This year’s World Cup has been simultaneously captivating and depressing. There’s been awe-inspiring play and some terrific story lines (Lionel Messi, Morocco), but the background unpleasantness of Qatar 2022 has hung in the air throughout. The human-rights abuses leading up to the tournament were impossible to ignore by everyone except Fox Sports. Qatar squashed even the most benign of political speech at every opportunity, and two reporters died on-site at the tournament — including my friend, the great Grant Wahl. Fans couldn’t even drink beer. With just two matches left in the tournament — Saturday’s third-place game between Croatia and Morocco, then Sunday’s marquee final between Argentina and France — we’re a few days away from finally turning the page on a World Cup that, as thrilling as it has often been, many will want to forget. Here are some takeaways from the tournament.

Only eight countries have ever won the World Cup (nine if you count West Germany separately). There’s usually a Cinderella story at the tournament, and this year’s was particularly good: Morocco became the first African team to ever make the semifinals, beating Belgium, Spain, and Portugal along the way and giving France a run…