Qatar 2022: A Beginners Guide to the Fifa world cup
Let's talk about the World Cup. 32 men's teams are coming here to Qatar to compete for that famous golden trophy. We can expect a month of incredible football with moments of glory and despair, all the drama that defines in every World Cup. We want to see the shot, we want to see the surprise. And many will want to see Ronaldo and Messi, two of football's biggest stars, in what's probably their last chance to claim the sport's top prize.
Neither of them has won it. So I think this would be the main story with the World Cup this year. Now, this is also a World Cup that comes with a lot of controversy off the pitch. We looked at that in our last episode. But for this video, we're going to focus on the sports. And if you don't usually follow football, here's what you need to know. The tournament starts on November 20. There will be 64 matches over a month. The first two weeks are the group stage, where the teams are divided into eight groups of four and everyone plays everyone within their group. You get three points for a win, one for a draw and zero if you lose. The two teams in each group with the most points qualify for the next round. Now, at every World Cup, people like to talk about what's called the group of death, where especially strong teams are lumped together.
This year. Some people think that's Group E with Germany, Spain, Costa Rica and Japan. Others reckon it's Group B, which has England, USA, Iran and Wales. When you look at the FIFA rankings, that is the hardest group because there isn't any team that's outside the top 20. After the group stage come the knockout rounds. You lose here, you go home. It starts with 16 teams, eight go through to the quarterfinals, four make it to the semis, then it's just the two left for the final on December 18. We obviously don't know who is going to get through to the knockouts yet, but we do know the matchups in the group stage and here are five worth looking out for. First up, the heavyweights Germany against Spain.
Those are world champions in 2010 and 2014 going head to head, so I think that will be the standout game for the group stage. Next up, the old rivals, England vs. The USA.There's plenty of healthy animosity between these fans, and some, especially on the American side, like to take it back 300 years. Part of the beef for the English fans is that football was invented in England, whereas in the States, soccer wasn't considered a major sport until relatively recently. But England has never beaten the US. In a World Cup. So there's a very famous occasion in 1950 when England were beaten by the USA 1 million. It was such a shock, and obviously in the days before the Internet and communication, one newspaper thought they couldn't have lost one nil. So they actually put it down as ten one to England. So it was that bigger shock. Okay, so our next pick is Ghana, Uruguay. This match will be about settling old scores for Ghana, at least because of what happened the last time they met. Back in 2010, Uruguay striker Luis Suarez prevented a goal by Ghana with an infamous handball, probably the most infamous after Maradona's Hand of God back in 1986. Suarez was sent off, but Uruguay ended up winning on penalties. I can guarantee you there's not a Ghanaian who's forgotten about that match.
Where they were and the heart broke they went through, they're going to be out for Avengers now. Sometimes sport and politics can be hard to separate, and that's what we're dealing with at the Iran USA match. The relationship between the US. And Iranian governments is as strained as ever with issues like Iran's nuclear program, U.S. Sanctions on Iran, and the Iranian government's hardlined response to recent protests there. The question is, how might that play out on the pitch or in the stance? Iran versus the USA, I guess, is the politically standout game. They have played each other 24 years ago in France, 98, and it was actually Iran's first ever win at the World Cup. Even though it's 24 years later, it's still under a politically charged atmosphere between the two countries. Of course, it will be an interesting match because of the political context, but it's again, football in the end, and I don't think it will be affected too much by that. Now, our last pick is Qatar versus Ecuador. It's the opening game and will be the big debut for Qatar, the home team. Now, the host nation usually gets a big boost from home fans, but Qatar are definitely underdogs. They're the lowest ranked team in their group and have never qualified for a World Cup before. But they're in because the hosts always get a spot, and Qatar will want to show how far they've come as a footballing nation. It's something they've been focused on ever since they won the World Cup bid in 2010.
They've come through their acts with the same coach since the ages of under 16, under 19. So they know each other very well. The coach knows his players very well. Felix Sanchez came from Barcelona, so he was at the famous Lamarcia Academy. So there is a bit of a Barcelona influence going on here. And considering how good Barcelona are and their academy is one of the best, if not the best in the world, I think they're ready and they're primed, and I think they might surprise a few people. Okay, so those are some of the group matches to look out for. Something else to keep an eye on, though, is how the timing of this World Cup might affect the player's performance, because there are different views on that. Normally, World Cups start in June, but this one was moved November to avoid the worst of Qatar's desert heat. It means the tournament falls during the season for Europe's top leagues, which most of the world's best footballers play in. They've had to fit in more matches within the first two or three months. So lots of high profile players have been injured. And obviously with the summer World Cup, usually you do have a little bit of a space for those injured players to recover before competing in the World Cup. But right now, being mid season, it will be difficult. My view is that it will be better for the flow and they will be more attuned to playing every week. I don't think it's going to be a problem. Whatever the effect of this new schedule, we're going to see some serious talent and here are some big names to watch out for. There's Francis Kylian Mbappe, who plays for Paris Saint, Germany, and is known for his super fast dribbling. Son Jungmin is a South Korean captain. He's one of the best wingers in the world and plays for Tottenham in the English Premier League.
And of course, you've got Brazil's star forward Neymar DA Silva Santos. He's the one that has the burden of over 220,000,000 people on his shoulders, like he did back in 2014 and like he did back in 2018 as well. And then there are some big players who might be playing the last ever World Cup, and that includes two football legends, portugal Cristiano Ronaldo and Leonol Messi of Argentina. Between them, they have dominated the headlines over the last 1015 years, both incredible players and both so fit and so committed. They're both coming into their fifth World Cup, but this is their last chance because Messi's 35, Ronaldo is 37. You're not going to be playing when you're 39 and 41. Okay, so which team looks likely to win this thing? Well, there are some obvious favorites. Europe's got strong contenders like Germany, Spain, Belgium and England. And of course, there are the defending champions, France. But World Cup history suggests it's hard to hold onto your title. Usually the champions, the following tournaments don't do terribly well. In three of the last four tournaments have gone out of the group stage, so there's some sort of hangover.
There seems to be something that goes slightly wrong with defending champions. The last four World Cups have been won by European nations. I think if anyone's going to break that, european dominance is going to have to be either Argentina or Brazil. Argentina are usually strong and they seem to be in good form this year. They're the current champions of the Koba America. Plus they've got messy on that mission to win a World Cup title before he retires. And what about Brazil? Well, they've won the most World Cups ever and are going into this tournament as the top ranked team. When you actually look at their squad, you just think, oh my word, they don't have a weakness. Brazil haven't won the World Cup for a little while now, so it's 20 years, so they're going to be itching to do that. Stick with Al Jazeera during the World Cup. I'll be out, out and about here in Qatar posting videos about everything happening off the pitch. So make sure to follow us on social media for all the updates.
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