In the preliminaries to the event Gianni Infantino decided to cater to the vanity of Donald Trump by awarding him a peace prize. Trump had openly campaigned for the Nobel Peace Prize that had been rejected for obvious reasons.
Donald Trump was on display taking advantage of photo opportunities and chances to impose policies. Their immigration program is racist and political. Iran qualified and the luck of the draw scheduled their 3 games at American stadiums, but were only allowed to compete in America for the games and forced to stay overnight in Mexico. Disadvantaged they were eliminated by a late goal scored by Algeria. The mother of the Cape Verde goalie was at first refused admission.
Somalia was one of the countries not allowed to come to the U.S., but a Somali referee was considered one of the top referees from Africa. He was not allowed at all by the Trump government.
A top American player, Faloran Balogun was given a red card, meaning not eligible for the next game. Trump decided to use his influence and managed to have the red card disregarded. The result was disastrous for the U.S. as they made critical mistakes and lost 4-1. Faloran Balogun, the suspended player approached the Belgian coach to apologize, but the Belgian coach did not blame him, the decision was made by others.
To give Trump some credit he had one interesting idea. American football should be renamed so that soccer can be called football. It is confusing for English (and French) speaking North Americans as our football is mostly running and passing. Unfortunately this idea is not going far as the N.F.L. is well entrenched with the American (and Canadian) public.
Impossible not to notice that many of the European players were African in origin, but still the African nations barely barely made it for the knockout rounds. It seemed that colonizers did better than the colonized. Morocco was an exception in that 19 of their 26 players were born outside Morocco and they did advance to the knockout round. Al Jazeera pointed out that minority players are subject to racist remarks such as with the Netherlands public after three minority players failed in a shoot out
Another political element was regarding Palestine. The Egyptian coach displayed a Palestine flag and advocated for them--During the first half of the Egypt/Argentina knock out game the Egyptian team scored 2 goals. However in the second half Argentina overcame with input from Lionel Messi and won the game 3-2. Egyptians claimed the ref was unfair. There always seems to be room for criticism. FIFA, itself has long recognized the Palestine football club and allowed them to take part in qualifying rounds.
Argentina fans made a protest about the Falklands, better known to them as Les Malvinas. The Argentine government was pro Israel, but the general population was more sympathetic to the Palestinians.
The decision to increase the teams from 32 to 48 countries was beneficial. Small countries got a chance to play as everyone got 3 games and a few surprised experts. Cape Verde was perhaps the biggest surprise. The second smallest population in the tournament, but in group games they were all draws including against eventual winner, Spain. In the first knockout Argentina came from behind to win in injury time. Another surprise was when Paraguay defeated Germany in a shootout.
I would love to see my Canadian team do better, but not too surprised, being eliminated in their first knockout game. They put on a fair show, but have a long way to go.
There were lots of interesting facts.
The Japanese, following their example from the previous World Cup cleaned up their seats after game setting a good example picked up by Paraguay. The Japanese goalie Zion Suzuki was born in the U.S. with a Japanese mother and a Ghanian father.
Lionel Messi setting all time World Cup scoring record until Kyrian Mbappe of France (with a Cameroonian father) broke some of them.
Erling Haaland was a likable star for the Norwegian team whose fans had developed a crowd cheering motion with rowing simulation.
For the first time hydration breaks were part of each game. Many fans were annoyed and suggesting the purpose was for tv. ads. Personally I felt over time better for the game. An acknowledgement of climate change and an adjustment we will see more of. As the World Cup wound up Canada and part of the United States were dealing with some serious forest fires. Trump blamed Canada, but he is an example of not acknowledging climate change.
Another innovation was a half time show for the final game. To get in some headliners the break time was extended. The headliners included Justin Bieber, Shakira, Madonna, BTS and Gustavo Dudamel. Seemed well received by the fans. On television the action started inside the stadium, but was visible by big screens.
As with all sports there is an element of flukiness in football such as the position of the ref, the bounce of the ball, position of light and shadow, etc while the better teams manage to their benefit. As a low scoring game, football can sometimes be decided by a fluke.
In the game to decide 3rd place, England beat France, 6-4, the highest scoring game of the tournament. Saku for England had 3 goals duplicating a feat of Messi.
Spain deservedly won the trophy defeating Argentina in the final, but I would say France was second best. I realize Trump wanted Argentina to win as he is cosy with their leader and was upset with Spain over some military issues (refusing to help his Iran attack). He did get booed when getting ready to present the trophy and medals. He had to be pulled off the stage while the Spanish players were celebrating.
It still amazes me that the World Cup draws more attention than the Olympics, but it definitely is a massive fan favourite. I would like to think I will get to indulge in my love for athletic excellence, drama and international good will.
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