World Cup!

One of the most prestigious and highly-anticipated competitions of the sporting world, The World Cup. Different countries from all around the world compete with each other in multiple matches, and the victors are crowned the champions of the World Cup. 

The World Cup is held once every four years, and hosted in one country. In 2018, it was in Russia and in 2022, it is being held in Qatar. The tournament is organized by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association, aka FIFA. With an estimated cumulative viewership of 26.29 billion, it is indubitably the most popular sporting competition. Hundreds of millions flood the stadiums during the matches and engulf in the essence of thrill and eagerness for their teams’ victory. 

The 2022 winners of the World Cup are Argentina. The previous winners in 2018 were France. The trophy has been won by eight teams so far. Brazil holding the cup an astounding five times, Germany and Italy with four titles each; Argentina, France and Uruguay with two titles each. But not just ANY country can compete in the World Cup. There is a qualification phase, taking place over three years, determining which teams can qualify to the Cup. During the tournament phase, thirty-two teams compete for the title within the host’s nation for approximately one month. 

I used to be a heavy 'basketball over football' fan (still am, but more lenient). The main reason of my bias was because I thought basketball was more interesting and genuinly more enjoyable. Waiting one hundred and twenty minutes for a ball to get ONE goal, after constantly being passed around, was a bit risible to me. But after giving the World Cup a chance, I realised how people find it enjoyable. When your eyes latch on to the player with the ball, as they dart to the goal, pass to their teammate who is inches away from scoring the perfect goal, the adrenaline is real. What suprised me about this sport is that one can never be certain when things will go according to plan. Maybe the team you were playing against, who were originally terrible and an easy victory was guaranteed, may play spectacularly and beat you 3-0. Or maybe you might be running with the ball and accidentally pull a muscle, leading to a sudden aggravation, causing you to lose the ball and let your team down. 

This World Cup final was definitely one of the most intense and craziest matches ever. If you didn’t know, I was rooting for France (though I still love Argentina). As I watched Argentina score 2 goals before the half-time with 0 goals for France, I was already close to losing hope. How would France be able to score 2 goals after half time, while ensuring Argentina won’t get another goal during that time? If they could score even one goal after the half time, it wouldn't be as much of a loss. After half time, I could start to feel my disappointment creeping in, so I began to do other chores, to keep my mind distracted. That was, until there was 79 minutes on the timer. It was a penalty, and for France! Guess who took it? None other than Kylian Mbappé. My heart raced, This was your chance Mbappé. Secure a 2-1, and that’s it, it’s now or never. He did. I waved my hands in the air, having a little more hope than before. Less than one minute later, France has the ball. It is quickly passed teamate against teamate, getting closer to the goal. Then Mbappé gets the goal and scores a HAT-TRICK! My jaw dropped and my family and I were astounded at what we witnessed. I leaped in the air and was screaming in celebration. “TWO GOALS IN LESS THAN 100 SECONDS!”, I laughed (my family still processing what happened). I couldn’t sit down after that, I was so shocked at how quickly the score changed, that my faith in France skyrocketed out the roof. "They are going to extend it to 120 minutes," my sister exclaimed. During the last 30 minutes, Messi scored a goal and France scored a penalty just 15 minutes later. Mbappé took the goal and scored. The atmosphere was incredibly intense, as we it was time for the penalty shootout. Mbappé was first to score the penalty, and he did. Followed by Messi, who also scored. Unfortunately the next two France players missed and after 4 consecutive penalty goals from Argentina, their fate was sealed, and Argentina had won the World Cup! My family was celebrating, and I was too, but I felt sympathetic for Mbappé’s loss. He carried France and scored a total of 4 goals, one of them being a hat-trick. Mind you, he was only 23. But Argentina played better overall, and I was absolutely elated to see Messi’s smile after his World Cup win. 

I’m so glad I got the opportunity to watch this World Cup as it was definitely one of the greatest. It was one of the most intense matches I’ve ever seen and I’m relieved I realized how interesting it is sooner than later. I probably shouldn’t judge sports without actually having any knowledge on them, because football is a very entertaining sport and I now understand why it’s so popular. Besides that...any sport recommendations?