Nations who’ve failed to live up to expectations at 2022 World Cup

The 2022 FIFA World Cup is coming to an end, and the coveted trophy will be awarded on December 18 after the final between defending champions France and Argentina.

A lot has been said about who would be crowned champions, and big European countries were predicted to win.

What football-loving fans saw, on the other hand, was nothing short of a let-down as big teams dropped out of the competition early on.

Here are four countries that performed poorly and will have to take a hard look and prepare well for the continental championships before trying again in 2026, writes Tlalane Phahla.

Many of the teams will look different by then, as many players are playing in their final World Cup this year.

BELGIUM

For so long, Belgium have been expected to win a major trophy while the so-called ‘golden generation’ is still together, but the Red Devils crashed out of the group stages humiliatingly.

They finished third in their group, which included Morocco, Canada, and Croatia.

Roberto Martinez resigned immediately after the final group game, and the Belgians are back to square one.

A number of managers have been linked to the position since then, but nothing has come of it.

The golden age has passed. Captain Eden Hazard has announced his retirement from international football.

He will not be alone; many players have likely made their final appearances for the national team.

GERMANY

It was never going to be easy for Germany because they were still putting together a team.

And when they lost their first game to Japan, it was clear that this was going to be a difficult tournament for them.

With key players like Toni Kroos retiring, Germany’s new midfield was being tested for the first time on a big stage, which may have come too soon for them.

By the time the Germans played their final group game, their fate had been decided. They were heavily reliant on Spain defeating Japan.

But the Spaniards were also unable to find a way past a tenacious Japanese team. Despite the humiliating early exit, Hansi Flick managed to keep his job.

The team is now under pressure to perform well at the EURO 2024, and a similar performance to this one could result in Flick’s dismissal.

PORTUGAL

With this potentially being Cristiano Ronaldo’s final World Cup, expectations were high that Portugal would go all the way, but they were defeated 1-0 by Morocco in the quarterfinals.

It is customary in Portugal for Ronaldo to bear the brunt of the national team’s failures.

However, the Portuguese media appears to have shifted the team’s failures to manager Fernando Santos.

Santos was heavily chastised for leaving Ronaldo out of the starting XI. Santos preferred Goncalo Ramos, a 21-year-old Benfica starlet.

Ramos was sensational against Switzerland, scoring a hat-trick, but he fell short against Morocco.

Ronaldo came on in the second half against Morocco as Portugal sought an equaliser that never materialised.

Luis Figo, a Portugal legend, also chastised Santo for benching Ronaldo.

In recent days, the Portuguese newspaper Abola reported that Santos was on the verge of being fired as a result of the team’s disastrous World Cup performance.

BRAZIL

Brazil may be the biggest disappointment of all. They entered the tournament as the favourites, but they fell short of expectations.

After being knocked out of the quarterfinals by Croatia, manager Tite announced his resignation from the national team.

Tite took over in 2016 and led the team to the 2019 Copa America.

However, Brazil have struggled in major tournaments.

They were eliminated in the quarterfinals by Belgium in 2018 and lost the Copa America final to Argentina in 2021.

After the defeat against Croatia, Tite told reporters that it was painful but he was at peace with himself and said it was the end of a cycle.

Spain could easily have made the list.

But with Luis Enrique still building the team, the focus has always been on the 2024 EUROs.

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