With an estimated 3.5 billion soccer fans, one of the greatest events all soccer fans get excited for is the FIFA World Cup. Along with many soccer fans the world cup has to be one of the most watched sports tournaments in the world. Countries from all over come together and watch their teams battle it out for the World Cup. The tournament happens every four years in the summer, but this year it will be different. The country hosting it this year is Qatar and the weather there is very warm, so imagine Qatar in mid June with the sun bright and blazing hot. Around the end of January 2022 the president of FIFA announced its official dates. The first official game will start on November 21, 2022 and the final game will be on December 17, 2022. 

    Tickets went on sale on April 28, 2022, with different types of packages. FIFA president Gianni Infantino has told Qatar Foundation’s Education City Speaker Series that Qatar is more than ready to host The FIFA World Cup than any nation in history and will deliver the “best World Cup ever.” Qatar will be helding cruise ships that will act as “floating hotels” for fans going to watch the game. The games will take place in a tight circle of eight stadiums in and around Qatar’s capital, Doha, making it the most compact World Cup in history.

    In the draw, the country teams were divided into eight groups of four, with none of them appearing to be the customary Group of Death. Each group’s top two finishers advance to the round of 16. Following that, the World Cup is a knockout event. Qatar qualified as the host country automatically, and 28 other teams have joined it thus far. Among them are France, the defending champion, and Belgium, the world’s top team, leading Europe’s qualified teams, which also include Spain, England, and Germany. Brazil and Argentina, two of South America’s great powerhouses, have joined them. Canada was automatically in. The United States and Mexico have also qualified. Some European countries don’t know if they’re qualified yet for example Wales, Scotland, and Ukraine. For political considerations, Russia will not enter the FIFA this year. 

    Despite the low points in defeating Panama and Canada, demoralizing draws with El Salvador and Jamaica, and the lingering fear that a repeat of 2017 might be on the horizon, the United States returned to the World Cup with relative ease, making it to Qatar with a game to spare and without losing to Mexico. What do we expect of the US this year is that it should go without saying that the United States has a core of highly talented young players in Tyler Adams, Weston McKennie, Christian Pulisic, and Gio Reyna. There’s reason to be optimistic heading into the tournament if all of those players stay healthy and Berhalter can find or unearth a standout striker.

    The US has been assigned to a group that contains England, Iran, and a European opponent to be chosen in a June playoff (the survivor will be one of Wales, Scotland or Ukraine). The United States has faced both of its known adversaries before. It tied England in South Africa in 2010 on its route to winning their first-round group but lost to Iran in 1998. They’ll also get straight to work, on November 21, the tournament’s first day, the US will face the winner of the European playoffs, and four days later, on Black Friday, they’ll face England. The group stage will be completed on November 29 with a match versus Iran. After that, what’s next? In the round of 16, the Americans’ group will be paired with the teams that advance from Group A, which comprises Qatar, Ecuador, Senegal, and the Netherlands. 

    The big question was Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo going to play in the FIFA. It was confirmed this would be Messi’s last world cup, but Cristiano we don’t know. 

    FIFA still requires three more teams, bringing the total to 29. It is hoped that these will be decided in June. One will come from the European playoff, which has been postponed due to the war. Ukraine will play Scotland, with the winner facing Wales for the final spot in Europe. The other two will be determined by intercontinental playoff games, which will be hosted in Qatar (where, it should be noted, it will be blistering hot in June). Costa Rica, the Concacaf fourth-place finisher, will face Oceania champion New Zealand in a single game. In the other, Peru, which finished fifth in South America, will face either Australia or the United Arab Emirates, the last Asian team standing. Those teams will know their pathways in Qatar by then, as their spots with the rest of the teams will be drawn by the end of April. All they have to do now is claim them.