The M&G’s favourite World Cup moments

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We can breathe again. A relentless final closed the curtain on a month of football on Sunday. 

In multiple respects it was a World Cup unlike any other. Not least because of the circumstances surrounding it. But, just like any other, it gave us memories we will hold on to for some time.

Here is a peek into the Mail & Guardian WhatsApp group where our journalists list their favourite moments.

Ozayr Patel

The 2022 Fifa World Cup was possibly the best one ever. It had goals, drama, cards, off-field stories, errors and just about the perfect mix for a thrilling tournament. The highlight must be Morocco, the first African team to make the semis. The Atlas Lions performed with grit but also panache when needed. Their celebrations with their mothers as well as their solidarity with Palestine really stood out. 

But one of the best things to come out of this tournament was the magnificent Messi. No player deserves this win more. Given the way he has played for the past few years no one can deny that he is a generational talent. This was the icing on a very unnecessary cake. The boy from Rosario didn’t need this trophy to prove he is the best but let’s hope that now that he has it, the “greatest of all time” debate can be settled.

Solidarity with Palestine at the World Cup. Photo: Supplied

Eyaaz Matwadia

This World Cup had everything. From major upsets to Messi’s crowning moment, it’s difficult to pick just one moment. Looking back, my favourite moment has to be when Salem Aldawsari struck the winner for Saudi Arabia against Argentina. Not because of the magnitude of the upset or how much it meant to the Arab world, but because it was the exact moment that set this World Cup in motion. 

Salem Aldawsari struck the winner for Saudi Arabia against Argentina. Photo: Supplied

Luke FelthamThis will sound like cheating but I’m going with the tournament’s collective defending as my World Cup moment. Messi and Mbappe will stick in our memories of the final but it was those behind them that preserved the tension (admittedly an odd thing to say of a 3-3 scoreline.) 

Dayot Upamecano’s two kamikaze blocks in extra time should be remembered with the reverence of Herculean legend. At the other end, Argentine Emiliano Martínez — who, for the purposes of this exercise we will count as part of the defence — was a flailing behemoth, swatting every ball that came near. His huge frame patrolled his goal line like a grumpy Yeti leaping across the Andes.

And that was just the final. Until the previous round, Morocco refused to allow a single opposition player to score. Obstinate, and occasionally beautiful, their defence wrote new history for Africa. 

Croatia was capable of equal stubbornness. They saw off tournament favourites Brazil by simply refusing to budge in all but one of the 120 minutes they played against them. 

And who can forget Saudi Arabia? Argentina may have conquered the Qatari desert cup but there was one Arabian wall they could not surmount.

Dayot Upamecano’s two kamikaze blocks in extra time should be remembered with the reverence of Herculean legend. Photo: Supplied

Khaya Koko 

“Revenge is a dish best served cold,” an adage best encapsulated by Ghana at the World Cup. With mere minutes left in their last group-stage game, trailing 2-0 and virtually assured of an early exit, Ghana wasted time to ensure Uruguay joined them on the first flight out of Qatar. 

South Korea stunned Portugal 2-1 in the other final group game which saw both teams advance to the last 16 stage at the expense of Ghana and Uruguay.. 

The Ghanaians were seemingly avenging their quarter-final exist in South Africa 2010 thanks to an intentional handball by striker Luis Suarez, Uruguay’s current captain. 

Twelve years later, playing the same team and refusing to apologise for his skulduggery that knocked the Africans out of their home World Cup, Suarez was captured wailing on the bench, realising that Ghana, while running down the clock, was serving a cold vengeful dish. 

Suarez captured wailing on the bench, realising that Ghana, while running down the clock. Photo: Supplied