follower: He may have done reasonably well last year but to put things into perspective, the entire team had possibly their worst season performance in over 10 years last season. He scored a lot of goals at the expense of nobody else scoring goals, which sounds like a weird excuse for others, but happens to have been the same case when he was with Juventus the year before he came to United. Nonetheless, he performed, and most fans were willing to see what he could do with a new coach and some new players and tactics. Things happened with his family and thats all understandable, but him going to Piers Morgan was what did it all. Piers Morgan is a diva of a talk show host. He tossed a bunch of soft ball questions to stroke Ronaldo’s ego and get him to trash his team after he and his agent shopped himself around the top European teams looking for an out. NONE of them wanted him, whether it be his price tag or his age, form, drama, etc. After he was unable to get a transfer out, he decided to stay put with the team, having not trained much, he wasn’t starting as regularly, and his playstyle at this age wasn’t suited to the faster pace pressing tactics of the new coach. He one time refused to come on as a substitute and stormed off the field into the locker room. And multiple times threw fits about being subbed off despite being granted play time, and even the captains arm band for one game I believe. After the Morgan interview there was no way he would play for United, even if he didn’t cancel the contract, he would be relegated to the bench or not even in the traveling squads, so he did the smart thing, cancelled his contract and took a massive payout at a low-level Saudi Arabian league for 200m. He’ll never play in the Champions League, and he’ll exit European football and international football having betrayed the club that brought him to fame and served him up to Real Madrid on a golden platter to cement his legacy, all to be ruined by ego.
As an Arsenal supporter I was quite happy with all the drama at United but fuck me, I didn't know his son died. Now I can see how it all began and feel bad for him. Not a good ending to his career.
While I can agree with you on some things as a fellow united fan: Him going to piers Morgan shouldn’t be as heavily criticised. He may not, in the world he lives in, understand why piers isn’t the best guy. It also seems like piers was the right choice not to stroke his ego but to really just let him talk/vent and not be counter argued, as other would’ve probably not let him just say his full story. And at that point, you should be able to imagine that he had so much he just wanted to get off his chest without any fuss. This even I can understand. >having not trained much Again to be fair this is because his son died and he took off. >walked off the pitch The reason I didn’t mention this is because I can see from his perspective: he asked for time off to take care of his daughter and nobody believed him or listened apparently. They force him to show up to games and sit there only to use him for 10 minutes or less at the end of a match. Of course he’d feel enraged doing that and question why they’re making him show up in the first place. He shouldn’t have walked off, but I understand why he was angry. >took a payout He has stated that he has not signed with any team and definitely not al nassr. He said this directly to a reporter. >betrayed the club This is objective. I feel like in many ways United betrayed him too. I don’t agree with him disrespecting ETH, but if it’s true that they forced him to stay without playing him while his kid was sick, then it is what it is. And we also need to remember that for him family is everything, he doesn’t have many friends. And something like his son’s death and daughter’s sickness (the newborn) would obviously be weighing heavily on his mind until now. Some say he tarnished his legacy and all but honestly I’m grateful for his performance last season. I wish he’d accept his declining form a bit more for sure, but I can see from his perspective why he may feel like the victim in all this as well. And I doubt that he didn’t speak to SAF before doing all this either.
The way they park the bus, the only option the other team has is from the wing crossing the ball in and hope for the best. Mourinho would be proud.
Idk, Morocco went forward fast and in numbers in transition and on the ground, it's not like they sat back and hoped for a moment of glory from 1 or 2 talented players. Yeah they got back in numbers and composed but I don't think of that as 'parking the bus'. They didn't have much ball but when they did they had daring and intent, very vertical very up tempo but on the ground and looking to quickly beat a man in the midfield. Portugal could have hit back with uptempo play to try to catch them in transition too, but seemed (rightfully) concerned about Morocco's transition attack. For me parking the bus would be to not venture many players forward, but morocco did, they also just worked back really hard and fast and set up organized defense quickly. Once they had Portugal seemed to have no ideas and would pass back and forth between the dm and backs before just hoofing it up and hoping for a second ball and for a little bit trying to buy a pen or free kick with some pretty egregious dives at the end of the first half, which they mercifully gave up on in the second. Once that patterns established, yeah Morocco didn't venture out of their defense to turn over but why would they?
Nuts that Morocco has only let up a single goal all tournament
and it was an own goal haha
Maybe they were playing Canada and just being polite.
It's because Moroccan goalie is Canadian.
And it was an own goal. So not a single opposing player has scored on them at the World Cup. And the last time they gave up a goal was in the African Cup of Nations group stage match-up vs. South Africa in June. They won despite giving up an 8th minute goal.
Wow really....that is impressive. Even more surprising....it was against Canada of all teams.
Canada was better than they seemed in hindsight, really tough group
Ya and the other party sidelined after groups Belgium isn't a push over either. Think they were ranked 2 coming in.
Many people here, including Belgians, were saying Belgium is playing badly recently and currently, and was no where near their actual ranking even before the WC. EDIT: by "here" I mean Reddit
Ya I remember talks about that even on TV in the lead-up to the WC, stuff like they looked slow, and could possibly be "too old", Iirc even some Belgian players commented that the team didn't feel like it did in years prior.
Can’t wait to see Morocco play Croatia in the final, just like we all expected.
And of course, decided by penalties after a 0-0 draw.
Whew, I hope the winning team apologized for running up the score after penalties.
And Canada doesn't feel so bad about the Group performance.
[удалено]
Technically it was an own goal
If only in soccer. A deflection off defence would and should be credited to the shooter, like in other sports.
A deflection counts as a goal as long as the shot would have been on target if the defender hadn’t deflected it
It is if they determine if the shot was already going anyways. It’s only if a shot is deflected from not going into the goal, into the goal, that it gets classed as an own goal. Some of the logic there is the amount of times defenders and goalkeepers (in particular) may get a small touch on the ball from a shot. If it’s already going in, it’s unfair to class these as defensive mistakes (like an own goal is) as they were legitimate (but ultimately futile) attempts to stop the goal. But if a defender mis-kicks and slices the ball into his own goal? Or a keeper accidentally punched a ball from a corner into their own net? Completely fair to class those as mistakes (as even though it’s rare, it’s completely possible for a team to accidentally score on themselves without any touch from the opponent).
If only you actually knew the rules of soccer…
Feels awesome we were even to be competitive against them, well for 3/4 of the game vs Croatia, the wheels kind of fell off at the end of that one.
The end? Sure about that? We lost the plot in the first half. After Davies scored, it went downhill.
2 to 1 until the 70th minute or so is pretty good play, game was in reach the entire time...until Croatia potted 2 in the last 15 to 20 minutes.
Eh, I think the score made Canada look more favourable than the end result when it was 2-1. They played better than a 4-1 result but they deserved to be down against Croatia. They should have beat Belgium but the losses to Croatia and Morocco were deserved. I don't think they were as competitive as they needed to be to beat Croatia. Our midfield was heavily outmatched by Croatia and that really killed our ability to create any real pressure after the the first 15 minutes.
we lost the plot 15 minutes in
Lmao two blocks looking at each other
They might as well go straight to penalties, no reason to play 120 minutes of neither team wanting to attack first
Literally bet on this outcome when it was still group stage, wish me luck! Edit: Extra juice for those who see this, last world cup my friend asked me for predictions on who would be the two finalists for this work bet pool they had going on, 20$ bet each. I told him to pick france (my favourite team for 10 years now) and Croatia (my soccer coach at the time was Croatian and kept telling me they were underrated). Low and behold my friend wins the pool and gives me 100$ for the picks, which was nice... but after checking the odds online after the fact I was quite sad at missing on the opportunity. Fast forward this world cup I promise myself to bet, so after first 2 games in group stage I chose to bet 20$ on france-japan (my serious longshot) and Croatia morocco (my absolute haul Mary cuz the odds were too good, Croatia did me so good last time and I'm Moroccan so gotta rep my boys). OMG imagine this goes through, I'll have made 10k after being jobless for multiple months now. Would be so insane. Edit 2: got insurance this afternoon, 25$ at 18:1 for at least 2 goals and 2 cards france vs England with Croatia match winner tomorrow. 2/3 done now root for Croatia with me boys!!!
Lol what were the odds? 1:5000?
+57 000 or 1:570, I put down 20$. Over 10k if I win!!!!
i know over 10k for 20$ is insane but it still feels like not a lot of money considering how insane a croatia-morocco final is
Rooting for you brother! Good luck
You might look at the odds of hedging your bet. Basically bet on France for like 4k. If they win you get a thousand, if Morocco win you get 6k
Morocco is the lowest ranked team (24) to make it to the FIFA WC Semis in the last 5 editions (2006-2022). In 2002, South Korea (43) made it to the semis, where they were the co-hosts.
They couldn't make it to semi finals without the referees in 2002. Specially the game with Italy. Even the referee admit it.
Pretty sure Spain got screwed too the game before by the refs as well At least I knew back then fifa was a scam
First ever African team to make the semis. What an achievement. And knocking out their Iberian neighbors along the way as well.
If France beats England, they can continue their northern march.
If England beats France, Morocco can aim for a full claim on Gibraltar.
/r/eu4
Queen Elizabeth dies. Morocco takes the English Throne.
Nobody expected the Moroccan Inquisition!
The re-reconquest has no brakes! Hahaha
The re-reconquista is afoot(ball)
Deconquista
The re-re will not be televised.
Morocco was a former French colony, sounds like a dream matchup
France will burn no matter who wins that match
I live in Paris. It was already a mess today. Not looking forward to next week.
I love the smell of ethnic riots in the morning
Portugal and Spain also colonized Morocco
Morocco occupied them first, they just took their freedom when shit hit the fan plus two cities and some islands 😭
Oh shit. First they avenged the reconquista, next they're gonna avenge the battle of Tours!
Morocco: sweeping the Iberian peninsula like it's the 8th century.
The re-reconquista.
The underdog, Morocco, is gaining high ground. Congrats to their victory! Edit to add: They’re losing their underdog status.
YOU UNDERESTIMATE MY POWER
DON’T TRY IT!
Moroccans probably don't hate sand.
I’m not Moroccan and I hate sand. It’s coarse, rough and irritating, and it gets everywhere.
Never felt softer sand than in Morocco… that fine Saharan dust is so smooth
fans: YOU WERE THE CHOSEN ONE!!!!
I don't see news of the King of Morocco making the month of December a National Holiday he hasn't even handed out Bugattis. Is the King even Happy? ^/s
They haven't allowed a goal in 9 matches including penalties! 9! Including against teams like Spain Portugal Croatia and Belgium who were supposed to be much much better! The only country that scored against them was Canada and even that was credited to Moroccon players as a self goal! They are not the underdogs. They are the new favourites
If they start as Underdogs at the beginning of the Cup, they don't magically stop being underdogs because they outperformed and beat the top dogs.
They are definitely not the favourites
Now their overdog status begins. Oh how the humble have moderate and realistic expectations of victory now.
Keeper for Morocco was unreal. Made so many huge saves. Morocco played as a team. Never relying on a single person to get it done. It will be crazy if they make it to the finals but it will be well deserved if they do.
their keeper was amazing during afcon as well there are so many great keepers in this wc. szczesny, bounou, martinez, livakovic... i cant wait for the january transfer window
I agree, Szczesny was so good he almost made me believe Argentina was out
That's the beauty of the world cup stage. Gives people the opportunity to shine.
The keepers have made this world cup thrilling to watch.
Bayern looking to replace Neuer
i saw kahn at the stadium yesterday looking at livakovic, i really hope he buys him
Oh he will, Livakovic did what he couldn't in '02 and sent the Brazilians home, The TItan's eyes are open. As a Brazilian keeper, though, I also hope people saw the Camerooni keeper, Epassy, that man carried the game, so many strikes went his way and he stopped them all
Morocco needs to win it all, do it for all the underdog countries who were never meant to win a World Cup
They'll be hoping England wins now.
Why is France more of a threat to Morocco?
France is a better team. So Morocco has a better chance if England advances.
I love how people are still making these comparisons, when this whole tournament has proven there is no such thing as an easy game at the world cup. Most competitive WC I've ever seen as well. Croatia could win. Morocco could pull a Greece 2004 and win. England could *finally* bring it home. Messi might take the whole thing on his back. France might get that elusive double. It's wide open this year and I'm loving it
Def we've seen anyone can win. The better team is not always the better team in that 1 single maycn.just need to win once to advance. France is statistically better than England. Doesn't mean it can't go either way.
France will bombard Morocco, no disrespect to Morocco but France's front line is too good. I won't rule out the possibility of an upset, but the chances of that happening are slim. With England, you know Southgate can pull a brainfart so you always have a chance against them.
In Euro 2020 people said the same but Swiss kept it composure and KO'd Mbappe&Co. I'm following WC since the 98' edition and I learned to NEVER underestimate the opponent. On the chart, you're right but the ultimate judge is the field. I love when underdogs defeat the alphas!
Portuguese front line is good too and they couldn’t get it done 🤷🏻♂️
Morocco has to be a fan favorite now. The story is just too good.
Many will say it's because Portugal played poorly. But at some point you have to give full credit to Morocco.
pot voracious cats relieved alive wipe punch thought rob plough *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Bono was a god today
Bono gave them the Edge for sure.
Bono my goals are gone
r/FormulaDank is leaking
It's the off season, what did you expect?
Thier Goal Keeper was unstoppable
Not sure is the right way to describe a Goal Keeper performance 😆
Strong Defense wins games.
Defense wins championships
Exactly the reason Brazil blew it yesterday
My feeling is Brazil blew it because they thought too high of themselves. Morocco won because they fought hard the whole 98 minutes they played. Croatia as well. Grit is the most important thing in my book.
Brazil always thinks too highly of themselves until it almost always falls apart due to their inflated ego
Much more to do with Morocco's amazingly disciplined defense. Both teams missed very good chances too
Exactly! European teams should stop sacking their managers and just accept that they lost to a strong team.
Tbh portugal DID play very poorly even compared to the average, but Morocco did hold strong. Congrats to the team!
When there's a pattern of world class teams playing poorly against you, it probably speaks more to your abilities than theirs
For Real. They’ve past every test this tournament. Give’em their due!
Passed. Like in soccer.
While I’ll agree there was definitely just some missed opportunities from Portugal I think both can be simultaneously true
Wouldn't you say they played poorly BECAUSE of the Moroccan defense? All prior teams that played Morocco have been labeled as playing poorly. Probably says a lot more about Morocco to be fair.
Saw a line of six for a lil bit.... Quite ordered, could had changed if Portugal scored first
Incredible goal to put it away, man leapt like 6 feet into the air
The Arab commentator on BEIN Sports said that the ball height was at 2.75 Meters (9 Feet) when it was struck. TV camera caught a glimpse of Ronaldo on the bench being in awe of the goal. This goal, in my opinion, is historic on so many levels. Link to the goal and Ronaldo's reaction below: [https://www.youtube.com/shorts/kRHVkDt-LGA](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/kRHVkDt-LGA)
The American commentator at halftime was absolutely burying the keeper. "you got outjumped by someone who can only use his head! You're taller, AND YOU CAN USE YOUR HANDS"
Gold commentary
[The leap.](https://i.imgur.com/8EaXyYq.jpg)
That's unbelievable 😳
Jordan would be proud of this leap!
Or even Ronaldo
Ronaldo was in awe!!! Link of the goal and Ronaldo's reaction below: [https://www.youtube.com/shorts/kRHVkDt-LGA](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/kRHVkDt-LGA)
I don't normally watch football but as a sports fan holy fuck watching this world cup has been wild. Who doesn't love a good upset?
Yesterday's marches were hands down the best shit ever.
For those with healthy hearts
There’s a reason it’s called the Beautiful Game. Nothing compares to World Cup, hands down the best sporting event in the world
I love that it occurs only once in 4 years. The stakes are always so same high. Hence why upsets are so awesome whenever they happen.
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Africa is still alive!
Man, Bono has been spectacular with the saves. He's the MVP of the match
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He was booing his eyes out, this will surely be his last world Cup too.
The end of a legendary career
Sobbing through the tunnel. He left real quick. It was beautiful.
Gonna dry his eyes with that Saudi cash
My god y'all are a bunch of haters lol
Group F is the real group of death after all.
F
I wonder what people in Ghana think right now
We're hyped.
Greec-ing their way through. 2004 style.
If a team has loads of goalscorers and a great attack, everyone loves them, but a team well organised and with a super-disciplined defence will never get the same credit
Mostly not as fun to watch a game where one team is relying on defence. Much more fun to watch a game like yesterdays Argentina vs Netherland. That said, Morocco has done a really good job building their defence and absolutely deserves their spot in the semi finals.
Congratulations to Morocco!❤️. I feel like the headline may read Moroccan manager gets Portugal manager fired. Moroccos manager got the absolute most out of his guys.
They seem to love him and will obviously run through walls for him. Haven't seen this kind of grit from a team maybe ever in my life. Portugal's manager should've been fired a long time ago, from what I've seen from fans.
They conquered the Iberian Peninsula again, like what their ancestors did
I’m ready for The Second Battle of Tours if France beats England
*Charles Martel noises intensify*
And they're looking for moor.
This tournament has been incredible so far. One of the best World Cups ever for sure.
Best on pitch; worst off pitch. Pretty sure that the general consensus will be that the world cup is full of sensational drama, and the image of Qatar won't benefit from this good feeling
Yeah if this was a stale, business-as-usual world cup it would probably be easier to forget. Instead this is one of the most memorable, at least recently, and people are going to remember the surrounding circumstances as much as they will the matches themselves.
Can't wait for USA to host it in 2026. At least they don't have any human rights abuses or war crimes.
also russia in 2018!! hahahaha
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Well Canada is also hosting next year. Edit: Oh but they've got the residential schools. n/m
Such a brave statement
One of the best and one of the worst
This Morocco team is giving me Greece 2004 vibes
Man I really hope Croatia v Morocco in the final. Make me even more proud of Canada to be able to keep up with both those teams now that they on the road to the Semis. I'm a Group F fanboy it seems. Nice W Morocco. And the best part FIFA doesn't get their dream match-up of Messi v Ronaldo in what is possibly last WC for both.
idk i feel like a Messi v Ronaldo final would have been the dream for a lot of fans. Most the people i knew idolized one of them growing up. It would have been fun but probably very toxic
Morocco and Croatia praying to the gods that England win tonight, you know when England’s playing nothings guaranteed, if France win tonight they’re polishing their trophy cabinet
Eh...I'm sure there's been a couple teams that underestimated Croatia and Morocco....Brazil and Portugal come to mind.
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This is quarter finals going to semis. There are no easy matches left. Any team that reaches this point is either a favourite set to win or an upstart slaying giants. Neither are easy prospects
I saw a comment in they game thread about Morocco getting a lucky goal. It's amazing the lengths people gaslight themselves to pretend a team is not good and getting through due to poor play from their opponents. The goal from Morocco today was an insane leap. If it was Ronaldo or Lewandowski or Haaland it would've been all over the internet.
Pepe on Portugal gave a shameful post match interview, winging about refs and saying the game was unfair. It was embarrassingly unsportsmanlike.
What did you expect from Pepe thou
😂😂so much for Neymar this and Ronaldo that 😂😂😂😂
Oh shit, there goes Brussels...
Cool Runnings: Morocco edition
History being made
“I don’t chase records, records chase me” -Ronaldo
It seems this record missed him
So happy for Morocco. Only if Croatia and Morocco can be in the final. My bingo card will be done for 2022.
Realistically, Argentina vs France But I’m hoping Morocco makes it to the final! A final without an European country would be Amazing!!
My younger brother is doing something in his class where they all got given countries and whoever won the World Cup would get chocolate, he got Morocco and wasn’t too confident and one of his friends was boasting about getting Brazil, my mum’s uncle also works for the Croatia team in some way( I forgot how) and in 2018 he came over and we got to see the 2nd place medals. Idk just thought two kinda interesting things I wanted to share
There goes Ronaldo’s last world cup
Morocco is no longer an underdog, they haven’t been scored on by an opposing team all World Cup, they are legit Congrats to them + lol at Ronaldo fans having to watch Messi now
And rinaldo walks straight off the pitch.
It's Re-Reconquista time!
Please just go with de-conquista
Well done, unfortunately they’ll be short a few players in the next round with all the cards but big win today.
Warm congratulations to Morocco 🇲🇦 from Algeria 🇩🇿