By Carlos Ramírez Zago
The best of 2022
FIFA World Cup, Qatar 2022
The FIFA World Cup was the most anticipated and most watched sporting event on the planet this 2022.
It was the first World Cup played on Arabian soil. It was also a World Cup of great surprises and emotions, such as the Morocco team, which advanced to the semifinals with sensational soccer, thus becoming the first African team to do so. Another surprise was Germany, one of the so-called «big» teams, as it has four World Cups. The team was eliminated in the group stage after scoring only four points. Mexico was also eliminated in the group stage—something that was not seen since the 1978 World Cup in Argentina.
Qatar 2022 was the World Cup with the highest number of goals (172, one more than Brazil in 2014 and France in 1998).
Qatar 2022 also had an epic final—Argentina won its third star against France. This win will be remembered as one of the best finals in the history of the sport, a final when 120 minutes were not enough to define the champion until the penalty shootout when Argentina reached the glory and was crowned world champion by the hand of Lionel Messi.
The Qatar 2022 World Cup will go down in sports history as one of the best in history.
Red Bull and its historic season in 2022
Red Bull Racing had a dream season in 2022.
Ending the Mercedes dynasty in the top category of motorsport, this 2022 Red Bull Racing won it all. Max Verstappen, with the help of Sergio Pérez, managed to win the drivers’ world championship after an incredible season, scoring 454 points.
On the other hand, Sergio «Checo» Pérez took third place in the drivers’ world championship with 305 points, only three points behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, in what was the best season of his career.
As a team, Red Bull Racing was crowned constructors’ world champion with 759 points, marking an impeccable year in which they won absolutely everything.
Super Bowl LVI
On February 13, 2022, we witnessed Super Bowl LVI, where the Los Angeles Rams were proclaimed champions at SoFi Stadium after coming from behind in the last quarter against the Cincinnati Bengals with a score of 23-20.
This game, full of suspense, ended with a last-chance stop to win it all for the Los Angeles Rams.
Super Bowl LVI had a memorable halftime show. The event featured artists like Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, and Kendrick Lamar. Usually, the halftime show is headlined by a single artist, such as The Weeknd in 2021 and next year’s event with Rihanna in 2023. In this 2022 event, all five artists co-headlined.
Without a doubt, the Super Bowl is one of the most anticipated sporting events year after year, and 2022 was no exception. We had a great NFL event with the champion Los Angeles Rams.
Rafael Nadal makes history in 2022
Without a doubt, 2022 was an unforgettable year for Rafael Nadal. This year, Rafa consolidated his position as the top Grand Slam winner in history (22) after winning the Australian Open in January and the Roland Garros in June.
Rafa started the 2022 season as a champion in Australia after being inactive for some time due to injury. The final was against Russian Daniil Medvedev, one of the best finals in tennis history. Rafa lost the match two sets to zero (2-0) and was behind in the third set, but it was there where everything changed, and he managed to tie the game at two sets (2-2) to define it in the fifth set, where he won the title for the second time in Australia and made his 21st Grand Slam.
In June, Rafa made history once again by winning the Roland Garros in France against the Norwegian Casper Ruud in three straight sets. With this result, Rafa won his 22nd Grand Slam title and his 14th Roland Garros, making it clear that he is the king of clay and the best tennis player of all time.
This year, Rafa bid farewell to his great rival and friend Roger Federer at the Laver Cup in a doubles match as a pair against Tiafoe and Sock, in Federer’s last match as a professional, thus closing a historic chapter in tennis: the Nadal-Federer rivalry.
Rafa toured Latin America with Casper Ruud, closing the year on December 1 at the Monumental Plaza de Toros, Mexico, in front of more than 30 thousand people.
What awaits Rafa in 2023?
