In just five short months, another men’s World Cup will be upon us, but this year it will be held in our own backyard. Every four years the World Cup is one of the most anticipated events and gives way to many new trends and brings on excitement for the world of soccer. With this World Cup approaching fast, looking back at previous World Cup’s and looking at new features of this year’s World Cup will build anticipation for the event coming up.
The first ever World Cup was held 96 years ago in July of 1930 with the first championship match between Uruguay and Argentina with Uruguay winning. Since then the World Cup has taken place every four years and in 1991 the first ever Women’s World Cup took place. As of currently, Brazil has won the most Men’s World Cups with five and the United States has won the most Women’s World Cup’s with four.
The last World Cup was held in Qatar in 2022. Uniquely, this World Cup was set in fall and winter months to avoid the hot temperatures in Qatar summers. This made the whole event and experience most memorable to fans all over. At Hudson High School specifically, students watched in between classes, and many teachers even displayed the games during class. The event taking place in winter made the whole experience for viewers more unique and special particularly in the case of students.
This year the World Cup is set to take place from June 11 to July 19. A summer World Cup for the USA is typically in June to July and has been the standard two months of play as professional teams are not in session. A summer World Cup also allows for more students specifically to watch and attend the games. While students won’t have the thrill of watching the game in their spare time at school, they will instead be able to watch with friends and family at home, and have more time to catch full games.
The Qatar World Cup ended in a matchup between France and Argentina. The two most notable players were Kylian Mbappe from France and world famous Lionel Messi with Argentina. The game ended in a penalty kick shoot out with Argentina securing the win scoring four over France’s two. The final game also marked the end of an era for many of this generation’s most popular players like Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Luka Modrić, and Neymar.
With these four players gone, a new age of players is anticipated to make a difference in this year’s World Cup. Some of those players include Lamine Yamal who will play his very first World Cup for Spain, Erling Haaland for Norway and a return for France forward Kylian Mbappe. Along with these players, the teams expected to perform the best this year include Spain, Argentina, France and England.
With North America set to host the 2026 Men’s World Cup in sixteen cities, there will be eleven in the USA, three in Mexico and two in Canada. The closest stadiums to Hudson are Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, PA and Met Life Stadium in New York/ New Jersey.
This upcoming World Cup also now features forty eight teams for the first time instead of thirty two in years past. Meaning there are now twelve groups where teams will compete against each other in “group stages”. Because of this, there will be more total games as it is expanding almost double from 64 games to 104. This not only gives fans a higher chance to watch a game in person or watch more on TV but also gives more countries the opportunity to compete.
With forty eight teams, this means that the top four highest seeded countries would not have the opportunity to face off until the semifinal match. This gives more games leading up to the final a more competitive atmosphere, with each game being played involving good, highly desired teams.
But despite the US hosting most games of the World Cup, it is clear a large expense will be needed to attend a game in person. As tickets already went for sale on the official FIFA website, resale websites now have tickets available for purchase at high prices. Right now the lowest tickets are selling for close to $230 but to watch the United States play it is around $1000. The high prices are reflexive of the high demand for tickets and the high mark up from resale websites.
Whether you’re an avid soccer fan or not, the World Cup is an event for entertaining everyone. With the United States as a host country, everyone in Hudson has a guaranteed team to support. While ticket prices are expensive, watching the games and getting together with others to celebrate the US and other teams isn’t, making the tournament a special way to pass time and make memories. Each World Cup brings a unique atmosphere so as anticipation builds for this summer, fans wonder what special qualities this World Cup will bring?
