Righto, it’s always five o’clock somewhere and right now, it’s five o’clock here. Which means this blog is did – thanks all for your company and comments, we’ll see you tomorrow. Peace.
This is the best game of my World Cup-watching career. Anything half as good in what’s to come at the weekend, and we’re laughing.
I wrote here about what constitutes the perfect tournament.
“I’ve been watching World Cups since 1966,” writes Francis Mead, “and I think this is the most exciting and entertaining one I’ve seen. Lots of cliffhangers in the group stage and some superb performances – and I thought the last 16 was equally fabulous – US-Netherlands, Japan-Croatia, Portugal-Switzerland, Morocco-Spain, Brazil-South Korea and England-Senegal were all excellent in different ways. I think the standard is really high, and I’ve never agreed with the apparently received wisdom that Champions League football is better than World Cup football - it simply isn’t on this evidence – and there’s definitely more drama at the World Cup.”
There’s something special that only the World cup delivers: the planet convening, and entire landmasses represented. In the end, I judge tournaments principally by the epics we do or don’t get in the knockouts, and we’ve not had one yet, so this one has a lot of work to do as regards my personal hall of fame. There is, though, scope for good stuff to happen and lots of it, but until it does, 86, 90, 98 and 06 – of those I’ve seen – will be ranked higher according to my standard.
I guess if you go to certain places, you’re accepting you might get a beer shower. I can’t say I get why anyone would want to launch their jar, but I do sort of enjoy the visuals of it all going up the air.
It’s interesting, though, how few proper, top-level centre-forwards are in the tournament, a trend that’s been operative for a while. It’s possible that the academies are turning out all-round footballers now, but that doesn’t explain why those players who might once have played up front but are now playing wide, aren’t as physically imposing as the likes of Robert Lewandowski and Harry Kane. Where are the big lads with a great first touch and a nose for goal?
Updated
Ah, I’m not having this. Spain’s departure wasn’t cruel, it was deserved. They lost to Japan from 1-0 up, unable to find an equaliser despite having 39 minutes and injury-time to do it, then couldn’t score in 120 minutes against Morocco and missed three of three penalties. Annoying, sure; upsetting, sure; cruel? Nah.
It does still feel like these games can be picked fairly easily – seven of eight favourites progressed in the last round, most without much aggravation – and I’ be surprised if Argentina, Brazil and Portugal didn’t make up three of the last four. Once we get there, though, I’ve not a clue what’ll happen, just as I can’t really call England v France, which could be very special.
Of course, our quarters kick-off with Croatia v Brazil and, I’m afraid to say, I cannot see a way for the boys in check. They won’t be able to dominate the ball – they struggled to against Japan – and just don’t have enough ways to score. Brazil, on the other hand, are on a rolling boil. I do wonder about their defence against any of the other remaining attacks, but their midfield and attack are functioning very nicely plus, should they have an off-day, they’ve every possible kind of reinforcement. I don’t think it’ll be close, and I do think the only way Croatia can win is on penalties.
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I’d not be shocked if Netherlands got rid of Argentina. I think the former are playing at closer to their maximum – though it’s not all that – but now the latter have gone to three in midfield and got the in-form Álvarez into the team, they should have enough goalpower to make the last four. I wonder, though, if they’ll make a change at centre-back, because Lisandro Martínez was excellent when he came on against Australia and is, for mine, significantly better than Nicolás Otemendi and Cristian Romero – though Romero has loads of potential.
And what of our other matches?
“This is the weather on Saturday here in Doha,” says Hugh Molloy. “The rain is often a tropical downpour when it happens. Could be unexpected.”
England’s game is a little later than that, but anything that slows down France’s attackers sounds alright for their centre-backs.
Have you checked out David Squires’ latest? It’s every bit as good as you want it to be and it needs to be.
As it goes, it feels like it’s a lot easier to gameplan for France than for England because they’re more reliant on one player. But I’m sure Southgate and Holland won’t ignore Ousmane Dembélé, who’s finally fulfilling his colossal potential. His tussle with Luke Shaw should be a lot of fun to watch – will Shaw be brave and try to make him defend? What Dembélé has that lots of wingers don’t is the ability to go inside and outside, and he also crosses well – also uncommon these day but helpful when you’ve Olivier Giroud to aim at. Ah man, I can’t be bothered waiting till Saturday night for this.
It’s so interesting how much gen there now is on every team.
Please do send in your thoughts. You can get me on Twitter – @DanielHarris – or on email – daniel.harris.casual@theguardian.com.
Hi again! We’ve nearly done it; we’ve nearly completed a full 24 hours without football. Just a little over six hours to go; we can do this.
OK, that is your lot from me, Martin Belam, today. I will be back on World Cup duty on Friday when – GOSH! – we’ll actually have matches again. Just the small matter of Croatia v Brazil and then the Netherlands v Argentina. I cannot wait.
I’ll hand you back now to Daniel Harris …
Kyle Walker was on media duties for England today. Among other things he paid tribute to French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris when asked by a French journalist about having previously played alongside him at Tottenham:
Hugo, he was my captain at Tottenham. I remember when he signed from Lyon, and he’s always been a great professional, and a great captain, so I have nothing but good words to say for the Hugo. But I mean, if he’s watching, I hope you don’t have the best of the games on Saturday, because you know, I want to win and I want to take my nation through.
He deflected a question about the perception that England sometimes play with the handbrake on under Gareth Southgate, saying:
I think we’ve moved forward in this tournament, playing as a four, and playing really good attacking football and scoring goals. So let’s just go off the last game which we won, and it was, you know, a comfortable win I feel. And we move forward from that.
He said that England boasted a great attack – but that his greatest desire was still clean sheets.
I feel that we’ve got great players, and I think we’ve got great players that can come off the bench and affect games, which they’ve done. We’ve got goals coming from all over the field. Now me as a defender, I want clean sheets. Fantastic if you go and get goals, but if we scrape through and win a one-nil, and I know the back four, the back five, have dug in and made sure that we get that clean sheet, that’s my main concern. But it’s a great bunch to be in. I can tell you in training it’s tough marking some of these guys, but you want to play against the best in the world.
In technological innovations you never knew you needed, Fifa have produced their latest rankings of the Peter Kay ‘ave it factor™, or the “most powerful Fifa World Cup goal ranking” as they’ve called it. Thanks to the “connected ball technology” they can tell us that:
Leading the Top 10 goals from the group stage and round of 16 combined is Luis Chávez’s spectacular free-kick, in Mexico’s 2-1 win over Saudi Arabia. on match day three. The distance to goal was 29.19m, with a top speed of 121.69 km/h. The distance to goal is measured from where the ball is kicked, to the centre of the goal - straight line, not flight path.
Ritsu Dōan’s 120.04 km/h strike for Japan from just outside the box to make it 1-1 against Spain is currently the second fastest shot that led to a goal, with Germany’s Niclas Füllkrug’s goal – also against La Roja – in third place.
Hakim Ziyech of Morocco leads the table for goals by ‘distance travelled’. His fourth minute goal against Canada in the group stage was struck 32.85 metres from goal.
Nick Ames is in Doha for the Guardian and he has put together his World Cup power rankings for the eight teams left in the competition. I’m not going to spoil it for you, but Morocco are not eighth, and Lionel Messi is not above Harry Maguire.
I feel like I have a very strange “and here are the teams for the 3pm GMT kick-off” shaped hole in the blog today. Craig Cheetham messaged me earlier to say “Don’t know about you, but I keep finding myself walking around the house going ‘I can’t believe there’s no football on! I’m gonna complain! Can I complain? Who to?’”
Even the MLS are upset, and the US have already gone home.
Waking up to no #FIFAWorldCup games. pic.twitter.com/HIXYNx3fOQ
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) December 7, 2022
But you don’t actually have to go completely without football today. The UEFA Women’s Champions League group stage is approaching the sharper end, with matchday four. Group C features Lyon Féminines v Zürich Women (17.45 GMT) and Arsenal Women v Juventus Femminile (20.00 GMT). We will have MBM coverage of the latter. Group D has Rosengård Women v Benfica Women as the early kick-off, and FC Bayern München Ladies v Barcelona Femenino at 8pm.
There is also football on your terrestrial tellybox if you are in the UK. ITV4 have got live coverage of the FA Cup second round replay between Stockport County and Charlton Athletic. That kicks off at 7.45pm.
And before that, at 7pm, my Leyton Orient are live-streaming their FA Youth Cup tie against AFC Wimbledon for free. My kids will be absolutely thrilled that I’m still managing to ignore them in favour of live football.
Barry Glendenning has been on Football Daily duties today and definitely Googled “list of songs by U2” before writing it. Here’s a teaser:
On a truly Beautiful Day for Moroccan football, it was One in which their fans in Qatar, at home and elsewhere took understandably immense Pride. Scarcely a car horn went unparped on the streets of Casablanca by fans who will be hoping their team, who have conceded just one goal – an own goal – in their past eight matches can play it again in such fine style against Portugal, whose impressive demolition job on the Switzerland has been predictably overshadowed by the most conspicuous absence of the name “Ronaldo” from an official team sheet since the temporary omission of a certain Brazilian prior to the final in 1998.
While it has since emerged that the Brazilian Ronaldo was ill and almost certainly should have sat that game out, his Portuguese namesake has been suffering from nothing more serious than an inflated sense of self-regard, a form of pyromania that has led him to incinerate a couple of big bridges in under a month. No longer the footballing force he once was, Cristiano Ronaldo remains an intimidating presence on the pitch but for some time now it has looked like it is only his own teammates, rather than opponents, who are cowed by him. “I’m quite surprised but not overly shocked,” said the great Ally McCoist on ITV. “Having said that, I must say I am slightly shocked, of that there is no doubt.” Not for the first time in this tournament, Coisty succinctly captured the global mood in a nutshell.
While Fernando Santos’s decision to bench his show pony in favour of starting the young Benfica striker Gonçalo Ramos was a Big Call, it quickly proved the right one. Within 17 minutes the fresh-faced 21-year-old had passed Ronaldo’s career tally of zero World Cup knockout stage goals and missed a couple of presentable chances but finished the game with this tournament’s first hat-trick.
Read more here: Football Daily – Ramos, Ronaldo and a very public and brutal World Cup humiliation
Ciarán Fahey writes for AP that soccer in Germany faces a day of decisions amid questions over the futures of both national team coach Hansi Flick and league chief executive Donata Hopfen.
The German soccer federation was meeting Wednesday to discuss the fallout from Germany’s early World Cup exit and simmering issues of discontent among Bundesliga clubs and teams from the second division.
Federation president Bernd Neuendorf was to meet with German soccer league vice president Hans-Joachim Watzke to discuss the future for German soccer after three straight disappointing performances in major tournaments.
Germany’s management is under pressure for a marked improvement before the country hosts the 2024 European Championship. The federation also needs a replacement for Oliver Bierhoff, who ended an 18-year stint Monday when he agreed to resign as managing director of Germany’s national soccer teams and academy.
Hertha Berlin general manager Fredi Bobic is a reported candidate to take over from Bierhoff, though he said Wednesday he was “very comfortable at Hertha.” Bobic, who has a contract through 2024 with the Berlin club, did not rule himself out, however.
Flick’s future as Germany coach remains uncertain amid questions about his team selection and tactics.
Flick appeared to criticise the federation for Bierhoff’s exit on Tuesday, when he said both he and his coaching staff “are having a hard time imagining how the gap left by Oliver’s departure can be closed.”
Hello everybody, Martin Belam back again. I’m just listening to Kyle Walker at the England press conference in Qatar. You can watch along here too and then I won’t have to take as many notes.
Righto, my watch is over. Here’s Martin Belam to narrate you through the rest of your day. Ta-ra.
More reading…
And my favourite of the genre:
“What went wrong for the USMNT at the World Cup?” wonders Kurt Perelberg.
Er, I’m not sure anything did. They might improve over the next four years – Brendon Aaronson, Tyler Adams and others are young – but currently they’re a last-16 side and no better. Though they’ll regret the way they defended against the Netherlands, they’re not as good a team nor do they have as good players.
It’s so great to see Morocco doing so well, and their fans wading into the moment. They actually had the talent to make a splash in 2018 – they should’ve beaten Iran in their first game but ended up losing, then did so again to Portugal in their second before taking a point off Spain in their third. I’m not sure how they go about beating Portugal here – though they’ve defended brilliantly, the calibre of attacker they’ll face at the weekend is of a different order to any they’ve seen so far – but they won’t be scared, and they won’t choke.
It’s so good to see a balanced Portugal. I thought they had a proper shot at winning the Euros, but Santos couldn’t find the right combination in midfield and attack; he ended up dropping Bruno Fernandes, for example, which made no sense. But he’s now getting the best out of him and the best out of Bernardo Silva – Otavio and William Carvalho looks like a decent combination behind them, whereas things were a bit too slow when Ruben Neves was involved – last night was the best I’ve seen Joao Felix play, and though Goncalo Ramos won’t score thrice in every game, his mobility and explosivity make him a huge upgrade on Ronaldo.
I do wonder, though, if England might do well to bring in Kalvin Phillips for Jordan Henderson. I don’t think it’ll happen in this tournament, but I do think it’s a good option. Though Henderson’s leadership and composure are assets, the physical toll it’d take on an opposition playing against three physical, technical monsters, would be significant, and it’d give Rice greater scope to carry the ball without compromising defensive protection.
You’ll doubtless be riveted to know that I think a change from 4-3-3 to 3-4-3 would be an error. For the first time in a long time, England have a midfield good enough to compete with France’s, and taking a man out of the middle will limit Jude Bellingham’s ability to get forward and effective cede control of the game to try and win it in moments or on the counter. England could win that way, but I don’t think it’s their best rote to victory – especially without Reece James, worth replacement though Kieran Trippier is.
Northern Ireland will fancy their chances of making the 2026 edition; given the size of that competition, my Old Boys team probably will too. Anyhow, they’ve reappointed Michael O’Neill as manager, and he got them to Euro 2016, so there’s pedigree there.
I’m not sure Infantino is right about these being the best group stages ever. The last round of matches was dramatic, but quality was pretty low.
Feel free to send in your thoughts to daniel.harris.casual@theguardian.com.
Tell you what, though, we’ve got some serious football awaiting us. Gareth Southgate and Fernando Santos both seems to have discovered their best formations and XIs in the nick of time so, all things being well, we should get an epic or two in the 10 days or so. We need them, because when it comes down to it, that last 16 was a little disappointing.
Thanks Martin and hi everyone. How we all coping with this football-free day? Disgrace, if you ask me?
I need to take the dog for a walk – not a euphemism – so I will be passing you over to the safe hands of Daniel Harris.
Do you remember club football? Erik ten Hag does, and he has insisted today that Manchester United have moved on from Cristiano Ronaldo’s messy departure.
PA Media reports that Ten Hag was not willing to discuss the saga in depth when asked by the club’s in-house TV channel, MUTV, in an interview that was aired on Wednesday. Rather, the Dutchman insisted his focus was on the future.
United terminated Ronaldo’s contract after being rocked by an extraordinary series of complaints by him in a TV interview. Ten Hag came in for particular criticism from the 37-year-old forward, who accused the Dutchman of not respecting him. Asked how he had managed the situation, Ten Hag told MUTV: “He’s gone and it’s the past. We are now looking forward and we’re looking to the future.”
Ten Hag is confident his players that are in Qatar will hit the ground running when they get back to domestic duty. He said: “We had a plan, we have prepared the players with what the plan is, so there can’t be any confusion about what the programme is.
“We make the players aware of the fact that, after you are out of the World Cup, you have to return to the club and the league immediately goes on. You have to be ready for that, but I think our players are used to it.”
United face Burnley in a Carabao Cup tie on 21 December – three days after the World Cup final – before hosting Nottingham Forest in the Premier League six days later.
Declan Rice and Callum Wilson miss England training ahead of France clash
A quick snap from PA here that Declan Rice missed training today through illness as England prepare for Saturday’s World Cup quarter-final against France.
The 23-year-old has started all four games for Gareth Southgate’s side in Qatar but was absent from the session at Al Wakrah Sports Complex. Callum Wilson also sat out as he recovers from a minor muscle strain.
How do we feel about extra time at the World Cup? I’ve seen more than a few people moot that with the truncated tournament length, and it being mid-season, maybe Fifa should have opted to have drawn knockout round matches go straight to penalties after 90 minutes.
Then, there’s the question of whether extra time delivers any value in football anyway. So often it feels like thirty minutes of tired players having an aimless kickabout while they wait for penalties.
Because I am a complete spod I’ve done some number crunching, and I make it that over the last five World Cups since the ‘golden goal’ rule was abolished, 25 matches in total have gone to extra time. In 15 of those, there was no score during the extra period. That includes the 2006 match between Switzerland and Ukraine which felt not so much like extra time as a collective punishment.
So only ten matches that have gone to extra time have seen goals during the additional minutes in 16 years, which doesn’t seem like great entertainment value.
Having said that, three of the finals during that time have gone to extra time, and we would have been deprived of Mario Götze and Andrés Iniesta’s dramatic late winners, and that Zinedine Zidane moment of madness. So maybe we should stick with it after all?
Do drop me a line with your thoughts on that or anything else – martin.belam@theguardian.com
Updated
Spain feel like the only team more cursed than England at penalty shootouts. They’ve only won one of the five they’ve faced in World Cups – at Ireland’s expense in 2002. Indeed, Spain has now won only three of its last 11 World Cup games since 2010.
There’s no immediate word on the future of coach Luis Enrique, who blamed himself for Spain’s exit yesterday.
“It’s my responsibility,” AP reports Enrique said, adding “I picked the first three penalty-takers”. He had previously said that he had asked each of his squad to practise 1,000 penalties with their club sides before the tournament.
The coach also said one of his regrets in Qatar was not to have used 30-year-old Pablo Sarabia more often during the tournament. Sarabia came on as a substitute just before the end of extra time “and he created two scoring occasions right away,” Enrique said. “It was my mistake not to have used him more. It wasn’t fair.”
Enrique did not say whether he would continue as Spain coach, saying he would “take some time to rest” before start making a decision about his future.
That may also have been the last time we see Sergio Busquets in a Span shirt. “Now the important thing is the team and not me,” said the 34-year-old Barcelona midfielder, who made his 17th World Cup appearance yesterday.
“We’ll pick ourselves up and use it as a learning experience,” Busquets said. “We’re in a good dynamic, with young people. This is going to make them stronger.”
Spain’s qualifying group for Euro 2024 features Norway, Scotland, Georgia and Cyprus, and the team will also be competing in the UEFA Nations League finals in the summer of 2023, where they will face one of Italy, Croatia or the Netherlands in the semi-finals.
Fifa's Infantino declares Qatar group stages to be 'best ever' at a World Cup
In a not entirely unpredictable move, Fifa head honcho Gianni Infantino has been waxing lyrical about events in Qatar so far and has described the group stage of the tournament as the “best ever” at a World Cup. PA is carrying the following quotes from the man who declared himself to feel Qatari, Arabic, African, gay, disabled and like a migrant worker on the eve of the tournament.
I have seen all the matches, indeed, and put very simply and very clearly, this has been the best group stage of a Fifa World Cup ever. So, it’s very promising for the remainder of the Fifa World Cup.
The matches have been of great, great quality in beautiful stadiums – we knew that already. However, as well, the public who was there was incredible. Over 51,000 on average.
When it comes to stadium attendances, the stadiums are sold-out, full practically at every match. The fan festivals, the different fan zones, are also very crowded with people celebrating.
There are no more small teams and no more big teams. The level is very, very equal. For the first time as well, national teams from all continents going to the knockout phase, for the first time in history. This shows that football is really becoming truly global.
Not to be a complete pedant about it, but that last claim doesn’t particularly ring true, as in 2010 teams from UEFA, Conmebol, Concacaf, Caf and the AFC all made it to the round of 16, exactly the same set of confederations as this time.
Presumably Infantino meant the appearance of Australia made a difference in 2022, but they are members of the AFC. New Zealand lost their intercontinental playoff so there was no representation from the OFC at all in Qatar.
We don’t have any World Cup match action today, but we are expecting media appearances from England and France later on. Kyle Walker and Harry Maguire are expected to be the England players up talking to reporters.
Japan have arrived home to a hero’s welcome at the Narita International Airport east of Tokyo.
Belgium's Eden Hazard announces international retirement
Belgium captain Eden Hazard announced his retirement from international soccer aged 31 on Wednesday after his team’s group-stage exit at the World Cup.
The forward played in all three Group F games but did not score as Belgium beat Canada, lost to Morocco and played out a goalless draw with Croatia to finish third.
Hazard made his international debut in 2008 and scored 33 times in 126 appearances. He helped Belgium reach the 2018 World Cup semi-finals, where they lost to eventual champions France, and beat England in the third-placed playoff.
“I have decided to put an end to my international career. The succession is ready,” Hazard wrote on Instagram, Reuters reports.
“A page turns today … Thank you for your love. Thank you for your unparalleled support. Thank you for all this happiness shared since 2008 … I will miss you.”
Belgium coach Roberto Martinez stepped down from his role on Thursday after a disappointing tournament in Qatar.
If you were at all concerned about the lack of David Squires yesterday, fear not. He simply held it back a day to make sure he could get the whole round of 16 covered, and the delightful last couple of panels here will show that it was all worth it.
Switzerland’s capitulation to Portugal last night marked their third consecutive round of 16 exit at a World Cup, after a tight 1-0 defeat to Argentina after extra time in 2014, and a 1-0 defeat to Sweden in 2018. The last time Switzerland reached the quarter-finals was as hosts in 1954, when they took part in the highest scoring World Cup match of all-time, an astonishing sounding 7-5 defeat to neighbours Austria in Lausanne.
Graham Dunbar at AP has been looking at what lies ahead for the Swiss now, and suggests that none of this squad need head for international retirement. The core trio of goalkeeper Yann Sommer, midfielder and captain Granit Xhaka and playmaker Xherdan Shaqiri are in their early 30s and have much to offer as team leaders.
There may be questions over the future of coach Murat Yakin though, whose tactical switch from a defensive line of four to three at the back did them no favours against a rampant Portuguese attack. A somewhat less-than-enthused Shaqiri said after the game “These were his choices, we have to accept them”
Yakin has a contract through to the end of Euro 2024, and the Swiss will be fairly confident of qualifying from a group that has placed them with Israel, Romania, Kosovo, Belarus and Andorra, with two teams set to progress to the finals in Germany.
Portugal have been out doing a bit of recovery training in Doha this morning, and we have the pictures to prove it.
Even the official World Cup social media channels are a bit at a loss for what to do today, but I can guarantee I won’t be filming any keepie uppies for the live blog.
Rest day vibes ☀️#FIFAWorldCup | #Qatar2022 pic.twitter.com/cFHPwUIur1
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) December 7, 2022
Mark Gleeson at Reuters has written that Lionel Messi’s hopes of winning an elusive World Cup will come up against the tactical scheming of veteran coach Louis van Gaal as Argentina face the Netherlands in Friday’s quarter-final at Lusail. That one kicks off at 7pm GMT, and will evoke memories of some classic previous clashes.
71-year-old Van Gaal is determined to give the Dutch their first World Cup title after runners-up finishes in 1974, 1978 and 2010.
The coach’s planning will largely focus on containing Messi and catching Argentina on the break. The tactical plan is key to his side’s hopes of winning on Friday as the Dutch look to take revenge for their semi-final defeat in 2014 when Argentina beat them in a shootout.
“We can surprise teams with our plan. We were also the better team then and Messi didn’t see much of the ball,” the coach told reporters this week. The Netherlands have lost only one of the previous nine games against Argentina - the 1978 World Cup final in Buenos Aires – though they have been beaten in a shootout on two occasions.
Van Gaal can also point to a run of form that has seen the Dutch go 19 games without defeat since he returned to the hot seat for a third spell 15 months ago. That includes a run to the finals tournament of the UEFA Nations League, which the Dutch are expected to host next summer.
Here’s one for the “pick that out” files from France’s Axel Disasi.
"𝘈𝘭𝘭𝘶𝘮𝘦, 𝘈𝘭𝘭𝘶𝘮𝘦, 𝘈𝘓𝘓𝘜𝘔𝘌 !"
— Equipe de France ⭐⭐ (@equipedefrance) December 7, 2022
Axel Disasi : 💥 pic.twitter.com/WengLHixRG
Is it too early to start building up to Brazil v Croatia on Friday? Probably, but who is going to stop me? Certainly not Reuters, which has just published a little fact box about the clash, including these highlights:
Brazil have reached at least the quarter-finals in their last eight World Cups. They were champions in 1994 and 2002 and runners-up in 1998, but have only reached the semi-finals once since then – as hosts in 2014 when they were humiliated 7-1 by Germany.
In four games in Qatar so far, Croatia have won only once in 90 minutes – the 4-1 group stage win over Canada either side of goalless draws with Morocco and Belgium, before overcoming Japan on penalties with the score deadlocked at 1-1 after extra time.
Brazil striker Neymar, who marked his return from injury by scoring in Monday’s 4-1 win over South Korea, netted twice when they beat Croatia 3-1 in the group stage in 2014.
Croatia have won all three of their World Cup penalty shootouts. They beat Denmark in the last 16 and hosts Russia in the quarter-finals 2018, and Japan on Monday.
Brazil are unbeaten in their four meetings with Croatia (won 3 drew 1). The teams have met twice in the World Cup, with Brazil winning 1-0 in 2006 and 3-1 as hosts in 2014.
Away from the men’s World Cup in Qatar for a moment, Juliet Bawuah writes for the Guardian today that women’s football in Africa is in danger of being left on the touchline:
I have been following women’s football in Africa for almost 15 years. And I’m sad to say that there has been little progress in supporting or promoting it in that time. The complaints are familiar now: lack of representation, lack of infrastructure, poor wages and underfunding are among the myriad failings that have held back the women’s game.
This sorry state of affairs is continent-wide. Yet talent abounds: four-time African Women’s Footballer of the Year and Barcelona player Asisat Oshoala from Nigeria and Ghana striker Evelyn Badu, who plays for Norwegian club Avaldsnes IL and was named 2022 Young Player of the Year and Interclub player of the year by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), are among the best. But these stars succeeded against the odds. Where is the grassroots investment to ensure the girls of today have open opportunities instead of having to sneak out of their homes to play the game they love? It shouldn’t all be left to the players themselves to nurture future stars, as Oshoala is doing through her Lagos-based academy, or former Super Falcons player Ayisat Yusuf-Aromire with her SheFootball Initiative.
Read more here: Juliet Bawuah – Women’s football in Africa is in danger of being left on the touchline
Japan’s defeat on penalties to Croatia on Monday was hard for the players to take at the time, but today the Samurai Blue have put out a message thanking fans for their support. They have said to their fans:
The connection and unity of all the people who love Japanese football has reached each and every member of the team playing in Qatar and has become a great strength.
The team went on to thank everyone involved in grassroots football in Japan, and said that “The Samurai Blue was able to compete against the world’s top powerhouses on the big stage of the Fifa World Cup because of the players, coaches, and staff who have dedicated their lives to football.”
The message concludes:
Although we were not able to achieve our goal of making it to the quarter-finals this time, we will definitely use this tournament as a source of strength for our dream of winning the Fifa World Cup. We will walk together with all those who love soccer.
AP had reporters out on the streets in Rabat speaking to Morocco fans yesterday as they celebrated their win.
“We are so proud of our Lions, who fought hard to get us into the quarter-finals,” said Niama Meddoun, a Rabat resident. “We are delighted to be Moroccans today, since we are the first Arab country that has reached the quarter-finals.”
The King of Morocco, Mohammed VI, praised the national team and sent his “heartfelt congratulations” to the players, the technical team and administrative personnel, “who gave their all and blazed a trail throughout this great sporting event,” according to a statement from the royal palace.
The king said the players represented “hopes and dreams of Moroccans in Morocco, Qatar, and all over the world.”
There were also celebrations in Barcelona. Youssef Lotfi, a 39-year-old construction worker who was born in Casablanca but moved to Spain as a child and said he feels love for both countries, was brimming with pride.
“Today is a day of joy for Moroccans and all the Arab world,” Lotfi said. “It was a heart-attack finish that could have gone either way.”
He called the victory “once in a lifetime” experience. “Morocco is representing all the Arab world, all the African continent, that is beyond description, it is the most glorious part,” he said.
Here are your remaining World Cup fixtures by the way …
Friday 9 December
QF1: Croatia v Brazil (3pm GMT, Education City Stadium)
QF2: Netherlands v Argentina (7pm GMT, Lusail Iconic Stadium)
Saturday 10 December
QF3: Morocco v Portugal (3pm GMT, Al Thumama Stadium)
QF4: England v France (7pm GMT, Al Bayt Stadium)
Tuesday 13 December
SF1: Netherlands or Argentina v Croatia or Brazil (7pm GMT, Lusail Iconic Stadium)
Wednesday 14 December
SF2: England or France v Morocco or Portugal (7pm GMT, Al Bayt Stadium)
Saturday 17 December
Third place play-off: Losing semi-finalist second XIs (3pm GMT, Khalifa International Stadium)
Sunday 18 December
Final: Winning semi-finalists (3pm GMT, Lusail Iconic Stadium)
Statistics fans – your moment has arrived. This week’s the Knowledge has dropped, and it is a World Cup trivia special that leads with the question: which player has scored the most goals in World Cup knockout games?
There were some quite punchy quotes from Portugal coach Fernando Santos about CR7 after the game last night. PA carry them, with Santos saying that the role of Cristiano Ronaldo for the remainder of the World Cup is something that has yet to be “defined”. He said:
I have a very close relationship with him – I always have, I have known him since he was 19 years old. This relationship only develops, Ronaldo and I never interpret the human aspect of that of manager and player (in relation to) what we have to do during the match. I will always consider in my role that he is an important player to have in the team.
Asked directly if Ronaldo would play against Morocco on Saturday, Santos said: “Ronaldo will definitely (be involved), all the players on the bench can be used, if they are not in the starting lineup they can play later.
“It is important to look at the example of this player’s history, he is one of the best players in the world at playing professionally, being captain – all we have to do is think about this team collectively.”
There are some wonderful pictures this morning on the news wires of the contrasting scenes between Spain and Morocco supporters around the world, which I feel I must start the day by sharing.
Max Rushden, Barry Glendenning, Jonathan Fadugba, and John Brewin were up working late last night in the pod to discuss the concluding games of the World Cup round of 16 after Portugal thrashed Switzerland and Morocco shocked Spain. You can get that directly into your ears here …
Preamble
First the bad news. It is the first day where there is no actual football at the World Cup since 20 November, and like me, I am sure you are going to miss settling down for the action come 3pm GMT.
But the good news? Wow, what a day we had yesterday, and what a lot we still have to look forward to.
You can’t tell me that even in his wildest dreams, Portugal coach Fernando Santos woke up on Tuesday morning thinking that the consequences of dropping Cristiano Ronaldo as captain and out of the first XI would be that he could casually bring him on as a substitute in the 73rd minute as a gesture of “no hard feelings” when his side were already 5-1 up against Switzerland.
Then there was Morocco reaching the quarter-finals for the first time in their World Cup history. You can argue whether penalties are a lottery or the execution of a precision skill under pressure – don’t worry, it is definitely the latter – but the Atlas Lions have now kept clean sheets against Croatia, Belgium and Spain, and go into the quarter-finals unbeaten. That is something that can’t be said of Brazil, Argentina, France or Portugal.
I will be bringing you all the fallout from that, the rest of the World Cup news as it happen, and looking forward to the quarter-finals getting under way on Friday. Do drop me a line at martin.belam@theguardian.com
