Despite president Gianni Infantino’s last-ditch visit to Kuwait in an attempt to coerce the nation into co-hosting the 2022 World Cup with Qatar in order to expand the field from 32 to 48 teams, FIFA has now admitted failure in its expansion plan.
The next World Cup will remain a 32-team affair taking place between Nov. 21 and Dec. 18 solely in Qatar.
Every four years, hundreds of thousands of fans descend upon a new country, laying waste to incomprehensible volumes of a pale, frothy liquid. The World Cup is a time to celebrate not just soccer, but humanity, and what better way than by consuming the same beverage many anthropologists believe to be impetus behind early mankind giving up its nomadic societies to create what we know today as civilization — beer.
Gonzalo Higuain has called it quits on his national career after ten years with la Albiceleste. The Chelsea star was one of Argentina’s best strikers in recent years, scoring 31 goals in 75 appearances, but his decision to retire from international duty comes after constant criticism from Argentina fans.
The footballing world is mourning the passing of England’s World Cup-winning goalkeeper Gordon Banks, who died at the age of 81 on Monday night. Banks spent the majority of his professional career with Leicester City and Stoke City, but it’s his 73 international appearances and heroics at both the ’66 and ’70 World Cups that cemented his global legacy.
The numbers are in — and they’re quite impressive. Those wondering how many people watch World Cup matches have their answers: about half the world’s population.
The 2018 World Cup in Russia was a thrilling month-long ode to the world’s game. About five months after France lifted the World Cup in Moscow, FIFA released the complete TV viewership numbers on Friday.
In all, FIFA said 51.3 percent of the world’s population watched the World Cup at some point.
Here at The18, we pride ourselves on a wealth of scandalously useless information. We’re the ones who brought you “The Funniest Names In Soccer,” complete with Kevin Lasagna, Bongo Christ, Fabian Assman, Danger Fourpence and Yago Pikachu, to name just a few.
Today, Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2018, marks four years to the day until the scheduled start of the 2022 World Cup. Aside from that little fact, there’s still so much we don’t know about the world’s premier sporting event.
Four years to go until the 2022 #WorldCup kicks off in Qatar
We're counting down the days already pic.twitter.com/ySOnUzJ5LS
The same week the USWNT booked its trip to the tournament next summer, 2019 Women's World Cup tickets went on sale on Friday.