Records Fall As New Heroes Stand Tall In Qatar

Qatar 2022 has offered a fresh take on this long-standing and beloved tournament which was held in the Middle East for the first time in November and December this year.

There were new records set and some equaled in what was a spectacle full of thrills and spills.

Pele’s record

Neymar equaled Pele’s record tally of 77 goals for Brazil with his brilliant strike against Croatia in the World Cup quarterfinals, but his team crashed out on penalties.

The forward fired home from close range in extra time to put Brazil ahead and draw level with Pele, who scored his goals between 1957 and 1971.

Neymar beat Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic with a clever dribble and converted from a tight angle in stoppage time in the first additional period.

Harry Kane

Harry Kane became England’s joint all-time leading goal scorer, striking for the 53rd time against France in the World Cup quarterfinals to join Wayne Rooney at the top of the charts.

The captain, playing his 80th international, scored England’s equaliser early in the second half at the Al Bayt Stadium in Qatar to pull level with former Manchester United forward Rooney.

Joy turned into heartbreak for Kane in the second half when England got another penalty and Kane stepped up ready to write himself into the history books. At the second attempt, England’s captain blazed his penalty over the bar against Hugo Lloris, sending them home.

Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo became the first man to score in five World Cups when he found the net against Ghana.

Uwe Seeler, Pele, Miroslav Klose and Lionel Messi have netted in four global finals. Grzegorz Lato, Andrzej Szarmach, Michel Platini, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Diego Maradona, Lothar Matthaus, Rudi Voller, Roberto Baggio, Jurgen Klinsmann, Gabriel Batistuta, Fernando Hierro, Henrik Larsson, Raul, Ronaldo, Tim Cahill, Arjen Robben, David Villa, Edinson Cavani, Luis Suarez and Xherdan Shaqiri have scored in three.

Khazri sets record

Wahbi Khazri became the first African player to score in three successive World Cup starts after he followed up goals against Belgium and Panama in Russia in 2018 with the winner against France. The 31-year-old has now been directly involved in Tunisia’s last five goals in the competition, having assisted Dylan Bronn and Fakhreddine Ben Youssef four years ago.

Muntari remembered 

Mohammed Muntari scored Qatar’s first-ever World Cup goal during its second group ‘A’ match against Senegal, which the host nation lost 1-3.

The naturalised 28-year-old born in Kumasi in Ghana began his career in the Golden Lions Soccer Academy and made his maiden appearance on 27 December, 2014, scoring on his debut against Estonia in a friendly match.

He has since scored 12 more goals for his country in 49 caps.

Supersport /Samuel Isaiah