WORLD CUP 2022 NATION PRESENTATION: URUGUAY

NICKNAME: La Celeste / The Sky Blue

MANAGER: Diego Alonso

MOST CAPPED PLAYER: Diego Godin- 159 caps from 2005

TOP SCORER: Luis Suarez- 68 goals from 2007

HOST NATION: Hosts of the first ever World cup in 1930.

WORLD CUP RECORD: 14th

BEST RESULT: FIFA World cup winners in 1930 and 1950. Here is their team from 1930, hosts and winners of the first ever WC tournament. They were in a group with Peru and Romania. With two wins they qualified to the semi-finals. There they faced Yugoslavia. The Europeans took an early lead but at the end lost 6-1 with Jose Cea hat-trick. We saw the South American final with Argentina who beat the USA in the other semi-final match. It was an exciting final match with Uruguay scoring the first goal. Argentina overturned it by half-time. Hosts scored three in the next 45 minutes and won their first WC title.

WORLD CUP 2022 NATION PRESENTATION: SOUTH KOREA

NICKNAME: Taegeuk Warriors

MANAGER: Paulo Bento

MOST CAPPED PLAYER: Cha Bum-kun- 136 caps from 1972 to 1986

Hong Myung-bo- 136 caps from 1990 to 2002

TOP SCORER: Cha Bum-kun- 58 goals from 1972 to 1986

HOST NATION: With Japan in 2002.

WORLD CUP RECORD: 14th, first one in 1954. They played on every since 1986.

BEST RESULT: Best result for South Korea is 4th place on the home soil. But we have to say that Korea had a lot of help from the referees. In the group stage with Poland, Portugal and the United States, Korea took first place with 7 points. In the first match they won against Poland. This was the first ever win for S. Korea at the World Cup. In the second match they faced USA and played 1-1. They were losing till 78' min when Ahn Jung-hwan scored an equalizer. In the last match vs Portugal Park Ji-sung was the Korean hero who scored the only goal of the match. But Portugal received two red cards. In round of 16 they were drawn with former champion Italy. Seol Ki-hyeon scored a late goal for extra time (1-1). In 117 min of extra time Ahn Jung-hwan scored a golden goal. In the next round Korea faced Spain. Spain managed to score twice but both goals were cancelled. Match finished 0-0. Korea was better after PKs. In the semi-final Ballack scored the only goal in a match against Korea. It meant that Korea had to play a match for 3rd place. Turkey was the loser of the second semi-final match. In that match we saw the fastest goal in the history of the World Cup. Hakan Sukur scored after only 10.8 sec. Korea came back very soon as they scored an equalizer in 9 min. But it didn't last long as Turkey took the lead again in the 13th min. Ilhan Mansiz scored that goal and he added another one in the 32th min. At the end of the match Korea scored a second goal but it wasn't enough.

WORLD CUP 2022 NATION PRESENTATION: GHANA

NICKNAME: Black Stars

MANAGER: Otto Addo

MOST CAPPED PLAYER: Andre Ayew- 110 caps from 2007

TOP SCORER: Asamoah Gyan- 51 goal from 2003 to 2019

HOST NATION: -

WORLD CUP RECORD: 4th WC for this African country.

BEST RESULT: In South Africa in 201 Ghana played in the WC finals for the second time and achieved their best result. They were in a solid group with Germany, Serbia and Australia. Opener was a minimal win against Serbia with Asamoah Gyan's late penalty goal. The 1-1 draw was in the next game versus Australia and they lost to Germany with Ozil's goal. Ghana finished second with the same points as Australia but with a better goal difference. Round of 16 match was played with the United States. 1-1 in the regular time. A. Gyan scored in the early minutes during extra time for their win. We saw a very exciting match in the next round. Uruguay vs Ghana. Muntari scored in the added time of the first half. Forland scored an equalizer just 10th minutes into the second period. We were into extra time. Ghana missed a penalty at the end of extra time after Luis Suarez controversially handled the ball on the line. Ghana missed twice and Uruguay once during PK shootouts and progressed into the semi-final.

WORLD CUP 2022 NATION PRESENTATION: PORTUGAL

NICKNAME: A Selecao / The Selection

MANAGER: Fernando Santos

MOST CAPPED PLAYER / TOP SCORER: Cristiano Ronaldo- 191 cap / 117 goals from 2003

HOST NATION: -

WORLD CUP RECORD: 8th for WC for A Selecao. First one was in 1966.

BEST RESULT: Their best result comes from their first WC participation in 1966. In the group stage they were better than Hungary, Bulgaria and Brazil. In the quarter-final they beat North Korea, after a great comeback being 0-3 down, while England was better in the semi-final. For the third place match they played against the USSR and won 2-1.

WORLD CUP 2022 NATION PRESENTATION: CAMEROON

NICKNAME: Les Lions Idomptables / The Indomitable Lions

MANAGER: Rigobert Song

MOST CAPPED PLAYER: Rigobert Song- 137 caps from 1993 to 2010

TOP SCORER: Samuel Eto'o- 56 goals from 1997 to 2014

HOST NATION: -

WORLD CUP RECORD: 8, first one being in 1982.

BEST RESULT: Cameroon's best result comes from 1990, their second ever WC appearance. Their opener was against title defenders Argentina. It was a great 1-0 win with an Omam-Biyik goal. With a win in the next match against Romania (2-1) meant they secured the knock-out stage. Last match was a big loss from the Soviets (0-4) but anyway Cameroon finished as first placed in the group. Next game was versus South American's Colombia. No goals in the first 90 minutes. Milla scored two in the extra time. Redin added one for Colombia five minutes before the end as the match finished 2-1. In the quarter-final we saw a great match against England. Three Lions took a first half lead. Kunde and Ekeke overturned the result. Lineker scored second for England so it meant we are going into extra time. Lineker scored his second and final goal of the match. England was better 2-3 (a.e.t.).

WORLD CUP 2022 NATION PRESENTATION: SWITZERLAND

NICKNAME: A-Team

MANAGER: Murat Yakin

MOST CAPPED PLAYER: Heinz Hermann- 118 caps from 1978 to 1991

TOP SCORER: Alexander Frei- 42 goals from 2001 to 2011

HOST NATION: Yes in 1954.

WORLD CUP RECORD: 12th WC for Swiss.

BEST RESULT: Switzerland played in three quarter-finals: 1934, 1938 and 1954. In the modern era they played in the round of 16 four times. In the group stage of 2006 WC Switherland faced France, Togo and South Korea. They took first place in the group with a draw against France and two wins. In the first knock-out stage Ukraine was better after PKs (0-3).

WORLD CUP 2022 NATION PRESENTATION: SERBIA

NICKNAME: Orlovi / The Eagles

MANAGER: Dragan Stojković

MOST CAPPED PLAYER: Branislav Ivanović- 105 caps from 2005 to 2018

TOP SCORER: Aleksandar Mitrović- 50 goals from 2013

HOST NATION: -

WORLD CUP RECORD: From 1930 to 1990 as Yugoslavia, in 1998 as FR Yugoslavia, in 2006 as Serbia and Montenegro and from 2010 as Serbia. This will be 3rd World cup for Serbia.

BEST RESULT: Yugoslavia played in two WC semi-finals: 1930 and 1962. Since the breakup of Yugoslavia their best result was a round of 16 in 1998. They played in a group with Iran, Germany and USA. With two wins and one draw they finished second but with the same points as Germany. In the first konck-out stage Netherland was better 2 to 1 with a late goal from Davids. I have to mention that Mijatović missed a PK when the result was 1-1.

In 2006 Montenegro declared independence and after that we have only Serbia. Serbia played in the 2010 and 2018 WC but never made it through the group stage.

WORLD CUP 2022 NATION PRESENTATION: BRAZIL

NICKNAME: A Selecao / The National Team

MANAGER: Tite

MOST CAPPED PLAYER: Cafu- 142 caps from 1990 to 2006

TOP SCORER: Pele- 77 goals from 1957 to 1971

HOST NATION: Yes, twice: 1950 and 2014.

WORLD CUP RECORD: The only nation that played in every WC. 22nd World cup in total.

BEST RESULT: Here is Brazilian team from 1958. Their first WC title. They won first place in a group with the Soviet Union, England and Austria. Another European country, Wales, was Brazil's opponent in the quarter-final. Pele scored the only goal of the match and his first in the world cup history. He scored a hat trick in the semi-final against France as Brazil easily won. Sweden, hosts of this WC, were the other semi-final winners. Liedholm scored in the early minutes of the match. They were in the lead for several minutes before Vava scored an equalizer but also the next goal as Brazil took the lead. Everything was easy later as Brazil scored three more goals, Pele two and Zagallo. Simonsson scored another for Sweden.

WORLD CUP 2022 NATION PRESENTATION: CROATIA

NICKNAME: Vatreni / The Blazers

MANAGER: Zlatko Dalić

MOST CAPPED PLAYER: Luka Modrić- 155 caps from 2006

TOP SCORER: Davor Šuker- 45 goals from 1990 to 2002

HOST NATION: -

WORLD CUP RECORD: From 1930 to 1990 Croatia was part of Yugoslavia. This will be the 6th WC for Croatia since their independence.

BEST RESULT: Small nation like Croatia played in two semi-finals. 1998 and 2018. Their best result is a second place from 2018. Croatia started with a 2-0 win against Nigeria. Next match was a great 3-0 win over two times WC winner Argentina. Last one was a minimal win over tournament debutants Iceland. 9 points for Croatia. First two knock-out stages matches were decided after penalties. Denmark and hosts Russia were beaten by Croatia. England was their opponent in the semi-final. Three Lions took an early lead. Croatia equalized in the second half. Mandžukić scored an extra time winner. France was the other semi-final winner. They won both halves with the same result 2-1. So 4-2 was the final score. Croatia made their best WC result having won third place 20 years before, in 1998.

WORLD CUP 2022 NATION PRESENTATION: CANADA

NICKNAME: Les Rouges / The Reds

MANAGER: John Herdman

MOST CAPPED PLAYER: Atiba Hutchinson- 97 caps from 2003

TOP SCORER: Cyle Larin- 25 goals from 2014

HOST NATION: -

WORLD CUP RECORD: 2nd WC. First one was in 1986.

BEST RESULT: Their only previous World cup was in 1986. They were last with all three losses: France 0-1, Hungary and Soviets with the same result 0-2.

WORLD CUP 2022 NATION PRESENTATION: MOROCCO

NICKNAME: The Atlas Lions

MANAGER: Walid Regragui

MOST CAPPED PLAYER: Noureddine Naybet- 115 caps from 1990 to 2006

TOP SCORER: Ahmed Faras- 36 goals from 1966 to 1979

HOST NATION: -

WORLD CUP RECORD: 6th WC, with the first one in 1970.

BEST RESULT: Their best result comes from 1986. In a group with Poland, England and Portugal they managed to win first place. They played goalless draws with Poland and England. In the third match they were better than Portugal. In the first konck-out round they lost to W. Germany with a late goal from Matthaus.