New players and new nations: the 2022 World Cup so far

The two main stories of the 2022 World Cup have been the upsets and the shameful behaviour of FIFA, which needs to be cleaned out. The biggest upsets were Saudi Arabia’s win against

Argentina, Japan’s defeat of Germany, Iran’s victory against Wales and Morocco’s triumph over Belgium, narrowly beaten in the Semi-Finals in 2018.

But there have been other fascinating stories which have received less attention. The African and Arab countries are all managed by people from their own countries for the first time, in

contrast with 2018 when none of them were. Except for Qatar itself, none are pushovers.

On a sadder note, 2022 has seen the marked decline of some of the great stars of our time. Gareth Bale, now 33, is a shadow of his former self. Wales’s most capped player and its all-time

top goal scorer, he was sadly ineffectual in the humiliating defeat by Iran and it’s unlikely we will ever see him or his fellow star, Aaron Ramsey, play for Wales again. Harry Kane has had

a disappointing campaign, failing to score any of England’s six goals in their first two games and seemed to be out of position for most of the match against the USA. He looked unfit and

struggling with an injury from a bad foul in the Iran match.

The Brazilian star Neymar struggled against a well-organised and sometimes thuggish Serbian defence and was outshone by Richarlison, almost six years younger. Thomas Müller (33) and Manuel

Neuer (36) were two of the great stars of the brilliant German team in the 2010 World Cup and the 2014 World Cup winning side. Müller scored five goals in six matches in 2010 and Neuer was

arguably the greatest goalkeeper in the world at the time. Both have sadly faded and Neuer was responsible for at least one of Japan’s goals in that huge upset. Eden Hazard and Romalu

Lukaku, two of the stars of the great Belgian team of 2018, have hardly made any impact in the first two matches. Belgium started in Qatar with twelve players aged 29 or older, struggled to

beat Canada 1-0 and were then humiliated by Morocco. Instead, there’s a new group of young stars on the block: Kylian Mbappé (23), Jude Bellingham (19) and Bukayo Sako (barely 21), and Gavi

(18) and Pedri (19) both from Barcelona.

New players and new countries. The USA drew against both Wales and England, but the real emerging teams have been Saudi Arabia, Iran, Japan,  Canada and Ghana, who have played in two 3-2

thrillers, losing one, winning the other, against Portugal and South Korea respectively. In 2026 Canada and the USA will be two of the three hosts, along with Mexico, and we can reasonably

expect both to build on this week’s achievements. Another key point in 2026 will be the increased number of teams from 32 to 48, most of which will be emerging footballing nations.

Of course, heat has been a factor in Qatar, despite the air conditioning and playing late in November. It is no coincidence that three of the major upsets have featured players from hot

countries (Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Iran) against players from more temperate nations (Belgium, Germany and Wales). Canada, Mexico and the USA in the summer of 2026 will not be much cooler

and if you add the altitude in Mexico it will be tough going for European players.

It is not just familiar players who will be departing the scene after Qatar. What are the odds on Gareth Southgate continuing to manage England, Roberto Martinez at Belgium or Louis van Gaal

with the Netherlands? And even among the TV pundits there are clear signs of a newish generation, people like Micah Richards, Alex Scott and Jermaine Jenas, all in their 30s, while Alan

Shearer, in particular, now 52, may seem a remote figure to younger viewers and made a disastrous debut as the expert summariser during the Spain/Germany match.

One final point. The quality of many of the matches has been very high and they have been evenly contested. At the time of writing, only four of the first thirty matches were won by more

than two goals. There are fewer minnows. In 2002 Germany beat Saudi Arabia 8-0. Twenty years later, they lost to Japan and Saudi Arabia famously defeated Argentina. This trend will surely

continue.

But one note of caution. Does the World Cup excite a younger generation in Europeans it did in the 1960s and ‘70s? For old-timers figures like Pele and Socrates seemed incredibly exotic. We

only ever saw them once every four years. Now most of the stars from South America and Africa are familiar faces from the Champions League. Japan’s team that beat Germany had seven players

from teams in the Bundesliga, Manchester United alone had three players in Brazil’s team against Serbia. They are terrific players, but the novelty is wearing off and the Champions League

(plus a possible future European Super-League) is overtaking the World Cup, mired as it is in sleaze and dubious politics. Infantino tried to argue that this World Cup was the most

environmentally friendly ever. The opposite is true. Something needs to change quickly before western audiences vote with their feet and advertisers and sponsors follow them.

By proceeding, you agree to our Terms & Conditions and our Privacy Policy.

If an account exists for this email address, you will shortly receive an email from us. You will then need to:

Please note, this link will only be valid for 24 hours. If you do not receive our email, please check your Junk Mail folder and add [email protected] to your safe list.