For those who haven’t been watching, this year’s World Cup is sizzling hot. Fuego! The Group Stage delivered nonstop fireworks and edge-of-your-seat drama. Insane goals, heroic saves. This is not the boring soccer matches of years past with routine 1-0 victories. It’s pure chaos.
Tiny Cape Verde (pop. 560,000) pushed defending champions Argentina in a 2-2 thriller through 110 minutes, until Argentina escaped elimination in the 111th minute. Germany, another football giant, went down to Paraguay in a shootout. England, Norway, Spain and Belgium came through to the quarterfinal round: England 3 vs. Mexico 2; Norway 2 vs. Brazil 1; Spain 1 vs. Portugal 0; and the U.S., unfortunately losing to Belgium, 4-1. A promising U.S. team eliminated in the Round of 16, and the tournament goes on.
Over the last few decades worldwide football skills leveled up hard. Passes are sharper, play is faster and virtually every team is willing to attack. In prior years, weaker teams relied on tightly packed defensive postures. Stronger teams contented themselves controlling time of possession, seeking an opening for a 1-0 win knowing their opponent had little chance of scoring a goal.
Not so anymore. This year 241 goals have been scored; 2002’s World Cup totaled 161 goals. Attacking play now happens at any moment. Fans are treated to epic, leave-it-all-out-on-the-field performances. Check it out. Quarterfinals start on Thursday, July 9, and the finals are on Sunday, July 19.
FUN FACTS: Entry to the World Cup involves two and a half years of qualifying competition from six world regions. This year, 206 countries competed for 45 places. International host countries are: Canada, Mexico and the United States. Host countries automatically gain entry, rounding tournament entries to 48. Over approximately 40 days, 180 matches are played in 16 cities across three host countries.
A Golden Boot award will be given for most goals scored. At this writing: Messi has seven; Mbappé, seven; Haaland, seven; and Kane, six. It’s the first FIFA World Cup in history to have three players tied with seven goals!
FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) began in Paris in May of 1904. FIFA presently has 211 country and territory members. This year’s ball is branded “Trionda;” tri honoring three host nations, and onda—the Spanish word for wave—representing the spectator wave that is washing over the tournament. World Cup viewing is projected to exceed 5 BILLION viewers. For context, the 2025 MLB World Series had 236 million viewers, and the 2026 NFL Super Bowl had 125 million.
