This year’s World Cup currently holding in the oil rich Qatar has already generated lots of interesting talking points within just few days the tournament kicked off. Meanwhile, great names like Cristiano Ronaldo, Robert Lewandowski and others have already put their names in the golden book of history, just in a matter of few days the World Cup started.
Let’s talk a critical look at some of the history made by some of these talented and great football players so far
Cristiano Ronaldo:
Fondly called Cr7, the former Real Madrid hitman and Portugal’s captain is not new to breaking and setting records when it comes to the game of soccer. Meanwhile, the highly successful footballer and five time Ballon d’or winner has become the first man to score in five different editions of the FIFA World Cup tournament.
This he did during Portugal’s 3-2 victory against the Black Stars of Ghana on Thursday, November 25, 2022. He successfully drilled home the penalty awarded to his team in the 65th minute of their opening match in group H, after he was adjudged to have been fouled in the eighteen yard box.
Recall that Ronaldo netted his first world cup goal in 2006 in Germany, then followed his subsequent appearances at FIFA World Cups in South Africa 2010, Brazil 2014, Russia 2018 and now Qatar 2022, which he has so far scored in each of these editions.
Robert Lewandowski:
It was such a great and memorable day for the former Bayern Munich striker as he finally fulfilled his childhood dream of scoring in a FIFA World Cup, with his 82nd minute goal against Saudi Arabia on Saturday. Meanwhile, Lewandowski had in their opening match against Mexico missed a golden opportunity of scoring his first ever World Cup goal when he missed a penalty against Mexico, with the game eventually ending 0-0.
Lewandowski who couldn’t control the joy of his first ever World Cup goal slumped to the ground immediately he found the back of the net, with the 34 year old Barcelona striker in tears as he returned to the centre circle for the continuation of the game. The game eventually ended 2-0 against Saudi Arabia, who stunned Argentina 2-1 in their opening match few days ago.
Lewandowski who has represented his country’s national team for 136 times (games) and has equally scored 76 goals during that period, has never scored in any world cup for Poland until during their game against Saudi Arabia on Saturday, November 27, 2022. His first world cup appearance for Poland was in Russia in 2018, playing only three games without a goal, before they were eventually knocked out of the tournament at the group stage. Poland only won one game at Russia 2018 while they lost two.
Cody Gakpo.
23 Year-Old Cody became the player to score the fastest goal at the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup with his thunderous strike in the 6th minute (302 seconds, precisely five minutes and two seconds). The young talented PSV Eindhoven forward has continued to prove why he has remained one of the most sort after players in the world at the moment.
His goal adjudged the fastest goal so far at the ongoing World Cup was against in-form Ecuador. Meanwhile, he was the same person who opened scoring for his country when he scored against Senegal, after he headed home Barcelona’s Frankie de Jong well taken cross against Senegal’s goalie, Edouard Mendy in a group A encounter.
Meanwhile, several top clubs in Europe, including Manchester United, have continued to chase the Netherland international, who was named Dutch top division (Eredivisie) player of the season last season (2021/2022 season).
Qatar:
Unfortunately, the host nation, Qatar became the first country to be eliminated from the ongoing World Cup, this follows their back to back defeat in the hands of Ecuador (2-0) on Sunday and Senegal (3-1) on Friday.
On the other hand, they have made history by becoming the first host nation to be eliminated after just two games, in the 92 year old of the World Cup tournament. Meanwhile, South Africa which hosted the tournament in 2010 were equally another host nation to be eliminated in the group stage, but theirs came with a bit of something to show for. Yes, they recorded a win and a draw from their three group matches and were not eliminated after just two games, unlike Qatar who were eliminated after just two games.
Meanwhile, Qatar has never qualified for the FIFA senior male World Cup, but only made it to this year’s edition because they got an automatic ticket as the host nation.
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(Photos credit: Sky Sports)
