Countries complete for the ultimate prize
The world cup is an international association soccer competition contested by the senior men’s national teams of the members of the Fédération International de Football Association (FIFA). In the four years leading up to the event over 300 countries play each other in hopes of making it into the 32 that qualify. Every four years the world cup is played in a different country and this year Qatar has the honor of hosting the games and events of the 2022 world cup.
Sunday, November 20th marked the start of the world cup with an opener game of Qatar versus Ecuador. Qatar lost the game with a final score of 0-2 making Qatar the first-ever host country to lose the opener match.
The 32 countries are split into eight groups of four. The groups play amongst themselves and gain points for the outcome of every game; a win equals three points, a draw equals one, and a loss equals zero points for teams.
Once group games are completed, only the top two teams from each will carry on, leaving 16 teams to compete for the championship title. The world cup takes place in 28 days (about four weeks), with elimination rounds taking place daily once the top 16 teams advance.
“Watching the world cup is so stressful because you never know if your team will make it to the next round,” said DBHS senior Angel Santiago.
The 2022 world cup is currently still playing in the group phases as teams battle it out for a spot in the top two of their group. Right now, the standings go as followed: group A: Netherlands and Ecuador, group B: England and Wales, group C: Saudi Arabia and Poland, group D: France and Tunisia, group E: Spain and Japan, group F: Belgium and Croatia, group G: Switzerland and Brazil, and group H: South Korea and Uruguay.
So far, the competition has been one for the underdogs with almost every game being won by the least favored team. In the Saudi Arabia vs. Argentina game played on November 22nd, the audience was left in shock as the Saudi national team walked off the field with a win of 2-1 against the champion team. The England vs. Iran game also caused a stir after England came out victorious after scoring six goals, while Iran only got two.
However, much upset has been voiced by the public, not about which teams won but why. Many goals have been overturned due to referees stating they were offside and therefore did not count. The technology being used in these games to monitor the players’ and balls’ movements is advanced and meant to pick up the slightest of things in the name of fairness, but it might be making the game too technical. In a recent call, referees deemed a goal made by Argentina offside due to the fact a player’s hand was in front of a defender from the opposing team. Many believe the ruling was unfair and did not follow the traditional definition of offside.
“I think it should have been counted. The ball was behind the player from the other team it was only the guy’s hand that was in front.” Santiago said.
Despite many offside rulings so far, teams are still scoring one goal after another and winning, making predicting who will advance a complete mystery. The 2022 world cup is scheduled to end on December 18th. As of now the favored to win is Brazil, with France, Argentina, and Spain not far behind but with how the tournament is going the list can be completely changed rather quickly.
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