A view of the Doha skyline, Nov. 17.



Photo:

alberto pizzoli/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

This is a quick and quirky primer to the soccer World Cup that kicks off on Sunday in Qatar, a tiny Gulf state with no history of being any good at the game, but which was rich enough to purchase the hosting rights from FIFA, world soccer’s governing body. FIFA has famously lax morals: It awarded the 2018 cup to

Vladimir Putin’s

Russia.

1. Seven of the 10 most populous countries won’t be represented at this world event. China and India aren’t here, neither being particularly good at soccer. Russia isn’t playing, nor Indonesia. Of the world’s most peopled places, only Brazil, Mexico and the U.S. will take part. Soccer power is often inversely proportionate to demographic (or political) heft.

2. The U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team isn’t a minnow any longer. It is ranked 16th in the world and is almost certain to qualify for the first knockout round after the initial group stage. It’s likely the team will play either the Netherlands or Senegal, both eminently beatable, and reach the quarterfinals.

3. Men’s soccer is no longer exotic among Americans. A Morning Consult poll found that 1 in 3 consider themselves soccer fans. Not surprisingly, there’s some ethnic skewing in the numbers: 55% of adult American Hispanics are soccer aficionados. Spanish-language channels cater to them with demented commentators who scream “Gooooooooal!” every time the ball enters the net.

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4. The World Cup is often most beguiling because of unlikely national confrontations. Where else would Switzerland battle Cameroon? Or Ghana face off against Uruguay? Americans unversed in soccer will be startled to learn that the most mouth-watering first-round games are Senegal vs. the Netherlands, Croatia vs. Belgium and, believe it or not, the U.S. vs. Wales (which broke millions of hearts by beating Ukraine in a knockout match to qualify).

5. Some games are politically spicy. Serbia vs. Switzerland promises fireworks on Dec. 2. At the last World Cup, in Russia, ethnic Kosovars on Switzerland’s team celebrated their win with nationalist gestures, which provoked the Serbian management into incensed protests and calls for the players to be banned. There are Kosovars on this Swiss squad, so be prepared for fun. Potentially incendiary—beyond the field of play—is U.S. vs. Iran on Nov. 29. They’ve met at the World Cup before: in 1998, in Lyon, France, with the Iranians winning 2-1 against a lousy U.S. side. This time, the Americans are the overdogs. An Iranian activist tells me that many Iranians hope for an American win, as an Iranian victory would give the mullahs a chance to crow against the Great Satan. Iran’s most famous retired footballer refuses to attend the matches.

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6. Should Qatar be hosting the World Cup? FIFA’s bidding process was opaque and corrupt. Hundreds of workers died in the building of Qatar’s stadiums. Qatar’s emir isn’t the first autocrat to host the cup: Mussolini hosted in 1934, as did the Argentine junta in 1978 and Mr. Putin in 2018. Since China will bid for the cup in the future, a way needs to be found to exclude unsavory regimes from hosting this, the world’s most popular sports event. Democratic Europe is soccer’s powerhouse. It should demand that no cup ever be hosted in a country that isn’t a democracy.

Mr. Varadarajan, a Journal contributor, is a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and at New York University Law School’s Classical Liberal Institute.

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Appeared in the November 18, 2022, print edition as ‘The World Cup and Its Quirks.’


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