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Thursday, 8 December 2022

It’s (almost) QF time at the World Cup

⚽The World Cup quarter final matches will begin on Friday and Saturday, to determine the four teams that will advance to the semifinals. But first:

In the Egyptian league today: Future faces Al Ittihad Al Sakandary at 5pm and Ceramica Cleopatra v Ismailia has a 7pm kick-off time.

In a friendly match today, Arsenal will play Lyon in Dubai (Dubai Super Cup) at 5:30pm.

Back in Qatar, Brazil and Croatia will set the bar for the quarter finals at 5pm tomorrow. Brazil, which is most widely expected to take home the trophy, has a roster of players filling the main positions in the field, while Croatia is trying to beat its second-place landing in the 2018 World Cup.

Argentina and the Netherlands will hit the field at 9pm to fight for a spot in the semifinals. The Tango dancers haven’t secured a World Cup trophy since Maradona led them to victory in 1986. Messi previously tasted defeat in the 2014 final match against the Germans, but with this year set to be his last World Cup all eyes will be on the Paris Saint Germain star to see whether he will lead his team to victory this time around. Meanwhile, the Netherlands missed the previous World Cup after finishing second and third in 2010 and 2014, respectively.

Meanwhile, Morocco wants to prove it’s the World Cup’s “Black Horse” when it battles it out with Portugal on Saturday at 5pm. Morocco is the last remaining African country in the World Cup and the first Arab country in history to make it this far in the championship, so it’s going to have a whole lotta fans in our neck of the woods cheering it on. Portugal, on the other hand, comes into this match with a star-studded lineup, thrilled after their victory over Switzerland with six goals in the 16th round.

Rounding out the quarterfinal round, England and France will meet on Saturday at 9pm. France is the defending champion looking to match the feats of Italy and Brazil — the only two teams who have clinched two consecutive World Cup titles. England, whose performance is improving with each encounter, hopes to make it to the semifinals and eventually secure the title that has eluded them since 1966.

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