Top four FIFA-ranked teams reach World Cup semi-finals for first time

For the first time since FIFA rankings began, the top four ranked men’s teams all reached the World Cup semi-finals. At Qatar 2022, that rare show of hierarchy came with one of the tournament’s biggest shocks in the other half of the bracket: Morocco beat Portugal 1-0 and became the first African team to reach a World Cup semi-final.

The tournament ran from 20 November to 18 December 2022 in Qatar, with 32 teams playing 64 matches. It was the first World Cup staged in the Middle East and the Arabian Peninsula, and it was the last men’s World Cup before the field expands to 48 teams in 2026.

The quarter-finals were defined by narrow margins. Argentina needed a penalty shootout to get past the Netherlands, Croatia also advanced on penalties after beating Brazil, France defeated England, and Morocco’s win over Portugal completed the last four. Two of the four quarter-finals went to spot kicks, a reminder that even in a tournament shaped by power, experience and resources, the knockout rounds still left room for pressure to turn into chaos.

That mix of control and disruption made Qatar 2022 stand out. Argentina, France and England arrived with the weight of World Cup pedigree, while Morocco forced its way into territory no African side had reached before. The bracket showed how elite international soccer can look increasingly ordered at the top, with the strongest programs advancing deep into the tournament, but it also showed how a single disciplined run can still bend history. In a World Cup built on 64 matches and decided often by the smallest of margins, Morocco’s march to the semi-finals remained the clearest reminder that predictability has not completely closed the door on breakthrough.