Eight days from today the greatest athletic event in the world kicks off.
This year the World Cup is held in the tiny oil-rich country of Qatar. The previous World Cups have been held in large/huge countries such as Brazil in 2014 and Russia in 2018. Since you may have never heard of Qatar before, it is located in the southern part of the Persian Gulf and is only around 50 miles wide and 120 miles long (please feel free to Google how the 2022 World Cup ended up being awarded to Qatar).
In the 2022 World Cup, USA is drawn to be in Group B which is the toughest of the eight groups in the World Cup. Group B consists of USA (ranked #16 in the world), England (#5 in the world), Iran (#20 in the world) and Wales (#19 in the world). Only two out of the four teams advance to the knock-out stage.
The reason Group B is tough is that it's four teams have an average FIFA World Ranking of 15 as compared to, for example, Group A teams (which includes Qatar) which have an average ranking of 30. All the other Groups have at least one team ranked outside top 30 (even outside top 40), but, all the teams in the US's Group B are ranked in the top 20.
US has a good but very young team (which can be good or bad). Likely US needs a win against a good and well-coached Iran in it's last game on November 29 to advance (yes, there will be lots of politics in the air). The last time these two teams played in competition was in the 1998 World Cup when Iran won 2-1 (there was a friendly game later in Pasadena which ended in a 1-1 tie). This year politics again will be in the air big time.
I will be going to the World Cup despite the fact it is in Qatar because I have gone to the last four World Cups (two men and two women). Yes, I am a sports junky (and my beloved Golden Bears are not doing so well in FB, MBB and WBB this year, so, no reason to stay around).
Is anyone else going to the World Cup? Would anyone like an occasional first hand report from the World Cup?
Go Bears!
Go USA!
This year the World Cup is held in the tiny oil-rich country of Qatar. The previous World Cups have been held in large/huge countries such as Brazil in 2014 and Russia in 2018. Since you may have never heard of Qatar before, it is located in the southern part of the Persian Gulf and is only around 50 miles wide and 120 miles long (please feel free to Google how the 2022 World Cup ended up being awarded to Qatar).
In the 2022 World Cup, USA is drawn to be in Group B which is the toughest of the eight groups in the World Cup. Group B consists of USA (ranked #16 in the world), England (#5 in the world), Iran (#20 in the world) and Wales (#19 in the world). Only two out of the four teams advance to the knock-out stage.
The reason Group B is tough is that it's four teams have an average FIFA World Ranking of 15 as compared to, for example, Group A teams (which includes Qatar) which have an average ranking of 30. All the other Groups have at least one team ranked outside top 30 (even outside top 40), but, all the teams in the US's Group B are ranked in the top 20.
US has a good but very young team (which can be good or bad). Likely US needs a win against a good and well-coached Iran in it's last game on November 29 to advance (yes, there will be lots of politics in the air). The last time these two teams played in competition was in the 1998 World Cup when Iran won 2-1 (there was a friendly game later in Pasadena which ended in a 1-1 tie). This year politics again will be in the air big time.
I will be going to the World Cup despite the fact it is in Qatar because I have gone to the last four World Cups (two men and two women). Yes, I am a sports junky (and my beloved Golden Bears are not doing so well in FB, MBB and WBB this year, so, no reason to stay around).
Is anyone else going to the World Cup? Would anyone like an occasional first hand report from the World Cup?
Go Bears!
Go USA!
