A title of social nobility: Who wins the World Cup?

Ball noise is already felt. There are only 27 days left to open the curtain of the World Cup that arouses the greatest curiosity due to the exoticism of its setting, the grandeur of the works that are announced, the Arab traditions that will surround it and because – for the first time – it will not be played according to the European calendar , that is to say in the middle of the year, between the end and the beginning of a season in the big leagues of the Old World. This annoys them, naturally (the Europeans have invented this game and have ruled it for a century and a half), but it may give the tournament an outstanding footballing sheen. The oppressive heat in Qatar in June and July, over 40 degrees, forced the dates to run and determined an almost Christmas World Cup (it will end on December 18). The footballers will arrive fresh, three and a half months after starting the 2022-2023 academic year. The excuse for poor performance in all previous cups has always been that it is time to face the highest competition after exhausting campaigns of 50 and even 60 games. In other words, now there is no room for the famous catchphrase of “they arrive at the World Cup melted”.

And if there is physical freshness, there is promise of a good game. In addition, between November and December the temperatures in the tiny emirate range between 26 and 30 degrees, but the stadiums will be cooled, so the players will feel a pleasant 23-24. Uruguay 1930, Chile ’62 and Argentina ’78 were played in the middle of the southern winter; in the United States 1994, 55 degrees were recorded on the pitch during the opening match in Chicago between Germany and Bolivia (we were present). And in several editions hosted in Europe the heat was embarrassing. Not to mention Mexico ’86. Despite all the distrust that Qatar arouses in the West, this one about the climate does not seem to fit. We may therefore see high-intensity football like the one we have been seeing lately.

Winning a World Cup is the highest possible recognition for players and coaches. No other achievement brings such prestige. Even if he is eighty years old, someone who lifted the artistic trophy is presented as “so and so, world champion”. It is a title of social nobility and unfading glory. It is the sporting Himalaya, the tip of the funnel into which the 211 member countries-states-enclaves of FIFA enter (the United Nations brings together 193). The Olympic Games are made up of 33 sports, yet they still do not reach 50% of the impact of the World Cup. And what saves the Games economically is football, which brings crowds.

But World Cups are never very attractive footballingly. Many people idealize them, they set the bar very high in terms of the product. He thinks that, since the best soccer players and the most powerful teams are there, it must be a great show. It is not like this. They are the maximum sounding board, not the best football expression (there were many decidedly ugly). It responds to a logic: 23 players come together from different clubs and countries, with a coach who is not the one they have on their teams on a daily basis, with another system, another personality, a different way of working. And, by not having the same rehearsal time as the clubs, the national teams rarely achieve the harmony of the teams, which do have the players training together all year round. Harmony is harmony, assembly, understanding, closing your eyes and knowing that such a partner is there, that the other is going to bite, that so-and-so is going to find the center… It is difficult to achieve it in twenty days of training and a few games .

For this reason, the coach who manages to amalgamate a firm defense and a timely attack plus a good coexistence, already has the doors of the final open. History is full of correct champions: Germany 1990, Brazil 1994, Italy 2006, France 2018… Argentina was almost champion in 1990, a team that scored 5 goals in 7 games…!

Great memories

This chronicler attended ten World Cups; and he saw 14 altogether from childhood. Except for the one from 1970 and perhaps the one from 2014, there was no brilliance in any of them. The 1974 final faced the two superpowers of the moment, the revolutionary Holland of Cruyff, Neeskens, Rep, Krol, Van Hanegem, Rensenbrink and the massive Germany of Beckenbauer, Müller, Breitner, Overath, Holzenbein, Hoeness, Bonhoff… Germany won 2 -1. It was a tense final, yes, but rough, gray, not even the goals saved it, two were penalties and one that Müller invented from nowhere. Menotti was always a banner of offensive and exquisite football. His Argentina in 1978 may have started the Cup with that intention, but he never reflected it; he ended up looking handsome, conquering the title through courage. There are plenty of examples of champions who fell short of brilliance. Italy 2006 is definitely less than a memory, a statistic. Did Spain 2010 shine…? He made 8 goals in 7 games. Paraguay almost dispatched it… They won the four qualifying matches by 1-0, sweating ink. His highest value was David Villa, Bronze Ball, something that few remember. How many were World Cups and brilliant champions…?

The previous analysis of Qatar 2022 asks us two questions: How could Brazil not be champion…? What cataclysm should happen…? It has everything, the winning tradition, the right coach (Tite), the offensive vocation, the performance and a score of tremendous cracks: Neymar, Richarlison, Vinicius, Rodrygo, Antony, Raphinha, Everton Ribeiro, Pedro (the very fine scorer of the Libertadores current), Paquetá, Casemiro, Fred, Marquinhos, Militão (a center back with exceptional determination and physical performance), Alisson… Tite doesn’t know who to take out. Total abundance, more than in 2018. There, at a bend in the road, he found a trap called Belgium. But now, who puts the bell on him…?

If both win their groups and advance to the round of 16 and quarters, Brazil and Argentina could meet in the semifinals. It would be a collision of planets. Argentina should play him like in the Copa América final, short iron, with the antennas at a thousand. And with a lot of inspiration. Still, it would be hard for him to beat. Scaloni’s team is sharp, they have internalized the script, they have excellent performers, a stratospheric morale and Messi in a celestial, cerebral state, in oracle mode. He is another candidate. And then…? France looks very strong, they have plenty of talent, like Brazil, they have a coach -Deschamps- who doesn’t give away even a piece of used gum and, furthermore, plays the brave card at any moment: Mbappé, a tsunami.

Then we will see what Germany can say, which always manages to put together eleven good ones (and they are Germans, of remarkable reliability), the wild and attractive Spain of Luis Enrique, who can attack you with seven; Belgium, capable of any feat due to the names it possesses, and the Netherlands, champion of good football and with highly ponderable individualities.

A crazy bet, very crazy…?: Denmark. Da to bring him some coins. And the hunch that is almost certain: we will see a World Cup of good football.

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