Soccer World Cup

The FIFA World Cup 2022 will take place from November 20th to December 18th, 2022 in Qatar. The Men's Soccer World Cup is the most watched television on the planet, with 32 countries playing against each other every four years to win the trophy. It is a bit like the Superbowl or the World Series, except that it's soccer (a sport also called Football Association), where players actually play with their feet.

We asked a few colleagues to tell us more about their personal experiences of the World Cup with the Global ERG, and provide some information below on how it all works, and where you can watch the games.

Disha Anadkat:

The FIFA World Cup is a global soccer tournament that occurs once every four years, and the event will finally take place just before we end of 2022! Thirty-two different countries are playing against each other for the number one ranking, determining who will be the contender for the title of the strongest soccer team in the world.

There are two reasons why the World Cup is particularly special for me this year. First, it is truly a global event that will bring everyone together after enduring the COVID pandemic. The feeling of the crowd surging to cheer for a scored goal is unexplainable - it’s exactly the kind of infectious energy we’ve missed. Even for those who don’t follow the sport, just being amongst the fans and witnessing the crowd cheer and groan after every action on the field is such an incredible experience.

The 2022 World Cup is also especially important this year because Canada - my home country - has finally qualified to play after thirty-six years! Yes, I know, on the national stage, Canada has always been known for hockey, but you’d be surprised. We’re diverse not just in our people, but also in our ability to succeed in a variety of sports. In 2019, the Toronto Raptors won the NBA Finals and took home the championship, kind of fitting if you ask me, since Canada did invent the game of basketball. I am hoping for a successful run at the soccer World Cup this year as well! Ironically, I will be cheering for Canada while being in the USA, but I'll be there in spirit to support my fellow Canadians back home. Of course, I’ll be cheering for the USA as well, my new home this year.

I am looking forward to watching the 2022 World Cup in California. It's an opportunity for me to celebrate my love for the sport, cheer for our favorite team, and most importantly, bring people together again.

Nigel Mouncey:

The World Cup is truly a world event with teams competing from all continents and only happens every four years. With football (or soccer as you call it here in the US to differentiate from that other game) being the world’s most popular sport, the World Cup captures the hearts and minds of billions of people across the world as they root for their teams to succeed. Picture the interest and excitement people have here for college and professional sports, and multiply that many-fold. That’s what the World Cup means to others.

I’m from England and growing up there every four years meant building up hopes for England to repeat their 1966 success and win the trophy. Of course, these hopes have been dashed time and time again, most upsetting for me was the infamous “hand of god” goal by the Argentinian player Diego Maradona against England in the 1986 quarter-finals. But the World Cup also meant purchasing the tournament Ladybird Book guide using my hard-saved pocket money (see image). I treasured these and studiously entered in all the results, scores, and even who scored into the section where you could add this information to chart the progress. Alas, my guides are now lost to various moves, including to the US.

This year, I will of course be following England and all my hopes will be pinned on them to win. Whilst they reached the final of the Euro 2020 tournament held in 2021, recent results in the Nations League have been disappointing so I’m sure my hopes will be dashed yet again! Given the timing of the games, I’ll probably watch most of them at home but may head out to a British-style pub which is always fun to do as we can get quite passionate and vocal about our team and their play! Either way, it will be a fantastic month - may the best team win!!

Aleja Jurado Londoño:

The world cup is one of the most famous soccer events in the world. It brings together teams from all continents for about a month, to compete to be crowned the world champion. Qualifying for the world cup is particularly hard for Colombia, my home country, as they have to fight for their spot with Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay, some of the strongest teams on the planet.

Now that I live out of Colombia, I’ve been able to notice how crazy we are for soccer. I remember my childhood days watching world cup games with my father and not hearing a single car, or a person on the streets, except when there was a goal or our team almost scored.

As an adult, I remember in 2018 my workplace set up a giant screen in the auditorium and authorized staff to stop working and watch the game with colleagues from other departments. We were required to wear formal clothes on a regular basis, that day you could see people from all hierarchical levels wearing the team’s yellow jersey over their clothes.

Unfortunately, my team didn’t qualify for this world cup edition, but I’ll be cheering for France for three reasons: my partner is French, they’ve got a very strong team, and I don’t want to sleep on the couch… just kidding! We’ll probably watch the games at home with friends but, if France qualifies for other stages, I am sure some French restaurants or bakeries will have big screens available.

Last but not least, the Colombian national team made it to international news in 2014 for their goal celebrations, here’s a video illustrating their dancing skills:

Where and how to watch the world cup?

This year, the World Cup is a bit different, because it's happening in the Winter in the Northern Hemisphere, and the games are at 2am, 8am and 11am Pacific Time.

Schedule:

https://www.fifa.com/fifaplus/en/articles/match-schedule-en

To watch soccer games from the United States, you can use the streaming service Peacock.

Otherwise, you may use a VPN and watch it from an international broadcaster

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_FIFA_World_Cup_broadcasting_rights

Where to watch the soccer world cup in the East Bay

https://www.berkeleyside.org/2022/11/18/where-to-watch-the-2022-world-cup-in-the-east-bay

In particular, the New Parkway in Oakland has screenings:

https://www.thenewparkway.com/world-cup-2022/

And if you want to learn about the physics of the the world cup ball:

https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/11/the-world-cup-ball-has-the-aerodynamics-of-a-champion/