Aidan Marsan (12) | STAFF REPORTER
The Qatar 2022 World Cup is a tournament that no one expected to happen, but it has been a pleasant surprise with its fair share of upsets, thrilling goals, and overall history being made.
This World Cup is the first World Cup to be hosted in a Middle Eastern country, resulting in it becoming the first winter World Cup we’ve experienced. In the first week of the World Cup, we as fans experienced plenty of chaos on and off the pitch. For example, Saudi Arabia the 2nd worst country in this tournament according to the FIFA world rankings, gained a victory, knocking down Lionel Messi and Argentina 2-1 in their first group game. And just one day later, the Japanese took down the mighty Germans in their first group game with a score of 2-1. Or maybe the more recent Morocco-Belgium game where the Morrocans were able to take down the #2 ranked team in the world to give them their 3rd World Cup win ever and their first since 1998.
If upsets aren’t your thing, then look towards the exciting moments we’ve been able to experience so far. Whether it be Memo Ochoa stopping superstar striker Robert Lewandowski’s pen to keep the game 0-0 and securing a very valuable point for Mexico, or maybe it could be the absolute thrashing the Spanish gave Costa Rica in their 7-0 win in their first group game. And if you like acrobatic goals then look no further than Brazilian striker Richarlison’s beautiful goal against Serbia to increase their lead and secure Brazil’s first 3 points of their World Cup campaign.
Even though the controversy regarding the legitimacy of this World Cup has overshadowed the tournament, you can still at least say that action and thrilling moments are still very much there for us soccer fans to enjoy and there is so much more to come in this month-long tournament.
