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The past year in the sporting world was an emotional rollercoaster ride. It was packed with remarkable victories, retirements and heartbreaks in a variety of sporting areas.
Spectators had far more than what they could have imagined. The exciting highs and disappointing lows across the world of sports left them with goose pimples and moved them to tears.
These moments, in the sporting context, were unprecedented and there exists nil possibility of ranking them.
A recap of these sporting moments experienced in 2022 is appropriate to rejig one's memory.
The long wait for World Cup glory eventually came to an end for Lionel Messi after Argentina beat France in an epic showdown at the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar.
It was a final full of intrigue. Argentina took the lead early on as Messi and Angel Di Maria put the Albiceleste in front, but Kylian Mbappe restored hope for France with two quick-fire goals late in the match to take the game to extra-time time.
The action did not stop through extra time with Messi putting his second goal past the French goalie Hugo Lloris in the 108th minute but Mbappe, yet again, responded from the penalty spot in the 118th minute to complete his hat-trick, sending the match to penalty kicks.
Argentina won the dramatic shootout 4-2 after Gonzalo Montiel scored the winning penalty to give the Albiceleste their third title at the marquee football event.
The victory arguably staked Messi’s claim as the greatest player in the history of football as the 35-year-old led by example for his nation.
Messi scored seven goals in total during the tournament and won the Golden Ball award as the best player of the tournament to mark a fairytale end to his world cup journey.
There is no other better underdog story than Morocco advancing to the FIFA World Cup 2022 semi-finals.
The achievement of the team was quite remarkable as never before had an African and Arab team gotten that far.
Morocco put up a solid group stage performance to top their group table after beating Belgium and Canada while securing a point against Croatia, the FIFA World Cup 2018 finalists who finished second in Group F.
The African nation then went on to defeat Spain on penalties in the round of 16 which guaranteed a spot for them in the quarterfinals.
They locked horns with Portugal in the next round and went on to score the only winning goal by En-Nesyri to book a semi-finals spot.
Morocco however lost the semi-final tie against France by 2-0 and eventually the third place to Croatia by 2-1, but the North-African nation overachieved as the dark horse of the tourney in Qatar.
Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan took the world by surprise at the 2022 World Championships in Oregon after producing a jaw-dropping performance.
The 25-year-old ran a time of 12.12 seconds in the 100 metres hurdles semi-finals, smashing the previous World Record (WR) of 12.20 seconds held by Keni Harrison of the United States in 2016.
She eventually stormed to victory in the finals with a winning time of 12.06 seconds, but the time was ruled ineligible as the wind speed exceeded the legal limit.
With Amusan's scintillating performance, she became the first Nigerian and African woman in history to set a WR and be crowned World Champion in the event.
Following the fallout of Cristiano Ronaldo at Manchester United, the 37-year-old joined Saudi Arabain club Al-Nassr, nine-time Saudi Pro League champions.
He signed a contract through to the summer of 2025 in a deal worth €200m per year with commercial benefits included to make him the highest-paid player in history.
Al Nassr described the signing of the Portugal star as “history in the making.”
Before leaving Manchester United, the five-time Ballon d'Or winner had a controversial interview with prominent sports journalist Piers Morgan, in which he criticised the club.
Consequently, Manchester United announced the Portuguese's departure from the club based on a mutual agreement.
He was however thanked for his contribution during the two spells which saw him score 145 goals in 346 appearances.
The retirement announcement of tennis legend Roger Federer was a shocker in the world of sports in 2022.
It was not the fairytale ending that tennis enthusiasts expected as the 20-time Grand Slam champion retired from professional tennis after the Laver Cup 2022.
In his final game, the Swiss partnered with his old rival Rafael Nadal in a doubles match against Jack Stock and Frances Tiafoe.
The tie was not scripted as Federer and Nadal ultimately lost the match.
In the wake of his retirement, there was an outpouring of praise and admiration from fans who thanked him for his on-court achievements.
As eventful as 2022 was, it ended on a very sad note.
Pele, fondly called King of Football, died at the age of 82, less than three days before the end of the year.
The legend spent the final month of his life in the hospital battling colon cancer before he gave up the ghost, following multiple organ failures as a result of the disease.
The king of the round leather game was born in October 1940 and christened Edson Arantes do Nascimento.
He played his first game for Santos as a 15-year-old in 1956 before going on to win the World Cup with Brazil in 1958, 1962, and 1970.
At retirement in 1977, he had scored more than 1,000 goals, including scoring 77 for Brazil.
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