2022 FIFA World Cup

[Logic]

Figured I'd make a thread to discuss the World Cup, which starts in five days.

If there is another thread already, I missed it. Please forgive me and delete or combine this one. Anyway...

My stepfather growing up was a Frenchman, so the World Cup was a big deal in our house, and I grew up rooting for the French national team.

I don't watch much soccer in non World Cup years, but I do always find the World Cup really interesting and enjoyable to watch. And hey, for the first time since 2014, the U.S. qualified!

Are ya watching? Do ya care? Who ya got?

 

 

Edited November 16, 2022 by Logic

[LewPort71]

The US team failed to qualify in 2018, after successfully qualifying in all the world cups since 1990.

The US has a very young team and are playing against Wales, England and Iran.  All matches 
are on Fox and are  on at 2:00. 

The 2026 WC is in Canada, Mexico and the US, so all three automatically qualify.

 

Selecting Qatar is a sham imho, but the lords of FIFA bow to the all mighty $$  or whatever the 

currency in Qatar is.  The only advantage to Qatar is that the teams wont have extensive traveling 

as they did in Brazil in 2014 and we wont have to listen to those gawd awful vuvuzelas.

[UConn James]

I root for US, Netherlands, and France since I live here, my mum’s side is from Friesland in the Netherlands (she was born there, emigrated age 6), and my dad’s side is French-Canadian and I did 4 years of French in high school.

 

If forced to choose one… I think Netherlands / Nederland. Been learning more about and embracing the Dutch side more since my mum passed. It’s a tie to / way to remember her. In the WC Final they made in 2010, she got REALLY into it.

 

But, also, I don’t watch other than WC. I think it’s because it’s so long between anything actually happening, the faking injury drama / waaay over-the-top diving and crying in pain when someone touches their shoulder, and because usually when anything does happen it’s called back on an onsides call. Really just don’t understand Offside. I mean… I know what the rule is, but I just think it’s stupid, just like the three-line-pass rule was stupid in hockey and made games so unwatchable and half of them 0-0 ties.

Edited November 15, 2022 by UConn James

[DrW]

2 hours ago, UConn James said:

But, also, I don’t watch other than WC. I think it’s because it’s so long between anything actually happening, the faking injury drama / waaay over-the-top diving and crying in pain when someone touches their shoulder, and because usually when anything does happen it’s called back on an onsides call. Really just don’t understand Offside. I mean… I know what the rule is, but I just think it’s stupid, just like the three-line-pass rule was stupid in hockey and made games so unwatchable and half of them 0-0 ties.

 

I agree with your objection to diving and faking injuries; long-term, this is really a more recent development. Even 10 years ago, it was not this much of an issue. On the other hand, the criticism "it’s so long between anything actually happening" is ridiculous. In soccer, there is constant movement of all players and something can happen anytime - it is a constant back and forth; typically, each team possesses the ball more than 100 times. Soccer games have two halves of 45 minutes each, each half without a commercial interruption. Compare this to (American) football (which I love) where you have 60 minutes of action in a three-hour game, and each team possesses the ball perhaps 8-10 times.

 

OK, let's get to the original questions:

Being German, of course I watch, and I obviously root for Germany (with the US as the other team getting my attention). In our department, the graduate student organization holds a world cup bracket tournament. In 2014, I won, because I was the only one who had Germany as champions. Interestingly, Mario Goetze who scored the winning goal in the 2014 finals against Argentina, is back in the squad this time.

[ExiledInIllinois]

3 hours ago, LewPort71 said:

The US team failed to qualify in 2018, after successfully qualifying in all the world cups since 1990.

The US has a very young team and are playing against Wales, England and Iran.  All matches 
are on Fox and are  on at 2:00. 

The 2026 WC is in Canada, Mexico and the US, so all three automatically qualify.

 

Selecting Qatar is a sham imho, but the lords of FIFA bow to the all mighty $$  or whatever the 

currency in Qatar is.  The only advantage to Qatar is that the teams wont have extensive traveling 

as they did in Brazil in 2014 and we wont have to listen to those gawd awful vuvuzelas.

And there's no street crime in Doha.

[Nextmanup]

I will watch every match of the tournament.  Can't wait.

 

Disappointed in the choice of QATAR which will definitely dampen the fun.

 

Still can't believe my Italy is not in the tournament, which kind of kills the fun of it for me before it even begins.

 

Just did this 4 years ago too!  LOL

 

Will be shifting my cheering interests to my 2nd team: Deutschland.

 

 We have cool home jerseys for this one:

 

[Logic]

12 hours ago, Nextmanup said:

I will watch every match of the tournament.  Can't wait.

 

Disappointed in the choice of QATAR which will definitely dampen the fun.

 

Still can't believe my Italy is not in the tournament, which kind of kills the fun of it for me before it even begins.

 

Just did this 4 years ago too!  LOL

 

Will be shifting my cheering interests to my 2nd team: Deutschland.

 

 We have cool home jerseys for this one:

 

Those are sharp as hell.....unlike the absolutely hideous U.S. kits this year 🤮

[LewPort71]

The German kits are  super.. While the blue shirts for the US are  meh

[TBBills]

They got a Netflix documentary about this and how corrupt it is.

[Logic]

49 minutes ago, TBBills said:

They got a Netflix documentary about this and how corrupt it is.

Oh yeah. FIFA is beyond corrupt. 100%

It's a weird, difficult, "cognitive dissonance" sort of thing to be able to separate the enjoyment of a sport from the knowledge that its governing body is evil.

Same cognitive dissonance I exercise when I watch the NFL.

[K-9]

18 hours ago, UConn James said:

I root for US, Netherlands, and France since I live here, my mum’s side is from Friesland in the Netherlands (she was born there, emigrated age 6), and my dad’s side is French-Canadian and I did 4 years of French in high school.

 

If forced to choose one… I think Netherlands / Nederland. Been learning more about and embracing the Dutch side more since my mum passed. It’s a tie to / way to remember her. In the WC Final they made in 2010, she got REALLY into it.

 

But, also, I don’t watch other than WC. I think it’s because it’s so long between anything actually happening, the faking injury drama / waaay over-the-top diving and crying in pain when someone touches their shoulder, and because usually when anything does happen it’s called back on an onsides call. Really just don’t understand Offside. I mean… I know what the rule is, but I just think it’s stupid, just like the three-line-pass rule was stupid in hockey and made games so unwatchable and half of them 0-0 ties.

I root for the Netherlands as well. And for no other reason than for as long as I’ve watched international sporting events, no team, regardless of the sport they’re engaged in at the time, has more fun than a team from the Netherlands. From soccer, to speed skating to curling, the Netherlands teams and their fans enjoy it like it’s the last time they’ll enjoy anything on earth. 

[Jauronimo]

28 minutes ago, K-9 said:

I root for the Netherlands as well. And for no other reason than for as long as I’ve watched international sporting events, no team, regardless of the sport they’re engaged in at the time, has more fun than a team from the Netherlands. From soccer, to speed skating to curling, the Netherlands teams and their fans enjoy it like it’s the last time they’ll enjoy anything on earth. 

Netherlands were fun since they play aggressive ball particularly when they had Robben and Van Persie.  Germany has been fun to watch for that reason too.  The biggest problem with the World Cup, or any international contest really, is the top teams are usually All-Star teams with almost no chemistry or cohesion which coupled with the vast disparity in talent means the early rounds are typified by the Irans of the world playing 11 man goalie hoping for one chance on the counter attack or even a draw while France passes around the perimeter and find their few scoring chances squandered by players who are not on the same page due to lack of familiarity.  It can be tough to watch.  

 

I think Americans with low opinions of soccer might change their tune if they watched European Premier Leagues where the talent gap is narrower and the level of play leads to a lot more excitement than the average David vs. Goliath World Cup games.  

[DrW]

2 hours ago, Jauronimo said:

The biggest problem with the World Cup, or any international contest really, is the top teams are usually All-Star teams with almost no chemistry or cohesion...

 

This should at least initially give an advantage to teams who have a core of players from the same club team, like Germany (7 players from Bayern Munich) or Spain (7 players from Barcelona). After the group games, the teams which make it into the knock-out round have gained some familiarity among their players and the quality of the games usually improves.

[DrW]

On 11/15/2022 at 4:20 PM, UConn James said:

But, also, I don’t watch other than WC. I think it’s because it’s so long between anything actually happening, the faking injury drama / waaay over-the-top diving and crying in pain when someone touches their shoulder, and because usually when anything does happen it’s called back on an onsides call. Really just don’t understand Offside. I mean… I know what the rule is, but I just think it’s stupid, just like the three-line-pass rule was stupid in hockey and made games so unwatchable and half of them 0-0 ties.

 

Interestingly, the fake injury drama is much less prevalent in women's soccer, although I noticed that they start to adopt this bad habit from the men.

Edited November 16, 2022 by DrW

[LeGOATski]

Rooting for the US, obviously. Interesting that a lot of folks tend to root for Netherlands as well. I am also one of them. I like their style and Robben was one of my favorite players. I'll try to watch most of the games and just root for the underdogs. My son will actually be into it this year too, so that'll make it more enjoyable.

[eball]

This is really the only kickball tournament I watch.  Saw that the US is in with England, Wales, and Iran.  What are our chances to get out of that group?

 

I always root for the US and Germany (my dad’s birthplace).

 

Qatar was an odd choice for this year’s Cup, but FIFA is one of the most scandalous and corrupt organizations in sport so not a surprise.

 

Anyone ever been through the airport in Doha?  It’s unbelievable.  The lounges are first rate.

 

[Logic]

6 hours ago, eball said:

This is really the only kickball tournament I watch.  Saw that the US is in with England, Wales, and Iran.  What are our chances to get out of that group?

 

I always root for the US and Germany (my dad’s birthplace).

 

Qatar was an odd choice for this year’s Cup, but FIFA is one of the most scandalous and corrupt organizations in sport so not a surprise.

 

Anyone ever been through the airport in Doha?  It’s unbelievable.  The lounges are first rate.

 

The U.S.'s odds in general are quite awful (+15000), though I'm not sure how likely they are simply to get out of the first group.

Doesn't seem too promising.

 

--------------

Separately, for anyone interested in educating themselves on the moral, humanitarian, and political implications of Qatar being the host city...I highly recommend the following article. It is long, but extremely thorough and well written. To the extent that I spend time watching the World Cup this year, I will feel at least a little better having educated myself as to the full implications of this whole messy thing. 

One thing I thought was jaw-dropping: Qatar has spent 12 years and $250 Billion dollars re-making their country, building over 100 hotels, re-designing downtown completely, installing a new public transport system from scratch, and of course building the stadiums themselves. This is more than the cost of all previous World Cups and Olympics combined (!!!). Obviously, the human rights and climate considerations of all of this construction is under extreme scrutiny.

https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v44/n22/david-goldblatt/how-to-get-on-tv

[eball]

42 minutes ago, Logic said:

The U.S.'s odds in general are quite awful (+15000), though I'm not sure how likely they are simply to get out of the first group.

Doesn't seem too promising.

 

--------------

Separately, for anyone interested in educating themselves on the moral, humanitarian, and political implications of Qatar being the host city...I highly recommend the following article. It is long, but extremely thorough and well written. To the extent that I spend time watching the World Cup this year, I will feel at least a little better having educated myself as to the full implications of this whole messy thing. 

One thing I thought was jaw-dropping: Qatar has spent 12 years and $250 Billion dollars re-making their country, building over 100 hotels, re-designing downtown completely, installing a new public transport system from scratch, and of course building the stadiums themselves. This is more than the cost of all previous World Cups and Olympics combined (!!!). Obviously, the human rights and climate considerations of all of this construction is under extreme scrutiny.

https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v44/n22/david-goldblatt/how-to-get-on-tv

 

Thanks; just read that.  Would never have guessed there are only 300,000 Qataris living in Doha.

 

 

[CoudyBills]

I'm told the US left the best goalie off the roster, any truth to that?  Hard to compete in a world class cross country kickball tournament without your best goaltender.

[TBBills]

They banned beer sales at stadiums in Qatar... imagine having to watch soccer sober. 

Edited November 18, 2022 by TBBills