This year is jam-packed with exciting sporting events.
We started off 2018 cheering for the athletes in the Winter Olympics in South Korea. Next up is the FIFA World Cup, the most prestigious soccer event in the world. Even though the U.S. team missed out on a spot in the tournament, here are 25 fun facts to get you in the World Cup spirit and maybe catch soccer fever.
This year’s games will be played across the massive country, from Kaliningrad to Ekaterinburg. That means games in four different time zones. Here’s the match schedule.
If you don’t catch a match this year, your next opportunity to tune in to the men’s World Cup isn’t until 2022. Meanwhile, the women will play their next World Cup in 2019.
In the U.S. we know the sport as soccer, but you’d be better off calling it football, like the rest of the world, at least for the duration of the World Cup. Oh, and the games are called matches.
Iceland and Panama each qualified for their first World Cup ever, but they face steep competition in their groups so tune in early to catch them. Iceland plays its first match June 16 against Portugal, while Panama starts June 18 against Belgium.
Brazil Is The Only Country To Have Played In Every World Cup
The South American soccer powerhouse has competed in the 20 previous tournaments, and this year’s team is a real contender. It also boasts the most titles, with five.
Thousands Of Volunteers Keep The World Cup Running
There will be about 15,000 volunteers at this year’s World Cup. People had to apply for those coveted positions way back in 2016, and FIFA says each volunteer must attend 1-2 days of training.
Achilles, a deaf cat, has had an uncanny knack for accurately picking the winners of big soccer games in the past. He reveals his picks by eating food out of one of two bowls marked with flags for the competing teams.
Essam El-Hadary is 45 years old and the goalkeeper for Egypt. When he makes his World Cup debut in Russia he will become the oldest player to ever compete in the tournament.
Arguably two of the all-time great footballers, Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, may both be playing in their final World Cup. Both players have yet to win a World Cup in spite of their finesse on the field.
The tournament begins with a round-robin format. The two top teams from each group proceed to the knockout round until the final game decides the overall winner.
The Adidas balls used at the World Cup will have chips embedded in them. Each ball will unlock exclusive content for fans and will track performance metrics.
This is when the competition really heats up! The 16 teams who advance from the initial round robin will play do-or-die matches until only one remains.
This is the first World Cup in which referees will have Video Assistant Referees (VAR) to help avoid mistakes. They may chime in for match-breaking issues like goals, penalties or red cards, and there’s a lot of controversy surrounding their introduction.
Players who commit an egregious foul receive a red card. That means they are sent off the field and can no longer play in that game and maybe more, depending on the severity of the infraction.
This World Cup Is Socially And Politically Charged
The host nation, Russia, continues to fight allegations of doping as well as racism and human rights violations. Essentially, there’s much more than soccer to talk about surrounding the host nation.
The German player seems to know how to turn it on come tournament time. He scored five times in the last World Cup in Brazil and five times in the World Cup in South Africa. That puts him in the top 10 for all-time scoring in World Cup tournaments.
You don’t have to trek to Russia to keep up with all the action. Fox and Fox Sports will air games for American audiences and fuboTV will also stream matches online.
Jennifer Nied is a freelance writer and editor based in New York City. She focuses on beauty, wellness, and travel stories with a background covering the spa industry.
