Host mistakenly flag Portugal in World Cup 2022

On the Corniche road leading to the Fanzone fan area in Doha yesterday, the organizers kept four national flags including France, Croatia, Argentina and Portugal.

This is a fatal mistake. According to the regulations, the flags of the eliminated teams will be lowered. In the quarterfinals, Portugal lost 0-1 to Morocco, so the Organizing Committee should have kept the flag of the African country.

The fact that the Organizing Committee flew the French and Croatian flags next to each other also attracted attention. Sportske newspaper joked that this could be a sign that these two teams would reach the finals like 2018. At that time, France won 4-2 overwhelmingly to be crowned.

This year, the defending champion leads Group D after beating Australia 4-1, defeating Denmark 2-1 and losing 0-1 to Tunisia. In the 1/8 round and quarter-finals, France defeated Poland 3-1 and England 2-1, respectively. Croatia finished second in Group F after a 0-0 draw with Morocco, a 4-1 win over Canada and a 0-0 draw with Belgium. In the round of 16 and quarterfinals, they won two consecutive penalties, 3-1 against Japan and 4-2 against Brazil.

Morocco surprises the most. After topping Group F with a 0-0 draw with Croatia, defeating Belgium 2-0 and Canada 2-1, in the round of 16, coach Walid Regragui's team won a penalty shootout 3-0 against Spain. Overcoming Portugal, they became the first African team in history to reach the semi-finals of a World Cup.

Argentina started the World Cup with a 1-2 loss to Saudi Arabia, but remained top of Group C thanks to two subsequent victories over Mexico and Poland with a score of 2-0. In the 1/8 round, they beat Australia 2-1. In the quarter-finals, Lionel Messi and his teammates won 4-3 on penalties against the Netherlands.

In the semi-finals, Argentina faced Croatia, and France played Morocco. According to bookmaker William Hill, France is the best candidate with the odds of 11/10 (put 10 to 11). Following are Argentina (August 13), Croatia (January 7) and Morocco (January 8).