Chinanews.com, Beijing, December 7th (Reporter Wang Yu) In the early hours of the 7th Beijing time, the quarter-finals of the Qatar World Cup ended. With the Portuguese team's victory and promotion, the ownership of the top eight seats was settled.

Asian football left the field with regret, Morocco became the light of Africa, and the note of "European and American hegemony" crescendoed, continuing the enduring theme of the cup.

On December 3, Beijing time, in the quarterfinals of the World Cup in Qatar, the Dutch team defeated the US team 3:1 and entered the quarterfinals first.

The picture shows the moment when the Dutch team scored.

Photo by China News Agency reporter Cui Nan

Plain, plain, or plain!

　　Looking back at the entire 1/8 finals, the intensity and excitement of the game was far less than expected.

On the one hand, the traditional strong teams have advanced without any suspense, and Morocco has become the only dark polo team left. The most exciting scene in the World Cup is still unfinished; The scene of the strong battle is relatively dull, and it is difficult to mobilize the hormones of the fans.

　　From the data point of view, a total of 28 goals were scored in eight games (excluding penalty shootout goals), and the firepower output of 16 teams was not inferior to that of previous games.

But scoring more goals does not mean that the game is exciting. For example, Brazil vs. South Korea, France vs. Poland, the game scene is often one-sided, and the weaker side can only use the slackness of the opponent's defense to save the last face.

　　Up to now, there have been two overtime games in the World Cup in Qatar, both of which have entered penalty shootouts.

The Japanese team had frequent offensive exchanges with Croatia in regular time, but the loss of the psychological defense made the expected penalty shootout lose suspense early; the Spanish team, which mainly focused on pass control, was deeply trapped in the iron barrel formation of Morocco, and the Telanga Lions Win the game with wisdom and determination.

On December 5, local time, in the 1/8 finals of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the Brazilian team defeated the South Korean team 4:1 and advanced to the top 8 of the World Cup.

The picture shows Brazil players celebrating a goal.

Photo by China News Agency reporter Tomita

　　On the whole, teams from Europe and the Americas occupy seven of the top eight seats. The last time "Europe and America" ​​failed to achieve a monopoly dates back to the 2010 World Cup.

Nevertheless, "Europe and the United States" is still the main theme of this World Cup.

Brazil and Argentina guard the upper half, while France and England will stage a strong fight in the lower half.

Asia fades away, Africa alone

　　How smug the AFC teams were at the end of the group stage, they were eclipsed when the top eight list came out.

Three teams from Japan, South Korea and Australia stood out from their respective groups, creating a new high in the number of AFC teams advancing to the top 16.

But they failed to go further, and fell outside the quarterfinals one after another.

　　Regrettably, apart from South Korea's brittle defeat against the powerful Brazil, both Japan and Australia fought hand-to-hand with their respective opponents to the last moment, and once had a chance to reverse the situation.

However, the cruel results of the game show that catching up with the world's top teams requires a stronger mentality and a deeper foundation.

On December 5, local time, in the 1/8 finals of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the Croatian team defeated the Japanese team through a penalty shootout and entered the quarterfinals.

The picture shows Japanese players feeling down after the final whistle.

Photo by China News Agency reporter Cui Nan

　　Although they failed to return to the quarter-finals of the World Cup after 20 years, the Asian teams were not without gains.

They are not afraid of traditional tyranny, leaving behind four soul-stirring reversals, which attracted the attention of world football.

Explore techniques and tactics that suit your own characteristics, and Asian football will be side by side with European and American teams, perhaps in the not-too-distant future.

　　On the stage of the World Cup, Asia has sadly left, and Africa continues to hope.

The "Light of Africa" ​​Morocco, relying on Bunu's brave performance, defeated the World Cup champion Spain in a penalty shootout and advanced to the quarter-finals. They are also the only African team to reach the quarter-finals in this World Cup in Qatar.

The last time an African team appeared in the quarter-finals was in South Africa eight years ago.

　　In the 1986 World Cup, Morocco broke into the round of 16 and became the first African team to advance to the knockout stage of the World Cup.

Now advancing to the quarter-finals again, they broke through the team's best record, playing the spoiler of Europe and the United States taking the quarter-finals, and also became the fourth African team in the quarter-finals of the World Cup.

In the quarter-finals, they will face the Portuguese team, and the Telanga Lions are not without further opportunities.

On December 6, local time, the 1/8 finals of the 2022 Qatar World Cup continued. The match between the Morocco team and the Spanish team started at the Education City Stadium.

Goal record "The Grinder"

　　Since the start of the game, this World Cup, which has created many histories, has witnessed the birth of too many records.

Entering the knockout round, the 16 teams are fully fired, constantly ushering in historical moments belonging to individuals, teams and even cups.

Among them, the light of Argentine star Messi shines even more on the Qatar Peninsula.

　　The 1,000th game of his career, the fourth time he broke into the top 8 of the World Cup, Messi's last dance is still going on.

Messi opened the scoring against Australia and scored his first World Cup knockout goal.

It is also the 9th goal of the World Cup.

He thus surpassed Maradona and occupied the second place in the history scorer list of the Argentine national team World Cup.

　　Mbappe, regarded as the most potential French star after Melo, is also following in the footsteps of his predecessors.

In the game against the Polish team, he scored twice to bring the number of personal World Cup goals to 9, surpassing Ronaldo and tying Messi.

Among these goals, 5 goals were scored in the knockout rounds, and Mbappe became the youngest player to achieve this achievement after Pele.

On December 4, local time, the 2022 Qatar World Cup 1/8 final match between the French team and the Polish team was held at the Atumama Stadium.

The picture shows the moment when French player Mbappe (blue) breaks the goal.

　　His teammate Giroud ushered in a milestone in his national team career.

With a goal scored in the Polish game, he surpassed his predecessor Henry to be crowned the French team's top scorer with 52 national team goals.

The Portuguese central defender Pepe, who is also a veteran, also used a powerful header to set the record for the oldest player to score in a World Cup knockout match.

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