Even the little ones have a right to dream, and that is what is happening at the 22nd World Cup in Qatar
The highlights of the first round of matches in Qatar 2022
The 1st matchday of the Qatar World Cup groups went down on Thursday night (24/11), with Brazil's comfortable victory over Serbia (2-0).
Moments of excitement and... shock, records, eight beautiful stadiums and a parade... of stars accompanied the fans in the last five days. So now we present to you the most important events of the start, where Cristiano Ronaldo's record stood out, the unexpected defeats of Argentina and Germany by Saudi Arabia and Japan respectively, but also the wide victories of England (6-2 Iran) and Spain (7-0 Costa Rica).
"Cruise" of Ecuador against the "hosts"
The opening match of the World Cup got off to a spectacular start, highlighted by the fantastic opening ceremony, rich with Qatari traditions and culture.
Hollywood star Morgan Freeman led the ceremony, along with local YouTuber Ganin Al Mutafa. There was a great section that paid homage to past World Cups, with every World Cup mascot making an appearance. Korean pop star Jangkook also performed his official World Cup song, 'Dreamers'.
Once the ceremony was over, the waiting time was over and we watched Qatar disappoint in their first World Cup match.
The hosts faced Ecuador and there was early drama as VAR disallowed Ecuador's goal inside the first three minutes, with defender Estrada ruled offside.
However, they didn't have to wait long to score a "legitimate" goal with
Enner Valencia taking the lead and in the 16th minute they made it 1-0 with a penalty and in the 31st minute the final 2-0.
Start with a big win for England
Gareth Southgate's side kicked off their campaign with an impressive 6-2 win over Iran at the Khalifa International Stadium. Bellingham and Saka were the protagonists of the "Three Lions", but the England captain injured his right ankle and curtailed the celebrations.
Wales' historic comeback
In Group 2, Wales made a historic return to the World Cup after 64 years, with their opening game against the USA (1-1) at the Ahmed Bin Ali Stadium.
Rob Page's side struggled in the first half and found themselves 1-0 down at half-time thanks to a Timothy Weah goal. But a change for Wales at the break changed the game and turned things around...
Moore made the difference in regaining control of the match, but it was star Gareth Bale who won a penalty and the chance to equalize 10 minutes from time to give Wales the draw.
The Saudis shocked Messi's Argentina and the Japanese shocked the Germans
There were two big surprises of the first matchday, in the same way (upheavals). The first was scored by Saudi Arabia in their opening match against Argentina at the Lusail Stadium. The Argentines came into the game on a 36-game unbeaten streak spanning three years.
It looked like that was set to continue when Messi, with his eyes on the trophy, gave Argentina the lead. But Saudi Arabia remained competitive. He regrouped in the second half and within 8 minutes took a 2-1 lead which he kept until the final.
One day later (23/11), Germany took a 1-0 lead against Japan at the Khalifa Stadium in Doha, but the "blue samurai" managed to "kill" the "punchers" with two beautiful goals at the end of the match and to bring back to the fans and members of the football department memories of the World Cup in Russia, when they were eliminated from the group stage.
The overthrow of the world champions
World Cup holders France began their crown defense with a 4-1 win over Australia at Al Janoub Stadium.
The French found themselves behind quickly but did not panic and got back into the game with ease. It was a historic night for Olivier Giroud, who equaled Thierry Henry as France's all-time leading goalscorer.
The AC Milan striker scored twice and is determined to break more records in the coming weeks as France continue their quest for back-to-back World Cups.
Spain... express
With a "seven" (7-0) win over Costa Rica, the Spaniards entered the World Cup in Qatar, scoring the largest victory of the Iberians in the final phase of the FIFA World Cup and correspondingly the heaviest of the Costa Ricans, in their 6th appearance at the top football event of planet.
The "modest ceremony" at Doha's Al Tumama Stadium was over from the first half hour, during which the Iberians in a highly convincing display had breached Keylor Navas's net three times, with the experienced goalkeeper clearly dreaming of a different debut. within 2022, both at national or club level!
Cristiano Ronaldo means records
The "legendary" Cristiano Ronaldo climbed to another footballing pinnacle, raising the flag with his initials: CR7. The Portuguese superstar with the accurate penalty in the 65th minute of Portugal's match against Ghana in the premiere of the two teams in the 8th group of the Qatar World Cup (3-2), wrote another "golden" page in his huge career, as became the first player in the history of the competition to score in 5 different World Cups!
From the pitches of Germany in 2006 to this year's World Cup in Qatar, the great Portuguese ace reached 8 goals in the final stages of 5 separate World Cups, now surpassing Lionel Messi, Miroslav Klose, Pele and Uwe Zeller, who had scored in 4 different World Cups.
Also, at the age of 37 years and 292 days, the great Portuguese ace became the second oldest scorer in the tournament. In particular, Ronaldo overtook Sweden's Gunnar Gren, who had found the back of the net in the 1958 semi-final against West Germany at the age of 37 years and 236 days.
And now the only one who remains above him in the relevant list is the great Roger Milla, who had written his own History on the American courts in 1994, scoring at the age of 42 years and 39 days.
The coming week will be decisive for many teams. Can Qatar bounce back from their opening defeat and find a way into the knockouts? Saudi Arabia continue to shock the big teams and get out of their group? Does Argentina have... gas in its tank? It will show next, so interest in the 22nd World Cup remains undiminished…
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