FIFA World Cup: Everything you need to know
It’s that time again where 32 countries go head to head in the World Cup. The 2018 world cup begins this Thursday, (14th June 2018) and will run for just over four weeks, finishing on 15th July 2018. Now that the three year-long qualification phase is completed, the 210 countries, 872 matches and 2,454 goals finally gave us the 32 teams who’ll compete for the title of World Champions. If you are a novice to everything that is the World Cup, then keep reading as we have everything you need to know.
What is the World Cup?
The FIFA World Cup is the world’s most widely viewed sporting event which happens across the world every four years. An estimated 715.1 million people watched the final match of the 2006 FIFA world cup held in Germany, and a total of 3,170,856 spectators attended the 64 matches.
Germany are the reigning champions after winning their match against Argentina in Brazil in 2014. Both teams will be among the favourites again this year, but there’ll be lots of countries who fancy their chances of lifting the world cup trophy in the revamped Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on 15th July 2018.
Where is the World Cup this year?
The tournament is being held in Russia for the very first time. There are 12 different stadiums that will be hosting the different matches, across 11 different cities. Russia will be kicking the tournament off on 14th June 2018.
What Countries will be playing?
From Europe: England, Belgium, France, Sweden Germany, Iceland, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Serbia and Spain. This will be the first year that Italy will not be playing since 1958!
From Africa: Egypt, Nigeria, Morocco, Senegal and Tunisia. Egypt are actually fielding the oldest player ever to play in the World Cup – Essam El-Hadary – who is 45 years old.
From North and Central America: Mexico topped this qualifying group and will be joined by Costa Rica.
From South America: Brazil are set to be the real competition this year as they won the regions qualifying group. They finished ten points ahead of the second place team, Uruguay. They will be joined by Argentina, Panama, Columbia and Peru.
From Asia: Iran, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Australia are all through from this region. Australia winger Daniel Arzani is set to be the youngest player in the tournament at just 19 years old – even though the average age of all the players attending is 28, the oldest in the tournaments history.
Which players will you see at the World Cup?
It is without a doubt that the two world best players will be there, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. You will spot many Premier League stars there. Countries such as France and Spain will certainly take their well-known players like Paul Pogba and Alvaro Morata. You can also look forward to seeing South American stars like Luis Suarez and Neymar playing for Uruguay and Brazil.
Where can you watch the World Cup?
If you are not lucky enough to watch the matches live in Russia, not to worry as you can watch it on TV. Coverage of the 2018 World cup will be televised on ITV and BBC. The two channels will once again share the rights to show the competition to UK audiences, with all 64 matches to be shown live. Former World Cup winner Gary Lineker will host the BBC’s coverage while Mark Pougatch is the face of the ITV’s coverage.
Here at The Bull we’ll be showing the games live at Jack Shrimpton Bar. Head over to our cosy bar to catch the sporting event. Enjoy the British country pub atmosphere and try out our real ale! Choose from a selection of sharing plates, pizzas, sandwiches and mains while you predict the result. For more information call us on 01753 202919 or email [email protected].
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