The quarter-final matches are all locked in.
Pinned post from 9.54am on Dec 7, 2022
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World Cup LIVE: Swiss hit for six as new star is born, Ronaldo denies Saudi move
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By James Polson
That’s it from us today. Thanks as always for your company. We’ll be back on Saturday morning from 6am when the Netherlands face Argentina for a spot in the final four. That match will follow tournament favourites Brazil looking to book their place at the expense of 2018 finalists Croatia.
On Sunday we’ll be blogging the France-England clash, which comes after the clash between Morocco and Portugal.
I won’t be back until the semi-finals next week. So I’ll leave you with my tournament prediction from here. Brazil beat Portugal in the final after the latter take advantage of a draining France-England clash which finishes 3-3 and goes to extra time, if not further.
The possible upset? The Netherlands over Argentina and Messi. But that will be as far as they go.
Feel free to sledge me when I’m wrong. Until then, get some sleep, and thanks again.
With the Socceroos out, who should you support?
By Vince Rugari
Australia’s dream run in Qatar may have come to an end, but that doesn’t mean you can’t hitch a ride on a different bandwagon.
Vince Rugari has run the rule over the World Cup quarter-finalists.
Read his full piece here.
More Moroccan celebrations
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How good is this?
If you’re just joining us, Morocco earlier this morning became the first country from the Arab world to qualify for the World Cup quarter-finals when they eliminated Spain on penalties.
Catch up with all that went down here.
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Ronaldo denies eye-watering Saudi move
By Agencies
Cristiano Ronaldo has denied that he has agreed to join Saudi club Al Nassr after Portugal’s World Cup adventure.
The striker became a free agent after being released from his Manchester United contract last month and reports have claimed Ronaldo has agreed an extraordinarily lucrative deal to play in Saudi Arabia.
Suggestions of a bumper contract offer from the Saudi Pro League club emerged last week, with Ronaldo said to be in line to earn well over £100 million ($A181m) a year.
However, the 37-year-old says the reports of him signing a deal with Al Nassr are wrong.
England having a normal one
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Death, taxes and ...
Look away, England fans
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Unfortunately, France have already bucked this trend.
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Hat-trick hero stunned by Portugal call-up
By Martin Petty
Portugal’s Goncalo Ramos was as surprised as anyone at being named in the starting line-up for the 6-1 hammering of Switzerland.
Making his first World Cup start, Ramos smashed three goals past the Swiss and set up another to propel Portugal into the quarter-finals for the first time since 2006.
Ramos, 21, made headlines before kick-off when picked by Fernando Santos to lead the attack in place of Cristiano Ronaldo, who was relegated to the bench.
“I think not even in my wildest dreams I thought about being in the starting 11 for the knockout phase,” Ramos said, smiling.
Swiss star apologises for capitulation
By Simon Jennings
Midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri has apologised to Swiss fans after they were dumped out of the World Cup in humiliating fashion.
Portugal coach Fernando Santos benched Cristiano Ronaldo and was rewarded with a far slicker and more artful display from his team than anything they had shown in the group stages as Switzerland were outplayed in every part of the pitch.
“Today we have to apologise to all Switzerland fans in the name of the team. That was not our true face tonight,” Shaqiri said.
“We’re very disappointed. We were shown our limits tonight. The coach gave us a plan but it did not work out for us. We lost the game already in the first half and were always a step too late.”
Pinned post from 9.54am on Dec 7, 2022
Road to the final
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The quarter-final matches are all locked in.
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Who will win the World Cup?
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