Every four years, since 1930, soccer teams from around the world come to one city to compete for the most desired and prestigious soccer championship. This event is called the World Cup. Currently, the World Cup is taking place in Qatar, a small country in the Middle East. Unlike the previous events, it is taking place during the winter instead of the summer. This is due to Qatar’s excessive heat during the summer.
At the start of this year’s tournament, there were 32 teams in the running. To get into the tournament, these teams have to play in a regional tournament. They play all of the other teams in their region, and depending on the amount of spots open, their record will determine if they qualify for the World Cup.
There are six regions in total: the CONCACAF (North America, Central America, and some of the Caribbean), the UEFA (Europe), CONMEBOL (South America), CAF (Africa), AFC (Asia), and OFC (Oceania). Not every region will have the same number of qualifiers, as this depends on the average skill level of each regions’ teams. For example, the OFC can at most send one team to the World Cup while the CONMEBOL can send four or five teams.
Once the countries qualify for the World Cup, they are split into eight groups of four. They then participate in a round-robin style tournament in the group stage to determine which teams move onto the next stage, the knockout stage. These groups of four contain teams that vary in skill, with each group having a team in the top eight and one in the bottom eight. In the group stage, each team plays all the other teams in their group. After they play, they qualify based on a point system. There are three points for a win, one point for a tie, and zero points for a loss. The top two teams in each group will advance. If there is a tie of points within a group, the winner will be decided by their goal differential. The group stage of the tournament will eliminate half of the original 32 teams. Then, these 16 remaining teams will participate in a classic single elimination tournament placed by seeding. There will be four rounds of games to determine the final champion.
At the conclusion of the group stage, the teams remaining were: Netherlands, USA, Argentina, Australia, Japan, Croatia, Brazil, Korea, England, Senegal, France, Poland, Morocco, Spain, Portugal, and Switzerland. Some notable teams who didn’t make it to the knockout stage are Germany, Denmark, Serbia, Uruguay and Belgium. These teams all had a promising look but failed to perform.
Some teams that played surprisingly well and made it to the knockout stage: Australia, Japan, Morocco, South Korea, and Poland. These teams weren’t expected to go far, but they have made a great run. Notably, South Korea has impressed many, especially by the performance of their star, Son Heung-Min. Japan also astounded many with its wins against Spain and Germany.
Many juggernauts, such as Argentina, Brazil, England, and France, are extremely well seasoned to play in the World Cup. Brazil has won the world cup an astounding five times, and they have many strong players on their team like Thiago Silva, Casemiro, and Neymar just to name a few. Both France and Argentina have won the World Cup twice, and France are the defending champions this year. All of these teams have great chances to win it all again this year. The United States also made it to the knockout stage, successfully coming out of Group B in second place with England holding the first spot. The US team lost against the Netherlands in their bid to advance to the quarter finals.
Another remarkable aspect of this World Cup is that this could very well be the last one for two superstars in the soccer world: Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. Millions of people have loved and admired these two players, and many are sad to see that this could be their last World Cup. Ronaldo is currently playing for Portugal and Messi is playing for Argentina. “I expect Qatar could be my final World Cup,” said Ronaldo, according to various sources. Although one of the best players ever, Ronaldo has never won a World Cup. Messi has played for Argentina at every single World Cup since 2006, yet winning the trophy has eluded him all these years. Messi got to the World Cup championship game in 2014 but lost to Germany. Both of these great players are in the knockout stage and it will be great to see them play their hardest for possibly their last World Cup.
Inevitably, with the gathering of so many countries, there are many political issues surrounding this year’s World Cup. FIFA has issued many regulations, such as the ban of alcohol in the stadiums. Some fans were pleased with this, while others weren’t. Many fans feel like drinking is a part of being at the World Cup and shouldn’t be taken away. One claimed that this isn’t the right way to attract visitors.
The FIFA president disagreed, saying fans would “survive” not being able to drink “for three hours a day.” On the whole however, there haven’t been any substantial issues with the ban. Other news is that France’s star striker, Benzema, is out for this World Cup due to a hamstring sprain. This could cost the French team in the long run, as they need all the weapons they can get to win the championship. Despite the injuries and misfortunes that come with a World Cup after the pandemic, this event will unite soccer fans and hearts around the world.
Sources:
https://olympics.com/en/news/can-messi-or-ronaldo-win-the-world-cup
https://www.si.com/soccer/2022/11/11/world-cup-2022-power-rankings-brazil-argentina-france-qatar
https://www.fifa.com/fifaplus/en/home
https://www.rookieroad.com/fifa-world-cup/how-does-world-cup-qualifying-work-8747703/
https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/30/football/alcohol-world-cup-fans-qatar-2022-spt-intl#:~:text=But%2C%20at%20Qatar%202022%2C%20alcohol,stadiums%20hosting%20the%20World%20Cup.