Spain started this World Cup with seven goals against Costa Rica. It was for people to laugh. Now they are out. England have done enough to impress, but France’s Kylian Mbappe stands in their way. Brazil’s quality has dampened expectations for both.
But for fans of every team left in this World Cup, hope still exists even if the hoopla is reserved for some. Portugal came to the party in the last match before the quarter-finals, proving why the competition is starting now. History shows that to be true.
In the past, winners have bounced around the ranks, many without revealing themselves. There is a famous golden boot winner who never saw a single minute of action until the quarter finals. The stuff of fairy tales, which tend to happen in the future.
Argentina captain Diego Maradona won the World Cup in 1986
No one has taken the World Cup like Diego Maradona in 1986. His courageous performance against Uruguay in the round of 16 is well remembered in Argentina, where his only goal before the quarter-final came against Italy.
But at the beginning of Mexico ’86, interest was not on Carlos Bilardo’s side. It was Brazil who scored nine without a reply in their first four games. Bilardo had been criticized. “Diego himself told me, ‘We are alone.’ And look what happened.”
Maradona’s two goals against England changed his life. There were two more outstanding performances in the semi-final against Belgium. Assisting Jorge Burruchaga’s winner in the final against West Germany finished the story.
Opinions can change late in races. Zinedine Zidane was a two-goal hero in the 1998 World Cup final. Before reaching the quarter-finals, Zidane had started fewer games than Bernard Diomede. After being sent to Saudi Arabia, he was banned from two of them.
“I don’t feel that I have failed in any way in this World Cup,” Zidane said after the semi-final. The fact that he felt the need to say that is revealing. “It’s true that I didn’t score, but I still have one more game to play.” And he did.
France celebrate after beating Brazil 3-0 in Paris to win the 1998 World Cup
Zidane’s second red card of the World Cup came, famously, at the end of 2006 against Italy, a country that has done more than any other to spread the fact that slow starts should not be a problem. In 1982, he participated in the first three games and still won.
When Italy stumbled in the quarter-finals due to a stoppage penalty against Australia in 2006, few fancied a repeat. The Brazilian defenders were loved. Home advantage favored Germany. Argentina was playing very good football.
Marcelo Lippi was followed by the Italian press. “Lippi tried to take this dream away from us,” he shouted Sports Courier after the round of 16. But the team made an appearance. Most of Italy’s goalscorers in the group stage did not even start in the final. It all came together.
There were similar doubts about Spain in 2010 when they were defeated by Switzerland in their first match. “Spain played without mistakes,” said Luis Aragones, the former coach who led the team to victory at Euro 2008. Vicente del Bosque’s warning was rejected.
In the end, it didn’t matter. Spain finished the tournament with just eight goals – and the World Cup. Argentina had scored more than that at the halfway point in their last 16 but were back home before Spain beat the Netherlands in the final.
Vicente Del Bosque overcame early opposition to win the World Cup with Spain in 2010
The Dutch are remembered with little fondness for the brutality they inflicted on Spain that night. Despite that, they won six of six games to get there. Ironically, their first defeat came in the final of the World Cup. The Spanish came first.
Germany did this in 2014 after needing extra time to beat Algeria. The important thing is that we are in the quarter-finals, said Per Mertesacker. “You will get the game in the competition,” said head coach Joachim Low. “It’s about winning.” They won it all.
In 2018, France won by one goal against Australia and Peru, played against Denmark, and lost to Argentina in the last 16 before Benjamin Pavard. They had a worse margin than in the quarter-finals but were later deemed worthy winners.
Speaking of the players, Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann both scored in the final but were unable to take the golden boot away from Harry Kane. All six of the England captain’s goals at that World Cup came in the quarter-finals – but that’s not always the case.
Paolo Rossi scored all six goals at the 1982 World Cup in his last three games
Paulo Rossi failed to score until the quarter-final against Italy in Brazil in 1982. He finished with six goals. Croatia’s Davor Suker won the award in 1998 but who remembers now that he scored less than Mexico’s Luis Hernandez before reaching the last eight?
The ultimate individual example, of course, is provided by the only man to score a hat-trick in the biggest game of all. Until England’s quarter-final in 1966, Sir Geoff Hurst had not even kicked a ball in the competition. But it didn’t end.
56 out of 64 games played. The men and moments that will define this World Cup are yet to come.
