WORLD CUP 2022 NATION PRESENTATION: IRAN

NICKNAME: Iranian cheetahs

MANAGER: Carlos Queiroz

MOST CAPPED PLAYER: Javad Nekounam- 151 cap from 2000 to 2015

TOP SCORER: Ali Daei- 109 from 1993 to 2006

HOST NATION: -

WORLD CUP RECORD: This will be 6th WC for Iran, 3rd in a row.

BEST RESULT: Iran never managed to get through the group stage. Their best place is 14th, from all nations, in 1978. At that WC they drew with Scotland and lost to the Netherlands and Peru. As you know they are most known from 1998 WC because of their stickers from Panini album. 

WORLD CUP 2022 NATION PRESENTATION: ENGLAND

 

NICKNAME: Three Lions

MANAGER: Gareth Southgate

MOST CAPPED PLAYER: Peter Shilton- 125 caps from 1970 to 1990

TOP SCORER: Wayne Rooney- 53 goals from 2003 to 2018

HOST NATION: Yes, in 1966.

WORLD CUP RECORD: 16th world cup for Three Lions. They qualified on every WC since 1998.

BEST RESULT: Their best result is the title from 1966, on their home soil. England was first in their group with Uruguay, Mexico and France. They drew against Uruguay and won against two other nations. In the first knock-out round they faced Argentina. Geoff Hurst scored the only goal of the match. In the semi-final England was better than Eusebio's Portugal (2-1). Charlton scored both goals for England while Eusebio scored one for his team. West Germany won in another semi-final match vs the Soviet Union. Final match of the 1966 World Cup is controversial because of Hurst's extra-time goal. Regular match finished 2-2 with a German goal in 89' min. 101' min of extra time Hurst “scored“ one of the most famous goals in World Cup history. The ball hit the underside of the cross bar, bounced down and was cleared. Referee was not shure if it had been a goal but at the end whistled for the goal. In the last minute of extra time Hurst scored his 3th and 4th England goal. Match ended 4-2 for England. Hurst is the only player to score a hat trick in a World Cup final match.

WORLD CUP 2022 NATION PRESENTATION: NETHERLANDS

NICKNAME: Oranje

MANAGER: Louis van Gaal- 2nd WC as Oranje manager. He lead them to 3rd place in 2014.

MOST CAPPED PLAYER: Wesley Sneijder- 134 caps from 2003 to 2018

TOP SCORER: Robin van Persie- 50 goals from 2005 to 2017

HOST NATION: -

WORLD CUP RECORD: WC in Qatar will be 11th for Netherlands.

BEST RESULT: Netherlands played in three WC finals. Back-to-back '74 and '78 plus 2010. Here is their team from 1974. At that time there were only four groups, so 16 qualified teams. Oranje were in group 3 with Uruguay, Sweden and Bulgaria. They won the first place with a draw against Sweden and wins against two other opponents. In the next round qualified teams created two new groups. Group winners were into the world cup final while second placed teams played a match for 3rd place. So Netherlands was in group A with Argentina, East Germany and Brazil. 3 out of 3. All three wins for this great Dutch side. First one against Argentina 4-0 and then E. Germany and Brazil with the same result 2-0. Other group winner was host nation West Germany who also gained all three wins. In an exciting final match, everything started great for the Oranje. Neeskens scored a penalty goal just after two minutes. Penalty for the other side. It was the 25th min and Braitner scored an equalizer. Two minutes before half-time "Der Bomber" Gerd Muller gave Germans the lead. With a goalless second half Germany won their second world cup title. 

WORLD CUP 2022 NATION PRESENTATION: SENEGAL

NICKNAME: Lions of Teranga

MANAGER: Aliou Cisse

MOST CAPPED PLAYER: Henri Camara- 99 caps from 1999 to 2008

TOP SCORER: Sadio Mane- 34 goals from 2012

HOST NATION: -

WORLD CUP RECORD: 3rd world cup for Senegal. First one was in 2002.

BEST RESULT: Senegal's first WC was in 2002 where they achieved their best result. Lions of Teranga were in group A with title defender France, Denmark and Uruguay. They started with a shocking 1-0 win against France. Draws in next two matches were enough for second group place. 1-1 vs Denmark and 3-3 against Uruguay where they had 3-0 lead. Senegal faced Sweden in the knock-out stage first match. Match finished 1-1 and then Henri Camara scored a golden goal in the extra time. The quarter-final match was against Turkey. After a goalless draw in 90 minutes Ilham Mansiz scored the winning goal for Turkey.

WORLD CUP 2022 NATION PRESENTATION: ECUADOR

NICKNAME: La Tri / The Tri

MANAGER: Gustavo Alfaro

MOST CAPPED PLAYER: Ivan Hurtado- 168 caps from 1992 to 2014

TOP SCORER: Enner Valencia- 35 goals from 2012

HOST NATION: -

WORLD CUP RECORD: 4th world cup for Ecuador. First one was in 2002.

BEST RESULT: Ecuador achieved their best result in 2006. They were in Group A and started with a great 2-0 win against Poland. Win in the second group match against CostaRica sealed them to the round of 16. They easily lost to home nation Germany in the 3rd match. England, as a Group B winner, was their next opponent. Beckham scored the only goal in the match and took the Three Lions to the next round.

WORLD CUP 2022 NATION PRESENTATION: QATAR

 

NICKNAME: The Maroon

MANAGER: Felix Sanchez Bas

MOST CAPPED PLAYER: Hasan Al-Haydos- 165 caps from 2008

TOP SCORER: Mansour Muftah- 42 goals from 1976-2000

HOST NATION: Yes, of the current edition.

WORLD CUP RECORD: This is first WC for Qatar.

WORLD CUP 2022 NATION PRESENTATION: FRANCE

 

NICKNAME: Les Blues / The Blues

MANAGER: Didier Deschamps

MOST CAPPED PLAYER: Lilian Thuram- 142 caps from 1994 to 2008

TOP SCORER: Thierry Henry- 51 goal from 1997 to 2010

HOST NATION: Twice, in 1938 and 1998.

WORLD CUP RECORD: 16th WC for Les Blues. They played in every edition since 1998.

BEST RESULT: France had won two World Cup titles, in 1998 and 2018. After a win on home soil in '98 they managed to win the last edition played in Russia. In a group C with two wins (Australia and Peru) plus a draw with Denmark, France won the first place and went into the knock-out stage. Argentina was their opponent in the round of 16. In a great match France won it 4-3. One goal in each half was enough to beat Uruguay in the next round. The sami-final was played against their neighbours Belgium. One goal from Umtiti was enough to progress into the final. Croatia beat England in the other semi-final match and played against France in the WC final. Les Blues won it 4-2 to win their second WC title exactly 20 years later since the first one. Mandžukić (own goal), Griezmann, Pogba and Mbappe were the goalscorers.