The World Cup Explained

The United States, Canada, and Mexico are jointly hosting the World Cup this year. For the rest of the world, the World Cup is a global event on par with the Olympics. After all, soccer – or football – is the most popular sport on the planet. Seemingly, the United States missed the memo on that. Americans have simply been preoccupied with other sports like baseball, basketball, or real (American) football. 

However, focus is shifting. According to an article in the Economist, soccer’s popularity has risen to overtake baseball, especially among Gen Z and Gen Alpha. With the World Cup at home and millions of tourists flooding into every corner of the country, you might be asking yourself; what’s the deal with this World Cup thing?

The World Cup takes place every four years and is divided into two parts, the group stage and the knockout stage. Prior to the World Cup, 211 out of 215 eligible teams competed in qualifiers, which determined which national teams moved on to compete in the World Cup proper. Neither the USA, Canada, nor Mexico had to worry about the qualifiers this year because the host nation(s) automatically qualify. 48 teams in total have qualified for the World Cup.

After the qualifiers, the teams prepare for the group stages. At the time of writing, the first round of group stage matches is ongoing. The 48 qualifying teams are divided into 12 groups of four, and each of the four teams plays one match against each other. There are three rounds of group stages before the knockout tournament begins. The goal of the group stages is to earn as many points as possible. 

The points come from how a match ended; ending the match in a win can earn a team three points, a tie earns them one point, and a loss earns them nothing. This year, Team USA is part of Group D along with Paraguay, Turkey, and Australia. On June 12th, the US team beat Paraguay 4-1, earning us three points. 

The knockout tournament consists of 32 teams advancing from the group stage. If a team gets the most or second-most amount of points in their group, they move on to the knockout stage. The best eight third-place teams from every group also qualify. From there, it’s what you would expect. The 32 teams face off in a tournament bracket until two teams are left standing for the World Cup final on July 19th.

The favorites to win this year are the same pool of teams that succeed in global soccer generally: team Spain, team Argentina, team Brazil, etc. Another aspect that makes the World Cup special is that the best players in the world are competing for their national teams, making the World Cup a showdown of the most legendary figures in contemporary soccer. Renowned players typically compete in various national leagues like Major League Soccer (America/Canada) or The Premier League (UK), and usually don’t cross paths. The World Cup is the opportunity for those living legends to test their mettle against each other in front of a global audience. 

The best players to watch would be Lionel Messi (Argentina), Kylian Mbappé (France), and Erling Haaland (Norway), among many others. Team USA’s star is Christian Pulisic, who plays for AC Milan in Italy. He’s one of the best American players of all time, often nicknamed “Captain America” by fans. In a viral meme, Corey Harrison from Pawn Stars called him “The LeBron James of Soccer.” While not exactly the truth, the meme has taken on a life of its own. After Team USA dominated against Paraguay in the first round of the group stage, many commentators have said that this is one of the best American teams of all time and that Pulisic may be the LeBron James of soccer after all. 

At the end of the World Cup, trophies are awarded. Of course, there’s the trophy for the winning team, an 18-karat solid gold trophy with two layers of malachite at the base. This trophy is for display only. Winning teams are allowed to show it off for a little while before FIFA puts it back on display at the FIFA World Football Museum in Zurich, Switzerland. There’s also an award for best overall player, known as the Golden Ball, for best goalie, known as the Golden Glove, and for best goal scorer, known as the Golden Boot. There’s an award for the best young player for outstanding players 21 or younger as well. 

Now that you’re informed, it’s time to tune in. Matches for the World Cup can be watched on Fox Sports, with several matches being played each day. Tickets to the games are laughably expensive, especially for Rocklanders, as the closest host stadium to us is MetLife. If you watch it and you like it, consider tuning in for Major League Soccer on Apple TV. Rockland hosts training grounds for the New York City Football Club, which plays in Queens. The New York Red Bulls are the other local New York team, although they actually play in Harrison, NJ, at Sports Illustrated Stadium. 

America is finally waking up to the world of soccer, however late to the party we may be. Our women’s national team, playing in the tournament next year, already has four World Cup titles under their belt. Though the men’s team has yet to win a title, the current lineup is promising, and if the United States continues to invest in soccer we might just have a World Cup win within our star-spangled grasp.