After 17 days of daily matches - some of whose resounding results captured the breath of football fans around the world - it was finally time to rest.

Players and fans at the 2022 World Cup will have two days off - today Wednesday and tomorrow Thursday - before the excitement returns in the upcoming quarter-finals.

Having arrived in Qatar nearly a month ago, the eight teams still in contention will take the opportunity to spend some family time, not without training sessions, while the organizers get a chance to catch their breath.

Some teams have given some rest to their players, in accordance with their match schedule.

Last Sunday - the day after Argentina qualified for the quarter-finals after its 2-1 victory over Australia - Lionel Messi organized "Asado", an outdoor barbecue party that is very popular with Argentines, inside the Qatar University facilities where the national team camp is, in the presence of his wife, three children and some colleagues;

Models: Nicolas Otamendi, Alejandro Papu Gomez.

As for Brazil, for example, it continued training at a light pace, before the players met their families, who waited for them in the training center of the Arab Club.

Brazilian coach Tite kicked the ball with his grandchildren, as goalkeeper Alisson, Everton Ribeiro and Fred O Fabinho did with their children.

Table tennis and darts

As for Spain - which fell to Morocco on penalties in the final price - it is a pioneer in this field.

As coach Luis Enrique gave his players a two-day rest before the confrontation with the Atlas Lions.

"The players are not aliens. We all need a day off after 10 or 12 days together. Nothing unusual. It seems to me very positive that they can spend some time with their families and loved ones."

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And last November 24, while Luis Enrique was indulging in his second passion (cycling), about 15 Spanish players went to lunch at a luxurious restaurant in Doha, run by the famous chef on social networking sites "Salt Bay", and Ansu Fati appeared as he He wears Qatari traditional dress.

And last Saturday, while his players were playing "PlayStation", table tennis or darts, the Spanish coach took the time - also - to celebrate the twenty-fourth birthday of his son Pacho.

And he dined with his family, in the presence of Ferran Torres, who is related to his daughter Serra Martinez.

The Barcelona striker also took the opportunity to go with his partner to an amusement park on the Oryx Peninsula.

France and England benefit the most

As for the most beneficiaries of the World Cup schedule, they are the English and the French, who benefited from nearly a week between their matches in the round of 16 and the expected confrontation between them in the quarter-finals at Al-Bayt Stadium next Saturday.

England had a full day of rest last Monday.

While Harry Kane, Declan Rice and Jack Grealish tested their basketball skills in the pool, Bukayo Saka and Luke Shaw worked on their fitness on the stationary bikes.

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The English received a visit from their families for half a day, after the second round match of the group stage with the United States.

While the French were able to see their families for three days.

The French Federation allowed the families of the players and staff to stay in their camp for two nights, from Sunday to Tuesday.

Kylian Mbappe took the opportunity to visit his colleague in Paris Saint-Germain, Moroccan Ashraf Hakmi, on the eve of the match against Spain.

"It's a very long tournament if you get to the end, so the feeling of having family and having them by our side motivates us and encourages us to be better on the field," said Jordan Ferretto.