By Tracy Bernheim
The time has finally come; the 2022 FIFA World Cup has begun and it has not disappointed. I’ve been preparing for weeks, having already bought my 2022 ‘FIFA World Cup sticker book’ at Arepa Zone back in October. It has been four years since the last World Cup – which took place in Russia. This year, the World Cup has headed to Qatar to see all of our favorite players and teams perform on the field yet again. The build up to the World Cup has been extensive and not without heated discourse. In fact, FIFA has been riddled with controversy throughout the past few years, with many corruption charges being placed against the organization. The World Cup’s recent destination of choice, Qatar, is at the center of this controversy. A well-timed Netflix docuseries, named “FIFA Uncovered,” was released about two weeks before the start of the World Cup, delving into the FIFA corruption charges. This year was especially exciting for American viewers, as the United States qualified for the 2022 World Cup – a feat that unfortunately was not the case in 2018. Considering that soccer is not an extremely popular sport in the U.S., the World Cup has played a pivotal role in bringing this underrated sport to the forefront of American popular culture.
The World Cup kicked off on the 20th of November, starting out with four games per day in the ‘group round.’ This year, there were eight different groups comprised of 32 countries that qualified. The United States was in Group B, alongside the much-anticipated England team, as well as Iran and Wales. The U.S. vs. England matchup, which took place on Black Friday, was being advertised heavily by American media outlets, with ads being played during every commercial break as well as being mentioned frequently by commentators. The match ended in a 0-0 tie, which definitely felt like a win for America as our young team was able to live up to the standards of the highly-accomplished and mature English team.
Despite the U.S.’ solid performance in the Black Friday game, there were a few upsets throughout the first couple of rounds of the group stage. Namely, Argentina (ranked third best in the world) was surprisingly defeated by Saudi Arabia (ranked fifty-first in the world); symbolizing a big blow for Argentina’s star player Lionel Messi. Another big upset occurred when Japan beat Germany 2-1 in the country’s first group match, ultimately resulting in Germany being eliminated from the World Cup at the end of the group stage.
With the group stage now over, we have our final 16 countries ready to enter into what’s known as the ‘knockout stage’. In this stage, if a team loses a game, they are promptly eliminated and sent home. There are currently two games being played per day. So far, the Netherlands has beaten the United States 3-1, sending home the young American team. Other results include Argentina beating Australia, France beating Poland, and England beating Senegal.
Notable mentions so far in the World Cup include Brazil’s Richarlison showcasing an amazing scissor kick goal against Serbia. Christiano Ronaldo has also become the first ever player to score a goal in five World Cups. Additionally, Mbappé has now tied Pelé in the record for the most goals scored before the age of 24. This year’s World Cup has certainly set several records.
We are now heading towards the end of the round of 16 and are looking forward to the quarter finals. This should definitely be a World Cup to remember, especially with so many household names announcing that this will be their last World Cup. These icons include Messi (Argentina), Ronaldo (Portugal), Lewandowski (Poland), Neymar Jr. (Brazil), Müller (Germany), Suarez (Uruguay), Modric (Croatia), and Giroud (France); symbolizing the historic nature of this year’s World Cup tournament.
