I have no issue with Russian teams being prohibited from international football but a consistent standard needs to be created across the board, applicable to all teams, not just enemies of "The West".
Barring that, hoping this gets escalated to CAS.
2022 World Cup Qatar thread
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I have no issue with Russian teams being prohibited from international football but a consistent standard needs to be created across the board, applicable to all teams, not just enemies of "The West".
Barring that, hoping this gets escalated to CAS.
Will this end up just like the joke that is the “Russian Olympic Committee” supposedly not being the same as Russia competing in the Olympics?
And by “The West” are people referring to everyone other than Russia, North Korea, and China? Because that’s what we are talking about. And I’m not even sure China will calculate it’s in their favor to throw in. Even Turkey, which has been akin to a puppet state of the Kremlin in recent times is like “Nope.. you are done”.
And by “The West” are people referring to everyone other than Russia, North Korea, and China? Because that’s what we are talking about. And I’m not even sure China will calculate it’s in their favor to throw in. Even Turkey, which has been akin to a puppet state of the Kremlin in recent times is like “Nope.. you are done”.
I forgot we were playing against Ukraine in the playoffs. They’ve requested a postponement.
I actually read somewhere that they've received a record number of ticket requests for this WC.
Two huge tailwinds in their favor are pent-up travel demand post-COVID and Qatar being a small country, making it feasible to attend more games in multiple locations.
Certainly a reasonable request given the circumstances, any idea when FIFA would be able to fit in the rearranged game? I imagine there's a deadline for the latest a nation can qualify, as they need to get merch and preparation done etc.
Well the jinx workedAlso No Ronaldo in this world cup.
Strange draw is going ahead on Friday with 3/4 nations still to make it.
Guess it's a bit like the euros draw that placed teams in groups when they still had to win the play offs.
Guess it's a bit like the euros draw that placed teams in groups when they still had to win the play offs.
Bitching and moaning aside we're going to enjoy it when the time comes. It's the World Cup and it's always special.
Hope it ends in a damp squib but produces loads of memes
I predict will talk about a photo of Maguire's knob touching Neymar's shoulder while Grealish does the Batusi.
There seem to be a lack of real quality teams this world cup. Aside from maybe France, no team has really demonstrate they have a strong team in all positions.
And teams from the lesser confederations are all really boring as well. No real standout teams and stars. The African teams look blunt in attack, Asia seems to lack any real stars, N. America is still too weak, South America feels too old, and there's no standout team from Europe.
And teams from the lesser confederations are all really boring as well. No real standout teams and stars. The African teams look blunt in attack, Asia seems to lack any real stars, N. America is still too weak, South America feels too old, and there's no standout team from Europe.
Agree, but the European top teams are strong.
I feel England, Germany and France got most talent.
They have top talent relative to their recent rivals. But this Germany is far weaker than the 2014 team by miles. England is fine, in attack and defence. But England really lacks a top level midfield.
Maybe I am spoiled by the sheer squad depth the 2010, 2014 and 2018 world cup winning teams had. Now it doesn't really feel like any European team bar France can be said to have a deep squad in almost all position.
I feel Germany got the talent, but no striker as good as Klose. I think that is the big difference. Werner vs Klose is a huge difference.
Bastian and Lahm was also really good, but I think Kimmich is at that level.
Spain and Italy also do lack really good strikers.
You really need top level strikers to win world-cups. The Spanish squad that won 2010 had Torres and Villa, two world class strikers. Germany had Klose and Podolski as a decent back-up. France had Mbappe and Griezmann as world-class forwards, and a decent Giroud as support.
Germany still has Muller...but he still requires a good centre-forward as a partner. Italy failed to make it to the world cup because of a lack of top striker.
Spain have decent wide-forwards like Ferran Torres, but he's not a top-level striker. Maybe Ansu Fati can become a breakout star if he becomes fit and performs well for the rest of the year. But that is still not certain as of now. The key to winning world cup is to have strong squad depth, in almost all position. You don't win by just having a decent starting 11. You win by having a world-class starting 11 and a very strong bench that can make an impact when called upon.
A strong team that lacks a strong forward line will be too blunt in attack. They may reach the semi-finals or even the finals like Croatia did, but they cannot score goals when it counts. A team that lacks strong midfield will get overrun as the game goes on, just like what happened to England-vs-Italy as the players lost possession. Brazil looks okay, but their midfield lacks creativity and their backline is getting too old. Belgium's golden generation has now passed their peak years and are on the decline.
Because of a number of reasons - geographical as well as the fact that people from these parts work in large numbers in the ME - it will automatically be the best WC ever as far as South and South East Asia, as well as all the Arab/African/Muslim countries are concerned. That covers a large chunk of the World population. This WC won't 'fail' for lack of interest or viewership as some europeans seem to be hoping for. Europe and/or America is not the world. Quality-wise , I dunno.
Brazil and Argentina are coming with decent teams and in decent form as well.
I feel Brazil will win it this time around. Germany would have been my pick but they aren't the side they once were.
That will likely require England to make it out of the group stages
I'm going to put this here too since i feel it's relevant information:
Pots are shaping up.
Pot 1: Qatar, Brazil, Belgium, France, Argentina, England, Spain, Portugal.
Pot 2: Denmark, Netherlands, Germany, Mexico*, USA*, Switzerland, Croatia, Uruguay.
Pot 3: Senegal, Iran, Japan, Morocco, Serbia, Poland, South Korea, Canada**.
Pot 4: Tunisia, Cameroon, Ecuador, S. Arabia, Ghana, (Wales/Scotland/Ukraine), (Costa Rica/New Zealand/Solomon Islands), (Peru/UAE/Australia).
Pot 1 is confirmed.
* Mexico and USA aren't officially qualified but bar an enormous upset should do tonight
** Canada will only be in pot 3 if they win tonight. If they don't, they will swap places with Tunisia.
Pots are shaping up.
Pot 1: Qatar, Brazil, Belgium, France, Argentina, England, Spain, Portugal.
Pot 2: Denmark, Netherlands, Germany, Mexico*, USA*, Switzerland, Croatia, Uruguay.
Pot 3: Senegal, Iran, Japan, Morocco, Serbia, Poland, South Korea, Canada**.
Pot 4: Tunisia, Cameroon, Ecuador, S. Arabia, Ghana, (Wales/Scotland/Ukraine), (Costa Rica/New Zealand/Solomon Islands), (Peru/UAE/Australia).
Pot 1 is confirmed.
* Mexico and USA aren't officially qualified but bar an enormous upset should do tonight
** Canada will only be in pot 3 if they win tonight. If they don't, they will swap places with Tunisia.
I would be stunned if the majority of group games are played without half the tickets not being sold.
Fifa and Qatar are going to have to dig deep to skew these figures and fill seats.
Europe and South America may not be the world but they take up the majority of tickets at these world cups. Viewership will still be high but I think they’ll struggle with attendances for a lot of group games.
I can’t see hundreds of thousands of European and American fans flocking to the Middle East during Christmas to pay extortionate prices to watch the World Cup.
the backlash from all levels of European soccer since FIFA formally detailed its biennial plan in September to say last month that any changes must be reached by consensus without doing harm to the game.
European and South American soccer officials see threats to the status of their own continental and domestic competitions and an increased workload for players.
You can see more about FIFA here "Infotainment beats"
European and South American soccer officials see threats to the status of their own continental and domestic competitions and an increased workload for players.
You can see more about FIFA here "Infotainment beats"
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Think Brazil are too reliant on Neymar having a great WC.
That said, this WC looks like it will be quite open as there isn't a standout team. There are probably about 6 that think they can win it and around 8/9 that can give it a good go.
My prediction is that the tournament will be low on quality but high on shocks.
Will the heat play its part or is that a total non-factor in December? I see the average temperature is still 24°C, not sure about humidity in Qatar but you'd think teams like Brazil or Spain would be better suited to this kind of climate than England, Belgium or Germany.
Not that I think that Martino is a tactical genius, but it's also the worst generation of Mexican players since the late 80's. The development of young players has really stagnated in Mexico and they're going to have a tough time for at least the next couple of WC cycles regardless of who they bring in as national team manager. The club owners down there have really dropped the ball by not investing in player development.
And even if they qualify to the WC, I think that their thirty year record of coming past the group stage will be broken. Unless they end up in Qatar's group, there's no way they are beating a top seed.
Most of their players have acclimatised to Northern European weather as they all play there.
Chile and Columbia seem to have relied on the same key players since the 2014 world cup
Chilean important players are old and they haven't produced any proper replacement, they were never going to qualify to this WC.
Colombia should have qualified, they were unlucky against Peru, Colombia outplayed Peru and wasted chances plus peruvian gk having the game of his life, while peruvians scored in the only chance they had in 90 minutes, like Macedonia did against Italy.
It can happen in 1 out of 10 games, it was a typical football upset where the underdog scores in his only shot on goal.
I agree with the first part. This is one of the worst footballing generations Mexico has produced in recent years and lacks a lot of talent and leadership.
As for the second, although it’s true that they are not in a good moment still a lot can happen from here to December. In 2014 after the awful and almost tragic WC Qualifiers, I also thought Mexico wasn’t going to pass through the group stages and Miguel Herrera surprisingly, managed to deliver good attacking football and a solid system, to the point that the 2014 ended up being one of the best in regards to results and team play.
I’m not expecting any miracles, but it’s always possible to beat top seeded teams. Just like with Germany in 2018. Mexico’s problem has always been to pass through to QF.
This post is a good specimen of western cluelessness with regards to the rest of the world. Why do you assume Indians or Pakistanis cannot buy tickets?
Not the same football culture and do they travel to see Denmark vs. Canada?
People were saying similar about the WC in Brazil and look how that 1 7urned out. Teams will emulate the conditions of the tournament when they pick the place for their training camp, it shouldn't be a big deal.
Neither India or Pakistan are in the WC.
Americans, brazilians, mexicans, germans, australians, and argentinians are most of the times the ones who buy close to 70-80% of the tickets in World Cups.
Indians aren't gonna fill that void, their team isn't there, and cricket is the biggest sport in India, this WC might be the exception due to Qatar having a lot of indian workers.
Why do you encapsulate westernness as a thing? We are talking about football and tickets, not american cliches.
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Will training camps be as long as for regular World Cups, given that this one takes place in the middle of the season?
And indeed Germany won in Brazil, but I remember that quite a few Belgian players stated afterwards that they struggled with the heat and humidity sometimes, that's why I asked. I remember that it was an issue, or at least a "thing", in Manaus for example.
Qatar Airways was running promotions on the last flight I took with them, regarding WC packages.
I'm not sure why the assumption is that there will be no interest for this tournament from Western countries. It's a World Cup.
I'm not sure why the assumption is that there will be no interest for this tournament from Western countries. It's a World Cup.
Indians and Pakistanis may have a different sporting culture but in terms of Arabs, we’re obsessed with football and I’ve always found it hilarious when people claim that we aren’t.
About 85% of my mates, including myself, already have their ticket packages and are flying over from neighbouring countries. Ticket quotas for most of the Middle Eastern countries have already been filled.
About 85% of my mates, including myself, already have their ticket packages and are flying over from neighbouring countries. Ticket quotas for most of the Middle Eastern countries have already been filled.
I don’t think there was an assumption at all or any sort of ignorance. The fact is most attending fans will be there to support their country. As someone with football mad relatives throughout India, I’d be surprised if any of them end up going to Qatar for the matches. There would be of course a portion of die hard European or South American football fans from India/Pakistan but they would I assume be in the minority.
Football may be a global sport but interest levels aren’t necessarily consistent across the globe for varying reasons.
If you look at the grand prix and Motogp held in Saudi,Qatar, Abu Dhabi etc it's always full of westerners.
This will be no different.
In regards to sales, almost every World Cup outside Europe/The US gets labelled as a WC that won't sell it's tickets and/or it will be a logistical disaster.
Well It's not like South Americans don't feel the climate, too, is it? It's more about leveling the playing field. But having said that I assumed that they would start the next season early to make room for an extended break, but upon checking the Bundesliga calendar for next season I realized they pretty much start it as usual and keep playing right until November 15th, with an extra midweek fixture right before that even. So maybe your concerns are correct after all and climate will have a bigger effect.
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looks similar for the PL:
https://talksport.com/football/9246...es-schedules-qatar-boxing-day-start-end-date/
only they return for boxing day (while Bundesliga takes a break until late January) - just a world cup casually slotted in without any kind of break.