As I stated when I opened the 2022 World Cup Thread in this forum: sure there are entire boards on Big Soccer dedicated to International matches and the world cup, but I don't care what other people on Big Soccer think about the world cup. I care about what YOU guys think! To that end, this World Cup will feature 48 nations playing a total of 104 games in 11 stadiums across 3 North American host nations over 38 days. Let's face it, if the USA vs. Senegal friendly played in Charlotte yesterday was any indication, there is going to be a ton of really bad football played throughout the group stage. And with 8 of the 12 third place teams advancing from their groups, anything short of a total collapse by the worlds top teams should secure advancement to the knockout rounds. From an Arsenal perspective, I am very happy that Martin Odegaard will be playing in his first ever World Cup. I am devastated to hear that the sacrifice William Saliba made for the Arsenal over the past several weeks means he is likely to miss out on this World Cup. Not as devastated as I was when Koscielny's Achillies injury on the pitch cost him a chance to win a world cup 8 years ago. Saliba has likely had time to reflect on and accept that sacrificing his body to win the Premier League over potential summer glory for France is what it is, and hopefully this is not his last opportunity to feature in the World Cup. I am conflicted for Saka and Rice. On the one hand, these guys are both in their prime, and this could be their best shot to win the World Cup for England, given their age (Rice moreso than Bukayo) and their importance to this squad. I understand it is Tuchel's intent to have them both co-captain the side, is that right? On the other hand, obviously these 2 beasts need rest if they are to have an impact for the Arsenal next season, and I'm not sure how to make that happen without some world class signings that would be willing to split time with them. Noni doesn't cut it, and we flat out don't have another player that does what Rice does in our current squad. Plenty to discuss as far as other Arsenal players, both featuring and not, for their national teams this summer. Ticket sales? Ticket Prices? Anybody attending? Kickoff is exactly 10 days from now!!
I had a friend win the Visa pre-sale lottery months ago so I'm lucky enough to be going to 3 matches at face value. Ecuador - Ivory Coast France - Senegal (absolutely psyched for this one) Croatia - Ghana My hope is that the...generous number of teams advancing will lead to some fun, open play in the group phase.
Would like to go to Netherlands-Tunisia but need tickets to drop from the current $339 a pop. We also have 3 base camps locally - England, Netherlands & Argentina. Would be cool if they had open practices but I feel like they will all be closed aside from Southampton spies. A lot of red flags from hotels not seeing the demand they expected, either ticket prices will collapse, there will be empty seats, or everyone is staying at AirBnB's. My feeling is despite the bloated schedule and low stakes of the group stage, there will be enough drama that FIFA will declare it a success and keep the format going forward (assuming they don't expand to 64 or something). Always conflicted on England, want Rice, Saka, Eze to do well but the rest of the team is so full of c*nts who I enjoy watching fail.
Lucky you are. France-Senegal has that history. That said USMNT just beat them without a shitload of difficulty and while we played a complete B-team in 2T. So France may do worse? TIME will tell. Me, a combination of factors led me to not pursue getting tickets so far. But I have this low-key hope that I might be able to swing a not exhorbitant ticket on StubHub for some low-demand match near me (NJ, Boston, Philly) BUT that said, if any of y’all have a spare ticket… OR if you hear of any hot tips on how to score a (“fair-priced”) ticket last minute…
Prices have already been dropping like a stone on the FIFA resale marketplace, so if you have the flexibility to wait until a day or two before you should be able to grab some for (relatively) cheap. Cat 1 seats (lower deck) for Iraq - Norway in Boston are already down to $230, France - Iraq in Philly is down to $345, Curacao - Ivory Coast in Philly is well under $200 for Cat 3. Might not be the most premier matches, but still way less than many were worried about a couple of months ago.
In reviewing the first couple of days of the group stage matches, one fixture clearly stands out. On Saturday June 13th at 6pm ET, Met Life Stadium in New Jersey will host Brazil v. Morocco, two nations currently in the top 10 in the FIFA World Rankings. Brazil is ranked only 6th, while Morocco is ranked 8th. I'm trying to decide which fact is more surprising: The fact there is a top 10 matchup in the group stage of a World Cup that features 12 groups? Or The fact there is only 1 top 10 matchup in the entire group stage of a World Cup that features 12 groups?
I didn't think about it from a math perspective, which is exactly what you just made obvious to me and thus, I now feel like an idiot. With the entire Top 10 qualifying, + 3 host nations = 13 pot 1 nations. With only 12 groups, that leaves 1 group that will have 2 top 10 nations. Also wanted to note (Thanks Gemini) that because this tournament expanded to 48 teams, the average world ranking of the field is around 32.5. In the previous 32-team format, the average ranking typically hovered around 23. Thanks to these teams for upping the average: Jordan: 63rd Bosnia & Herzegovina: 65th Cape Verde: 69th Ghana: 74th Curaçao: 82nd Haiti: 83rd New Zealand: 85th
Thanks. That concept was exactly what I was imagining might happen. And yes I was thinking of waiting til the week of.
This is the first World Cup that I am not excited for having watched every World Cup since 86 maybe when it kicks off - I will have more enthusiasm
I'm with you on this one. And ironically it's in my/our home country. But I say this about quite a few major tournaments and I usually end up getting sucked in.
I’ve got tickets to Spain v Saudi Arabia and a round of 16 game. Couldn’t justify paying for the semis.
Missed the chance for tickets to decent matches or at good prices, so I won't be attending any in person but will be going down to the Fan Fests for a couple of match days. Anxious to see what the scene is like. Hoping the tourists visiting Atlanta are brutally honest and help area leaders see where we need to improve. And I have 0 faith in the USMNT this cycle. Wish it weren't so, but I'm not buying.
I think having low expectations for USMNT is one of the main reasons why I'm so disinterested in this year's WC. A general disdain for FIFA doesn't help either. I may turn on a few matches if there's nothing else going on, but I haven't even looked at the schedule to see if there are any games I want to see.
I'm curious to know from those who are down on US Soccer right now . . . does it have anything to do with the fact that Tim Howard and Landon Donovan have a podcast?
Even setting aside the politics, part of my lack of enthusiasm is this event being sooo far flung. In addition to needlessly spanning a continent for the actual games, that some of the teams are training in locations requiring flights is just insane to me.
I have never heard of “New Tecumseth, Ontario.” I assumed it was a typo. How’d they manage to get Panama to train there?
Yeah, it's weird they used the specific town/suburb names in some cases but the general metro area in others. Just wait until 2030 when they spread it out over 3 continents. England picked KC despite not having any matches at Arrowhead due to the central location, can fly anywhere in ~3 hours. The training facility they picked wasn't even one of those proposed in the bid.
Surely the "Visit New Tecumseth" kit sleeve that Grimsby Town wore this season had something to do with it.
Seriously though, the German national team has their base camp setup about and hour north of me at Wake Forest University in Winston Salem, NC. Wake is a private university with stellar athletic facilities, as they compete in the ACC. What hasn't been as publicly communicated are the accommodations they've chosen, which is to say they are taking over the entire Graylyn Estate and Conference Center. https://www.graylyn.com
Shame the world cup is under your current dickhead of a presidents leadership embarrassing fifa awards etc and the gee real distaste for the orange Cnut makes this a pretty unspectacular wc for me also, football is really boring to watch low blocks and counter attacks over and over and international football is worse than premier league/champs league
I've been feeling likewise. I think R32 is about my expectation for USMNT and that didn't seem slam dunk to me. But then they go and beat Senegal a few days ago, and in 1T when they had more of their A-team on, they almost looked like they would romp to a big victory. It definitely turned my head, and if they can muster stuff like that in the tourney, I'll get behind them. As I generally do.