Excitement Grows for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar in November

Joaldi Diaz, Staff Writer

The 2022 World Cup is just around the corner! The 2022 World Cup is going to be held in Qatar this year on November 20. Four years ago, in the 2018 World Cup, France took it home.

The World Cup got delayed this long because the weather in Qatar was too hot during the Summer, and most of the stadiums in Qatar have built-in air conditioning so the players wouldn’t get so hot.

As you may know, there are 32 teams in the World Cup. The toughest groups are Group E and Group F. Group E has Spain, Costa Rica, Germany, and Japan, while Group F has Belgium, Canada, Morocco, and Croatia.

Great players like Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Sergio Ramos, and others are playing their final World Cup. This alone guarantees an interesting Cup to come because Messi and Ronaldo, for example, have never actually won a World Cup. So you can bet that these two players and their teams will go all-in, but at this point, this is anyone’s tournament to win, and any team can perform well enough and take the Cup home.

World Cup Avatar (image: Wikimedia)

I interviewed a former fan, Steve Morales(11). I asked Morales who does he think will take the World Cup home?  “There are the likes of France, Brazil, Argentina, and Portugal,” he said. “Looking at the lineups, I’d say Brazil, but looking at the way teams have performed, I’m going to have to say Argentina or Spain.”

I also asked Morales, which group does he think is the group of death? He replied that “Group E  has the likes of a reformed Spain, a strong Germany, and a Japan team which shouldn’t be underestimated considering their last performance in the 2018 World Cup and performed really well in the AFC and East Asian Cup.”

He also mentioned that Costa Rica may not be in the ranks of passing the group, but they will give their opponents a hard time. They have had surprising performances like in the 2014 World Cup where they reached the quarterfinals where they lost on penalties to the Netherlands.

Lastly, I asked him who he thinks are the underdogs.  He stated that “the Netherlands is a potential underdog, as they have recognizable world-class players, but they seem to not be considered as big a threat compared to teams like France or Brazil.”

I interviewed another student here in Birmingham, Rafael Herrera (9). I asked Herrera who he thinks is going to lead the World Cup with the most goals. Herrera replied, “I feel like Kylian Mbappe will lead this World Cup with the most goals.”

Kylian Mbappe is a 23-year-old French soccer player who has been blowing up. He’s been scoring many goals and breaking many records. Mbappe contributed greatly to France winning the 2018 World Cup.

I then proceeded to ask him who does he think is going to win the World Cup. He replied, “I think Spain is going to win because they’ve been performing well. They have the likes of wonder kids like Pedri Gonzalez and Gavi.”

Both of those players came out of Barcelona’s “La Masia”–which is an academy Barcelona has which develops young players to come into the big leagues and be able to show off their talent. Lastly, I asked Herrera if he believes Lionel Messi will finally win his first World Cup. “Messi deserves to win the World Cup, but sincerely, I want Brazil to win, so Neymar can get his recognition.”

The 2022 World Cup will begin on November 20 on a Sunday. It will kick off between Qatar versus Ecuador at Al Thumama Stadium. You will be able to watch the World Cup on Fox Sports and Fs1.

Overall, this event will be amazing to watch. A lot of people will be watching this event and I’m sure every soccer fan will enjoy seeing all these players play. Some teams I’m excited to watch play are Argentina, Brazil, Spain, and South Korea. In my opinion, I’m rooting for Argentina and Brazil to win this World Cup.

Lionel Messi deserves to win this last World Cup because that’ll show that he has won every possible trophy for the teams he’s played. I personally want Brazil to win because Neymar comes off as underrated and deserves a World Cup, It’ll prove that he is the top three of our generation.

I feel like the underrated teams for this World Cup can be Croatia and or Belgium. The likes of Luka Modric and Kevin De Bruyne would run the midfield for both of their nations.

Lionel Messi announced that this will be his last World Cup and he’ll retire from the Argentinian National Squad. I can’t wait to see all these veterans play their last World Cup and give it their very best!