REACHING the FIFA World Cup’s final four, Croatia, France, England and Belgium got themselves $8 million each aside from the assured $22-million per team for making the semifinals. The four teams had already collected a cool $30 million for their respective federations.
England will battle Belgium for the consolation prize of $24 million while whoever wins tomorrow evening between Croatia and France at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow becomes the 2018 FIFA World Cup champion and goes home with an additional $38 million.
This is the fifth FIFA World Cup with all-European semifinal cast (1934 in Italy, 1966 in England, 1982 in Spain, 2006 in Germany and 2018 in Russia). Belgium’s last semis appearance was in 1986, England in 1990, Croatia in 1998, and France in 2006.
Belgium is the top scoring team in this tournament with 14 goals. England, on the other hand, won their first World Cup penalty shootout against Colombia after three previous defeats. The English are on their third WC semis.
With a population of about four million people, Croatia is the smallest country to reach the 2018 WC Finals, their first ever. The country is just half the size of the island of Mindanao. They are the second team after Argentina in 1990 to have won two penalty shootouts in the same World Cup and had won six matches, scoring 11 in a row.
The last time Croatia and France met was during semis of the 1998 WC in France. The host nation then won over the Croats and then moved on to the finals and defeated Brazil for their first World Cup title. Croatia beat the Netherlands for third place.
They might not figure prominently among the perennial contenders but with several players on the English Premiere League, yes, tiny Croatia is a football world power. Actually, all four semi-finalists boast of some of the best Euro league footballers.
France is on its third FIFA WC Finals. After their successful campaign in 1998, they battled Italy for the title in 2006 in Germany but lost to the Italians.
Coaching the French is Didier Deschamps, who captained the 1998 winning team. If Les Bleus makes it all the way, Deschamps becomes the third person to win the FIFA World Cup as a player and coach.
First to achieve the feat was Brazil’s Mario Zagallo who won the Cup in 1958 as a player and then in 1970 as coach.
Next to do so was German football legend Franz Beckenbauer in 1974 as a player and likewise as coach in 1990.
Talking about Brazil, I had been a fan since the time of The Three Rs – Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Rivaldo when together they won their fifth and last FIFA WC jointly hosted by Korea and Japan. Then there was Roberto Carlos, Kaka, Fernandinho, Marcelo, and David Luiz.
This edition’s star player Neymar did not live up to the hype but instead had super flops that would make Hollywood filmmakers cringe.
They could be in a WC drought but Brazil still remains the tournament’s most successful team with five WC titles (1985, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002). They participated in all of 21 World Cups and with 227 goals, they are the tournament’s all-time scorers. Their 73 WC wins are the most by any nation.
Brazil legend Pele is the only 3-time World Cup winner. He is on record, FIFA’s youngest scorer, youngest hat trick scorer, and the youngest player and scorer in a final.
Ronaldo is Brazil’s all-time leading scorer in the World Cup with 15 goals in 19 matches.
For sixteen years, the sixth star on their kits had been elusive for the Brazilians. Maybe in 2022 in Qatar?
Meanwhile, let’s enjoy tomorrow’s final match scheduled at 11pm and surely, whoever wins will go to the record books./PN
