By Angel Ramirez
We have all seen the craziness of the fans for the FIFA World Cup. For an event to be worldwide and massive it must be something spectacular. Just like the Olympics, the World Cup is a tournament that happens every four years. This makes it truly special and along with the Olympics, the most watched sporting event across the globe.
This tournament determines what country is the best at soccer in the world. There are thirty-two teams in the tournament, and it happens in different locations every four years. This year happens to be in Qatar. There are eight groups who fight off for a qualification and the best two out of four of each group advances and in the end there is only one winner, so every team puts all their efforts into every game.
There is great deal of national pride that goes into this event. Teams represent their home countries and they are supported by the country they come from.
The stadiums that these games will be played in are almost as interesting as the games themselves. They are often useful works of art that stand as examples of national pride. It is a big deal for a country to host the FIFA World Cup. This year it is in Qatar and they have many locations that are both beautiful and large enough to host this event. Stadiums that the matches will be played on will be the following;
- Lusail: Lusail Stadium – Capacity of 80,000
- AI Khor: Al Bayt Stadium – Capacity 60,000
- Al Wakrah: Al Janoub Stadium – Capacity 40,000
- Al Rayyan: Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium – Capacity 40,000
- Doha: Khalifa International Stadium – Capacity 40,000
- Doha: Education City Stadium – Capacity 40,000
- Doha: Stadium 1974 – Capacity 40,000
- Doha: Al Thumama Stadium – Capacity 40,000
Each stadium will have five group matches played in them and the rest are round of 16 or the other qualifications, it all depends. For more information you can check the website about the stadiums. https://www.stadiumguide.com/tournaments/fifa-world-cup-2022-stadiums-qatar/
The playoffs are at the largest stadiums.
This year many teams were left out of the World cup which was a big surprise, such as Italy who lost to North Macedonia, Colombia who didn’t even qualify from their group, Sweden, Chile, Nigeria, Russia, Egypt and Algeria and many more.
The teams that did not make the World Cup are interesting as well. But the teams that are playing in this tournament are Qatar, Ecuador, Senegal, Netherlands, England, Iran, USA, Wales, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Poland, France, Australia, Denmark, Tunisia, Spain, Costa Rica, Germany, Japan, Belgium, Canada, Morocco, Croatia, Brazil, Serbia, Switzerland, Cameroon, Portugal, Ghana, Uruguay, and South Korea.
This year’s World Cup is the last for many big players and it makes a big impact in people’s life because these players gave it all and brought joy to soccer. This is a sport that is played throughout the world whether a rich or a poor country, all that is needed to play soccer is a ball and a field.
Players from teams around the world have become celebrities, worshipped for their skill on the field. Popular players in this tournament are Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Luka Modric, Robert Lewandoski, Luis Suarez, Neymar, Edinson Cavani, Manuel Neuer, and many many more.
The teams that are most likely to win and have the biggest fan following are Argentina, Brazil, France and Portugal. However, there have been many surprises in the past and anything can happen. So many people want Messi to win this year’s world cup for Argentina, and others want Ronaldo to win it for Portugal, this rivalry of both will never end until this is set. These rivalries make following the World Cup just that much better.
Overall the World Cup is such an important event to everyone who loves soccer. People around the world are getting ready for this event and seeing who will take this magnificent trophy home.
