Is this one of the worst quality World Cups ever? | Probably not

[Bosnian_fan]

It's been a bit rubbish. Plenty of drama at the end of the group stages, but I struggle to think of any great games and the overall quality has been awful.

The two finalists are extremely underwhelming and the problem being there hasn't actually been any other team who's looked all that much better.

People saying its the best ever or best of this century must have very short memories or be judging it on a completely different basis to me. I thought the 2018 world cup was incomparably better. Loads of great games and great football. 1998 as well. 2002.

In fact every world cup I'm old enough to remember had some massive stand out moments. This one doesn't have that unless Messi headbutts Mbappe in the final or something. Where is the game or result, or disgraceful piece of behaviour that I'll still remember in 20 years time?

Hopefully Argentina win as then it'll make for a good story re: Messi and might elevate the tournament a little bit in terms of nostalgia.

But it does have stand out moments. Argentina losing to Saudi Arabia to then pick themselves up and get to final with Messi pulling strings in an incredible manner, Brazil to get knocked out by Croatia on penalties, Morocco reaching first semifinals ever for Africa, knocking Belgium, Spain and Portugal on the way, Germany getting knocked out by Japan, Messi's outrageous assists against Netherlands and Croatia... those are all outstanding moments. I don't recall many like these in Russia.

 

[Bosnian_fan]

Unh? The atmosphere has been rubbish bar a few games.

I'm not speaking about atmosphere at the games, but the general atmosphere about the World Cup. You could just see how much more important it is to players than the club football, to the fans, to pretty much everyone.

 

[Rooney in Paris]

But it does have stand out moments. Argentina losing to Saudi Arabia to then pick themselves up and get to final with Messi pulling strings in an incredible manner, Brazil to get knocked out by Croatia on penalties, Morocco reaching first semifinals ever for Africa, knocking Belgium, Spain and Portugal on the way, Germany getting knocked out by Japan, Messi's outrageous assists against Netherlands and Croatia... those are all outstanding moments. I don't recall many like these in Russia.

There were just as many "moments" like these if you look back and dig into 2018 (and any other WC), these are all ordinary things that happen during tournament football. It's just recency bias, cos you can remember these ones from the past few weeks.

 

[Zen86]

It's been an ok WC, certainly picked up after my initial assessment during the first few games. It's not really been a standout tournament though. The atmosphere has been a bit pants apart from a few games. A commentator described it as more of an audience than a crowd, which I definitely agree with.

Overall quality has also been below par I thought. Dramatic moments sure, but those twists and turns happen in every WC. There haven't really been many revelations outside of Morocco, and even they were rolled by a comparatively underwhelming France side. This WC has had the feeling of a last hurrah for the old guard more than anything, the likes of Ronaldo, Modric, Messi, etc.

 

[Offside]

I think it has fallen below Russia 2018, Brazil 2014 and Germany 2006 but has been better than South Africa 2010.

 

[Bilbo]

It has seemed to lose its steam a little after the group stages. I agree with those saying that there haven't been too many memorable moments

 

[Chesterlestreet]

I have watched much less of it than I normally would've, so there's that.

But I did watch a couple of the q-fs and both semis.

I wasn't very impressed with the quality of the football - France looked positively shabby at times, and they're supposed to be the best team in the world at the moment.

Argentina looked pretty dodgy too.

This is nothing new, though - the standard of football is very obviously not on par with the club game, but this has been the case for a long time now.

 

[AshRK]

But it does have stand out moments. Argentina losing to Saudi Arabia to then pick themselves up and get to final with Messi pulling strings in an incredible manner, Brazil to get knocked out by Croatia on penalties, Morocco reaching first semifinals ever for Africa, knocking Belgium, Spain and Portugal on the way, Germany getting knocked out by Japan, Messi's outrageous assists against Netherlands and Croatia... those are all outstanding moments. I don't recall many like these in Russia.

Yes, this one has been defenitely better than 2018 which was pretty meh and I don't even recall big clashes in that world cup. Atleast this had spain Germany, England France, Netherlands Argentina and now final Argentina France.

 

[AshRK]

2006 and 2014 for me remains the best WC I have seen. 2002 was my first WC and made me love the game so I will always be biased with that and say I enjoyed it. 2010 and 2018 both were meh for me. I honestly don't remember much from 2018 apart from Maradona's wierd antics and Germany being knocked out in GS.
England's path to semis was boring. I don't even remember much about either semis or qf game. In fact the KO game I remember the most is Argentina France. Rest everything was meh.

2010 was boring but atleast had fun big clashes with Germany and their young stars.

 

[Strootman's Finger]

It has seemed to lose its steam a little after the group stages. I agree with those saying that there haven't been too many memorable moments

I agree, it was very easy to forget it was even going on once the group stages were over

 

[KiD MoYeS]

It could never be considered a great world cup because of the corruption behind it and the unnecessary deaths during development.

The final group stage games were very good, but that was because a lot of countries are very good now. Argentina vs. Netherlands has been the only really great knockout game, in my opinion. And that only got good when the Dutch resorted to hoofball. Atmosphere has been largely poor, aside from Argentina and Morocco games.

It will probably be remembered as the Messi world cup, which is maybe what Qatar wanted - but I hope this world cup is not fondly remembered.

 

[SCP]

I watch WC's since 1990 and for me the top 2 I watched was USA 94 and France 98. This century I would say the best on quality of football was Brazil 2014.

This one is better than Italy 90 and Korea/Japan 2002 and perhaps better than South Africa 2010 but compared to the last WC the level is inferior. We don't see a significant number of top teams and top matches.

 

[Skills]

2014 > 2006 > 2018 > 2022 >> 2010

 

[The Corinthian]

World Cup 2022: Fifa to reconsider format of 2026 World Cup after 'best ever' tournament


Fifa is to reconsider the format of the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada, says president Gianni Infantino.

The teams will increase from 32 to 48 for the competition and were set to be divided into 16 groups of three, with the top two progressing to the last 32.

World Cup 2022: Fifa to reconsider format of 2026 World Cup after 'best ever' tournament - BBC Sport

 

[Melbourne Red]

I've found the unadventurous, slow build-up football really dull and have struggled to maintain my focus during most of the games. The last Euros tournament was miles better.

The upsets and feel-good stories have redeemed it somewhat, but I've never been more bored during a World Cup I'd say. It's been a disappointment. Others seem to have enjoyed it though.

 

[Kopral Jono]

It peaked during the second and third round of group stage games after a slow start, then it lost plenty of steam somewhere in the second round. The quarterfinals started off with a bang only to crash down again and the semifinals went as overwhelmingly expected. Bar a final for the ages on Sunday it's been somewhat of a reboot of the 2002 edition, I would say -- not the best but not the worst, either, with some very memorable moments thanks to Japan, Morocco and the ref in the Holland v Argentina game.

It's still A LOT better than 2010 but this isn't saying much. Every World Cup is better than 2010.

 

[Steffa Barnesa]

Some people only want the same top 8 teams in the finals year after year. Perhaps a closed league like the NBA or NHL would suit them better.

Really? Haven't seen anyone claim that, only wanting the stronger squads / bigger nations to progress if you think they'll deliver better matches, which I think they would've in the Argentina half of the draw this particular year. Nothing more than that. If the football world is about to crown Messi the GOAT, I think a victory over Brazil in the semi-final would have added romance, added to that narrative considerably. Zidane's performance in the 2006 QF stood out that bit more because it was against Brazil; Owen's goal in '98 because it was against Argentina; Maradona's wonder goal in '86 because it was against England.

Yes, this one has been defenitely better than 2018 which was pretty meh and I don't even recall big clashes in that world cup. Atleast this had spain Germany, England France, Netherlands Argentina and now final Argentina France.

Disagree completely. In 2018 we had France - Argentina, too, it was 4-3 to France in the second round with Pavard's wonder goal. We also saw this year's semi-final, Argentina - Croatia, in 2018's group stage. And Belgium - Brazil, Belgium - France, Uruguay - Portugal, England - Belgium, Uruguay - France, and Spain 3 - 3 Portugal, with Ronaldo's hattrick.

I don't think this tournament has had much in the way of classic, pulsating, end-to-end clashes like other tournaments (to say nothing of Belgium - Japan last time, which was game of the tournament imo).

 

[AshRK]

Really? Haven't seen anyone claim that, only wanting the stronger squads / bigger nations to progress if you think they'll deliver better matches, which I think they would've in the Argentina half of the draw this particular year. Nothing more than that. If the football world is about to crown Messi the GOAT, I think a victory over Brazil in the semi-final would have added romance, added to that narrative considerably. Zidane's performance in the 2006 QF stood out that bit more because it was against Brazil; Owen's goal in '98 because it was against Argentina; Maradona's wonder goal in '86 because it was against England.



Disagree completely. In 2018 we had France - Argentina, too, it was 4-3 to France in the second round with Pavard's wonder goal. We also saw this year's semi-final, Argentina - Croatia, in 2018's group stage. And Belgium - Brazil, Belgium - France, Uruguay - Portugal, England - Belgium, Uruguay - France, and Spain 3 - 3 Portugal, with Ronaldo's hattrick.

I don't think this tournament has had much in the way of classic, pulsating, end-to-end clashes like other tournaments (to say nothing of Belgium - Japan last time, which was game of the tournament imo).

I already stated in my post about Argentina France match from 2018 being the only big clash from 2018 wc. I don't remember anything from other KO games. I forgot about Spain Portugal so I will give you that. Rest all games were meh.

I am not saying this WC have been far better or a classic but for me defenitely more fun than 2018. For instance England France and Netherlands Argentina were good games this time. Morocco's run to SF was fun. Portugal dismantling Switzerland was a fun watch, same Brazil dismantling Korea was also fun. I still think down the year 2022 will be more talked about than Russia 2018.

 

[noodlehair]

But it does have stand out moments. Argentina losing to Saudi Arabia to then pick themselves up and get to final with Messi pulling strings in an incredible manner, Brazil to get knocked out by Croatia on penalties, Morocco reaching first semifinals ever for Africa, knocking Belgium, Spain and Portugal on the way, Germany getting knocked out by Japan, Messi's outrageous assists against Netherlands and Croatia... those are all outstanding moments. I don't recall many like these in Russia.

They aren'tstand out moments though. Saudi Arabia went out in the group stages making their win over Argentina irrelevant. Croatia beating Brazil by boring everyone to sleep deprived the world cup of what could have been a great game in the semi final. Instead we got a non event. There's always great assists and goals in a world cup but actually this one has had comparatively few.

Again I'm not sure if you just missed the 2018 world cup but its an odd view to me to claim this one has been better. Especially to say you don't recall many instances like the ones you've mentioned, when one of the things you mention is Germany getting kocked out in the group stage, which literally happened in hilarious fashion in 2018. It also had the emergence of Mbappe as a world star and about half the great games I can remember at any world cup were in 2018. Even Croatia got to the semi final again and trounced Argentina 3-0 on the way.

The big sticking point for me in this world cup has been that the quality of nearly every game has been noticeably poor. I don't think there's been a single genuine really good game of football. Too many poor teams got to the latter stages which has diluted the knockout rounds imo. Korea, Poland, Switzerland, USA, Ghana, etc. had no business making it through the group stages. None of them showed anything in terms of quality or flair, and even Croatia, who got to a semi final by winning 1 fecking game of football against Canada, were a really poor side outside of being good at passing the ball sideways. Plus I do feel it's lost something with the almost pre-season friendly pace, atmosphere and attendance at a majority of the games.

 

[Steffa Barnesa]

I already stated in my post about Argentina France match from 2018 being the only big clash from 2018 wc. I don't remember anything from other KO games. I forgot about Spain Portugal so I will give you that. Rest all games were meh.

I am not saying this WC have been far better or a classic but for me defenitely more fun than 2018. For instance England France and Netherlands Argentina were good games this time. Morocco's run to SF was fun. Portugal dismantling Switzerland was a fun watch, same Brazil dismantling Korea was also fun. I still think down the year 2022 will be more talked about than Russia 2018.

Apologies, missed your other post below where you mentioned Argentina - France in 2018. While I still think 2018 had better games and better goals, I agree that 2022 may well be talked about more in the future, especially if Messi wins it.

 

[Swordsman]

I have watched much less of it than I normally would've, so there's that.

But I did watch a couple of the q-fs and both semis.

I wasn't very impressed with the quality of the football - France looked positively shabby at times, and they're supposed to be the best team in the world at the moment.

Argentina looked pretty dodgy too.

This is nothing new, though - the standard of football is very obviously not on par with the club game, but this has been the case for a long time now.

And also we can't compare international with club games as club can literally buy the best players from all over the world and formed a winning team. For national teams, its all luck if he is from a football powerhouse nation. Tough luck for Haaland. Will we ever get to see him to grace the world cup with his presence ?

 

[Swordsman]

They aren'tstand out moments though. Saudi Arabia went out in the group stages making their win over Argentina irrelevant. Croatia beating Brazil by boring everyone to sleep deprived the world cup of what could have been a great game in the semi final. Instead we got a non event. There's always great assists and goals in a world cup but actually this one has had comparatively few.

Again I'm not sure if you just missed the 2018 world cup but its an odd view to me to claim this one has been better. Especially to say you don't recall many instances like the ones you've mentioned, when one of the things you mention is Germany getting kocked out in the group stage, which literally happened in hilarious fashion in 2018. It also had the emergence of Mbappe as a world star and about half the great games I can remember at any world cup were in 2018. Even Croatia got to the semi final again and trounced Argentina 3-0 on the way.

The big sticking point for me in this world cup has been that the quality of nearly every game has been noticeably poor. I don't think there's been a single genuine really good game of football. Too many poor teams got to the latter stages which has diluted the knockout rounds imo. Korea, Poland, Switzerland, USA, Ghana, etc. had no business making it through the group stages. None of them showed anything in terms of quality or flair, and even Croatia, who got to a semi final by winning 1 fecking game of football against Canada, were a really poor side outside of being good at passing the ball sideways. Plus I do feel it's lost something with the almost pre-season friendly pace, atmosphere and attendance at a majority of the games.

Flair ? Joga bonito is long dead. Now many teams played the european style. Very tactical, very disciplined. No freedom of expression in football.

Dont think we will ever see a player dribbling past many players to score a goal like Maradona did in 1986 world cup

 

[Bobski]

It has been mentioned many times in this thread but this tournament seeming to fall between strong generations, lots of older players having their last hurrah, and plenty of youngsters coming through but not quite ready is biggest issue with the quality. Generation of players in their prime years has been weaker than the best tournaments. Some saying that it is the comparison to the club game but I think that issue has also affected the club game in the last 2-3 years. Should start to cycle up across both formats with the quality of young players coming through.

Plenty of drama in the last round of the groups but a mediocre knock out stage to go along with a slow start.

I really hope this tournament leads to a crop of strikers coming through as the selection has been all time bad in that role.

 

[noodlehair]

Great post, I completely agree.

The football has been largely pedestrian compared to most WCs.

There’s been a strange ‘pre season friendly vibe’ and caution that isn’t usual

I think this is due to it being in the middle of a fecking club season and players being wary of getting injured and also mindful of having an incomplete season to come back to.

It’s also lacked that crazed, carnival atmosphere that permeates many WCs - probably due to it being held in a totalitarian, authoritarian regime country.

The narrative that’s it’s ‘The Best WC Ever’ is one being blatantly pushed by fifa because they’re desperate for people to not see it how it is.

There’s been very few great goals or footballing moments. Lots of penalties, lots of really, really dull footy from crap sides and a few upsets where more entertaining teams have lost to more dull sides.

Roll on the leagues starting back up. I think despite all the mocking @Solius has had the last laugh here.

Yeah I don't think you're far off. I think it being in the middle of the season is a big downer. Not just for the reasons you mention but most teams had literally about 4 days of training to prepare, and you can really see it with the amount of teams who've had no real gameplan or impetus to their play.

This is the thing with some of the upset games as well. Germany vs Japan for example. At the end I was like "well ok but they both looked really shite"...not like a normal WC upset where the smaller team shows surprising energy or quality. Same when Korea beat Portugal. It was a joke result and meant the worst team in the group progressed, and that was the general theme with most of the upsets. Although I'd except Morroco from this as they've been pretty good.

And it just doesn't feel like a world cup. Not just with the atmosphere there but back here as well. No one really cares as there's loads of other shite going on and it's nearly Christmas. Usually there'd be screens up everywhere, England flags on every other car, etc. Instead it's felt little more meaningful than a set of midweek league cup games.

 

[Parma Dewol]

Great World Cup. Truly awful coverage from the BBC and ITV. Not sure which is the lesser of two evils when it comes to watching the final.

 

[2mufc0]

You can’t be serious. Europa League is crap. Big clubs don’t care about it before the semis at best. they use it to give their squad players some game time. The rhythm low and the game is very slow compared to league football.

Don't even watch it.

 

[2mufc0]

Great World Cup. Truly awful coverage from the BBC and ITV. Not sure which is the lesser of two evils when it comes to watching the final.

Agree it has been shite. You can stream it on some international channel instead.

 

[Annihilate Now!]

Overall forgettable, and international football is getting boring and pragmatic. Dull atmosphere globally, apart from a few games/groups of fans. Can't wait for the PL to be back on.

Despite all the marketing around it, the fact it only comes around once every 4 years, the general quality is not great, and Champions League (and to extent the Europa League which is getting better with each edition) is where true quality lies.

Do you watch all Champions League group games? I bet if you did you would witness some absolute dross.... never mind the Europa League group stage.

Granted, the overall the latter stages of the CL is probably where the highest quality football lies, but that's a very select group of games.

 

[mu4c_20le]

Top nations underperforming makes it fairly forgettable. The QFs was the only time when it sort of felt like a World Cup, almost like everyone had been saving themselves for that round.

 

[Lay]

It’s been a good World Cup. We are seeing the smaller nations being able to compete a lot better.

 

[Isotope]

THe extra time surely memorable? up to 10-15 minutes, and first time using VAR that could overturn ref initial decisions.

Good memory from 2018 WC is just that Pavard's goal.

 

[Ted Lasso]

Think we have a case of misdirection. The quality of football has been decent and especially for the smaller nations , maybe even better on average than countries of those rankings have done in the past.

What's making the tournament SEEM less exciting or lower in quality is the atmosphere. I just don't find the stadiums to be as alive and giving the World Cup flavor I'm used to and it seems to be reflecting in how we perceive the games themselves.

Is it the sobriety?

 

[FrankFoot]

Quality of entertainment? Hell no. It's one of the best.

Quality of football? The World Cup has never had good quality of football objectively speaking, there's a reason managers like Sarri have come out to trash NT football on a tactical level. A side like City would put 5 past any WC team.

City have players from Brazil,Belgium,France,Spain,Argentina...ofc they would destroy any international side as they can sign whoever they want, they don't have to raise players from only one nationality.

 

[SirReginald]

Think we have a case of misdirection. The quality of football has been decent and especially for the smaller nations , maybe even better on average than countries of those rankings have done in the past.

What's making the tournament SEEM less exciting or lower in quality is the atmosphere. I just don't find the stadiums to be as alive and giving the World Cup flavor I'm used to and it seems to be reflecting in how we perceive the games themselves.

Is it the sobriety?

No that’s just giving actual fans only a small % of tickets and selling the majority to corporations who don’t turn up. Unfortunately FIFA will ignore this failure and present attendances by tickets sold rather than actual attendance.

You don’t need drink for atmosphere.

 

[adexkola]

The narrative that it’s ‘The Best WC Ever’ is one being blatantly pushed by fifa because they’re desperate for people to not see it how it is.

Au contraire, I think there's a lot of agenda takes of this tournament being poorer than it is because of the hosts and all the, you know, deaths and stuff. Coming from a good place for sure. But focusing on the football, it's been great. Know a few people who went over and have had nothing but a blast.

On a more general note, nothing more annoying than people wishing teams like Brazil were in the semi finals. If they were knocked out by apparently inferior teams then maybe they weren't that great? Looking at you Italy.

 

[Suv666]

We are just coming off of club football and going back into it when the wc ends. That kinda killed the magic for me. Its just too much football imo. The hype buildup for the wc just wasn’t there.

 

[FrankFoot]

Flair ? Joga bonito is long dead. Now many teams played the european style. Very tactical, very disciplined. No freedom of expression in football.

Dont think we will ever see a player dribbling past many players to score a goal like Maradona did in 1986 world cup

That's not european style, european teams in the 80s also played more expressive football as well, with players dribbling more and being less tactical.

Plus Maradona is the only one who has done that stuff in a WC, along with some other guy whose name i don't remember, i think he scored against Belgium.
It's not like in the 70s and 80s all top players were dribbling past 8 players to score...you are falling for nostalgia.

 

[slyadams]

I think that you're vastly underestimating France.

They're deceptively strong, even more so with the insane amount of injuries they got. They're not specially easy on the eye but they're always in control and been very typical from them under Deschamps. The depth of their squad is absolutely incredible.

There's no team that really pushed them and I suspect that they'll brush Argentina aside unless Messi has the game of his life.

I can't agree, I think this French side is pretty average. England were better than them over the course of the game, and if you want to say France let them then it was a crap tactic because England were a penalty away from taking it to extra time. Morocco was their first clean sheet of the tournament. I don't think any side can call itself really high quality if they concede in nearly every game.

Not enough to to beat them, no.

If the only measure of saying someone has pushed a team is if they lose, then by definition any team that wins isn't pushed, its an impossible standard. Let's also not forget their first goal shouldn't have stood. From minute 45 to 78 England were so comforable against them when we scored I was as confident as I've ever been against a top side that England were going to win, it was amazing how England controlled the game and French couldn't barely get out.

 

[pierrethesnack]

I can't agree, I think this French side is pretty average. England were better than them over the course of the game, and if you want to say France let them then it was a crap tactic because England were a penalty away from taking it to extra time. Morocco was their first clean sheet of the tournament. I don't think any side can call itself really high quality if they concede in nearly every game.


If the only measure of saying someone has pushed a team is if they lose, then by definition any team that wins isn't pushed, its an impossible standard. Let's also not forget their first goal shouldn't have stood. From minute 45 to 78 England were so comforable against them when we scored I was as confident as I've ever been against a top side that England were going to win, it was amazing how England controlled the game and French couldn't barely get out.

That's what everyone said about United when we were winning titles. It's probably the least important part of the game to dominate time wise, especially when you have the lead. Most top teams will find their extra gear if the opponent actually equalizes. Mbappe didn't even seem to do much all game other than a burst of speed here and there. I'm quite sure France would have fancied their own chances if the game turned into full on exiting end to end stuff, but why resort to that when you don't have to. England are a good team, they were always going to fight back after regrouping at the break.

 

[Rooney in Paris]

Do you watch all Champions League group games? I bet if you did you would witness some absolute dross.... never mind the Europa League group stage.

Granted, the overall the latter stages of the CL is probably where the highest quality football lies, but that's a very select group of games.

I obviously don't watch all CL group games, I doubt anyone does, and yeah there's some bad ones, but on average it's a much higher quality.