Expert answers to four key questions ahead of the World Cup quarterfinals:
What’s the can’t miss match in the Quarter finals of the World Cup?
All games are important at this stage, but the best to watch one will be France vs England. Both teams have very strong squads. France won the last World Cup, in 2018, and is on fire in this year’s tournament. England haven’t won the World Cup since 1966, but are in strong contention for the title this year. However, England is known to choke up in the big games, like what happened in 2018; they reached the semi-finals but lost the match. The match on Saturday will depend on what formation the coaches pick. England has more of a defensive style of play while France has more of an attacking style which is fast and very skillful with the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele. The England defense has to be on their toes all time because if you leave these two loose they will make you pay. But England has a young squad with talented players with the likes of Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka, Phil Foden, Declan Rice, and Mason Mount. This group is dominant in the midfield and the attack. If they play an attacking formation, they will beat France. This game will depend on the formation the coaches pick and who can last the longest because this match is going to be a don’t get off the couch game.
France and England will face off on Saturday at 2 pm EST
Who is Yassine Bounou?
That’s the question half the world was asking as we watched Morocco upset Spain on Tuesday. Bounou is the Moroccan goalkeeper who pushed his team through to the quarter finals of the World Cup. He saved two penalties against Spain in a penalty shootout. This is especially interesting because Bonou has spent almost his whole football career in Spain. This makes the loss even harder on Spanish fans, especially the Spanish club, Sevilla, that he currently plays for.
Should Ronaldo start against Morocco on Saturday?
No. He is not the same player he was before. Ronaldo has struggled to score a goal after the first group stage match. When he’s on the field, he looks frustrated every time he misses. Portugal coach Fernando Santos made the bold decision to put Ronaldo on the bench to start the first game of the round of 16, and his replacement, striker Goncalo Ramos, got a hat-trick (3 goals in one game). He should not start because it benefits Portugal in a good way; maybe this is the best decision for him and the team.
Morocco and Portugal will face off on Saturday at 10 am EST
Who should USA and Mexico fans pull for now?
Since the USA is out of the World Cup, I think American fans should root for Argentina. Since the USA lost to Netherlands and Argentina will be playing Netherlands tomorrow, this lines up, unless, for some reason, some US fans are Ronaldo fans and decide to go for Portugal instead. For me, I could care less about being a Ronaldo or Messi fan but if you like them, root for them. Mexico fans, on the other hand, should NOT root for Argentina because of what happened in the group stage. They can root for Messi, but not the team. A better option would be to root for Brazil. Most fans want to see Brazil beat Argentina as revenge, so they can troll the Argentinian fans.
Brazil faces off against Croatia tomorrow at 10 am EST, and Argentina will play the Netherlands tomorrow at 2 pm EST
