The buzz of excitement in the streets of Doha was palpable. The tournament was to kick off between Ecuador and host nation Qatar at 7 p.m. local time. Supporters and travelers who don’t have tickets to the World Cup matches are invited to witness the games throughout the tournament in an epic atmosphere at the Al Bidda Park FIFA Fan Festival.
The 2022 FIFA World Cup is underway with Ecuador handling the supremely limited host nation Qatar 2-0 without surrendering a shot on target. It was a pathetic display from Qatar, but their tournament will thankfully be over quickly Friday after Senegal once again hands them a deserved beating.
So what did we learn from Sunday's curtain raiser besides the fact that Morgan Freeman has added a couple million to his bank account?
Nearly four and half years after the World Cup ended in Russia, the pinnacle sporting event takes center stage once again in Qatar. I was amongst diverse soccer fans waiting in long lines to board a full plane in Frankfurt, Germany. The lines ended up turning into a cluster of a mob, bursting to get their boarding pass checked and themselves onto the plane. Qatar 2022 is the most scrutinized World Cup in recent memory, and was this unbridled chaos at the airport another warning for more disorganized madness to come?
Every four years the World Cup brings together the world’s best players and Qatar 2022 will not be an exception.
On the attacking front, the exotic winter tournament brings us a combination of new talent, legendary strikers, generational wingers and a pair of GOATs.
In celebration of the World Cup being so close, we rank the forwards who are most likely to make an impact at Qatar.
To prepare you for the tournament, The18 has launched team-by-team previews for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. This is for Group H's South Korea.
World Cup appearances: 11th
Best finish: Fourth place (2002)
How they got here: South Korea achieved automatic qualification by finishing second in AFC Group A behind Iran.
Editor's Note: I don't know how I didn't include Costa Rica on this list. Must have been Concacaf bias. Also don't I look silly putting Saudi Arabia and Tunisia on here.
People always try to predict the favorites and the winners of tournaments, but we’re switching it up and trying to guess which teams will crash and burn at the 2022 World Cup. The worst World Cup teams show up, mess up and go home after three games.
Have you come down with World Cup fever? The only cure is more of the beautiful game. Thankfully, we've got new soccer shows on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime and Disney Plus to watch this month.
Looking ahead to 2023, we know we'll have a third and final season of Sunderland 'Til I Die, a third season of Ted Lasso, a second season of Welcome to Wrexham and the release of Taika Waititi's Next Goal Wins. I'm also still working on an original film about the life and badass times of André Villas-Boas.
If you’re a casual American soccer fan that watches the World Cup and the occasional game, then this article is here to help. You might only know a handful of players so here is the list of the 10 best US soccer players that should play at the 2022 World Cup.
ATTENTION: If you're looking for the list of the top 10 best US women soccer players for the 2023 World Cup, then click here.
A lot of people were left hurting by Ricardo Pepi's snub from the final 26-man USMNT World Cup roster.
The 19-year-old from El Paso, TX, is a hugely likable talent who came up clutch in qualifying with three goals, including the go-ahead strike on the road in Honduras and a brace against Jamaica. What worked against Pepi is that those three goals were all registered in back-to-back games over a year ago.
The surprising United States men’s national team roster was revealed on Wednesday giving fans a better idea of who head coach Gregg Berhalter could have in his USA World Cup starting XI.
This potential USA World Cup starting XI lineup considers the current form of players, Berhalter’s history of starting certain people, recent position identifications (Brenden Aaronson being listed as a midfielder) and the best possible options.
Let’s look at what we’ve cooked up.