Just four teams are left standing in Qatar. Pre-tournament favourites Brazil have been forced to head home after a shock defeat to Croatia on penalties, joined by the Netherlands, England and Portugal as four heavyweights of World football were packing their bags.
It comes as Morocco became the first African side to ever make the semi-finals of a World Cup, where they will be up against France in a mammoth clash. In the other semi-final, Lionel Messi will continue his dream of World Cup glory up against last tournament’s finalists Croatia, led by Luka Modric’s swansong.
As expected, then, the team of the quarter-finals is largely made up of stars from the victorious nations, though there are some honourable mentions to those on the plane home.
Here’s who we thought stood out from the quarter-final ties. You can find our team of the group stage here, and the round of 16 side here.
📰 Table Of Contents
- 1 GK: Dominik Livakovic (Croatia)
- 2 RB: Josip Juranovic (Croatia)
- 3 CB: Jawed El Yamiq (Morocco)
- 4 CB: Dejan Lovren (Croatia)
- 5 LB: Yahia Attiyat Allah (Morocco)
- 6 CM: Marcelo Brozovic (Croatia)
- 7 CM: Antoine Griezmann (France)
- 8 CM: Sofyan Amrabat (Morocco)
- 9 RW: Bukayo Saka (England)
- 10 ST: Wout Weghorst (Netherlands)
- 11 LW: Lionel Messi (Argentina)
GK: Dominik Livakovic (Croatia)
Croatia squeezed past Brazil on penalties to reach a second consecutive semi-final at the World Cup, but had goalkeeper Livakovic to thank for the most part. He narrowly missed out on our team of the round of 16, despite saving three penalties in the shoot out, but outdid himself this time, with 11 saves to keep the Selecao down to just one goal before helping his side through once more on penalties.
Dominik Livakovic made 11 saves against Brazil, the most saves made by any Goalkeeper in a single match at this World Cup.
Amazing performance. 🛡️ pic.twitter.com/37moG9NKNq
— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) December 9, 2022
RB: Josip Juranovic (Croatia)
No one expected to see a Celtic player anywhere near this stage of the competition, but Juranovic had one of the best games of his career as he helped keep Vinicius Jr quiet while also getting forward for his side, and was probably the best outfield player on the pitch.
#Croatia‘s fantastic coast-to-coast lionheart: Josip Juranović! 🌪️ #FIFAWorldCup #Qatar2022 #Family #Vatreni❤️🔥 pic.twitter.com/jGLFB8ddHy
— HNS (@HNS_CFF) December 10, 2022
CB: Jawed El Yamiq (Morocco)
El Yamiq hace historia como marroquí y como blanquivioleta llegando a una semifinal mundialista.
🙌🇲🇦https://t.co/i05LVXMWkF pic.twitter.com/kOTrzBHpmt— Real Valladolid C.F. 💜 (@realvalladolid) December 10, 2022
CB: Dejan Lovren (Croatia)
It has been some tournament for veteran defenders, and Dejan Lovren continues to impress at the heart of Croatia’s defence as he partners the exciting talent of Josko Gvardiol.
The former Liverpool man made 10 clearances and won all 5 of his duels against the Selecao to help his side book their place in the World Cup semi final for a second consecutive tournament, and proved that even at 33 years-old he is still capable of outstanding performances on the World Stage.
LB: Yahia Attiyat Allah (Morocco)
Like with El-Yamiq, there was fear that the absence of Noussair Mazraoui could be damaging for Morocco, but in fact it was the opposite, with Attiyat-Allah turning in an excellent performance from left-back.
He grabbed the assist for En Nesyri’s winner, while he was also Morocco’s most creative player and did more than his fair share of defending too.
🇲🇦 Yahia Attiyat Allah created more chances (3) than any other Morocco player against Portugal.
His best performance so far. #MAR #MARPOR #Morocco pic.twitter.com/eluuAK2iPs
— Mozo Football (@MozoFootball) December 10, 2022
CM: Marcelo Brozovic (Croatia)
The often overlooked Workhorse of Croatia’s lauded midfield trio, Marcelo Brozovic was excellent against Brazil in front of his defence. Tasked with keeping Neymar quiet, he managed to do so to great effect for the most part, while he also won 3 tackles and 11 duels in an all-round top defensive performance.
Based on FIFA stats, Marcelo Brozović has covered the most distance in every game he’s played at the 2022 World Cup.
The trend continued with 15.72km against Brazil. 🔋#FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/zuvI62faF1
— Squawka (@Squawka) December 9, 2022
CM: Antoine Griezmann (France)
While all of the focus ahead of the game was on Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann delivered another top performance as he helped France beat England. Mr Consistent for Les Blues, he came up with two assists to knock the Three Lions out, and provided the moments of quality that ultimately separated the two sides.
Antoine Griezmann’s game by numbers vs. England:
100% tackles won
100% aerial duels won
88% pass accuracy
58 touches
38 passes completed
3/3 long balls completed
2 key passes
2 assistsMagical. 🪄 pic.twitter.com/ozgVVjkyMF
— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) December 10, 2022
CM: Sofyan Amrabat (Morocco)
Another game, another top performance from Amrabat in the heart of midfield for the Atlas Lions. The central midfielder continues to shine for the Atlas Lions as they upset the odds, and was a huge part of their historic success over Portugal to reach the semi-finals.
RW: Bukayo Saka (England)
Even though England were knocked out, Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka continued to star for the Three Lions. The winger was a threat against France all evening and won the first of England’s two penalties, earning him the highest rating on the England side from French paper L’Equipe in the process.
The pride of England. @BukayoSaka87 ⭐️ pic.twitter.com/Qov9ydqgjy
— Freddie Paxton (@Freddie_Paxton) December 10, 2022
ST: Wout Weghorst (Netherlands)
Burnley will be wondering where this Weghorst was for most of last season, as the Netherlands striker came off the bench to grab two goals and pull the Netherlands back into the tie before they were knocked out on penalties.
His late free-kick was genius, and was the latest-ever knockout goal in World Cup history, and should have counted for so much more.
2 – Wout Weghorst has become the first ever substitute to score twice in a World Cup match for Netherlands. His equaliser was timed at 100:30 – the latest second half goal in a World Cup knockout stage game since Opta have exact goal times (from 1966). Saviour. pic.twitter.com/3oKSPTXoQU
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 9, 2022
LW: Lionel Messi (Argentina)
Another top performance from Argentina’s no.10 was almost undone by a late Netherlands barrage, but Messi’s pass for the first Argentina goal was one that few would have seen, and even fewer would have executed. While his post-match antics will be scrutinised, he did most of his talking on the pitch once more.
No active men’s player has more World Cup goals than Lionel Messi 🐐 pic.twitter.com/XZ4HyFUvr0
— ESPN UK (@ESPNUK) December 10, 2022
