The 2022 World Cup is down to its final four, and if you’ve been following our prognostications (and even our follow-up attempts), it’s hardly the final four you expected.
Argentina and France? Sure. Makes sense. Then it gets a little off the beaten path. Croatia’s return to the semifinals (despite the fact that it still hasn’t won a knockout match in regular time since 1998) after a surprise run to the final in 2018 and a significant player overhaul certainly wasn’t expected. A semifinalist coming out of Africa wasn’t entirely out of the realm of possibility—before Sadio Mané got hurt, reigning Cup of Nations champion Senegal was a popular pick—but few outside Marrakesh saw Morocco’s ascent coming.