For all football (soccer) players, to play in a World Cup is a highlight of their careers....
With around two weeks to go before it starts, and the free wall charts appearing in the weekend papers, here's the first of a few posts which will appear over the coming weeks.
In the past, Geography of Sport style units were more common - I had one as part of my KS3 for a while. My school was a Specialist Sports College, and when the funding came through I added a unit so that it would fund a new set of textbooks for me called 'Geography Matters'. You can still see some iterations of this on the archived GeographyPages website. Here's the 2006 version (with some later updates) for example, and the World Cup 2006 ideas.
I wonder what this year's FIFA World Cup will be remembered for?
Will it be remembered for the actions of the 'main' hosts in terms of the numbers of games that will take place in that country?
When the bid was initially approved, the idea was that matches would be played in the USA, Canada and Mexico. The phrasing used was a 'United World Cup'.
That has all fallen apart with Trump insulting both the Canadians and the Mexicans.
Will it be remembered for the ridiculous spectacle of FIFA awarding Trump a 'Peace' prize at the draw... just before he started a war with Iran which didn't need to happen and interfering in other country's governance, and much much more....
Then there was the suggestion that a team that had qualified for the tournament: Iran, should be replaced by one that hadn't: Italy, on the basis that they had won the tournament previously and the USA was recently threatening to "end their civilisation" and bomb them into oblivion.... it seems they may be based in Mexico rather than the USA.
Pubs in the UK will probably stay open longer during the tournament because of the timing of some of the matches. However, there was some suggestion that they may run out of beer because this requires carbon dioxide, the production of which is affected by the ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Watching the games in person means entering the USA, and this is not easy for many.
Will it be remembered for empty stadia?
Fans from some countries are on banned lists so can't visit to support their own team.
Others fear being detailed without any real cause or due process. Thousands of people have been detained for no good reason in huge detention centres - no due process seems to be taking place.
Given the actions of ICE and other Homeland security, US rights groups are warning about even travelling to the USA.
Then there is the price gouging which means it's ridiculously expensive compared with following the national team at previous tournaments.
A train from central Boston to the stadium was priced at $80 - for those looking to take an official bus, it was $95. This decision has already been rolled back on....Car park spaces have been scaled back but those looking to drive were at one point going to be charged $175 to park a car apparently Let's see whether that ends up happening.
As a result of an outcry the fares were since reduced, although the trains would probably have been less busy than expected as people worked out other ways to get to the game.
Hotels are obviously affected too. Their expectations of high occupancy have not proved correct, and many are now slashing prices as the tournament gets ever closer. Meanwhile surge pricing on tickets is making those even more expensive, so we'll see how full the stadiums are on the day.
Ticket prices have been in the news. Scotland fans, who've been waiting for years for their team to qualify have not been impressed with how much it will cost them to follow their team. So much for the people's game.
There are also lots of things that FIFA does which makes following the tournament on TV as much as in person morally questionable.
And the stadiums are not in the middle of cities. Elland Road sits amongst terraced houses in an area of Leeds. I used to be a visitor for quite a few years during the Revie era. American stadia require transport to get there.
Then there's the usual safety aspect. USA clearly has huge problems with gun violence, but there were also shootings in Mexico recently.
Which countries have qualified? Mappr have provided a useful map which gives the answer, and the geographical spread of qualifying nations.
David Storey has shared a number of useful links on his BlueSky account.
More to come in future posts between now and the end of July when the final takes place. If you spot a relevant World Cup story let me know...
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