Everyone knows the World Cup really gets going once the group stage ends and the knockout rounds begin. While plucky underdogs can get to the Round of 16 and maybe even the quarterfinals, the World Cup bracket is where the big boys make names for themselves.
Soccer, unlike pretty much every other sport, regularly features massive upsets. Because sports like American football and basketball are higher scoring, typically the better team wins in the end. Soccer is low scoring, meaning an underdog can often hold off an opponent for an unlikely result.
Everyone loves a bit of trivia. Granted, we might not be very good at it, but it’s a fun thing to do. Given that the World Cup is right around the corner, we’ve come up with 18 interesting bits of trivia about this year’s World Cup that you can use to impress your friends, parents, neighbours and even your dog if you want. So, without further ado, here's 18 interesting facts about this World Cup that you didn't know.
By the time most people hit the magic number of forty years of age, you wouldn’t expect them to be taking to the pitch at the highest level. But, for a number of players at the 2018 World Cup, they're looking to defy the social norms. They will be representing their nation in Russia for what could be the final time.
We’ve come up with a starting eleven of the oldest players that are going to be at the World Cup, and we’ve gone with a classic 4-4-2 formation for this team.
When it was confirmed that Russia would be opening the 2018 FIFA World Cup with a match against Saudi Arabia at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, the general response was one of deep cynicism: here was a bit of home cooking on FIFA’s end; certainly this was the worst opening match in the history of the tournament.
Let’s see a show of hands: With the U.S. not participating in the World Cup this summer, how many of you are just interested in seeing who wins? OK, that’s about 15 percent of you. Well you’ll probably be asking yourself: When is the World Cup final?
The World Cup begins on June 14 and lasts more than a full month. The group stages run through June 28, with the knockout rounds beginning on June 30. So when is the World Cup final?
World Cup rosters have 23 players on them. They’re allegedly the best 23 players the country has to offer. So it’s hard to imagine that the United States has over 300 million people but can’t seem to find 23 (or even 11) who are even capable of qualifying for a World Cup (yeah, I know it's not that simple).
It’s the big one, and it kicks off in just three weeks time. The 2018 FIFA World Cup will implant heroes and villains into the global conscious as 31 nations fall by the wayside and one becomes legend. This summer will mark the 21st edition of the tournament, so there’s an abundance of choice for the top World Cup players of all time.