It ended with Messi lifting the Cup and theTriumphant Argentina, 36 years after the last time. The final against France, one of the most beautiful ever, gave endless emotions, also thanks to one extraordinary Mbappé, capable (almost) alone of keeping up with the Selección with a terrific performance. However, the clash between the titans did not sanction the handover, because if it is almost certain that the future will belong to Kylian, it is also that the present is called Leo, finally capable of emulating Maradona and bringing Argentina to the top of the world. Never Qatar 2022 World Cup there have been much more and now, with bowls still, the time has come for report cards and to take stock at 360 degrees, establishing once and for all the tops and flops of the most contradictory edition ever.
Qatar 2022 World Cup: Messi, vote 10
The first vote, of course, goes to him, the truly great king of the World Cup. He was expected at the gate with guns aimed, ready to reiterate for the umpteenth time his inability to lead Argentina to the title, instead Leo responded like the champion he is, taking the World Cup, Diego's legacy and a place in the Olympus of football. The line between history and legend is thin, but damned distinct: until yesterday Messi was part of the first, but he lacked the second and also a lot. December 18, 2022 will remain forever in the hearts of Argentines, just like that June 29, 1986 in which Maradona defeated West Germany. This time, however, the triumph has the image of Leo, at least deserving of sitting at the same table as Pibe: and for an Argentine there is nothing more gratifying.
The report cards: Mbappé, grade 9,5
The half point less is only for the finish, certainly not for its performance. Kylian managed, despite him, in the feat of not winning a World Cup in which he scored 8 goals (top scorer), of which 3 in the final: obviously it's not his fault, but football, as we know, is a team game, so you win and you lose together. However, the enormity of his tournament remains, in which he confirmed himself as the only true heir of the Messi-Ronaldo duo, capable of dominating the stage for at least 15 years. Now the spotlights are all on Pulga, but one day (not too far away) they will shift to him. And given the atmosphere he blows, it is likely that it will be a real domain, with the frantic search for a rival so as not to bore us too much…
The report cards of the Qatar 2022 World Cup: Cristiano Ronaldo, vote 4,5
The third "monster", on the other hand, will not remember this World Cup with pleasure and not only because, barring sensational twists and turns, he put an end to his career at high levels. The feeling is that CR7 came a bit "long", in the sense that perhaps he could have avoided the humiliation of making an extra not only in general, but also in "his" Portugal, until recently back home. The controversies with Manchester didn't help, but even here we have to wonder if Cristiano didn't put his own into it: wouldn't it have been better to lower his salary in the summer and find a team to play continuously, instead of sulking and declare war on all of Old Trafford? The fact is that Ronaldo, one of the greatest players ever, finished sadly, both for the elimination of Portugal and for his reserve role. And the image of Messi lifting the cup in the general jubilation, knowing him, will only have exacerbated his malaise.
Qatar 2022 World Cup the report cards: Croatia-Morocco, vote 8
Returning instead to the good grades, one cannot fail to mention Croatia and Morocco, certainly the most beautiful surprises of the World Cup. The Croatians, driven by an extraordinary Modric, came close to reaching the second consecutive final, while the Moroccans risked knocking down the atavistic hierarchies of football, bringing Africa one step away from the incredible dream. In the end they didn't make it, stopped by the superiority of Argentina and France, but Croatia and Morocco remain engraved in the history of this tournament, a bit like, albeit to a lesser extent, Japan (score 7) and Iran (6,5 ): these are precisely the stories that are good for football, in defiance of those who believe that the future is only a Super League…
Brazil, vote 5
Once again, the big favorite of the eve did not prove himself as such, ending up being thrown out by the aforementioned Croatia. Yet this Brazil seemed truly complete, with great players in all departments, capable of winning again exactly 20 years after the last time. The difference was made by the head, evidently less than the feet: here the Seleçao have to work a lot and it is no coincidence that foreign coaches are named, Ancelotti over all. Carletto, pushed above all by Ronaldo (the Phenomenon), could embark on yet another adventure and lead Brazil in 2026, because the green-and-gold have an extreme need to take back the scepter, especially now that the Argentines have it.
The rest of the tournament did not offer particular peaks, neither high nor low: we go from shortcomings of Germany, Belgium, Uruguay (4 to all three) e Spain (5) to the full sufficiency (but still without trophies) of theEngland, passing through a discreet Holland (6,5) and a Portugal convincing until the cursed challenge with Morocco. However, we dedicate the closure to qatar, not intended as a team (score 2, the worst ever seen) but as a host country: here the vote rises and even a lot, so much so that it reaches a nice full 8. We will not go into the merits of non-football issues, on which there has rightly been a lot of debate (4 years ago in Russia, however, they hadn't talked as much about it...), but we will limit ourselves to commenting on a perfect organization (the testimonies on site go practically in unison), in which football played a central role. Of course, the winter period helped, as did the air conditioning inside the stadiums (it turns out that fans and journalists appreciated it less) and the short distances between one place and another, but the fact remains that this Qatar World Cup 2022 was an absolute success, with over 5 billion total viewers in front of the TV. Not bad for what critics predicted to be an announced flop…
