After a month-long excitement in the first World Cup held in an Arab country, the FIFA tournament will close its doors on Sunday with the final between the defending champions France and Argentina.
Contents
- 1 Who scored the best goal?
- 2 Luis Chavez vs Saudi Arabia
- 3 Salem Al Dawsari vs Argentina
- 4 Vincent Aboubakar vs Serbia
- 5 Marcus Rashford vs Wales
- 6 Cody Gakpo vs Ecuador
- 7 Enzo Fernandez vs Mexico
- 8 Takuma Asano vs Germany
- 9 Richarlison vs Serbia
- 10 Kylian Mbappe vs Poland
- 11 Richarlison vs South Korea
- 12 Lionel Messi vs Mexico
- 13 Goncalo Ramos vs Switzerland
- 14 Bruno Petkovic vs Brazil
- 15 Who will take the goalscoring title?
Who scored the best goal?
During the tournament, we have seen some great action, especially goals that will be engraved in our memory for a long time. We have selected some of them that will be deemed the best ones, depending on your taste.
Luis Chavez vs Saudi Arabia
It was the last game of Group C, the crucial tie that Mexico needed to win by a big margin to secure their place in the last 16. They failed when Saudi Arabia struck in the 95th minute, but at least we have seen an incredible free kick from Luis Chavez.
Salem Al Dawsari vs Argentina
Speaking of Saudi Arabia. They stunned the football world in the very first match against Argentina in the group stage of the tournament. The Argentines led at halftime and had two goals disallowed, but in the second half, we witnessed a comeback for the eternity of Saudi Arabia football, with a big finish from Salem Al Dawsari who claimed a historic victory for his nation.
Vincent Aboubakar vs Serbia
Cameroon almost made one of the most astonishing comebacks ever at the World Cup, when they were trailing Serbia by 3-1 about half an hour before the game should finish. Cameroon scored a couple of quick goals to level the game, but the most impressive one came from Vincent Aboubakar who elegantly chipped the ball over the tall Serbian goalkeeper who didn't even realize what was happening.
Marcus Rashford vs Wales
We have seen the Luis Chavez strike vs Saudi Arabia, but England's Marcus Rashford had his own free-kick beauty against Wales. England expectedly passed the group stage as the best team, eventually losing to France in the quarterfinals. But, Marcus Rashford's performance against Wales will be one to remember.
Cody Gakpo vs Ecuador
The young PSV winger is a name to remember. He has been in tremendous form during the current Eredivisie season and is waiting for a big transfer soon enough, but he also proved his worth at the biggest stage there is in football, the World Cup. He scored three goals for the Netherlands, and the one that will be remembered came against Ecuador.
Enzo Fernandez vs Mexico
One of the brightest young stars of Argentine football, Enzo Fernandez confirmed Argentina's victory against Mexico with a wonderful strike that went over Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa. This was the only goal for the young Benfica player before the final game against France, but it was one to remember.
Takuma Asano vs Germany
It may not be the most spectacular of goals, but Takuma Asano scored a winner against Germany in one of the early upsets of the tournament. Firstly, Asano calmed the ball down with a lovely touch, moved past the German defender, and scored a winning goal. Japan moved to the last 16 in front of Germany but then lost to Croatia in a penalty shootout.
Richarlison vs Serbia
The Tottenham forward was one of the top players for Brazil at the Qatar tournament scoring spectacularly for the 2-0 lead, and a win as the result. First, he took care of the ball with a nice chip and then scored a stunning bicycle kick goal. For sure, this was one of the best pieces of skill we saw at the World Cup.
Kylian Mbappe vs Poland
In this instance with have two strikes rolled into one beautiful moment of inspiration by the 23-year PSG superstar. Both goals were similar in fashion but stricken in a well-placed manner without any chance for the Polish keeper to stop them.
Richarlison vs South Korea
This time around the goal itself wasn't all that spectacular, but it was the moment that preceded it. Richarlison juggled the ball on his head in front of his South Korean counterpart, then passed it to Marquinhos who made a double pass, and once again the Tottenham striker made the light work in scoring the third Brazil goal out of four against South Korea.
Lionel Messi vs Mexico
A little bit of Messi magic. The Argentine legend took a shot just outside the penalty box, and with a low strike, he scored a goal that gave Argentina an important lead.
Goncalo Ramos vs Switzerland
The young Benfica forward played only 33 minutes in the group stage before getting his first real opportunity in the last 16 matches against Switzerland starting over disappointing Cristiano Ronaldo. After only 17 minutes, he proved why he is one of the highest-rated young strikers in football.
Bruno Petkovic vs Brazil
Croatia didn't play spectacular football, but their incredible willpower and ‘never give up' mentality led them to victory in the quarterfinal match against Brazil on penalties. Neymar gave Brazil a lead in the final seconds of the first extra period before Croatia played out a beautiful sequence that started with Luka Modric passing the ball to Nikola Vlasic who followed it to Mislav Orsic, and Dinamo Zagreb winger found his club teammate Bruno Petkovic in the middle of the penalty box who struck the ball cleanly and with a little help of Brazil defender Marquinhos scored a goal that leveled the match.
Who will take the goalscoring title?
The World Cup in Qatar will finish on Sunday when France will try to become a rare champion that defended its crown. But, it will be a big task as Argentina is playing for the glory of Lionel Messi. Many consider this to be the ultimate moment for Messi to finally put a stamp on a career that would make him the greatest footballer that ever played the game. This is, of course, a subjective matter, plenty of people consider Cristiano Ronaldo the best that ever played. However, if Lionel Messi becomes the World Champion in his final World Cup game at the age of 35, there would be little doubt of his status as the greatest of all time.
As far as his goalscoring record, nobody had more penalties during the Qatar tournament than Argentina, and Messi was the one responsible for taking them, he is a joint top scorer with Kylian Mbappe, both of them have five goals on the record, and all eyes of the footballing world will be focused on the two great players.
