2022 FIFA WORLD CUP
Part 1
For the second time in history, the World Cup would be returning to Africa and the nation to host the tournament would be none other than Morocco though some would say that they should have hosted it long ago in which in 2006 South Africa seemed to be the winning bid to host the first African World Cup though as it tuned out several years later that Morocco had actually won the bid and ultimately a series of the many infamous bribes by FIFA would give the nod to South Africa instead [1]. So when it round for Africa's turn to host the World Cup - with the voting system being far more democratic than before - it was pretty much destined for Morocco to host it and in some ways justice for them to finally win the vote, not to mention that the country's close position to Europe made it suitable to fit inside the 'traditional' European broadcast hours rather than the ones that had been seen for Japan in 2002 and Australia in 2014.
Unlike South Africa who traditionally had been more about rugby than football, Morocco was very much into football itself and the nation would get itself ready to show itself as a modern football nation and the new stadiums that the country would spend would all be in the billions but it was hope that the World Cup's legacy in Morocco would have positive long term effects for the country. All things were looking good but as the old saying goes things all became a little too good to be true and of course in 2020, the world would be rocked by the Covid-19 pandemic which turned everything on its head and many tournaments would all come into question that they should happen or if they ever would [2]. As it would turn out, many would such as Euro 2020 being pushed back to the following year and likewise with the woman's Euros the following year afterwards which happened to be hosted that summer of 2022...the same time frame in which the World Cup was supposed to be hosted by Morocco.
It was a difficult situation in which FIFA couldn't push back their flagship tournament for another year but it was here that a rather unorthodox plan was put into place in which instead of the summer of 2022 that the World Cup would be moved to the winter of that year so that it could still be hosted that year [3]. It was a plan that didn't go down with many nations, mainly in Europe who saw this as a major disruption for the domestic season yet there was no other choice so without further a do, a strange World Cup was about to begin...
The Seedings of the qualified teams for the 2022 World Cup
All the usual suspects were there such as the return of the United States and Italy [4], both having failed to qualify for the last World Cup, a first appearance from Croatia who had only just gotten independence from Yugoslavia [5], Canada would also make a long awaited return to the World Cup but it was Ukraine actually making it to the World Cup that was truly an emotional roller coaster in which as everyone will know at the start of 2022, Russia would invade Ukraine which shocked the world and while it would see the Russians banned from all sporting competitions. Thanks to UEFA still having 14 teams allowing to qualify, Ukraine would make it through via the play-offs and it was hard not to feel a lump in the throat to see them actually make it and seeing the team play in a World Cup that give the war weary nation some relief.
The seeding system itself, which had remained unchanged ever since the tournament had expanded to 32 teams in 1982 would come under criticism over where some teams were rank in which Italy and Croatia's placing in Pot 1 came under question in which the former didn't deserve to be there as they had failed to qualify while many stated that Croatia should've been in a much lower pot as they had never qualified for a World Cup before hand and even the Scots, Australians and Tunisians would argue that they should've been higher as they had all played at the last World Cup. FIFA would state that the placement of the teams were based on the then current world rankings of the teams though some argued that a seeding system based on geographic might have been an alternate though instead the tried and tested format would go on for here.
And another note regarding the teams, this would be the final World Cup that would have 32 teams in which the following World Cup which was to be jointly hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, would be expanded to 48 teams to make it an even more true World Cup. Some argued that it would make the quality drop badly though some argue that expansion was long overdue by this point and as it would turn out following this World Cup, that latter statement would actually have some merit. For now though, the 2022 World Cup as on November 21st in Casablanca, the King of Morocco would make a speech at the Grand Stade de Casablanca to open the 2022 World Cup in which the host nation would kick-off the tournament...
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Morocco would welcome Scotland in the opening match of the World Cup and as it would turn out, a partisan crowd would spook the the Scots to do 2-0 down in just the first half alone and while they would strike back with a goal after just 10 minutes later into the second half, it was all for nothing as Morocco held on to win the game and the Scots were in real trouble. Meanwhile, Ukraine (the world's favourite team by this point) would battle it would with a 0-0 draw with Uruguay though while no goals might have been scored, the Ukraine players complained that the South American players were rough. As it turned out, that was only a prelude of what was to happened next as in the second group game between Morocco and Uruguay would go down in history as one of the most infamous matches of football ever seen in a event that would be known as 'The Battle of Rabat'.
The trouble had started in which before the game in which two Uruguayan fans out in Morocco would make the mistake of on their own YouTube channel giving out a crude description of the country calling it a 'dump', how thieving in the capital makes Montevideo look safe, how the people are backwards and how horrid the woman were. Perhaps to no one's shock, many Moroccans were left furious by these negative words in which the backlash was so great that the two Uruguayan fans who had said all this at first were forced to flee the country and even a poor Argentina fan in one Moroccan bar was mistaken to be a Uruguayan and was brutally beaten up - pretty much a modern day version of the events leading up to the infamous Battle of Santiago in 1962.
The tensions going into that game were great in which Uruguay had become the most hated team in Morocco and the players for the host nation would let their frustrations out on their South American counterparts in which both teams spent more times fighting that playing in which while the game would end in a 1-1 draw in which Morocco would rescue themselves in the during moments of the game to cancel out a Luis Suárez goal who in turn would get a booking for kicking a ball into the Morocco bench to let out his frustrations [6] which saw a bench clear out and near riot between the players. In total, it would all add to up a record breaking
18 yellow cards being shown and three sending offs (two for the hosts and one for Uruguay) in one of the most violent games of football ever seen.
It was a game so appalling that during the BBC's
Match of the Day highlights reel (the match having been broadcast live on ITV for UK viewers), host Gary Linker would introduce to the audience as being perhaps 'the most stupidest, appalling and disgraceful games of football ever seen' [7]. Such was the aftermath of that game in which nearly everyone forgot about the other game in group featuring Ukraine and Scotland in which the Ukrainians would record a impressive 3-1 victory over a shellshocked Scotland team [8] who pretty much were out of the World Cup and the first time they would be out of the group stage since 1958 though they weren't going to go out on a whimper...
Ukraine beating Scotland during their World Cup match
The final group games would see many nations having it all to play for in which Uruguay knew that victory over an already eliminated Scotland would put them through as long as Morocco would defeat Ukraine while the latter had to hope that a Scottish victory over Uruguay would help send them through. As it would happen, things weren't looking good in which Uruguay looked in control after going 1-0 over Scotland while Ukraine were losing 2-0 to Morocco however Scotland would win a penalty which would see them draw level before coming back to stun a shellshocked Uruguay to turn it around and win 2-1 in which perhaps the most well remembered image of that match being of Suárez on the bench crying his eyes out over the fact Uruguay were about to crash out while Ukrainian supporters hearing the news erupted into cheers that they were going through.
The humiliation for Uruguay would be complete in which towards the end of the game, Uruguay were controversially denied a late penalty from VAR in which the players would lose their heads once again in which the Scottish players ended up getting tackled a lot and several more yellow cards were brandished which all saw Uruguay fail to win and their bad temper would only play the infamous reputation of being a team of thugs that would have been suited to the early days of the World Cup. Nonetheless for the rest of the world, Ukraine going through was the result many wanted and with Morocco winning the group, they had high hopes of going all the way...
Final results of Group A
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The next group was one on paper seemed one that many felt Spain would do well in with Wales sneaking through too with the United States not making much of an impact. As it turned out, it would prove to be quite an open group in which both Spain and Wales would end up drawing with Ecuador and the United States respectably, the latter result actually giving the Americans hopes of going all the way in which they would follow up the result with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Ecuador which pretty much put them through while in turn, Spain would defeat the Welsh in a late 1-0 victory in which saw the Welsh keeper get sent off [9] that left Welsh hopes hanging by a thread in which now they needed to defeat the Americans to have any chance of going through.
The Americans too needed a victory to pretty much secure their place in the next round as it was expected that Spain would defeat the sorry Ecuadorians in their final group game. As it would turn out though, neither side got the victory they all were looking for in which the Americans drew with the Welsh [10] while Spain would blow a 2-0 lead to have the South Americans fight back to record a 2-2 draw in which while didn't safe them from elimination would at least see them end their World Cup on a more respectable note while the Welsh were left sadden that after coming close to reach a final in the last World Cup, they had flopped at this World Cup.
Wales vs USA in the final group match
As it would turn out, both Spain and the USA would end up on 5 points each though it would be the USA that would surprise many by winning the groups thanks to having a slightly better goal record compared to Spain and for a team that had failed to qualify for the last World Cup, it wasn't a bad return to the World Cup while Spain had to hope that they would have an somewhat easy team to face in the second round...
Final results of Group B
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Group C was considered by many to be pretty much an easy group to decide on what would happen in which Belgium would run over everyone to win the group while second place would be a free for all for the other three teams. As it turned as with many crazy results in this World Cup, things would not follow the script starting from the opening match in which a lacklustre and clearly aging Belgium side played Tunisian and were stunned into a 1-0 defeat thanks to a Tunisian penalty [11] which would see the Africans hang on to secure perhaps the biggest win in their history and send the Belgians in a freefall. As it turned sadly for the Africans, that win would be the highpoint for the them as after that, it would all go downhill from there...
In the other game, Croatia would play in their first World Cup match with Japan in which they would play out a 1-1 in a game that really could have been won by either of them and pretty much it all left the group wide open. The second round of games would end up seeing Belgium fire blanks against Croatia in which perhaps infamously Lukaku would despite having many chances fail to score and saw that game in a 0-0 draw [12] and left Belgian hopes hanging by a thread while in the other game with Japan and Tunisian, the Japanese would secure a comfortable 2-1 victory which pretty much had them on the very edge of qualification for the second round as long as they could secure a result with Belgium.
The final group games would have Croatia, the rank outsiders to many dispatch Tunisia 2-0 to qualify though it was in the other game with Japan and Belgium that would be filled with controversy over a certain Japanese goal. Belgium would take an early lead though Japan would fight back to score two goals to turn it around though it was the second goal which would spark controversy Japan midfielder Ao Tanaka scored a controversial second goal after the ball appeared to go out of play and VAR took several minutes to confirm that a sliver of the ball stayed in the field, making it a valid goal [13].
The infamous second goal for Japan which claimed the ball remained in the field of play
The Belgians were furious with the decision yet despite this, Belgium failed to find a goal to save them from going out and in the end, the runners-up at the last World Cup would end up rock bottom of the group and while some felt sorry for the manner they lost, in truth they pretty much was a shadow of the team of before and pretty much didn't deserve anything from this World Cup and that golden generation of Belgian talent would ultimately end up winning nothing. In turn however, Japan would win a group for the first time and looked forward to making it into playing knockout stage football for the first time in several years...
Final results of Group C
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When Group D was first drawn out, it was pretty much stated by many the group of death and for good reason...it was group that featured Argentina, Germany, Senegal and Saudi Arabia in which in all honesty no one really knew who would be getting through as all the teams there with the exception of Saudi Arabia all seemed to be level with each other and seemed likely to go through. As it would turn out, it would be a crazy affair from the moment in which Saudi Arabia would embarrass Argentina in the opening match to win 2-1 [14] while elsewhere Senegal would hold Germany to a 1-1 draw which left the group wide open.
The second round of fixtures would see the heavy weight clash with Argentina and Germany in which the former were badly needing a win to stay alive and they would respond in kind by defeating the Germans 2-0 which might had kept Argentina's hopes alive but left Germany's hanging by a thread while at the same time, Senegal increased their own chances by defeat Saudi Arabia 4-2 and knew that a result in their final group match with Argentina would send them through though honestly everyone had a chance of going through in which no one could decide who it would be.
As it would happen, Argentina would win the group by defeating Senegal and the Africans feared that either a Saudi victory or a high scoring German win would both send the Africans out though while it would be a German victory...it wouldn't enough. The Germans would finally find some form by defeating the Saudis 2-1 which left both them and Senegal tied on 4 points each however it would be the Africans who would be celebrating in going through as thanks to having outscored the Germans in the group would pretty much help Senegal sneak through in second place and shock the Germans into a second consecutive group stage exit at the World Cup.
Saudi players celebrate after their shock victory over Argentina
Germany's fall from grace from always making it into the knockout stage to end up in back to back group stage exits was a shock that left German football to question what had gone wrong and knew that they had to do better for the following World Cup. Meanwhile, Senegal were delighted to have made it out of the group of death and were the second African side behind Morocco at that World Cup to have made it from the group stage. Would more African sides follow...?
Final results of Group D
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Group E was pretty much E for England in what was pretty much in the face of it a fairly comfortable perfect group stage for them however it wasn't without some truly hairy moments in which in their 3-2 victory over Ghana, The Three Lions nearly blew a 3-1 lead by letting the Black Stars into the match which nearly went all horribly wrong when England goalkeeper Jordon Pickford nearly blew the lead late on in which he nearly let Ghana score a shock equaliser [15] though thankfully England held on to win the game though it didn't leave the World Champions looking all that good. That said, they would follow with a tight 1-0 victory over Switzerland before finally demolishing Iran 6-2 [16] in their final group game.
As it would turn out, the team to join England into the second round would be Ghana who after that narrow defeat to England would buckle down and get involved in another 3-2 game with Iran, only this time however Ghana would be the winners in that match. This would all be then followed up in a pretty hard fought game with the Swiss in which the Black Stars knew that a draw with the Swiss would be enough to send them through in which that would be the case in which that gamed ended 1-1 in which meant that Ghana became the third African side at that World Cup to make it to the second round.
All in all, there really wasn't nothing much to say about the group other than perhaps it went the way many suspected it would though many felt Iran could repeat their heroics as they had done in the last World Cup by making it to the next round though as it turned out, the combination of a volatile political situation at home and that support for Russia in their invasion of Ukraine had led for some, mainly from Ukraine themselves who said that Iran should be kicked out of the World Cup because of this [17] though in truth, it wasn't really needed as Iran ended up rock bottom of the group.
England vs Iran during the final group match
Perhaps the biggest disappointment was Switzerland in which despite some seeing as a rank outsider would end up flopping in the group barely leaving much of an impact during the group stage and 2022 would in turn be nothing more than just a footnote for them. For England however, their hopes of defending their crown now truly begin and they can only hope that could defend their honour...
Final results of Group E
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When it came round for Group F, much like how Group E was E for England, Group F was F for France of course and much like England, they would gain maximum points from the group with little to no trouble there by starting off with a 4-1 thrashing of Australia [18], get the better of Mexico in a 1-0 win before finally putting the sorry Poles out of their misery to win 3-1 [19] which gave the French a positive view that they were one of the favourites to lift that year's World Cup. It was however in the other matches that was a lot more closer in which after that defeat to the French, few gave the Australians a chance to go through yet they would respond with a 2-0 victory over Poland which meant that a draw with Mexico would send them through.
And that would be the case in which despite many thinking Mexico would be going through from many pundits early predictions, Australia would hold onto a 1-1 draw that would see the Socceroos finish up in second place while Mexico would end up in third place which was something of a upset given how many felt Mexico had a chance to go through here but alas it was not to be. In the end, there was nothing else to say from the group in which many would be keeping an eye on the French going forward...
Final results of Group F
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Group G was something of a group of death in itself in which saw Brazil and Portugal drawn together alongside with Cameroon and Costa Rica though as it would turn out it would be perhaps the most open group at the World Cup and would be filled with shocks from from the off in which Cameroon would leave Brazil stunned by beating them 1-0 [20] which gave the Brazilians a mountain to climb which Portugal would only just get the better of Costa Rica in a 1-0 victory of their own and with the next game being the big clash between Brazil and Portugal, Brazil knew that a defeat here, being one of the favourites as they are always for any World Cup, would have them make a humiliating early exit.
As it would turn out, it would be one of the games of the tournament in which that game would end in a 2-2 draw in which while didn't eliminate Brazil did though leave them on the edge in which meant that they simply had to win against Costa Rica if they wanted to go through while Portugal knew that a draw with Cameroon would be enough to send them though. On that topic, Cameroon hadn't really be able to add to their shock victory in which many of their fans had hoped a victory over Costa Rica would help them qualify for the next round but alas they fell to a 1-0 loss that gave the latter a fighting chance to go through themselves.
Cameroon during their shock victory over Brazil
As it would turn out, Brazil would thrash Costa Rica 4-2 though as it turned out that victory might have not been enough for them in which in the other game, Portugal would take the lead in their game with Cameroon though towards the end, Cameroon would find a surge of form to get a goal back and look certain to getting a second goal in which Portugal looked rattled and many Brazilians would have been holding their breathes at that point but alas for Cameroon, that second goal never happened as they would end up on level points with Brazil though it would be the latter who would sneak though on goal difference as runners-up.
That all being said, Brazil didn't look at good and would need to improve greatly if they were to win the World Cup that year while Cameroon had just missed out on making history in which had they gone through, it would have been the first time that 4 African sides would have been playing in the knockout stage of a World Cup. And for Portugal? They were just happy to win the group in which on another day they might have failed to get out from...
Final results of Group G
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The final group of that World Cup, Group H, would be yet another open group that featured Netherlands, Italy, South Korea and Canada in which while on paper seemed a group that favoured the two European teams in which the Koreans and Canadians just seemed to make up the numbers though that would never turn out to be the case. The Dutch would defeat the Canadians in their opening match as such with Italy getting the better of South Korea yet despite this neither side looked that strong such as Canada holding the Dutch to a 2-1 defeat in which the Canadians looked plucky and gained the respect of many while South Korea only lost 1-0 to Italy.
That all said though, it meant that South Korea and Canada knew that as they faced each other in the second group game is that whoever lost that game would pretty much be out of the World Cup and as it would turn out, the Koreans would utterly rout the Canadians 4-1 which not only saved their World Cup hopes but pretty much sent the Canadians out the World Cup in which their final group game with Italy would be nothing more than game that they would be playing for pride. Meanwhile, the Dutch and Italians would play out to a 1-1 draw which even on the face of it seemed to pretty much send both through, as it would turn out, that wouldn't be quite the case...
Italy vs Netherlands in the second group game
The Italians were pretty much sure that victory over a already doomed Canada and anything less than that would be a disgrace while the Dutch would have a more tougher opponent in South Korea yet what happened that day would be a crazy affair. South Korea would stun the Dutch by running into a 2-0 lead in which the latter had utterly underestimated the Asian side which as it stood looked like it was going to send them crashing out but thankfully for them they would fight back to claw back a 2-2 result that pretty much sent the Dutch through but left the South Koreans praying for a miracle...and a miracle did happen.
Much like with the Dutch had with the Koreans, the Italians seemed to struggle to break down the Canadians who were playing for pride yet nonetheless were still going through as it stood...that was until the 73rd minute when Canada struck a dagger through the hearts of the Italians by scoring a shock lead which left the Italians to scramble for a goal which if they didn't score, they'd go out. They failed to do so in which Canada would end their World Cup on high note with their first victory and perhaps pulling off the biggest shock in the history of World Cup in a game known as the 'Miracle of Nador' [21] which didn't do anything to keep Canada in the World Cup but sent the Italians home and South Korea would fight another day but with that, it was the end of the first round of the 2022 World Cup
Final results of Group H
With that, a very diverse second round had emerged in the last 16 which seemed to represent all continents which helped on how much of a true World Cup this was and now everyone could hardly wait to see what would happen next...
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[1] As what was found out much like OTL.
[2] No way to avoid Covid-19 here.
[3] So yeah, the schedule remains the same as OTL.
[4] Italy do qualify here unlike OTL.
[5] So Croatia make a better late than never appearance here...for those who are wondering what happened here, Croatia and Slovenia gain independence here sometime between 2014 and 2019 and Yugoslavia is still here though this time its made up with Serbia, B&H and Montenegro with North Macedonia out of it too. Regardless though, no terrible war here.
[6] Pretty much like that moment in the OTL Argentina vs Dutch game and who else could it have been here to do that?
[7] This is based of Coleman's infamous quote of that game in 1962 based on the video here [8] Same result as OTL qualifying round match
[9] Same as in the OTL Wales vs Iran game
[10] Same as OTL.
[11] The game is the same as the OTL Belgium vs Canada game though what happens is that the penalty is scored here unlike OTL.
[12] Yes, poor guys has a bad day here much OTL.
[13] Yes...couldn't leave this out, too iconic!
[14] Same as OTL.
[15] The game is pretty much the same as OTL's Portugal vs Ghana match here.
[16] As OTL
[17] As what was said then.
[18] Same as OTL.
[19] Same as OTL.
[20] Same as OTL.
[21] Pretty much TTL's Italy vs North Korea game but set many decades later.
Well, late Christmas present but here we are, the 2022 World Cup begins! Hope you liked it so far and what has been your favourite group game so far in this ATL WC then? 
Anyway here is the last 16 fixtures as follows:
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Morocco vs Spain
Japan vs Senegal
England vs Australia
Portugal vs South Korea
United States vs Ukraine
Argentina vs Croatia
France vs Ghana
Netherlands vs Brazil
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So who will win and why and who will go all the way? Please comment and I'll see you next time! 
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