World Cup 2022: Battle for Bronze
Oh yeah, and Argentina vs. France for the whole thing.
Two teams now stand at the final weekend of Qatar 2022, ready to write their names into the history books at this most unusual men’s World Cup. They have each fought their way through a group stage full of drama and magic, and successive, successful knockout rounds against more heralded competition, with even more drama and magic. Two underdogs now facing each other, but not in the final. What?
Croatia and Morocco! They’re playing in the third place game on Saturday. What should you know about this battle for the bronze medal?
First, how did we get here?
In the quarterfinals we said tchau to number one ranked Brazil through the work of the Croatians, who just seem to be unbeatable after 90 minutes. We said tot ziens to the Netherlands thanks to Argentina, and ta-ta to England, courtesy of France. And Portugal got Cinderella’d by Morocco. In doing so, the Atlas Lions of Morocco became the first African country to make the men’s World Cup semifinals.
In those semifinals, France dispatched Morocco but not without the Atlas Lions making a valiant effort, and Lionel Messi had a performance for the ages as Argentina slayed the giant killers Croatia.
Two games of the men’s World Cup is all that is left of this wild ride of international football that wasn’t supposed to be happening this month anyway, if not for all the greed. Always with the greed. But the soccer itself has been absolutely riveting and joyous and heartbreaking, all at once.
All of which leaves Croatia and Morocco to play in the third place game for bronze medals, like the Olympics, and a place on the podium. And $27 million dollars of prize money. The losing team? They get $25 million dollars but no medals. It’s probably good enough motivation to play like you mean it.
And these teams have already met this tournament, finishing in an entertaining nil-nil draw in the group stage.
With a win today, Croatia could add bronze medals to the silver medals it won in 2018 when they were runners-up to France. This is most likely superstar Luka Modric’s last World Cup, and whether he plays today or not, that bronze medal would be another shiny bauble in the Croatian captain’s crowded trophy cabinet.
If Morocco wins, it would be the highest finish an African country has ever had at the men’s World Cup. But even if they don’t win, their Cinderella ride topping their group that included Concacaf leaders Canada and world #2 ranked Belgium, and beating juggernauts Spain and Portugal in the knockout rounds were plenty storybook magical. Pretty good for Morocco’s head coach Walid Regragui, who was derided in the Moroccan press as “Avocado Head”.
Predictions Mostly Wrong or Your Money Back
I had some predictions still not completely proven wrong and crashed out:
Golden Boot (most goals): Harry Kane (ENG) - Finished with two goals, far behind Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe who both have 5 going into the final
Golden Ball (player of the tournament): Lionel Messi (ARG) - Remains to be seen. Prediction still in play.
Brazil will cruise to the semifinals - Croatia put the Brazilian semi-final cruise in dry dock!
Argentina vs. Brazil semifinal will be موز (🍌🍌🍌) - Argentina held up its part of the bargain, but Brazil did not
Sentimental favorite Argentina will beat Cinderella Denmark to win the World Cup - Remains to be seen, but Argentina made the final
Is it over already?
As for the final tomorrow on Sunday, it’s Destiny against Dynasty. Lionel Messi, Argentinian superstar, just needs a World Cup win to complete one of –if not the outright greatest– careers in soccer. On the other side is France, defending champions trying to become the first back-to-back winners of the men’s World Cup since Brazil went back-to-back in 1958 and '62.
Before the tournament, I picked Argentina to win it all so I’m sticking with the sentimental favorite.
Enjoy the games!
Sources
World Cup 2022 briefing: why the third-place playoff is worth watching
Croatia, Morocco approaching third-place match like World Cup final | FOX Sports
Why does the World Cup third-place game exist? It's all about the money
The World Cup third-place playoff: giving us goals and entertainment
Thanks for reading! Ascendendo tollimus.