WORLD CUP 2022

France beat Morocco 2-0 to reach the World Cup final against Argentina, in a historic match between the defending champion and Africa’s first ever semifinalist.

Everyone, it seems, wants the Argentinian star to succeed. Hebrew now seems to be heard much more on the streets, although the presence of Israeli fans is marginal of course when compared to the massive number of Palestinian fans.

Israelis are welcomed, but Qatar has not gone out of its way to love us. After the tournament ends, the country will once again keep a safe distance from us.

Belgian police stage 16 raids across Brussels as part of a probe into corruption and money laundering at the parliament, detaining four.

Morocco beats the Portuguese 1-0 in Qatar, knocking Cristiano Ronaldo out of the tournament and making the Atlas Lions the first African and first Arab team to reach the World Cup semifinals.

Will he start, or won’t he? That’s the big question being asked about the soccer superstar after he was dropped by Portugal coach Fernando Santos for the 6-1 win over Switzerland in the round of 16 on Tuesday.

The standard now is very different from four decades ago, when a round-of-16 exit would have been considered a failure for fans who cheered on third-place finishes at the 1974 and 1982 tournaments.

The United States hasn’t reached the quarterfinals since 2002 and was eliminated in the first knockout round, just like in 2010 and 2014.

"We can’t say where we are,” captain Manuel Neuer says of the team’s place in world soccer.