Every four years, 32 countries get to compete for the ultimate prize in soccer and after a long draught, the US men’s team has qualified! So here is everything you need to know when your company goes out to the local soccer bar to watch the games. I have you covered with the rules of the game, people to know and of course those dumb questions we have to ask!
How the World Cup Works?
This is the 22nd World Cup since 1930 (2 were canceled for WWII). The USMNT has only been in 11 World Cups with their best finish in 1930 (3rd place). This is the first World Cup for the Americans since 2014 but that is not the longest draught. Every World Cup between 1950-1990, the US team did not qualify. Team USA has only made it past group play 6xs.
We start with group play first (A-H). You play everyone in your group then we move onto a typical bracket format. Top 2 teams make it out of each group and onto tournament play.
How do you make it out? First we look at points earned between all the teams (3 for a win, 1 for tie and 0 for loss). Then if there is a tie we go to the goal differential (goals for – goals against) of all the teams, if still tied look at goals scored in all matches, then points between two teams then goal differential in two teams (basically head-to-head match up), then the number of goals between two, then fair play points but it rarely comes to that.
The objective is to be the last team standing and win the FIFA World Cup and bragging rights for the next 4 years… oh and $42MM goes to the winning team. Each team that qualifies gets at least $9MM in prize money and that’s for getting 32nd.
The next World Cup will be in 2026 in North America (split between Mexico, USA and Canada).
Reigning champs:
FRA (2018 in RUS)
Teams to watch out for:
BRA, GER and FRA (although with the growing list of injuries, maybe not).
Favorites according to Vegas:
BRA & ARG
Most World Cup titles:
BRA (5) then ITA and GER are tied with 4 apiece. Only 8 countries have won ever: BRA, GER, ITA, ARG, FRA, URU, ENG and ESP.
Most red and yellow cards ever?
There are 2 games in World Cup history with 16 a piece. In 2002, GER vs CAM there were 14 yellows and 2 reds and in 2006 POR vs NED there was 12 yellows and 4 reds.
All the Dates You Need to Know:
- First game 11/20
- First USA game (vs Wales @ 1pm) 11/21
- USA vs ENG @ 1pm 11/25
- USA vs Iran @ 1pm 11/29
- First tournament bracket game 12/3
- Quarterfinals 12/9
- Semifinal 12/13
- Final 12/18
Who is in?
- ARG
- AUS
- BEL
- BRA
- CMR
- CAN
- CRC
- CRO
- DEN
- ECU
- ENG (England)
- FRA
- GER
- GHA
- IRN
- JPN
- KOR
- MEX
- MAR
- NED
- POL
- POR
- QAT – host
- KSA
- SEN
- SRB
- ESP
- SUI
- TUN
- USA
- URU
- WAL (Wales)
- So notice how for the Olympics, England and Wales are apart of the Team GBR, however for the World Cup they are separate countries. 4 nations comprise the UK: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Who is missing?
ITA was the big upset as they won the Euro Cup. SWE also missed out and UKR was knocked out by Wales.
Famous Names to Know:
- Sergino Dest
- USA
- Normally #21 (for the World Cup he will be #2)
- Defender
- Barcelona (La Liga)
- On loan to AC Milan
- This will be his first World Cup
- Harry Kane
- ENG
- Normally #10 (for the World Cup he will be #9)
- Striker (Captain)
- Tottenham Hotspur (EPL)
- On loan to Leicester City
- 2018 World Cup – 4th place
- Kane can become the highest scoring player for ENG, surpassing Wayne Rooney if he scores 2 more goals.
- Kylian Mbappe (pronounced M-bahp-ay)
- FRA
- # 7
- Forward
- Paris Saint-German (Ligue 1)
- 2018 World Cup – winner
- Lionel Messi
- ARG
- Normally #30 (for the World Cup he will wear #10)
- Forward
- Paris Saint-German (Ligue 1)
- 4 World Cups (2006, 2010, 2014 & 2018)
- 7x Ballon d’Or
- Weston McKennie
- USA
- #8
- Midfield
- Juventus (Serie A)
- This will be his first World Cup
- Memo Ochoa
- MEX
- #13
- Goalkeeper
- America (Liga MX)
- 4 World Cups (2006, 2010, 2014 & 2018)
- Christian Pulisic
- USA
- #10
- Attacking Midfield
- Chelsea (EPL)
- On loan to Borussia Dortmund
- This will be his first World Cup as the US failed to qualify previously
- Cristiano Ronaldo
- POR
- #7
- Forward
- ManU (EPL)
- 4 World Cups (2006, 2010, 2014 & 2018)
- Most goals scored for one international team 117 (108 was the previous record).
- Neymar da Silva Santos Jr
- BRA
- #10
- Forward
- Paris Saint-German (Ligue 1)
- 2 World Cups (2014 & 2018)
- He is particularly known for flopping
Awards:
Golden Ball (MVP), Golden Boot (most goals), Golden Glove (best goalkeeper), Young Player Award (best player U21 at start of calendar yr), Fair Play Trophy (team with best record of fair play)
A Feel Good Story:
During a 2021 UEFA Euro 2020 match, Christian Eriksen (DEN) collapsed on the pitch suffering from cardia arrest due to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. He supposedly flatlined on the field and yet is back playing 8 months later. He now plays for ManU and DEN during this tournament.
How to Watch:
Fox and FS1 primarily for the states but a lot of games can be found on Peacock and NBC (8 games) as well.
Firsts at the 2022 World Cup:
The Qatar World Cup is the first middle east country to host. There are new offsides technology that will be used during the games (there’s actually a sensor in the ball and limb tracker). This time teams will be allowed to sub 5xs (it used to be less). 3 women are among the referees for the first time. This is also the latest kickoff we have had: November!
Soccer Rules of the Game:
Soccer is a 90 minute game played between two teams of 11 players. The object of the game is to score more goals than your opponent by getting the ball into the net and fully over the goal line.
A coin toss takes place before the game with each of the teams’ captains in which the visiting/away team calls the result (heads or tails or something else). If they get the call correct, they can either pick to either start with the ball or select the side of the pitch they would prefer (and defer the kickoff to the other team). The game starts with a kickoff. All players but the player actually doing the kickoff must be on their own half and opponents must be 10 yards away. Play begins!
After half time, there will be another kick off but by the other team and both teams switch sides of the pitch. If the ball goes out of bounds on the sidelines, a player can throw the ball in bounds to resume play. Once a team scores (by putting the ball in the net and fully across the goal line), play resumes with a kickoff again by the other team.
Time continues to run through the entirety of the half. Stoppage time may be added to account for lost time of retrieving out of bound balls, injuries, etc. This will be notated on the time as 45 +3.
Teams play until the time (and stoppage time) run out. Whoever has the most goals at the end, wins!
Field size: 120 yards L x 75 yards W
Goal size: 24 feet W x 8 feet T x 5 feet D
Odd Rules for Those of Us Who Don’t Watch Soccer Regularly:
- Time counts up then add stoppage time which is determined by the referees. That time is usually based on time lost due to injury, ball out of bounds etc.
- Games can end in a tie. However once we get to the tournament round of the World Cup, matches will not end in ties. After the end of regulation (and additional stoppage time), the teams will play Extra Time. If at the end of the Extra Time, the teams are still tied (like the MLS final just was), we move onto Penalty Kicks (shoot out). For more details see vocab below.
- Each team only gets 5 substitutions but if a player gets a concussion, the team can have a 6th. One a player is subbed out of a game, they cannot come back in.
- It is a general rule that the goalie has to get rid of a ball within 6 seconds of a catch otherwise it is considered wasting time and he can get a talking to by the ref.
- In contrast to American football, as long as the ball stays in bounds, the player can be out.
- A game can start as long as there are 7 players on the field.
- If you get blood on your shirt, you have to change.
- If you get a red card in your team’s final match of the tournament, you will have to serve that penalty in the next official match.
Vocab:
- Assist – the pass that goes to the player who then scores a goal
- Bicycle Kick – when a player kicks the ball over their head the opposite direction than their body is facing (it will look like the player is about to do a back flip)
- Corner kick – a kick from the corner of the pitch by the opposing team. A corner kick happens when the goalie or defense is the last to touch a ball that went out on their own end of the field.
- Cross – a kick from the side of the field to the middle
- Crossbar – the top bar of the goal
- Extra Time – when the game ends 0-0, the first section of over time is extra time. 30 extra minutes (15 minute halves). This is treated exactly like game time. You play until the time is up.
- Flop – when a player falls mostly unnecessarily or over acts a fall in an effort to get a call from the referee
- Foul – a violation of the rules and penalty is given and usually a free kick is awarded. Common fouls are:
- Handball (see below)
- Kicking an opponent
- Pushing an opponent
- Offsides (see below)
- Tackling from behind
- Tripping an opponent (prior to touching the ball)
- Free kick – a kick taken by the team who was fouled to resume play with no opposing players within 10 yards of the ball
- Indirect: has to be touched by one other player before the shot
- Direct: has to be exactly like it sounds, kicked by that player and can go straight into the goal
- Goal – when the ball goes into the net and counts as one point. The ball must completely cross the lien to count.
- Goal kick – a kick that gets kicked from the corner of the goal box by the team on defense. A goal kick happens when the offense was the last to touch the ball (a missed shot is a great example)
- Handball – a foul that occurs is someone other than the goalie touches the ball with their hands
- Hat trick – when a player scores 3 goals in one game
- Header – when a player hits the ball with their head
- Match – what soccer people call the game
- Offsides – a violation when the offensive player is positioned closer to the goal than the last defender and receives a pass from a teammate in front of the defender. This applies to any limb so foot or arm or anything! A forward can move past the last defender once that ball is in the middle of the pass but not before
- Own goal – when a player scores on his own goal (meaning he is last to touch a ball that goes in)
- Penalty Kick – if a foul happens inside the goalie box/penalty box, a player from the fouled team gets to attempt a kick on goal. The ball is placed 12 yards from the goal and the player will shoot and only the goalie can stop it.
- Once the shooter touches the ball, other players can run into the penalty area
- Penalty Kicks (shootout) (‘PKs’)– after extra time is over, games will go to penalty kicks. Each team will get 5 shots by 5 different.
- It goes by best of 5 at first, so if Team A scores all 3 of their first PKs and their goalie blocks all 3 of the others teams’ then the game ends because the other team cannot catch up even if they scored all of their PKs.
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- If teams are tied at the end of 5 PKs, we move to 1:1. If one team gets their OK and the other team misses, game is over.
- Pitch – soccer field
- Red card – the ultimate penalty from the referee. It throws a player out of the game (and the next) and that player cannot be replaced so the team must play down a player
- Save – when the goalie blocks a shot
- Shot – an attempt to kick the ball into the goal
- Stoppage Time – the extra time added to the end of the game. You wont know what that time is until the end of the game. It will be expressed as ‘+4’
- Throw in – an overhead throw to resume play after the ball goes out of bounds on the sidelines.
- Yellow card – a penalty from the referee to symbolize a player major infraction but considered a ‘warning’. You get two yellows = red and you’re thrown out of the game. If you are a repeat offender and get 2 yellow cards a game apart, you will still get a one match ban for the next game.
- Yellow cards reset when we move onto the tournament round
Positions:
- Strikers/Forwards – position who plays up near the opponents goalie and their objective is to take shots on goal.
- The Striker is the player positioned closest to the opponent’s goal (like a center forward). You can also hear ‘True #9’ used to describe the striker (most likely wearing the #9)
- Midfielder – position between the forwards and defenders. They do the most running as their job is to move the ball from the defensive half to the offensive half of the field.
- Defense (center backs and outside backs) – position that is the last line of defense in front of the goalie whose objective is to stop forwards from scoring and taking shots
- Goalie/Goal Keeper – the player that stands inside the goal. They are the only one who can touch the ball with their hands in bounds (and in the penalty box)
- He cannot pick up a ball that was passed back to him from one of his own players
Dumb Questions about Soccer:
Why did I see a player go off and never come back in?
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- He was a substitute. Playing a 45 minute constantly running clock is exhausting so you can sub out a tired or injured player. But each team only gets 5 per game so they have to be used strategically. Once a player is subbed out he cannot go back in. You can only sub on dead balls.
Why does the goalie wear a different color?
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- They do that so that their teammates, officials and fans can distinguish them from other players. Especially since they have a different set of rules, it makes things simpler to see that it was indeed the goalie who used his hands in a crowded goal.
How to tell the difference between a free kick and a penalty kick?
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- A free kick (indirect or direct) can have the defending players in front of it (in a wall formation usually). This is when a foul occurred outside the penalty box
- A penalty kick is literally just the shooter and the goalie. This is a big deal because it has been proven to produce a goal more than 80% of the time in World Cup matches.
Taken from ESPN.com https://www.espn.com/soccer/fifa-world-cup/story/4807433/var-review-why-iran-got-a-penalty-but-harry-maguire-was-not
Literally the first goal in the World Cup was taken away due to offsides, why?
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- I definitely wouldn’t consider this a dumb question at all because this is a weird one. When the goalie comes out of his box and is ahead of other defenders, then the offense has to be in front of 2 players on defense otherwise he is offsides. Think of this like the final and last defender is now considered ‘goalie’ and the 2nd to last defender is the one the offense has to stay in front of. As shown in the red box, ECU Enner Valencia’s leg as in front of the 2nd to last defender when the ball was passed to him.
