Four former champions have qualified for the FIFA World Cup semifinals for the first time since 1990. Argentina, England, France and Spain capitalised on the inexperience of lesser-pedigreed foes to reach the final four.
For the Albiceleste, it was an unwise Swiss dive.
For the Three Lions and La Roja, opposing goalkeepers spilled rebounds.
And Les Bleus benefited from an inexplicable, forward-less, Morocco lineup.
Here are the key takeaways from the quarterfinals:
France too good for Morocco in 2-0 route in Boston
What we learned: Nothing works against France, so far.
Morocco tried a unique approach to unsettling the French. Mohamed Ouahbi went with a striker-less lineup, which, predictably failed to threaten.
Post-match, France’s coach Didier Deschamps said what everyone else in the room was thinking: “I was quite surprised by the starting 11. I tried to understand why [Ouahbi] made these choices, no real forwards.”
Part of the reason would have been the absence of injured forward Ismael Saibari, who had a breakout tournament, though the Morocco roster included three other forwards, including Soufiane Rahimi, who entered in the 60th minute. That was just after Kylian Mbappe’s dipping right-footer inside the far post the opened the scoring for Les Bleus.
Ouahbi’s reasoning remains a mystery.
He might have been hoping for a France own goal, which was narrowly avoided as a Dayot Upamecano shank landed on top of the net. Or perhaps the game strategy was that goalkeeper Yassine Bounou would continue to bail out Morocco, as he did earlier in the quarterfinal tie when he saved Mbappe’s first-half penalty kick, following a two-minute-plus VAR review.
Spain snatch late winner to see off Belgium 2-1 in Los Angeles
What we learned: Pau Cubarsi is not in over his head.
A Barcelona teenager’s shot led to the deciding goal for Spain against Belgium – but no, it wasn’t wonderkid Lamine Yamal, who was held to a single score in the tournament.
With the score even, and superb Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois on the bench injured, Cubarsi advanced and unexpectedly fired from close to 30 metres out.
Reserve keeper Senne Lammens could have been taken by surprise – this was Cubarsi’s first attempt since the first half of Spain’s opening 0-0 draw with Cape Verde on June 15.
In any case, the shot handcuffed Lammens (actually, Lammens handcuffed himself), leaving the rebound for Mikel Merino, who converted from close range to score the game winner in the 88th minute.
So, no, Cubarsi is not there to generate offense. But the fact a 19-year-old is starting on the Spain back line is significant. Few successful World Cup teams have gone with youthful centre backs, an exception being Italy’s Giuseppe Bergomi, who was 18 when he played in 1982, as a substitute for injured Fulvio Collovati.
Cubarsi struggled at times against the Belgians, but was not troubled by imposing substitute forward Romelo Lukaku. Belgium became the first team to score against La Roja in the tournament but the key to Spain’s defending is much less battening it down, but rather Barcelona-style keep-away, and that’s where Cubarsi is most comfortable.
Meanwhile, substitute forward Merino is providing close to instant offense, scoring two minutes after entering against Belgium, and five minutes in against Portugal in their 1-0 last-16 victory.
What we, and France, also learned is that Jeremy Doku’s double-teaming easily shut down 18-year-old Yamal, which means expect more of the same from Desire Doue in the semifinals.
England defeats Norway 2-1 in Miami
What we learned: First off, Norway still has a lot to learn. Also, don’t believe your eyes when it comes to the World Cup “connected” ball, whose “heartbeat” insisted a Orjan Nyland goal kick did not strike a TV camera cable.
During the first round, Norway coach Stale Solbakken let everyone know that his nation was not some “naive country, playing for fun,” when he rested everyone before a 4-1 loss to France.
The idea was to keep stars Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard in the tournament into the elimination stages. Solbakken’s strategy worked well, until the quarterfinals, when the Norwegians were exposed.
Sure, England’s Elliot Anderson went down as if he had taken a Zinedine Zidane circa 2006 head-butt. But, no, it was only a Haaland shove, leading to a Norway goal being disallowed, following a VAR replay. That would not be the only moment of Norwegian naivety.
Late in the first half, a 2-on-1 ended with Alexander Sorloth failing to square for Haaland, and unable to get past John Stones.
Then, instead of milking stoppage time to protect a 1-0 lead, Nyland sent a long goal kick that appeared to suddenly change trajectory and land at the feet of Anderson, triggering the TV cable-gate accusation from Solbakken to the match officials. Nothing to see here – that’s the FIFA version, anyway. Anderson quickly found Anthony Gordon, on to Jude Bellingham, and an England equaliser ensued before halftime.
It didn’t help Norway’s defending on the wings when Julian Ryerson went out injured. But it took until the third minute of extra time before Bukayo Saka earned a corner against Marcus Holmgren Pedersen. Nyland tipped away Harry Kane’s chip for another corner – and there was Bellingham, again, this time to convert the rebound of a Morgan Rogers shot.
Then, with Haaland on the bench, Norway had a final chance. At least, that is what lanky Norway defender Kristoffer Ajer thought, after England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford and a defender collided, leaving an open goal. Not so, French referee Clement Turpin, who stopped play, and cautioned Ajer for dissent.
Thomas Tuchel said his team got “lucky.” But evidence, and experience, points to the Three Lions making their own luck.
Defending champions Argentina eliminate Switzerland 3-1 in Kansas City
What we learned: Don’t dive.
Switzerland appeared to have momentum against Argentina when Bree Embolo went down near the halfway line just before a drinks break.
Joao Pinheiro cautioned Leandro Paredes, then switched the call to an Embolo yellow card for simulation, following a VAR review. The official call was “mistaken identity,” for the first time VAR invoking a directive to intervene in case of a “potential” red card.
Whatever the justification, the result was Embolo – earlier cautioned for taking down Paredes – was ejected. Embolo’s flop seemed out of character – this was his first red card with the national team, second at the senior level, and first since a 2015-16 Europa League match with FC Basel.
We also learned Argentina doesn’t need Lionel Messi to score.
But it helps when Messi is taking corners – he pinpointed one for Alexis Mac Allister to head in for the opening goal on 10 minutes. The Albiceleste coaching staff celebrated by congratulating assistant Walter Samuel, who, possibly, figured out Mac Allister could find space in the midst of a Swiss team whose shortest player is four centimetres (an inch and a half) taller than him.
