2022 Qatar World Cup

https://www.espn.com/soccer/fifa-world-cup/story/4829085/what-the-world-cup-will-look-like-in-2026-48-teams-more-groups-more-venues-more-games

Didnt bother reading it all, but cant help but sense the next WC is gonna be shit, it just is, I mean wtf @ the amount of teams, especially low levels... prolly wont bother watching the groups/qualifying/early KOs?

This WC will be remembered as the last decent WC prolly lol?

Group stage will be an even bigger borefest than they already are.

The qualifiers too. It won't be a big feat qualifying for the world cup any more.

It wasn't a borefest at all this time around, or in 2014, or even 2010.

BarrileteCosmico wrote:It wasn't a borefest at all this time around, or in 2014, or even 2010.

I swear i don't remember a single game from the 2014 World Cup, maybe Germany vs Brazil? because of the crazy scoreline but other than that it was just unremarkable with no drama.

This one was definitely better than both 2014 and 2018, the 2010 South Africa is still the goat though.

Ranking of world cups i've watched:

1. 2010
2. 2006
3. 2022
4. 2018
5. 2014

i can't remember a lot from 2018 actually lol.. had to rewatch the highlights of France 4-3 Argentina to remind myself of what happened

2014:
James Rodriguez
Netherlands revenge on Spain
Higuain
Germany vs Brazil

This ranks along 2014 as the best WC in my lifetime. 2014 was amazing, GOAT group stage. The only drawback was the knockout stage slowed down significantly, a lot of very cagey games. This WC has been much better in that respect.

This has easily been the best World Cup in terms of drama and narratives

The quality of football has been ass though

Casciavit wrote:This has easily been the best World Cup in terms of drama and narratives

The quality of football has been ass though

This.

2018: Belgium vs Japan was insane. I think Belgium come back from 2-0 down to win 3-2 to score literally last min. Japan know how to make a game entertaining lol.
France vs Argentina was good
Germany losing in groups was also insane and all of their games were super entertaining.
2006 holds a special one to my heart, that's still my favorite.
2010 I thought was boring, as great as Spain is I don't find it fun watching them pass around for 85mins and then score 1 goal. The final was really good tho.

Casciavit wrote:

The quality of football has been ass though

We literally say this every world cup

I say it all depends on your perspective! If you are a neutral, then I suppose the statement above is right. However, I believe most people, myself included it depends on how well or not your country performs! When my country doesn’t perform well, I look for good futbol, best against best. In this particular year, i sensed a lack of quality players for most normally strong countries (and I was right) which would lead to a lot if surprises. As a result i have only watched a handful of games. What I didn’t anticipate was the refereeing, and my perspective on this is the opposite of most of you! I feel the refs are a way to soft on the numerous physical assaults that are occurring, particularly with park the bus tactics. Players know that they won’t get carded by chopping down a much more talented player. That more than anything else is what’s making the games boring and emotional.

My favourite though was 1982, as I was able to attend several games. Final Italy 3-1 over West Germany was fantastic. By the way, I bought 10 prime tickets for one game in Gijon for the equivalent of 70 euros! Amazing how the cost has skyrocketed, which is mostly due to the immense interest, so despite all the criticism we may have that interest is contrary to what is being said here. Also changed significantly  has been television coverage and the price associated with that interest.

https://twitter.com/12Maibj/status/1603045533618143233?s=20&t=4yOmB-dUBBtssrio__9-dg

For the Spanish speakers out there, reasons Argentina deserves the WC (crazy fans compilation)

The matches i saw were decent enough, only the opening match was bad. Overall i think this world cup was good

- Messi
- Morocco's run to the semis and hopefully 3rd place
- Canada's pathetic tactics

Those are the highlights of the tournament for me. I regret not being able to follow most of the tournament although with highlights on Youtube i have seen what must be seen more or less. Still it's not the same involvement as football enthusiast.

I wish WC 2030 is played in a better place

Between Russia, Qatar, USA, Canada and even the weird Euro 2020 spread all over Europe we have not been spoiled recently. 2026 should have been just Mexico for real world cup ambiance.

It’s the demand for live tickets and television coverage plus Uefa / Fifa greed that is leading to these deemed unusual hosts! The interest is obviously there, despite what we think. See my comment above re live ticket prices and television rights escalation over the years.

Quite frankly, Fifa will keep doing this as long as the interest is there. I’m afraid we are in the minority.

The only bids that should be considered for 2030 should be the south american and the Iberian ones after Russia, Qatar, North America.

Some weird bids for 2030

Egypt - Greece - Saudi Arabia
Israel - UAE - Bahrain
Spain - Portugal - Ukraine


With all due respect it does not make sense

Warrior wrote:Some weird bids for 2030

Egypt - Greece - Saudi Arabia
Israel - UAE - Bahrain
Spain - Portugal - Ukraine


With all due respect it does not make sense

Could it be that one country can no longer afford the cost to host? I suspect it has a lot to due with the world’s economy.

yea no... isn't Greece quite a bit away from Egypt and Saudi

and how will Jew-Palestine relations be by 2030

and will Ukraine still be Ukraine because it's coin flip whether it will be an American state or Russian territory these days

weird indeed

futbol_bill wrote:

Warrior wrote:Some weird bids for 2030

Egypt - Greece - Saudi Arabia
Israel - UAE - Bahrain
Spain - Portugal - Ukraine


With all due respect it does not make sense

Could it be that one country can no longer afford  the cost to host? I suspect it has a lot to due with the world’s economy.

I suppose so

I read similar thing about the Winter Olympics that's why 2018 and 2022 occured in Asia, after referendums in several countries such as Sweden and Norway it turned out nobody else was interested. It was Kazakhstan vs China basically. The cost is too high and the exposure is limited to 1 month. Probably same reasons for world cups, even if the global impact is much more it's also a huge society project.


That being said i don't mind the world cup being hosted by 2-3 countries. Portugal-Spain makes sense. South American bid makes sense, even the Can-US-Mex bid makes sense. But if we're going Greece, Saudi Arabia and Egypt it seems a roll of the dice. What is the link between them ?
What next... a bid for Belarus-Armenia-Nepal

SA bid is based on Uruguay hosting the 1930 WC, so to commemorate 100 years of WCs it should be held there. But I think it's a bit of a CF that it's Arg + Uru + Paraguay + Chile, should've stopped at the first 2 as originally intended. Although we're not really economically stable, while the other 3 are, so I can see why it was expanded.

After that I imagine it will have to go back to Europe or go to East Asia.

SA bid is based on Uruguay hosting the 1930 WC, so to commemorate 100 years of WCs it should be held there

this makes sense

Warrior wrote:Some weird bids for 2030

Egypt - Greece - Saudi Arabia
Israel - UAE - Bahrain
Spain - Portugal - Ukraine


With all due respect it does not make sense

The Ukraine part of the iberia bid is just the 3 matches of one group. So the rest of the cup is in Spain and Portugal.

Anyone gonna watch the 3rd place playoff? I dont think I ever did watch this particular game for some reason... too much focus on the final n strange to say often this playoff involves teams n as attractive to watch I think I'll tune in this time though n I think Croatia should win it... but if Morocco can do it would elevate their achievement even more this WC.

Ofc, real ones watch all the games

surprised it's at 4pm already, I'd almost miss it

final is same time tomorrow, don't forget