A - Argentina won their third title and their first since 1986 after losing finals in 1990 and 2014.
B - Bounou. Morocco's goalkeeper Yassine Bounou was unbeaten by an opposition player until Theo Hernandez's finish in the fifth minute of their semifinal clash. The last man to score against before then was Bafana Bafana’s Lyle Foster in a Afcon qualifier in June.
C - Cristiano Ronaldo became the first man to score at five World Cups, with his penalty in 3-2 win over Ghana. It was his eighth goal in the global tournament, with none of those coming in the knockout stages.
D - Death of US journalist Grant Wahl during the Argentina v Netherlands quarterfinal rocked the media fraternity.
E - Embolo. Switzerland striker Breel Embolo became the first man to score against the country of his birth in a 1-0 win over Cameroon.
F - Freekick goal. Luis Chavez of Mexico scored a rocket against Saudi Arabia. If you missed it, go and check it out.
G - Giroud. The France striker became Les Bleus' all-time goalscorer with his 53rd strike in the last-16 showdown with Poland.
H - Homegrown. Africa’s five nations had coaches from their own countries leading them for the first time in Qatar - Morocco’s Walid Regragui, Cameroon’s Rigobert Song, Senegal’s Aliou Cisse, Ghana’s Otto Addo and Tunisia’s Jalel Kadri.
I - Inspiration. Each African nation won a game in Qatar - an improvement on zero wins in Russia. Sets the continent up nicely for the 2026 edition when there will be at least nine representatives competing.
J - Japan beat former world champions Germany and Spain with stunning comeback victories to top their group. But after going ahead against Croatia in the last 16, they lost their discipline.
K - Kylian Mbappe scored only the second World Cup final hattrick. Unlike England's Geoff Hurst, unfortunately, he ended up on the losing side.
L - Little teams. There are aren’t many of them around in the World Cup these days. While the game has gone global, with professionals from everywhere playing in anywhere in the world, coaching levels are also on the up. That means more nations can put out quality sides playing their best adapted idea of football. And that, mense, is what makes football the Beautiful Game.
M - Messi. Magic. Nothing left to prove. Nothing left to say. Has won it all. Since making his World Cup debut at Germany 2006, Messi becomes the man who has had to wait the longest to get his hands on the trophy - 16 and half years and a record 26 matches.
N - North African football fans are passionate. No wonder our PSL team don’t do well against Moroccan, Tunisia, Egyptian and Algerian teams.
O - Ounahi. Morocco midfielder Azzedine Ounahi became one of my favourite players to watch at the World Cup. Silky skills, intelligence, anticipation. A perfect box-to-box player.
Other hidden gems I liked were Ecuador playmaker Gonzalo Plata, USA midfielder Yunus Musah.
P - Penalty kicks. A total 19 were awarded in the course of the World Cup, with Argentina getting the most - five.
Argentina: ✅✅✅✅
— SuperSport Football ⚽️ (@SSFootball) December 18, 2022
France: ✅ ❌❌✅
The match-winning penalty from Gonzalo Montiel and the scenes 🥺#FIFAWorldCup
Q - Qatar lost all their games - the worst record by a World Cup host. Thanks Qatar, for taking that dubious honour away from South Africa and Bafana Bafana. Hey, at least we beat France in 2010.
R - Richarlison scored a warm bicycle-kick goal in Brazil’s 2-0 group-stage win over Serbia - one of the goals of the tournament.
Is it possible to elect this goal here as the most beautiful of the World Cup? pic.twitter.com/0OkaclGgxm
— richarlison pics (@richarpics) December 18, 2022
S - Semifinal. Morocco became the first African side to appear at this stage of a World Cup.
T - Treble. Apart from Mbappe, Portugal's Goncalo Ramos scored the only other hattrick in Qatar.
U - Unpredictable. In a tournament that was packed with thrills, spills and giant kills, Saudi Arabia beat eventual winners Argentina and Germany and Belgium went home at the group stage.
V - Vincent Aboubakar scored Cameroon's winner over Brazil and was sent off for taking off his shirt in celebration.
𝗖![CDATA[]]>𝗔![CDATA[]]>𝗣![CDATA[]]>𝗧![CDATA[]]>𝗔![CDATA[]]>𝗜![CDATA[]]>𝗡 𝗙![CDATA[]]>𝗔![CDATA[]]>𝗡![CDATA[]]>𝗧![CDATA[]]>𝗔![CDATA[]]>𝗦![CDATA[]]>𝗧![CDATA[]]>𝗜![CDATA[]]>𝗖 💪
Vincent Aboubakar ends Cameroon's 2️⃣0️⃣-year wait for a win at the #FIFAWorldCup 👀#Qatar2022
W - Williams brothers, Inaki and Nico, represented Ghana and Spain, respectively.
X - X-rated celebration. Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez took his malstreke below the belt after winning the World Cup.
Y - Yawn. Croatia played to two goalless draws in the group stages and won their knockout games on penalties until their semifinal exit.
Z - Zero alcohol for fans in stadiums. A first at a World Cup.
matthew.marcus@inl.co.za