The long-awaited World Cup games are just around the corner. This will be a time for every soccer lover to enjoy a month of non-stop matches full of action, competition, and at the same time, global gathering. The 2018 World Cup will be held in Russia, a hosting award that was given to the country on 2nd December 2010. This will be the twenty-first FIFA World Cup. It is scheduled to take place from 14th June to 15th July. It will also be the first World Cup to be hosted in Europe since 2006’s World Cup that was held in Germany. All of the stadiums’ venues save for one are in Russia.
The teams
Of the 209 FIFA member associations less the automatically qualified hosts Russia, 32 qualified to play in the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Among them is 2014 FIFA World Cup champion Germany. The Union of European Football Associations often referred to as UEFA snug 14 slots in the final tournament including Russia. The 13 UEFA nations are Switzerland, Sweden, Spain, Serbia, Portugal, Poland, Iceland, Germany, France, England, Denmark, Croatia, and Belgium. Italy, for the first time since 1989, did not make the cut. The battle for the title of 2018 FIFA World Cup Champion will be tough. You wouldn’t want to miss out on these games; I know I’m excited to see how this years’ go!
A moment to bring nations together again
The FIFA World Cup was founded in 1930 and has since been hosted every four years, bringing countries even closer together each time. It started with a final tournament of only 13 teams a number that has more than doubled over the years. This year, 32 national teams in form of five confederations have qualified for the international tournament. The tournaments attract soccer fans from all ends of the world, and not just supporters from the respective countries participating. In addition to the physical attendees are the devoted watchers who tune in to watch or listen to the matches. In 2014, it was reported that over 3.4 million people attended the 64 matches during the 2014 World Cup and more than 3.2 billion watchers worldwide. These numbers are the highest recorded at any World Cup since 1994’s FIFA World Cup USA. Although I won’t be attending the games at the respective stadiums, I do look forward to a fun-filled season of soccer and interaction with the diverse billions of people who, too, will be following the World Cup.
A time to make new memories
The World Cup has made history over the years. I know I still remember a couple of memorable goals of 2014’s World Cup such as James Rodriguez’s volley at his first attempt against Uruguay and Robin van Persie’s header. These are just a few of the remarkable moments in history that have been marked by World Cup matches. This year, new memories will be created, ones to be shared with the world by the world.
The upcoming 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia is much anticipated and will see the attention of many countries globally. I hope you too are looking forward to it!