At the beginning of the tournament, soccer fans were betting on Argentina, Brazil, England and France to be the likely top 4 teams with one Latin American and one European team to be playing the finals for the coveted cup. Alas, the fans and experts were only 50% right and only Argentina and France could make it to the last 4, other 2 being absolute dark horses – Croatia and Morocco. No body could have in his or her wildest dreams thought of Morocco or Croatia making it thus far!
And look at the GOATs – Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal and Neymar of Brazil, who were expected to win laurels for themselves and their respective country! Luckily another GOAT, Lionel Messi is still in the fray to achieving lasting glory for himself as also his country.
The tournament has thrown up new icons and new heroes – Mordic, Mbappe, Boufal, Hakimi, the names that were relatively unknown before the start of the tournament.
Semifinals are commencing now and while the general expectation is Argentina vs France final, going by the trend so far, any other permutation is possible, the most astonishing would be a Croatia vs Morocco final. Morocco has already won the laurels by being the first African team to have reached so far.
I have always heard that cricket is the game of glorious uncertainties. What about soccer?
Arvind Arya blog 