Defined the two clashes of the semifinals in the World Cup in Qatar: on Tuesday, 3rd x 12th; the next day the 4th faces the 22nd; that is Argentina x Croatia on the first day and France x Morocco on the second.
As happened in the 2018 World Cup, two teams outside the top 10 of the last FIFA ranking released before the World Cup managed to pierce the list of favorites and guarantee a place in the semifinals. In Russia it was England (12th) and Croatia (20th). The same Croatia now returns to the semi, eight positions above; and Morocco is the worst of the four ranked, with its 22nd place.
If they go through France, the Moroccans will go to the decision with the worst ranking ever recorded for a finalist, beating Croatia’s record in 2018.
Since the creation of the ranking at the end of 1992, this is not the furthest placement from the top of a semi-finalist. The record still belongs to South Korea, 40th in the World Cup in which it hosted, alongside Japan, in 2002. Incidentally, the Koreans lost in the dispute for 3rd place to Turkey, 22nd in Fifa.
Another worse than Morocco was Bulgaria, 29th in the ranking when it finished fourth in the 1994 World Cup, in the United States.
Facing a powerful top 10 team such as France is nothing new for the North African team in the Qatar competition. On the contrary, in the path taken so far, no one has had to face (and leave behind) so many top 10.
In the first phase, the victory against Belgium (second in the ranking) by 2-0 was essential to give the Moroccans the leadership in Group F. The other rivals in the first phase were Croatia (goalless draw) and Canada (won by 2 to 1 the 41st on the list).
In the round of 16 came the Spaniards, in seventh. After the 0-0 draw after 120 minutes, Morocco scored 3-0 on penalties and dispatched Luis Enrique’s selection.
Then Portugal, another top 10 (currently ninth), got in the way of the Africans in the quarterfinals. The victory was in the 90th minute, with a goal by En-Nesyri. The result made Morocco the first team from the African continent to advance to the semifinals.
At the other end, Argentina, the team with the best ranking in the semifinals, only got one top 10 so far: the Netherlands, which is eighth and was eliminated in the round of 16, on penalties, after a 2-2 draw.
French and Croatian have already gone through two top 10 in the journey to the semifinal. The current champions faced Denmark (10th), in the first phase, and, in the last match, England (5th). Meanwhile, Modric and co. they played against Belgium (2nd) in the first phase, and dispatched Brazil, leader of the ranking, in the round of 16.
Incidentally, the curse of the first place in the Fifa ranking continues to kill more than Jason. Brazil was the last victim. Never has a team at the top of the list managed to leave with the title. Who came closest was Brazil itself, in 1998, when it led the list and went all the way to the final, when it lost to France (18th).
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