By Douglas Olum
Argentina may have taken the 2022 World Cup trophy, but it remains one of the most contested trophies of this century.
The opening match between host, Qatar and Equador on which ended 0-2 in favour of Equador, could have been mistaken to set the pace for easy wins, especially for the big-name countries.
While most fans did not expect much from Qatar whose name is nowhere in the records of competitive football, countries like Brazil, Germany, England and Spain were expected to make a big return, having lost the 2018 trophy to defending champions, France.
But as time would tell, those predictions remained mere expectations after Germany was eliminated at the group stages, Spain at the round of 16 and Brazil at the quarter finals.
To many fans, it was almost clear that France would retain the trophy, until they faced-off with Argentina.
Emerging victors like Morocco who earned their record as the first African country to play World Cup semi-finals, had stolen the show from some big names.
However, Argentina had to shockingly shoot their way through in a thrilling match that ended 3-3 in extra time, and carry the trophy after beating France 4-2 in penalties.
