World Cup Qatar 2022: The Book of Highlights (Part 2)

Image Credit: History of Soccer

By: Anthony Tazbaz

A Fall Frenzy

(Or a splendid spring, depending on where in the world you live.)

While the tournament included impressive performances by many global powerhouses—both in the group and knockout stages—it is important to illustrate the many highlights generated by lower-ranked nations and lesser-known players. While a 6-2 English win versus Iran, a 7-0 Spanish thumping at the expense of Costa Rica, a crushing 6-1 Swiss loss by the Portuguese, and a dominating 3-0 win by Argentina in the final four created many highlight reels, it is the nail-biting wins that were the main takeaways as they created upsets and jubilation across the globe.

Best (Unexpected) Performers in the Group Stage

On the third day of World Cup games, Saudi Arabia shook the world with a 2-1 victory versus the eventual champions Argentina. Despite the global shockwaves, their joy was short-lived, losing 2-0 and 2-1 versus Poland and Saudi Arabia, respectively. However, this World Cup included many Cinderella stories throughout the group stage.

Big Wins, Little Success

Candidates: Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, and Tunisia

In addition to the 2-1 Saudi win, several smaller nations—both in prestige and size—defeated several powerhouses throughout the group stage, however, ultimately failed to produce a sustainable run. Tunisia made fans across the world marvel at the tiny nation by defeating eventual finalists France 1-0 during the final group stage match. Despite many downplaying their victory against d a French side resting several starters—with several others coming off the bench—the Tunisians managed to maintain a solid performance and keep a clean sheet.

However, their joy was shorter-lived than their fellow Arabs. While staving off pressure from Les Bleus in a must-win game and being on the fortunate side of a disallowed goal, the Australians confirmed their elimination by defeating Denmark 1-0 and qualifying as second place in Group D. Ultimately, their performance at the World Cup surpassed expectation as they conceded only one goal against Australia, drew against Denmark and defeated a European heavyweight/defending champions.

Fellow African nation Cameroon suffered an identical fate—entering the final group stage match day with one point out of a possible six. Coming off a 1-0 loss to Switzerland and a 3-3 draw versus Serbia after being down 3-1, Cameroon entered their final group match facing Brazil, a powerhouse and tournament favourite. Similar to France, Brazil played their final group stage match with most of their bench players, with many star players either coming off the bench or not playing at all.

Despite a strong performance and Vincent Aboubakar scoring his second of the tournament in stoppage time, Switzerland holding their ground by seeing out a 3-2 win versus Serbia prevented the Cameroonians from advancing to the knockout stages. Despite an early and expected exit, Cameroon also played incredibly well throughout the tournament, finishing with a .500 record, an even goal differential, and defeating the tournament favourites.

Winner: Cameroon

A Strong Group Stage Followed by a Single Knockout

This phrase summed up the performances of most participating Asian nations.

Candidates: Australia, Japan, and South Korea 

First, Australia’s 1-0 victories versus Tunisia and Denmark erased any memory and nightmares of their opening 4-1 loss versus defending champions France. As midfielder Mathew Leckie made Danish defender Joakim Mæhle spin in circles before scoring, the Australians roared in jubilation at 3 a.m. across the world’s biggest island nation. If Australia had not capitalized on this opportunity to take destiny into their own hands, they would have seen Tunisia take the second position. As a result, the Australians qualified for their first round of 16 meeting since 2006, a second in total.

Entering the round of 16 on back-to-back clean sheets, Australia faced and failed the monumental task of defeating what would become the world champions. Despite the 2-1 loss, the Socceros remained persistent, clawed halving the deficit, and nearly scoring an equalizer at the death. Despite many not fancying their chances to achieve any degree of success in Qatar, the Socceroos—having only qualified via inter-confederation play-offs—won the respect of many, even the relieved Argentinians.

Second, the Japanese’s resounding comeback victories versus European heavyweights Germany and Spain brought many viewers to support their side during their round of 16 match versus Croatia. After qualifying for the knockout stage for a third time in the last four editions, Japan suffered from a heartbreaking defeat on penalties as they did in 2010 versus Paraguay. Despite their loss, claiming top spot in Group E was not on anyone’s list, even for potential upsets. The most impressive takeaway of their run remains undoubtedly their passionate (and environmentally friendly) fanbase, as well as their collective approach to competing.

While their past World Cup squads depended on star players such as Shunsuke Nakamura, Keisuke Honda, and Shinji Kagawa, this Japanese squad relied on collective defending and valiant teamwork to score and win. SC Freiburg winger Ritsu Dōan brought his nation back into game on both instances versus Germany and Spain. Then teammates Takuma Asano and Ao Tanaka scored their respective go-ahead goals to complete their comebacks and claim all three points. Although Daizen Maeda scored the opening goal versus Croatia, it was Ivan Perišić who mounted the comeback. Then, Croatia proved to be the better and more experienced side in a lopsided penalty shootout. Ultimately, Japan’s courageous showing at this World Cup is worthy of the best group performer.

South Korea is the third and finally candidate of putting AFC on the map and challenging powerhouses. Led by star forward and captain Son Heung-min, the South Koreans tasted a sample of their 2002 glory with a massive group stage performance. First, the South Koreans displayed a respectable performance against an experienced Uruguayan squad, drawing 0-0 while not seeing either team amassing a shot on target. Then, South Korea nearly pulled an incredible comeback after erasing a 2-0 deficit against Ghana, particularly due to a brace scored by forward Cho Gue-sung. However, Mohammed Kudus completed a brace of his own and led the Ghanaians to a 3-2 victory.

Desperate for a win and having a shot at qualification for the round of 16, South Korea faced a monumental task in defeating group favourites Portugal and being without their best defender Kim Min-jae. Although they conceded and went 1-0 down early, defender Kim Young-gwon equalized. At the death, forward Hwang Hee-chan scored both South Korea’s game-winning goal and the nation’s incorporation into this article. However, their run to glory after that win was short-lived as they fell to tournament favourites Brazil by a humiliating 4-1 score. Although the Taeguk Warriors’ run to replicate their glory from 20 years ago fell short, their performance ignited jubilation across the entire nation. Young South Koreans finally had an opportunity to witness national success on the world’s biggest stage of football.   

Winner: Japan

A Bright and Balanced Future

Ultimately, this article, which illustrated strong and gallant performances by the majority of African and Asian nations, argues that the confederations in Asia and Africa are quietly surpassing CONCACAF’s prestige and are slowly creeping up against the mighty CONMEBOL and UEFA. Expect the 2026 World Cup to contain even better performances by both CAF and AFC countries, who will each nearly double its number of participants in 2026 as the tournament expands to 48 teams.