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Overview
Once every four years, the world comes together to compete in the biggest football competition in history. 32 teams qualify for the World Cup, and only 16 teams get past the group stage. In the group stage, four teams play matches against each other, and only the top two performing teams from each group can qualify for the knockout stage. The knockout stage consists of a single-elimination bracket until there is one team left.
Jets Track the Cup
In a survey of 200 Encinal students, 61% said they've seen at least a few games, and 17% said they've watched every game so far. Of those students, 66% admitted to watching the tournament during class time. Brazil seems to be the favorite, with 30% of students predicting the "Canary Squad" to win, followed by the United States (19%).
Students may have noticed other students huddled around laptops or phones watching the tournament live.
"It's so exciting to watch underdogs win against good teams like Japan," said 7th grader Adam Meyers. "And it is awesome watching the games at lunch with everyone yelling."
"I love the competition, the emotions it brings and power the game has around the world," said varsity soccer coach AJ Rana. "We are watching people achieve their wildest dreams before our eyes its inspirational and heart warming."
However, the 2022 is not without controversy. But fans have had to separate issues in Qatar and their love for the sport.
"I don’t like the capitalism of professional sports entertainment and everything happening in Qatar," said senior Caitlyn MacAskill. "But I do like the tradition of the World Cup and how it brings everyone together."
Past Winners
2018 France vs Croatia (4-2) France won the 2018 World Cup hosted by Russia, beating Croatia in regular time. 2014 Germany vs Argentina (1-0) Germany won the 2014 World Cup hosted by Brazil. Germany won in extra time. 2010 Spain vs Netherlands (1-0) Spain won the 2010 World Cup hosted by South Africa, scoring the final goal in extra time. 2006 Italy vs France (1-1) 5-3 PKs Italy won the 2006 World Cup hosted by Germany. Italy won after a close penalty shootout. 2002 Brazil vs Germany (2-0) Brazil won the 2002 World Cup hosted by South Korea/Japan. Brazil won in regular time. |
Teams to Watch
Brazil (Ranked #1)
Brazil is consistently one of the strongest teams in World Cup history, bringing home five trophies, the most of any country to date.
France (Ranked #4)
Going into the tournament, many of France’s starters were injured which was devastating for long time fans of the team. Even with this setback, it has not stopped them from dominating in their group.
England (Ranked #5)
Despite a slow game versus the United States, England looks strong going into the knockout stages. England came in fourth place during the 2018 World Cup.
Players to Watch
From left to right: R.Lewandoski (Poland) Neymar Jr (Brazil, K.Mbappe (France), L.Messi (Argentina), C.Ronaldo (Portugal), H.Kane (England).
Issues around Qatar hosting the World Cup
As mentioned previously, there is a cloud of controversy surrounding Qatar's hosting of the World Cup. Ranging from bribery to labor violations, these are issues that FIFA will always have to grapple with when choosing the hosting country.
Deaths of workers: After it was announced in 2010 that Qatar would be hosting the 2022 World Cup, millions of migrant workers moved to Qatar for the construction of the World Cup stadiums. Under Qatar’s kafala system, workers need permission to leave the country—and leaving the workplace without permission can result in termination of the employee’s legal status and even imprisonment. This essentially traps workers in indentured servitude, being forced to work in extreme conditions.
It has come out that as of 2020 over 6,500 workers form South Asia have died during the construction of the stadiums. Though all of the causes of death aren’t available sources say that many of the workers are put through unreasonable working conditions such as working 20 hour shifts, working without safety precautions, and working where there is an oxygen deficiency. Since 2010 an average of 12 people have died a day for the construction of the stadiums.
Anti LGBTQ+: In Qatar, same-sex relationships and gender-nonconformism are punishable by arrest, imprisonment, and even death. The Qatar Supreme Committee and FIFA have repeatedly insisted “everyone is welcome.” After many fans were showing concerns over the treatment of LGBTQ people in Qatar. But fans did not get what they were told. A couple of days before the start of the group stage, FIFA released a statement to teams telling them not to wear the OneLove armband. Teams were informed that each captain that wore the armband would receive a yellow card at kick-off. Hours before the group stage started many teams released statements saying they decided not to wear the OneLove armband. And soon after the armband was replaced by FIFA’s no discrimination armband.
For more general information about the world cup see World Cup: A Viewer's Guide
Trevor Marsh, Jacob Benaquista, and Max Millot contributed to this article.
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