Last updated: Dec. 19, 2022
The 2022 World Cup in Qatar wrapped up on Sunday. In a thrilling extra-time match, Argentina eventually triumphed over France in penalty kicks, securing the nation’s first World Cup championship since 1986. After opening the tournament at +600 odds, behind other favorites like Brazil (+175), France (+400), and England (+550), the squad captained by Lionel Messi blazed a path all the way to the championship after a close, back-and-forth match in Sunday’s final.
Read on below for more information about how the 2022 FIFA World Cup unfolded.
Odds to win World Cup 2022 Qatar
Argentina‘s path to victory got off to a rocky start, as the team lost its opening match in a shocking 2-1 upset to tournament longshot Saudi Arabia. The Argentine side would rebound by beating Mexico and Poland to win its group and advance to the round of 16, where it eliminated the “Socceroos” of Australia. The team looked to be cruising to victory with a two-goal lead over the Netherlands in the quarterfinals, but after giving up two quick goals late in the match, Argentina had to rely on goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, who came up big in penalty kicks to help the team win the match and advance. After a one-sided 3-0 victory against Croatia in the semifinals, Argentina was through to the final against France.
Once again, Argentina let a lead slip out of their hands late in the match. After going up 2-0 on France early on, Argentina let their foes back in it on the strength of two goals by French forward Kylian Mbappe in the span of about 90 seconds. The match was sent to extra time, where both Messi and Mbappe scored again, and then finally to penalty kicks, where Martinez again came up big with key saves to help Argentina clinch the win and the championship.
2022 World Cup Golden Boot results
France’s Kylian Mbappé just barely edged out Argentina’s Lionel Messi to win the 2022 World Cup Golden Boot on the strength of a hat trick in the final match. With two goals inside of two minutes to pull even, Mbappe scored again in extra time to finish with eight goals in the tournament, putting him one ahead of Messi, who had seven.
Messi did, however, win the Golden Ball, which is awarded to the tournament’s best player. Argentina’s goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez took the Golden Glove award for the best keeper, while the Young Player of the Tournament award also went to an Argentine player in 21-year-old Enzo Fernandez.
2022 World Cup group results
Before anyone can win the cup, the qualifying 32 teams had to make it out of the group round, where two teams from each group advanced to the knockout stage. Each team in the group played each other once for a total of three games each during the group stage.
Here’s how each group shaped up:
Group A
Netherlands
The Netherlands looked shakier than expected at times, especially considering its status as the favorite from this group, but it did enough to win Group A and advance to the round of 16, before being eliminated by Argentina in the quarterfinals.
Senegal
Senegal finished second in the group and advanced to the knockout round, where it was eliminated by England. The team still had the best winning percentage of any African nation at this World Cup.
Ecuador
Ecuador ended in fourth place in CONMEBOL to qualify for this year’s World Cup, tying both Argentina and Brazil in the process, but it failed to make it out of group play after falling to Senegal in a pivotal final match.
Qatar
Qatar is both hosting and playing in its first World Cup. Expectations weren’t high for the team to make it out of group play, so it was no surprise to see the squad eliminated with losses in every game.
Group B
England
England came in as a heavy favorite in Group B and then showed why almost immediately, beating Iran by a hefty margin. After a draw with the U.S. and a win over Wales, it emerged as the winner of the group, though was later eliminated by France in the quarterfinals.
USA
This US team got a big win over Iran to advance out of group play for the first time since 2014, but was overwhelmed by a bigger, more experienced Netherlands team in the first match of the knockout round. The 3-1 loss eliminated the American team from this tournament on Saturday.
Wales
This was Wales’ first appearance in the World Cup since 1958, and the highlight will likely be tying the U.S. late to pull even for a draw in a match it was mostly losing. Lowlights include a loss to Iran, in which the Welsh keeper was sent off by a red card just in time for the team to give up two goals in stoppage time. Then there was the 3-0 loss to England in the final match to seal the team’s fate and send Wales packing.
Iran
This was Iran’s third straight World Cup appearance as the top seed from the Asian region, but it failed to make it out of group play after being blanked in a hard fought contest against the U.S. in the final match of group play.
Group C
Argentina
Unsurprisingly, Argentina won the group (despite a rocky start) and won the tournament on penalty kicks after blowing a late 2-0 lead over France in the finals.
Mexico
Mexico has appeared at every World Cup since 1994 and kept the streak alive after notching second place in the CONCACAF qualifiers, but after tying Poland in the group standings it was eliminated on the basis of goal differential. A disappointing result, especially considering how close it came to moving on.
Poland
Poland advanced out of the group by the skin of its teeth, despite finishing on a 2-0 loss to Argentina in the final match of group play. The team was eliminated in a loss to France in the round of 16.
Saudi Arabia
As expected, Saudi Arabia was eliminated in the group stage. Still, its opening match win over Argentina was the shock of the tournament and will probably make this whole thing feel like a species of success for this World Cup’s biggest underdog.
Group D
France
The 2018 winners looked good in the first two matches and won the group to move on, but lost a heartbreaker in the finals against Argentina, despite a stellar three-goal performance from Kylian Mbappe.
Denmark
Denmark might be the biggest disappointment of this group, failing to move on after a surprising 1-0 loss to Australia in the final match of group play. The team was expected to at least advance to the round of 16. Instead it’s going home early.
Tunisia
Tunisia‘s win over France was probably enough to make this feel like a moral victory, since it wasn’t expected to advance out of the group stage anyway. It didn’t, but going home on a win at least gives it some positive feelings to build on.
Australia
Australia wasn’t expected to make it out of group play, but the big win over Denmark helped this overachieving team make it into the round of 16. It was eliminated in the knockout round on a 2-1 loss to Argentina, but simply making it that far exceeding most fans’ hopes for the squad.
Group E
Spain
Spain ended group play tied on points with Germany, but made it through on the basis of the goal differential tiebreaker. The real shocker came when it lost to Morocco in the round of 16 and was eliminated.
Germany
Another World Cup where Germany fails to make it out of the group stage. That’s two straight, which is verging on a national disgrace for this once mighty squad.
Japan
This Japanese team has talent and is led by veteran Takumi Minamino, but even in their wildest dreams few fans probably expected the team to beat both Germany and Spain to win the group and move on to the knockout phase. Ultimately, the team was eliminated by Croatia in the round of 16.
Costa Rica
Costa Rica was the last team to qualify for this year’s World Cup field and began play tied with Saudia Arabia as the biggest underdog. It ultimately failed to make it out of group play, but it’s 1-0 victory over group winner Japan will have to do as a consolation prize.
Group F
Belgium
Belgium started out as favorite to win this group and ended up failing to even make it out of group play. Rumors were that the team had issues with cohesion and cooperation within the squad. This disappointing result won’t exactly dispel that.
Croatia
Croatia quieted a lot of doubters in 2018 when it took second place at the World Cup, and this year it shocked people further with a win over Brazil in the quarterfinals to move on to the semis, where it was soundly beaten by Argentina.
Morocco
Morocco surprised a lot of people by not only advancing to the next round, but also winning this group. It advanced all the way to the semifinals, making it further than any other African team in World Cup history, before being eliminated by France.
Canada
For the first time in 36 years, Canada made it to a World Cup. It also got eliminated before group play even ended, thanks to losses in its first two games. But simply showing up here was a form of success.
Group G
Brazil
Brazil won its great with style and swagger, but was eliminated on a major upset in a loss to Croatia in the quarterfinals.
Switzerland
Switzerland beat Serbia 3-2 in the final group play match. That was good enough for second place in the group and a spot in the next round, though Portugal sent the squad home on a 6-1 drubbing in the round of 16.
Serbia
Serbia failed to get the win it needed most in its final group play match, and now it’s headed home without a single victory in this World Cup.
Cameroon
Cameroon didn’t advance, but the squad did end on a high note with a shocking 1-0 upset of tournament and group favorite Brazil.
Group H
Portugal
Portugal struggled in the qualifiers and lost a shocker to South Korea in the final group match, but it still did well enough to win the group and move on. It was eliminated by Morocco in the quarterfinals.
Uruguay
Last World Cup, Uruguay lost in the round of eight to the eventual winner, France. This year it was eliminated in group play after South Korea surged forward to snag the second spot.
Ghana
Ghana showed promise in the qualifiers after working hard to edge opponents and earn a spot in the tournament, but two losses in group play doomed it to elimination.
South Korea
South Korea came through at clutch time to get a big win over Portugal and finish second in the group, but was eliminated by Brazil in the round of 16.