2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar logo

World Cup

Qatar

Qatar 2022 is the 22nd FIFA World Cup edition: eight venues, the first World Cup based in the Middle East, and the first November-December tournament.

Led by Lionel Messi, Argentina lifted the trophy after a wild 3-3 final against France on penalties, a perfect storm of glory, heartbreak, and football pain remembered as one of the greatest ever played.

Total xTears

761.81

Avg xT per match

11.90

Absolute chaos

5.96

Late drama

3.97

All-out war

3.44

Referee scandal

1.15

Heart-Racing Games

All
Adrenaline Match

29.33

xT
Netherlands crest

Netherlands

15.94 xT

2-2
Argentina crest

Argentina

13.39 xT

Quarter-finals09 Dec 2022Lusail Iconic Stadium
Argentina crestFrance crest

Argentina 3-3 France

Final | 18 Dec 2022

25.48

xT
Serbia crestSwitzerland crest

Serbia 2-3 Switzerland

Matchday 3 | 02 Dec 2022

21.42

xT
England crestIran crest

England 6-2 Iran

Matchday 1 | 21 Nov 2022

19.48

xT
Portugal crestGhana crest

Portugal 3-2 Ghana

Matchday 1 | 24 Nov 2022

18.45

xT
Cameroon crestSerbia crest

Cameroon 3-3 Serbia

Matchday 2 | 28 Nov 2022

17.51

xT

xT XI

All
KM
France crest14.66

Kylian Mbappé

LM
Argentina crest14.46

L. Messi

OG
France crest8.75

O. Giroud

BF
Portugal crest6.90

Bruno Fernandes

DD
Netherlands crest5.55

D. Dumfries

BS
England crest5.42

B. Saka

MA
Argentina crest3.79

M. Acuña

RS
Morocco crest3.58

R. Saïss

SP
Serbia crest3.43

S. Pavlović

GM
Argentina crest3.40

G. Montiel

WH
Wales crest3.41

W. Hennessey

Pain Meter

All
1
Saudi Arabia crest

Saudi Arabia

3 played

8.41

xT for

2
Serbia crest

Serbia

3 played

8.28

xT for

3
Argentina crest

Argentina

7 played

8.20

xT for

4
Iran crest

Iran

3 played

7.95

xT for

5
Netherlands crest

Netherlands

5 played

7.88

xT for

Player Leaders

All
1

Kylian Mbappé

France crestFrance | Forward

14.66

xT
2

L. Messi

Argentina crestArgentina | Forward

14.46

xT
3

O. Giroud

France crestFrance | Forward

8.75

xT
4

V. Aboubakar

Cameroon crestCameroon | Forward

8.69

xT
5

J. Álvarez

Argentina crestArgentina | Forward

7.08

xT
6

Bruno Fernandes

Portugal crestPortugal | Midfielder

6.90

xT
7

C. Gakpo

Netherlands crestNetherlands | Forward

6.76

xT
8

A. Kramarić

Croatia crestCroatia | Forward

6.66

xT
9

E. Valencia

Ecuador crestEcuador | Forward

6.44

xT
10

K. Havertz

Germany crestGermany | Forward

5.63

xT
11

D. Dumfries

Netherlands crestNetherlands | Midfielder

5.55

xT
12

B. Saka

England crestEngland | Midfielder

5.42

xT
13

Richarlison

Brazil crestBrazil | Forward

5.42

xT
14

Álvaro Morata

Spain crestSpain | Forward

5.33

xT
15

Gonçalo Ramos

Portugal crestPortugal | Forward

5.28

xT
16

M. Kudus

Ghana crestGhana | Midfielder

5.14

xT
17

M. Rashford

England crestEngland | Forward

4.92

xT
18

Cho Gue-Sung

South Korea crestSouth Korea | Forward

4.81

xT
19

N. Füllkrug

Germany crestGermany | Forward

4.76

xT
20

Saleh Al Shehri

Saudi Arabia crestSaudi Arabia | Forward

4.75

xT

Group Pain Map

Tear ranking

Group A

Qatar crest

Qatar

Pain leader

10.12

Group avg xT

1Netherlands73.30
2Senegal65.09
3Ecuador44.30
4Qatar07.56

Group B

Wales crest

Wales

Pain leader

11.58

Group avg xT

1England74.96
2USA53.99
3Iran36.72
4Wales17.48

Group C

Argentina crest

Argentina

Pain leader

11.67

Group avg xT

1Argentina66.38
2Poland44.98
3Mexico46.25
4Saudi Arabia35.73

Group F

Canada crest

Canada

Pain leader

9.73

Group avg xT

1Morocco73.97
2Croatia53.73
3Belgium45.24
4Canada06.52

Group G

Serbia crest

Serbia

Pain leader

13.19

Group avg xT

1Brazil65.81
2Switzerland66.86
3Cameroon45.74
4Serbia17.97

Group H

Ghana crest

Ghana

Pain leader

13.09

Group avg xT

1Portugal66.63
2South Korea44.70
3Uruguay46.03
4Ghana38.81

Road to the final

Tournament Curiosities

xTears Curiosities

5
  1. 1Netherlands 2-2 Argentina was the true xTears chaos final: 29.33 xT, higher than the actual final.
  2. 2England 0-0 USA was the sleepiest match by xT: 2.95 xT. Pure anesthesia.
  3. 3Spain went 0-for-3 in the shootout against Morocco: three takers, zero goals, maximum penalty pain.
  4. 4Morocco dragged its KO path into the lowest-xT matches: Morocco 0-0 Spain, Morocco 1-0 Portugal, France 2-0 Morocco and Croatia 2-1 Morocco.
  5. 5Argentina-France still delivered trophy-game pain: 25.48 xT, the second-highest xT match of the tournament.

Overall Curiosities

8
  1. 1Szymon Marciniak refereed only three Qatar 2022 games, and every one involved a finalist: France-Denmark, Argentina-Australia, and Argentina-France.
  2. 2Argentina 2022 matched Spain 2010's rare champion arc: lose the opener and lift the World Cup.
  3. 3Morocco and Croatia opened Group F with Morocco 0-0 Croatia, then met again in Croatia 2-1 Morocco.
  4. 4Morocco's KO route became a Mediterranean derby tour: Spain, Portugal and France before the bronze match.
  5. 5Qatar 2022 finished with 172 goals, the highest total in World Cup history.
  6. 6Kylian Mbappé became only the second player to score a World Cup final hat-trick, after Geoff Hurst for England in 1966.
  7. 7Morocco became the first African team to reach the World Cup semi-finals.
  8. 8No one went perfect in the groups: Qatar 2022 was only the second World Cup in the three-points era, after USA 1994, where no team reached 9 points.

All statistics use finished matches in this competition edition with available xT data.