The 2022 World Cup has been very eventful thus far. From legends of the game participating in their final world cups to young stars making their first impacts, and everything in between, the world-class event has more than lived up to the hype this time around. 

While many of the juggernauts such as Argentina, Brazil, England, France, Portugal, and Spain were able to make it out of their respective groups, some contenders like Belgium, Germany, and Uruguay fluttered out early. Australia, Japan, Morocco, and South Korea were able to pull off upsets in their respective groups and make it to the knockout stage. Morocco was able to beat heavily favored Spain and Portugal in the knockout stage before bowing out to France in the semi-finals. 

One of the coolest parts about the World Cup is that it seems like everyone from their respective country rallies around their national teams regardless of how big a soccer fan they are. This was demonstrated best in the United States as everyone seemed to tune into Team USA’s games and gave their unwavering support as the Americans were able to make the knockout stage for the first time since 2014. 

Christiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Luka Modric, and Luis Suarez are all legends of the game that are likely playing in their last Cup. Ronaldo finished the tournament with one goal after Portugal crashed out in the quarter-finals against Morocco. Messi has put up four goals thus far for Argentina and is tied for the second most goals in the tournament behind France’s Kylian Mbappe who has five. Messi tallied another goal in his semi-final matchup against Croatia and is now tied up with Mbappe at five goals a piece.

Unfortunately for the tournament, a disaster took place when famed sports journalist Grant Wahl mysteriously passed away while covering Argentina vs Netherlands quarterfinal match. Grant’s brother Eric Wahl posted a video that explained that he believed foul play was involved, due to Grant allegedly being in perfect health. Wahl wore a rainbow-colored shirt which was a symbol supporting the LGBTQ community prior to the tournament but was informed that this was not permitted by Qatar authorities. No one truly knew the cause of death at first, but his body was transported back to the United States where an in-depth autopsy took place to find the cause. Wahl’s widow came out saying that his death was from a ruptured aortic aneurysm. 

After a dominating 3-0 win in the semis against Croatia, Argentina will be getting a chance at redemption after a heartbreaking loss in the 2014 World Cup final against Germany. They will be taking on the defending champions, France, in the final in what will surely be an incredible soccer game. In Messi’s illustrious career, one of the few things that he hasn’t achieved is winning a World Cup, so a title in Qatar would cement his legacy.