When Morocco takes to the pitch Wednesday night against France in the World Cup semifinals, they'll do so as 6/1 outsiders against the defending world champions. But one advantage the record-setting African side will have is nearly the entire backing of the 68,895 capacity Al-Bayt Stadium.
Syracuse Orange men's soccer captured their first NCAA Tournament championship Monday night by defeating eight-time champions the Indiana Hoosiers in the 2022 Men's College Cup Final at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, NC.
The two teams couldn't be separated in regular time with the game level at 2-2.
Sophomore striker Nathan Opoku opened the scoring for Syracuse in the 24th minute with a left-footed curler into the far corner.
Men's club football is slowly returning with the World Cup ending Sunday, and the first signs of life are in the EFL Championship.
One man who's clearly benefited from the break is 22-year-old American Daryl Dike. The start of his 2022-23 campaign with West Brom was a 12-minute substitute appearance on opening day, and then he missed the next 19 matches with a thigh injury.
DOHA - Croatia and Morocco are the surprise guests in the World Cup's final four but, as the Croatians discovered in 2018 and many other long-shot semifinalists have before them, the two remaining steps to become world champions can be the steepest.
In the 21 editions of the World Cup over 92 years featuring 79 nations, there have still been only eight winners and only 13 have made it to the final. Spain were the last to join the elite group of champions in 2010 after France in 1998 and Argentina in 1978.
DOHA - Morocco’s unexpected march to the World Cup semifinals can be attributed partly to a policy of deliberately seeking out talent in the Diaspora to strengthen the national team and give them a better chance of success.
14 of Morocco’s 26-man squad were born outside the country, more than any other team at the tournament in Qatar, providing an eclectic mix of players from growing migrant communities across Europe who have helped them break new ground.
The 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar has entered the knockout phase, and one of the top honors players will be competing for is the Golden Boot, awarded to the player with the most goals in the tournament.
The number of assists by a player is considered in the case of a tie for goals scored. If players are tied on both counts, the winner is decided by who played the fewest minutes.
Morocco's 1-0 upset of Portugal in the World Cup on Saturday made history as they became the first African nation to ever reach the semifinals. Congratulations came from all corners of the world after the Atlas Lions knocked Cristiano Ronaldo's side out of the tournament.
Twitter owner and CEO Elon Musk — certainly happy for all the engagements and interactions that the team is generating on his social platform — sent some love.
It was a long shot when the tournament began, but the answer to "can Messi face Ronaldo in World Cup 2022 final" is suddenly somewhat plausible with both Argentina and Portugal reaching the quarterfinals on opposite sides of the bracket.
That means Messi and Ronaldo both need to win just two more games to reach the final at Lusail Iconic Stadium on Sunday, Dec. 18. Here's how it's to be done.
Argentina's route to the final
Who's the oldest men's player to score in the knockout stages of the World Cup? It's going to be one hell of a trivia question after the record was broken by an extremely unlikely character Tuesday — Portugal's Pepe is now the answer at 39 years and 283 days.
Portugal's World Cup Round of 16 match against Switzerland represented Pepe's 132nd cap, but heading into the game he'd only managed seven goals with his last actually coming in the last-16 of the 2018 World Cup against Uruguay.
Spain's shock 2018 World Cup Round of 16 exit at the hands of Russia — when La Furia Roja took 79% possession with 1,115 passes but fell in a penalty shootout — was supposed to be the ultimate nightmare fuel for the purveyors of tiki-taka.
On Tuesday in the 2022 World Cup Round of 16, Spain suffered another incredible upset in a penalty shootout, this time to African neighbors Morocco after taking 77% possession with 1,019 passes.