About the WC Qatar Semi-Finals 2022 - and the coming final
The semi-finals of the World Cup in Qatar 2022 World Cup ended with two favourite teams winning, and we are ready to see a hot final between two nations who have both won the World Cup twice. Argentina last won the World Cup in 1986 with Diego Maradona as the king of the tournament, and France won the last World Cup in Russia in 2018. France thus has the chance to become the third nation ever to win the World Cup twice in a row. Italy managed to do this in 1934 and 1938, and Brazil did it in 1958 and 1962.
The Golden Boot battle
In the fight to become the Golden Boot winner of the World Cup, Kylian Mbappe has gone goalless in first the quarterfinal and then the semi-final, while Lionel Messi has scored in both of those games, meaning we have both players on five goals apiece heading into the final. In addition to these two hombres, we also have Argentina's Julián Álvarez and France's Olivier Giroud on four goals each, which means that the fight to become the top scorer is a very open story, that is basically impossible to guess how it will end. The team that wins the final will probably also contain the Golden Boot winner, but it is also very possible that we get two or maybe even three players that needs to share the title.
Julián Álvarez - scored twice against Croatia
Semi-final 1: Argentina-Croatia 3-0
Argentina were favourites against Croatia and they would also be able to handle the pressure. The 1-0 goal came after a very questionably awarded penalty in the 34th minute and it was of course Lionel Messi who scored the penalty. Five minutes later, Julián Álvarez made it 2-0 and Argentina could go into the half-time break with a comfortable lead.However, in the last two matches, Argentina had a 2-0 lead both times, and in the round of 16 they almost lost the lead against Australia and in the quarter, Holland even came back to draw 2-2 at full time, so the lead could not feel completely secure for Argentina this time either. But this time, the Croatians didn't have much to put up against Argentina in the second half, possibly they were a bit physically tired after two matches in a row with overtime and penalties before this match. Instead of a Croatian comeback, Álvarez made it 3-0 in the 69th after a brilliant set-up by Messi, a result Argentina could quite easily keep the score until the match ended.
Semi-final 2: France-Morocco 2-0
France went into this semi as big favourites and they would prove worthy favourites. Already in the 5th minute, France made it 1-0 through full-back Theo Hernández, a lead that quickly changed Morocco's plans to "park the bus" as they did against Portugal. The fact that Morocco had to go forward made the match good, and the Moroccans were not at all harmless and sometimes played very nice football, something they did not show against Portugal.However, France would eventually punctuate the match with a 2-0 goal, this time by substitute Randal Kolo Muani, who was called into the squad late after Christopher Nkunku was forced to withdraw. After the second goal, the Moroccans could not get up and they now must aim for the bronze medal, when they can become the first African nation to win a medal in the World Cup (they are already historic by reaching the semi-finals).
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