Football in 2022 reviewed: Looking back on a dazzling year for the world's biggest game

It was a year where it felt like the sport truly got back up and running after multiple years of disruptions due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and what better way to celebrate than by closing the year out with the sport's biggest tournament, the FIFA World Cup.

Before we look back on that, let's take it back to the start of the year and the postponed African Cup of Nations tournament hosted by Cameroon. Running for a month from early January into February, 52 matches culminated in a tense final between Senegal and Egypt. It was particularly intriguing as two of Africa's most prominent players and Liverpool teammates, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah, faced off against each other to be African champions. One hundred and twenty minutes of football ended in a deadlock. Pushing the teams to a penalty shootout, Mane scored the winning goal securing Senegal's first-ever AFCON win in history.

It was another big night for Salah and Mane in May, as Liverpool were in their third Champions League final in five years. Facing Real Madrid in Paris, just as the clubs did in 1981, the game was overshadowed by poor policing and treatment of fans before the game. Once the match eventually got underway, Liverpool struggled to defy the heroic performance of Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. Brazil winger Vinicius Jr scored the crucial goal to hand Madrid a 1-0 win at the Stade de France and secure a record 14th win in the competition for his club.

Liverpool also lost out on the last day of the Premier League title race to familiar domestic foes Manchester City. Later in the summer, City strengthened their squad further by dipping into the transfer market and signing one of Europe's hottest prospects, Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland.

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