After not qualifying for their first world cup since 1986, the United States qualified for the 2022 world cup, looking to face Wales on November 21st. Being held in Qatar, games will span from November 21st to December 18th. Soccer is the world’s most-played sport, with an estimated 250 million players in over 200 countries. The 2018 cup estimated that over one billion people watched the final game between France and Croatia. It peaked at about 517 million concurrent viewers. The 2022 games are expected to rack up an estimated 5 billion viewers from all the matches.
Qatar has made many infrastructure changes to be ready for the influx of an estimated 1.2 million people. Qatar is the smallest country to host the world cup and is the first Arab country to do so. Qatar has had to dedicate billions of dollars to the preparation, more than 220 billion. They have built a metro system, a new airport, stadiums, high-rises, and miles of highways. One of these stadiums is made of 974 shipping containers. The stadium will be deconstructed after the games, and the containers will be returned to use.
The world cup being held in Qatar has stirred up some controversies. The treatment of workers has been a big issue brought up by people and organizations like Human Rights Watch and International Trade Union Confederation. Many workers have gone months without pay, and 60 migrant workers were arrested and deported when they protested about not getting paid. FIFA has claimed that they will compensate unpaid workers for their work towards world-cup-related work. Many European cities have said that they will not show world cup matches in public areas because of the human rights violations and Qatar’s treatment of LGBTQ+ people and the violation of their rights. These cities include Barcelona, Paris, and Strasbourg, the European parliament’s home.
Senior Eli Elison voiced his excitement for the games, “I am super pumped for the World Cup. Getting to watch the US play in the world cup for the first time since 2014 is really exciting. I am a big soccer fan, and this is the one sporting event I look forward to more than anything.” When asked about the stadium made from shipping containers, senior Henry Bonds said, “Yeah, I think building the stadium from shipping containers is super smart. The fact that they are going to use the containers after the world cup ends shows that Qatar is keeping the environment in mind.” When asked about Qatar being the first Arab country to host the world cup, Henry said, “I think it’s great that all countries of all cultures and places can have the opportunity to host an event as popular as the world cup.”
Qatar’s team will debut in the world cup this year when they play Ecuador on November 20th. Matches will be played at a range of times from 1 PM to 10 PM in local Arabian Standard Time. Because of the time difference, many games will be played in the middle of the night for countries. The US is lucky enough to have its games played at 2:00 PM. The US is in group B, along with England, Iran, and Wales, all of whom they will play in the group stage for a chance at the playoffs. With all the controversies surrounding the location of the world cup, it will be an interesting one and fans from all over the world will be watching.