2022 World Cup: Qatar in Review

Written by Andrew Felton

The World Cup began on Sunday, the 20th of November, in Qatar. There has been lots of controversy with the decision to hold the scared event in a land with such radical morals and beliefs. The selection by Fifa has been surrounded with the word 'corruption', as the fishy destination for the Holy Grail of football tournaments has turned many heads.

Qatar is home to just under 3 million people, and will be the first Arab country to his a World Cup. Previously held in bigger countries like Russia, Brazil, South Africa, Germany, and Japan many fans have doubted Qatar's ability to host this incredible event. Lacking plenty of soccer infrastructure, n enjoyable climate, and appeal from football fans it raised eyes when they won the bid.

It was questionable if Qatar had the ability to handle the influx of fans and tourists, only time will tell...

With 8 stadiums and 32 teams going into the Cup during the winter months, how will this impact the way many fans can enjoy and watch games. Without the promise of summer of sunshine, and now beer being banned from the World Cup, how will this effect Qatar's legacy?

With that said, let’s have look the first couple of matchups and how has the greatest chance to make a run at glory.

Group A

Group A consists of hosts Qatar, Ecuador, Senegal and Netherlands. This should be a fairly straightforward group for the Dutch with there only real problem game coming against Senegal, who could be seen as the dark horses of the group. On this team are a fe star players such as Bayern Munich's Sadio Mane, Chelsea centre back Kalidou Koulibaly, and goalkeeper Edouard Mendy. With the Netherlands side stacked with players from Europe's top 5 leagues, they should be searching for 3 wins out of 3, awarding them 9 points.

Group B

Group B see’s European finalists England take on Iran, USA and Wales. Again a group which should see England on top of the table, with 9 points and a feisty battle for the second place between the USA and Wales who seem evenly matched. This could come down to goal difference and will be Gareth Bale’s Wales trying to progress and give the fans a repeat of the 2016 Euro Finals where they managed to reach the Semi’s in a great run.

Group C

Group C possibly has the fairytale story of football, with Lionel Messi’s Argentina set to face Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Poland. The world of football, (from a neutral perspective), would love to see Messi lift the biggest trophy in football, which has eluded him and could finally end the chapter and finally grant Messi the GOAT status he deserves. This again should see Argentina on top of group C with 3 wins, closely followed by Lewandowski’s Poland.

Group D

France, Australia, Denmark and Tunisia make up group D, with previous 2018 World Cup winners France, looking to repeat their success. With arguably one of the best teams in this competition, France won’t have it all their own way, as Denmark topped their qualification group, losing one game out of 10 and conceding only 3 goals. With form like this heading into the competition and coming off the back of a Euro’s where they impressed as a nation, they will be another team looking to upset the giants and be competitive underdogs.

Group E

Group E is probably the closest to a group of death with have this year with Spain, Germany, Costa Rica and Japan all being drawn against each other. We all know that Spain and Germany boast very strong squads and will be battling it out for first and second in this group. However, could we see an upset with Japan and Costa Rica managing to scrape points from the big teams and try to push themselves into contention to get out of the groups stages, with Japan looking to return t the knockout phases once again.

Group F

Group F see’s Belgium, who has been talked about as having one of the best teams over the past few years with players such as Eden Hazard, Romelu Lukaku, Kevin De Bruyne and more but, have yet managed to live up to the expectations, being dubbed as the golden generation. Competing against teams such as; Canada, and Morocco, this should be an easy route to the knockout stages, with 2018 finalists Croatia joining them behind them.

Group G

Group G see's one of the competitions favorites Brazil, face off against Serbia, Switzerland and Cameroon. Another group which will most probably see the favorites dominating, being outright winners with 3 wins out of 3 and leave the second spot wide open to any of the other countries. It is all Brazil here in this group as they and their loyal fanbase look to advance pass the knockout stages.

Group H

Finally group H which will see the fans of Cristiano Ronaldo cheering on Portugal, in which will most probably be the 37 year olds last major cup competition with his national team. Arguably one of the greatest of all time, Portugal struggled in the qualifying stages, having to come through in the playoffs and have been placed in a difficult group joining tricky customers Uruguay, Ghana and Korea Republic.

The World Cup is an event that every football fan looks forward to, as fans are deprived of it for several years. It is a special tournament where athletes from all across the world come together, and represent their country to compete for gold. Lets see who takes it home this year for all the glory!!!