BEST and Worst. World Cup edition

A World Cup champion will be crowned on Sunday as Argentina and France meet in the final. Both will be chasing career-defining and history-making moments with Lionel Messi either claiming the final piece to an already stellar resume or France becoming the first repeat champion in 50 years. As the month-long spectacle closes, we look back on the best and worst moments of the tournament.

BEST

MOROCCO'S JOY

Morocco's run to the semifinals was not only earth-shattering and brilliant, but it was also heartwarming for what it meant to the mothers of the players who have made the sacrifices for their sons to be on the big stage. From Sofiane Boufal dancing with his mother after their quarterfinal win to Achraf Hakimi hugging his mother in the stands, it was a pure unbridled memorable campaign that meant more to them than we could imagine. The majority of players were born in different countries but chose to represent the country of their homeland. It made their success significant and heartfelt with the urge to want to root for them.

NEYMAR'S SPORTSMANSHIP

Even in Brazil's heartbreaking quarterfinal defeat to Croatia, Neymar out of his despair offered a heartwarming moment. As he was being consoled by a teammate, the son of Croatian midfielder Ivan Perisic, Leo ran over to him to console him offering a hug that he returned. It was an excellent display of sportsmanship, reminding us how the game can impact everyone.

GROUP STAGE FINALE MADNESS

The amount of drama that occurred in the final group games had heart-stopping drama that if it was pitched to a movie director, they would have rejected it on the spot because it would have been unbelievable. Mexico almost getting the three goals they needed to sneak to the knockout stage, only for Saudi Arabia to doom them in the final seconds, the roller-coaster ride that was Group E where Japan booked their place in the knockout round at the expense of Germany and Group H where South Korea unseated Uruguay's knockout place and Ghana ensured they would be eliminated along with them. It was a fitting end to an excellent group stage in the final tournament with 32 teams. Here's hoping that the 48-team expansion, which starts in 2026, will still allow for such drama.

MESSI'S NO-LOOK PASS VS HOLLAND

It is still mind-blogging how Lionel Messi managed to find Nahuel Molina for the first Argentina goal of their World Cup quarterfinal against the Netherlands. In a tight window, with no obvious passing lanes, Messi's threaded the needle so fine and put it on Molina's path to open the scoring, in what would end up being a tense game that was settled on penalties. It is one of the reasons Messi now playing in his second World Cup final match, which probably is his last shot at a World Cup title.

WORST

GERMANY'S BACK-TO-BACK FAILURE

Getting eliminated from the group stage once is bad enough, but for Germany to fall at this hurdle in back-to-back tournaments? It is something that is alarming and needs correcting and quickly. Hansi Flick will remain as head coach but changes at the federation level are needed, which starts with a new CEO, with the departure of Olivier Bierhoff. Das Reboot 2.0? It might need another rethink if they want to get back to the top with them hosting the next European Championships in two years.

HOST COUNTRY FLOP

This will be the most controversial World Cup because of the various issues off the field including corruption regarding how the bid was won, human rights violation allegations as well as unfair treatment of migrant workers and the resulting fatalities from the stadium's construction. On the field, Qatar was the worst host nation in World Cup history. They finished the tournament without winning a single game, scoring one goal, offering little compared to host nations of the past. Even South Africa in 2010 at least, won a game, against France no less. That was how bad Qatar were.

THE UNTIMELY DEATH OF SPORTS JOURNALISTS

The football media world was rocked by the sudden death of three sports journalists while covering the tournament - Qatari photojournalist Khalid al-Misslam, ITV Sport technical director Roger Pearce and American Grant Wahl. Wahl, who was covering his eighth World Cup and has covered the game in the United States of America, collapsed during Argentina vs Netherlands December 9 quarterfinal and later died, with the cause of death determined to be an aneurysm. Al-Misslam died two days later of unknown causes. Pearce's death was announced on Monday.

CRISTIANO RONALD TEARS

Cristiano Ronaldo's World Cup quest is likely done forever. In the aftermath of that scathing Piers Morgan interview leading to his divorce from Manchester United, he was hoping to have one last hurrah himself to get that elusive World Cup. It seemed that he was more of a hindrance than a help to the case on the field and later in the tournament was benched for the round of 16 and quarterfinals. When he did come on to try and rescue them against Morocco in the last eight, he could not make anything happen. The image of Ronaldo in tears after that defeat will be the lasting image of his World Cup career, with no goals in the knockout round.