France winning the World Cup, Madrid's 3rd UEFA in a Row, Many Breakout Stars… Here are 2018's Football Highlights Prt.2

By: Ibrahim El-Shawarby

CAIRO, Dec.28 (SEE)- 2018 has been stacked with numerous great tournaments for football, the many monumental winners. Real Madrid successfully won their third UEFA Champions League in a row, France won 2018’s World Cup in Russia for the first time since 1998. Manchester City was crowned as the English Premier League Champions, Barcelona won back La Liga and the 3 giants in their respective Leagues, Paris St. Germain, Juventus and Bayern Munich retained their coveted titles.

France Wins 2018’s World Cup

It’s safe to say 2018’s World Cup in Russia will go down as arguably one of the greatest Mondials in the history of Football. Even before the iconic tournament began, surprises came in flowing in the form of multiple times World Champions Italy failed to qualify from the qualifying rounds, in addition to 2014 World Cup third place winners and 2010’s runner ups The Netherlands also failed to qualify. Argentina barely qualified as well.

Almost half the world's population watched the World Cup in Russia on television this summer, according to research carried out by FIFA. A record 3.57 billion people tuned in during the tournament, said Publicis Media Sport and Entertainment. More than one billion watched the final live, while 327.5 million people watched England's semi-final defeat by Croatia.

From the start of the World Cup we have seen many surprises, starting with the destruction of Saudi Arabia at the hands of hosts Russia, who handed them a grueling 5-0 defeat. Spain and Portugal drawing with 3 goals each in what perhaps was the best match of the tournament. Croatia’s surprising 3-0 win over Lionel Messi’s Croatia, Mexico defeating defending World Champions Germany 1-0.

Just as the upsets were increasing, the biggest surprise of the tournament was defending champions Germany that exited from the group stages after being dealt a heavy defeat at the hands of South Korea. Argentina barely qualified for the last 16.

The last 16 saw some great monumental matches, plus the rise of perhaps Football’s future Killan Mbappe. France defeated Argentina in a hard fought match with 4 goals to 3 in the best match of this stage after Mbappe’s systematic destruction of the Argentine’s defense. 2010 World Cup winners Spain exited the tournament after suffering an upsetting penalty shootout defeat at the hands of hosts Russia.

The Quarter Finals was perhaps the most action packed stage of the tournament. France defeated Uruguay with two clean goals. Belgium rose to stardom, defeating the number one hyped nation to win the tournament Brazil with two goals to one after Kevin De bruyne’s great show of skills. World Cup miracle hosts Russia exited the tournament after a monumental effort against eventual second place winner Croatia, losing only via penalty shootout and England defeated Sweden with two clean goals.

The Semi Finals of the tournament went as analysts predicted. France defeated Belgium with a single goal by Umtiti to qualify for the finals. England’s “it’s coming home dreams” were shattered at the hands of Croatia who defeated the aspiring English with 2 goals to one. Belgium racked in third place for their first time in history after defeating England with two clean goals.

The Final of 2018’s World Cup proved to be one of the most exciting in recent years. France defeated Croatia, which qualified for its first World Cup final in history with 4 goals to 2. The Frenchmen’s attack and midfield proved to have more fire power in their Arsenal than the Croatians can handle as they fell in the final.

UEFA Champions League

The 2017–18 UEFA Champions League was the 63rd season of Europe's premier club football tournament organized by UEFA, and the 26th season. The final was played between Real Madrid and Liverpool at the NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium in Kiev, Ukraine. Real Madrid, the defending champions, beat Liverpool 3–1 to win a record-extending 13th title and their third title in a row.

Perhaps the most surprising aspect of this year’s Champion’s League is Liverpool reaching the final. Liverpool’s 2017-2018 has been full of rising starts most notably Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah. The golden Liverpool team has led the red into its first champions' league final since 2007. Although Liverpool lost the final, at the end of the day they did more than expected.

Crisitiano Ronaldo was the top scorer of this year’s Champions league, scoring 15 goals, He was also chosen as the best forward in the tournament. Keylor Navas won best goal keeper, Sergio Ramos won best defender and Luka Modric won best midfielder.

Major Football Leagues

Premier League

Manchester City, who were the best team in England by a country mile last season as they shattered records with some of the most amazinf football in the English league. Guardiola has brought the best out of his side and showed the rest of the league how to play football with his innovative tactics. City have scored 102 league goals in 35 games, making them the fastest English top-flight side to reach the century mark since Everton in 1931-32.

Spanish League

Barcelona dethroned Real Madrid in this year’s Spanish La Liga, while the defending champions finished third. What makes the Blaugrana's title worth celebrating is the prospect that they could win the league without having tasted defeat the entire season. They won their 25th La Liga and their seventh title in 10 years. Barcelona have suffered zero defeats and won 26 games, scoring 87 goals and keeping 18 clean sheets.

French League

PSG blew away all opposition in France, they were barely troubled and hardly ever had to shift into second gear. With the acquisition of mega-star Neymar - the world's most expensive player at £197-million, PSG clearly displayed the fact that financial power can bring you success.

The shining lights for the team were undoubtedly the striking trio of Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and Cavani who all season long were scoring goals for fun. It all added up to a dominant finish the Paris club.

Italian League

Juventus won this year’s Serie A for the seventh consecutive year. This comes as a no surprise; Juventus had been dominating the Italian League ever since rivals AC Milan and Inter Milan have been struggling.

German League

Like the Italian and the French Leagues, Bayern Munich has been dominating the league for almost half a decade. This year, the Munich giants won their sixth consecutive German league title.