The dust has settled at FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. This tournament is a monumental one. Messi is immortal. Mbappe is omnipotent. Tenacity triumphed over tiki-taka. Third world countries closed the gap.
Disclaimer
I implemented the bot and drew all xG maps myself, but the idea and design comes 100% from Michael Caley.
Matches
Let’s start with upsets. The biggest upset was Argentina v. Saudi for sure, but this match proves to be a blessing in disguise for Argentina.
Given the context of cup format, upsets are more likely to happen than in the leagues. Determination and prowess in key moments could decide matches. Germany v. Japan, Croatia v. Brazil are evidences of that verdict.
Both Morocco wins in the knockout phase are more due to great tenacity and well composed defense. The Moors are not far behind in xG.
An honorable mention is worthy for the England v. France match. England woed on missed chance once again.
Talking about missed chances, Croatia v. Belgium is definitely a jaw-dropping one.
And finally let’s wrap up this section with probably the most entertaining final of World Cup history.
Teams
From teams’ perspective, I have selected 9 teams’ aggregated xG map to reflect their journey respectively.
Belgium and Germany showed the how things could go wrong without a top striker.
Japan was really impressive. They had the upper hand not only in scoreline but also in xG against Spain, Germany and Croatia combined.
Onto the quarterfinalists. Brazil seemed invincible until thwarted by Croatia. And the stats could testify for it. It’s the same situation with England, only to a lesser extent. These two teams had the winning potential, but there could only be two finalists and one winner.
Two semifinalists didn’t have too much control on the field. They both pulled off some miracles.
Both finalists displayed dominance. Contrary to the general perception, Argentina had better defensive performance statistically, but was significantly less lucky.
Summary
And that’s it to the last ever 32-team World Cup. Cash is king once again and the next World Cup is destined to suffer a huge decline in match quality. The only thing I can do now is to pray that my country could make it, so there could be at least something to cheer for.