World Cup 2022 quarter-finals: Latest news, results, schedule
Two of football’s biggest stars were left to rue what could have been after Sunday’s quarter finals. France defeated England and Morocco stunned Portugal, get the latest World Cup news here.
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QUARTER-FINALS
2am: Morocco d Portugal 1-0
6am: France d England 2-1
Cristiano Ronaldo left the World Cup in tears on Saturday, walking off down the tunnel with his dreams of winning the trophy in tatters.
Morocco earned a shock 1-0 quarter-final victory over Portugal, the North Africans’ joy the stark opposite of Ronaldo’s misery.
The Portuguese forward, 37, may never have another chance to win the game’s biggest trophy, and his World Cup exit was especially bitter as he started the game as a substitute.
With another result Ronaldo might have celebrated levelling the all-time men’s international appearance record with his 196th Portugal cap, but his final minutes were desperate.
As soon as the final whistle blew, Ronaldo left, heading down the tunnel with tears streaming down his face, ignoring the Morocco players rushing to their fans to celebrate.
“If you take two people that are the most upset perhaps it was Cristiano Ronaldo and myself,” said Portugal coach Fernando Santos.
“Of course we are upset, of course it affects us, that’s part of the game, that’s part of the job.” Ronaldo won Euro 2016 with his country, albeit being taken off injured during the win over France in the final and watching from the sidelines as Eder became his country’s hero.
The World Cup remained a dream for both Ronaldo and his country but they fell short against surprise package Morocco.
In a surprise decision, Ronaldo had been relegated to the bench against Switzerland as Portugal romped to a 6-1 victory in the last 16 and Santos maintained that plan.
However, shortly after halftime, with his team trailing to Youssef En-Nesyri’s goal, Santos threw on Ronaldo and Joao Cancelo, looking to their all-time leading scorer to bail them out.
Ronaldo struggled to get involved in the game, with Morocco swarming him whenever the ball was close.
The striker had only one sniff at goal, but Moroccan stopper Yassine Bounou got down quickly to deny him.
Asked if he regretted starting with Ronaldo on the bench, the coach maintained he was content with his choice.
“I have no regrets, I think this was a team that played very well against Switzerland,” added Santos.
“Cristiano is a great player, he came in when I thought that was necessary, so no, I have no regrets.”
– DROPPED –
After picking himself up from World Cup disappointment, Ronaldo will have to decide his future in the game at club level.
The forward and Manchester United parted ways with a bitter divorce at the start of the tournament and Ronaldo is currently without a club.
That saga overshadowed Portugal’s start to the tournament, after Ronaldo gave an explosive interview in which he blasted his former employers and coach Erik ten Hag.
Ronaldo netted a penalty in Portugal’s opening game of the tournament against Ghana to become the first player to score at five men’s World Cups.
Against Uruguay he thought he had scored again when he tried to head in a curling Bruno Fernandes ball, but the goal was awarded to his former United teammate.
Even though Portugal had qualified for the knockout phase already, Ronaldo started against South Korea in the final group match.
He made an angry gesture at Santos after being hauled off without expanding his goal tally, which the coach said he was “not happy” about.
Santos dropped Ronaldo for the last 16 match afterwards, saying it was a “strategic” decision, which he repeated against Morocco.
It was the first time Ronaldo had not started a Portugal World Cup game since 2006.
Ronaldo failed to score in either game, appearing as a substitute in both, and he has still never netted in a World Cup knockout match.
Now, with the next tournament four years away, it seems unlikely Ronaldo ever will, despite once stating he would like to play on until his 40s.
— AFP
KANE ‘GUTTED’ AFTER WORLD CUP PENALTY PAIN
AFP
Harry Kane was left “gutted” on Saturday after missing a crucial penalty in England’s 2-1 World Cup quarter-final defeat to France.
England skipper Kane blazed an 84th minute spot-kick over the bar that would have levelled the score at 2-2 at the Al Bayt Stadium.
It was another cruel chapter in England’s decades-long psychodrama revolving around major tournaments and penalty heartaches.
Kane had earlier made no mistake with another penalty on 54 minutes that saw him equal Wayne Rooney’s England goalscoring tally of 53 goals.
“As the captain, I’ll take that on the chin and that responsibility, missing the penalty, so it’s hard,” Kane said afterwards.
“Really tough night to take. I’m gutted, the team are gutted. We had the belief that we could achieve something special at this World Cup, but it came down to small details.
“On the night we had the better chances, the better spells in the game, but it comes down to the execution.” Kane, 29, is one of the most reliable penalty-takers in world football, converting 58 spotkicks throughout his career with only 11 misses.
The England captain said he had felt confident as he lined up his second penalty of the night against France goalkeeper and Tottenham teammate Hugo Lloris.
“I’m someone who, whenever I prepare, prepare for one penalty in the game, two penalties, so I can’t fault my preparation or detail,” Kane said.
“In the lead-up I felt as confident as I did on the first as I did on the second. It purely comes down to execution. I’ll take that on the chin.
“Of course it hurts now and it’ll hurt for probably a long time, but that’s part of being captain and a leader in the team, you have to take responsibility.” Kane had looked inconsolable at the final whistle, hunched on the turf as teammates rallied to his support.
England manager Gareth Southgate sprang to Kane’s defence.
“There’s nobody I would have rather had in that situation and if we had one tomorrow I’d feel exactly the same way,” Southgate said.
“For me he’s been a fantastic leader of this group.
“He’s the best but the best are still 85 per cent (success rate) so even the best are going to miss at times so that’s football.
“It’s cruel for him because he will feel disappointed in himself but he shouldn’t because it’s 100 minutes of football and there’s a lot of things that can happen in terms of winning a game.”
— AFP
PEPE AND FERNANDES BLAST ARGENTINE REFEREE AFTER PORTUGAL EXIT
AFP
Portugal players Pepe and Bruno Fernandes lashed out at the Argentine referee in charge of their 1-0 World Cup quarter-final defeat by Morocco on Saturday, claiming his nationality impacted the game.
Argentina progressed to the last four on Friday by beating the Netherlands and should they reach the final, might play against Morocco if they win their semi-final against England or France.
The match referee Facundo Tello, his two assistants and the video assistant referee were all from Argentina.
“It’s unacceptable for an Argentine referee to referee our game,” Pepe said on Portuguese television.
“After what happened yesterday, with (Lionel) Messi talking, all of Argentina talking, and the referee comes here.
“What did we play in the second half? The goalkeeper dropped to the ground. There were only eight minutes of stoppage time. We worked hard and the referee (only added on) eight minutes.” Messi had complained about the refereeing of Argentina’s clash with the Dutch, saying too much time had been added on.
Portugal’s main complaint was that too little time had been added in their clash with Morocco and they were critical of supposed time-wasting by the North African side in the second half.
Bruno Fernandes complained that far more injury time should have been added, and that referees from teams still involved in the tournament should not be appointed to matches.
– ‘Knew what to expect’ –
“We already know how it works … before the game we already knew what we were in for, and what kind of referee we would find,” said Fernandes.
“Unfortunately, in these competitions, where there are no Portuguese referees, there are referees from teams that are still in the competition.
“It seems strange to me, to say the least, but I don’t want to get into that, because that’s not the only reason we lost.
“The referee gave two minutes of injury time in the first half and eight in the second. In this second half, the game was stopped, at minimum, for between 15 and 20 minutes.” Fernandes added: “We knew that we would play against much more than just Morocco.” The midfielder was left furious in the first half after not being awarded a penalty when he tumbled under a Moroccan player’s challenge from behind.
“The (officials) are not used to this type of game and this tempo,” added Fernandes.
“In the first half there is a clear penalty on me, without any doubt, because I’m by myself and never in my life let myself fall, when I was alone with the goalkeeper and could shoot on goal. It’s as simple as that.” However, his coach Fernando Santos did not think the officials made a big difference in his team’s elimination.
“I don’t think so, I think he could have called for a foul on one or two (more) occasions but generally speaking I don’t think so,” said Santos.
“I think we could have done more and we didn’t do so. I don’t think we should blame the referee, it doesn’t make sense.” The coach, who has a contract until after Euro 2024, said he would discuss his future in the days to come with the Portuguese football federation.
Manchester City’s Ruben Dias believes the team still has plenty of potential as they contemplate the future with players such as Goncalo Ramos and Rafael Leao.
“Above all, it is important at this moment, despite the difficult of digesting (the defeat) to accumulate more experience,” said Dias.
“We have a very young generation with a lot of quality and we have to have faith that nothing is lost.”
KANE WILL BOUNCE BACK ‘STRONGER’ FROM PENALTY MISS – HENDERSON
AFP
Jordan Henderson said England captain Harry Kane will bounce back from the heartbreak of missing a late penalty as Gareth Southgate’s side exited the World Cup with a 2-1 defeat to France.
Kane had equalled Wayne Rooney’s all-time record of 53 goals for England by levelling the quarter-final in Qatar at 1-1 with his first penalty of the night.
But after Olivier Giroud put France back in front, the Tottenham striker blazed over when handed a second chance up against his club teammate Hugo Lloris.
“We know how many penalties Harry has scored for us, he scored the first one, how many goals he’s contributed to even get us here,” Henderson told ITV.
“He’ll be stronger for it in the long run I’m sure.
“He’s a world class striker, our captain and we wouldn’t be here without him.” The defeat extends England’s drought without a major tournament victory which stretches back to 1966.
France will face Morocco in the semi-finals and with Brazil, Germany, Spain and Portugal already eliminated, Henderson conceded a huge opportunity at glory had slipped through England’s grasp.
“We felt really good, performances were really good. The focus and hunger was there,” added the Liverpool midfielder.
“Unfortunately it wasn’t our night. Give credit to France, who are a good team. I still felt it was there for us to win tonight.”
GIROUD TAKES FRANCE INTO WORLD CUP SEMIS AS KANE PENALTY MISS COSTS ENGLAND
AFP
Olivier Giroud scored the winner and Harry Kane missed a late penalty as holders France beat England 2-1 in a tense World Cup quarter-final on Saturday.
Aurelien Tchouameni had swept France into a first-half lead only for Kane to equalise from the spot nine minutes into the second half.
England were the better side for long stretches of the game at Al Bayt Stadium but, almost from nowhere, France went back in front when Giroud headed home with 11 minutes left.
Kane than blazed his second penalty of the game over the bar as England’s wait to win a first major international trophy since the 1966 World Cup goes on.
France though remain on course to become the first side since Brazil 60 years ago to successfully defend the World Cup.
With Brazil having been eliminated on Friday and England dealt with here in the desert north of Doha, France are now surely the favourites to retain their crown as they prepare to face Morocco in the semi-finals.
This, remarkably, was the first meeting of these two great rivals in a major tournament knockout game, with Croatia’s victory in extra time preventing England from joining France in the final four years ago.
England had found their stride after a sluggish start in the last-16 win over Senegal and it was no surprise to see Southgate name an unchanged side, with Bukayo Saka and Phil Foden either side of Kane in attack.
That meant he resisted any temptation to revert to a back five in an attempt to counter the threat posed by Kylian Mbappe, the tournament’s top scorer with five goals.
There is no shortage of goal threats in the French side but few could have predicted that the opener would come from Tchouameni, the midfielder who is just 22 and had scored only once for his country before this game.
There was a touch of controversy to the goal, as it came from a France break which started with what looked like a foul by Dayot Upamecano on Saka.
Brazilian referee Wilton Sampaio waved play on, and Mbappe cut inside from the left before Ousmane Dembele and Griezmann combined to set up Tchouameni to hit a superb shot from 25 metres that curled away from Jordan Pickford and into the corner.
France had looked the more dangerous team before that, but England grew into the contest after falling behind.
– Pressure tells –
Kane spun away from Upamecano in the box but was denied as his Tottenham teammate Hugo Lloris came out to dive at his feet.
Another moment of controversy followed as England thought they should have had a penalty when Kane was clearly fouled in a tangle of legs with Upamecano.
However, a VAR check ruled out a spot-kick with the officials judging that any infringement took place outside the box.
Not to be discouraged, Kane forced Lloris to tip a shot behind just before the half-hour mark and the France goalkeeper — winning a national record 143rd cap — was called into action again just after the restart to tip over a Jude Bellingham volley.
The pressure eventually told when Saka was brought down by Tchouameni in the area seven minutes into the second half and this time a spot-kick was given.
Kane stepped up to beat Lloris and score his 53rd goal to equal Wayne Rooney’s record England tally.
The holders may not have been rattled, but England had the upper hand, and Harry Maguire headed agonisingly wide from a free-kick.
France had created nothing in the second half, but then Giroud forced an excellent save from Pickford following a Dembele knockdown, and moments later they struck.
Griezmann whipped in a tremendous cross from the left for Giroud to head in with the aid of a touch off Maguire.
That was not game over, as Theo Hernandez was penalised for a shove on substitute Mason Mount when the referee gave a spot-kick following a VAR review.
But this time Kane — with his country’s outright goal record in sight — blazed over, and England’s World Cup dream was over
8:00AM LAST GASP FOR THE THREE LIONS
We are into stoppage time and it is truly desperate times for the English. Can they repeat what the Dutch did yesterday and snatch extra time from nothing? They have a free kick on the edge of the area, basically exactly the same spot as the Dutch did. Can they produce the same result? It’s Marcus Rashford for England … who fires it just over the top of the netting. AND ITS ALL OVER. The champions are still alive.
7:45 PENALTY TO ENGLAND AGAIN – KANE MISSES
The referee has been summoned to the screen to check for a possible penalty for England after Mason Mount was bundled over in the box by Hernandez. And the referee says yes it is. Remarkable. The English are asking for Hernandez to be sent off but it's a yellow card. It’s Kane against Lloris once again, as Kane looks to become England’s all time leading goalscorer. BLASTED OVER. Incredible. He sends it flying into the stands and the French are given a lifeline. How huge is that?
7:40AM THE WORLD CHAMPIONS HIT BACK (Giroud 77’) 2-1
The French, after being thoroughly outplayed in this second half have taken back the lead with Olivier Giroud heading home a cross to give the world champions a 2-1 lead. The 36-year-old, who played for both Arsenal and Chelsea comes up big for his country again. England have sent on Raheem Sterling in response as we have a blockbuster final 10 minutes inbound.
7:30AM KANE EQUALS ROONEY’S ALL-TIME ENGLAND GOALSCORING RECORD
AFP
Harry Kane became England’s joint all-time leading goalscorer on Saturday, striking for the 53rd time against France in the World Cup quarter-finals to join Wayne Rooney at the top of the charts.
The captain, playing his 80th international, scored England’s equaliser early in the second half at the Al Bayt Stadium in Qatar to pull level with former Manchester United forward Rooney.
The Tottenham forward scored his first senior international goal just seconds into his debut as a Wembley substitute against Lithuania in March 2015.
The 29-year-old was named as Gareth Southgate’s skipper ahead of the 2018 World Cup and led the team to the semi-finals, bagging the Golden Boot with six goals in Russia.
He scored four goals at last year’s European Championship to help England reach a first major final since 1966.
Kane, who is closing in on Jimmy Greaves’s record as Tottenham’s record goalscorer, is clinical with either foot and his head.
But in recent years he has also become a provider, dropping back regularly to hold up play and turn provider for both Spurs and England.
Kane was born in East London and joined the Spurs academy in 2009. He had a number of loan spells as a young player as he tried to established himself before his breakthrough season at Tottenham in 2014/15.
He has won the Premier League Golden Boot three times since then but has so far failed to win silverware for club or country, despite coming agonisingly close.
As well as the near-misses for England, Kane was on the losing side when Tottenham reached the Champions League final for the first time in their history in 2019, going down 2-0 to Liverpool in Madrid.
7:25AM 30 MINUTES TO GO (AT LEAST)
England certainly have the ascendancy as the game opens up a bit more with France needing to respond. Both sides look very dangerous on the counter however, with this titanic battle poised on a knifes edge. Will we see a repeat of Saturdays encounters with 120 minutes not being enough to split them?
7:15AM PENALTY ENGLAND – KANE SCORES 1-1 54’
Bukayo Saka is bought down in the box by the French goalscorer Tchouameni and the referee signals penalty. Harry Kane, the England skipper faces off against Tottenham teammate Hugo Lloris from the spot. He sends the French captain the wrong way and we are level. Kane now equals Wayne Rooney as the highest goalscorer for England. Just reward for an attacking mindset coming out of the half.
6:50AM FRANCE HEAD INTO THE HALF WITH SLIM LEAD
England certainly took control of the play after falling behind, however head into the sheds facing a 1-0 deficit and on the brink of elimination. France appeared to be happy to let England possess the ball and allow Mbappe and Dembele to work their magic on the counter. Let’s see if that tactic holds in a crucial second half.
6:40AM BEAUTIFUL TRIBUTE FOR PASSED AMERICAN JOURNALIST
Flowers have been left in tribute for American journalist Grant Wahl who passed away Saturday after suddenly collapsing during the Quarterfinal between Argentina and the Netherlands.
Lovely Grant Wahl tribute from FIFA in the media tribune here at Al Bayt. pic.twitter.com/VWn9u7MuXM
— James Olley (@JamesOlley) December 10, 2022
6:25AM ENGLISH UP THE ANTE
The English have responded well since going behind with captain Harry Kane denied by Hugo Lloris. Kane has been bought down in the area by a French defender as VAR looks over the incident. The referee waves it off after deliberation and we play on.
6:20AM CHAMPIONS TAKE THE LEAD (Tchouameni 17’) 1-0 FRANCE
The reigning champions lead in this heavyweight quarterfinal after a thunderous strike from Tchouameni for France. Pickford was no chance as the French midfielder from Real Madrid tucked it into the corner from distance, as France draw first blood.
6AM: ENGLAND AND FRANCE KICKOFF
Quite possibly the biggest game of the tournament so far is set to go as reigning champions France battle England. The winner will face Morocco, the first African team to reach the World Cup final four.
TEAMS: ENGLAND: (4-3-3) Pickford, Walker, Stones, Maguire, Shaw, Henderson, Rice, Bellingham, Saka, Kane, Foden.
FRANCE: (4-2-3-1) Lloris, Kounde, Varane, Upamecano, Theo Hernandez, Tchouameni, Rabiot, Dembele, Griezmann, Mbappe, Giroud.
MOROCCO DOWN PORTUGAL TO BECOME FIRST EVER AFRICAN WORLD CUP SEMI-FINALISTS
AFP
Morocco became the first African nation to reach the World Cup semi-finals as Youssef En-Nesyri’s first-half goal sealed a tense 1-0 victory over Portugal on Saturday at Al Thumama Stadium.
The Atlas Lions, also the first Arab team to make the last four, added Portugal to their list of European scalps with a resolute second-half performance.
Cristiano Ronaldo has likely played his last World Cup match after making an ineffectual appearance as a second-half substitute, failing to score his first knockout-phase goal at the tournament before departing down the tunnel in tears.
Morocco took a 42nd-minute lead through En-Nesyri’s header as they came on strongly late in the first period.
Portugal piled on the pressure after the break but an injury-hit Morocco, without three of their four first-choice defenders once skipper Romain Saiss was forced off, hung on despite being reduced to 10 men in added time.
“We came up against a really great Portugal team. We’re drawing on all we have, we still have guys injured. I told the guys before the match we had to write history for Africa. I’m very, very happy,” Regragui said.
The partisan crowd undoubtedly helped the North Africans over the line, although Portugal struggled to create many clear-cut chances as they lost a World Cup quarter-final for the first time.
“I think it wasn’t fair for us to lose, but that’s football,” said Portugal coach Fernando Santos.
“We’re upset because we thought we could reach the final and win the final as well.” Five-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo was sent on early in the second half by Santos but could not rescue the Euro 2016 winners.
Instead it was another famous day for Morocco, after previous upset wins over Belgium and Spain, on penalties, in Qatar.
Walid Regragui’s men will face England or holders France in the semi-finals at Al Bayt Stadium on Wednesday.
Morocco will believe they can topple either of those sides, having still only conceded once at this World Cup.
Portugal enjoyed the majority of possession in the opening half-hour, but Joao Felix’s fifth-minute diving header, saved by goalkeeper Yassine Bounou, was the closest either side came to an early goal.
Morocco always looked dangerous, though, and Selim Amallah ballooned a shot over and Sofiane Boufal curled straight at Diogo Costa for the Africans.
– EN-NESYRI STRIKES –
It was no surprise when Morocco did forge ahead shortly before the interval. Portuguese goalkeeper Costa came for a cross from left-back Yahya Attiat-Allah he was never going to get to and Sevilla striker En-Nesyri did the rest with a towering header.
Portugal almost equalised seconds later in spectacular fashion when Bruno Fernandes crashed a bouncing ball from the right-hand side of the box against the crossbar.
A crazy few minutes before halftime also saw Attiat-Allah, only playing in place of the injured Noussair Mazraoui, blaze wide after another rapid counter.
Morocco almost doubled their advantage four minutes after the restart as Costa just about managed to prevent Hakim Ziyech’s free-kick from the right from flying all the way in.
Santos wasted little time in summoning for his captain, sending on Ronaldo and Joao Cancelo in the 51st minute.
Morocco, already without injured defenders Mazraoui and Nayef Aguerd, were dealt another blow when Saiss was stretchered off.
Portugal started to lay siege to the opposition goal and Fernandes came close to levelling again when he fired narrowly over from the edge of the box.
Morocco were largely keeping Portugal at bay, but Bounou had to be at his best to tip over Felix’s drive with eight minutes remaining.
Eight minutes of injury time were largely spent with Portugal camped in the Morocco half and Ronaldo almost had his moment when his low strike was kept out by Bounou.
Morocco substitute Walid Cheddira was harshly sent off for a second yellow card in the space of two minutes.
Zakaria Aboukhlal should have put the game to bed only to dink straight at Costa when clean through.
But his team somehow held onto their lead to write their names in the history books as Pepe headed wide from close range right at the death
— AFP
‘WE’RE NOT HERE FOR THE QUARTERS’: ENGLAND’S FROGSTOMP WAR CRY
Harry Kane says England are brimming with belief — as the nation hopes they can beat France in their crunch quarter-final.
Skipper Harry told fans confidence is surging that the Three Lions can go all the way to glory.
A huge global audience will watch the showdown with the reigning champions — with England aiming to erase 56 years of hurt, including semi- final disappointment in 2018 and penalty agony at Euro 2020.
Spurs ace Harry used the word “believe” repeatedly in his rallying cry, saying: “We’re not here just to reach a quarter-final.
“Looking back in 2018 we didn’t really know what to expect — whether we had the full belief to win the tournament I’m not quite sure.
“We backed that up in the Euros getting to another final and lost by a couple of kicks of the ball and I believe the belief has been building over the past four or five years.
“We entered this tournament hoping and believing we can win it and we have got to the stage now where we expected to be — but now it’s time to push on.
“We face a very tough game and I know everyone is ready. We are prepared and we go into that game with more belief than we had in 2018.”
Harry won the Golden Boot as top scorer in Russia 2018 and got off the mark in Qatar with a thunderbolt in the 3-0 last 16 thrashing of Senegal.
And he stressed that beating France at the Al Bayt stadium will not be enough.
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED BY THE SUN
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