FIFA World Cup News, Stats, Scores

High consumption of alcohol during the early stages of Russia 2018 led to some bars in Moscow running out of beer as fans from across the world partied in the Russian capital. Stadiums and infrastructure enhancements in the run-up to the tournament, according to Qatari officials, were priced at various levels. In Al Bayt, a 60,000-seat stadium designed to mimic nomadic tents, Qatar defeated Bahrain 1-0. The opening game of Qatar 2022 will be hosted here in less than a year.

The Sunday Times published bribery allegations based on a leak of millions of secret documents. Jim Boyce, vice-president of FIFA, has gone on record stating he would support a re-vote to find a new host if the corruption allegations are proven. FIFA completed a lengthy investigation into these allegations and a report cleared Qatar of any wrongdoing. Despite the claims, the Qataris insist that the corruption allegations are being driven by envy and mistrust while Sepp Blatter said it is fuelled by racism in the British media.

Few South American teams were willing to travel to Europe for the 1934 World Cup and all North and South American nations except Brazil and Cuba boycotted the 1938 tournament. The 1942 and 1946 competitions, which Germany and Brazil sought to host, were cancelled due to World War II and its aftermath. Fours later, both teams would see themselves in the final once again, but the result was a different one, with Germany finally winning a World Cup Final again. In an ugly affair, the game was marred by the two red cards Argentinian players received during the 90 minutes.

Of the 32 nations qualified to play at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, 24 countries competed at the previous tournament in 2018. Qatar are the only team making their debut in the FIFA World Cup, becoming the first hosts to make their tournament debut since Italy in 1934. As a result, the 2022 tournament is the first World Cup in which none of the teams that earned a spot through qualification were making their debut. The Netherlands, Ecuador, Ghana, Cameroon and the United States returned to the tournament after missing the 2018 tournament.

Nigeria went out to Ghana on away goals in CAF's final playoff round, having qualified for the previous three World Cups and six out of the last seven. Egypt, Panama, Colombia, Peru, Iceland and Sweden, all of whom qualified for the 2018 World Cup, also did not qualify for the 2022 tournament. The knockout stage is a single-elimination tournament in which teams play each other in one-off matches, with extra time and penalty shootouts used to decide the winner if necessary. It begins with the round of 16 in which the winner of each group plays against the runner-up of another group. This is followed by the quarter-finals, the semi-finals, the third-place match (contested by the losing semi-finalists), and the final. FIFA's six continental confederations organise their own qualifying competitions.

Croatia came back to score at the other end through Ivan Peresic and it looked as if 1-1 was going to be the halftime score before the VAR moment. Germany had previously absolutely destroyed Brazil 7-1 in one of the most shocking games in World Cup history. The 2006 final will be remembered for the head-butt Zidane did on Italian Marco Materazzi and the subsequent red-card he received in the 110th minute of the game. Had it not been for a David Trezeguet miss in the penalty shootout, both sides would have been on four made penalties each. Going into the 1998 World Cup Final, there was immense controversy revolving around Brazilian talisman, Ronaldo. Their seemed to be issues around his match fitness, so much so that Brazilian coach Mario Zagallo said he would not play.

A Minimum Wage Committee was also formed to check on the implementation. These reforms removed the kafala system and a contractual system was introduced. Three players share the record for playing in the most World Cups; Mexico's Antonio Carbajal (1950–1966) and Rafael Márquez (2002–2018); and Germany's Lothar Matthäus (1982–1998) all played in five tournaments. Matthäus has played the most World Cup matches overall, with 25 appearances. Brazil's Djalma Santos (1954–1962), West Germany's Franz Beckenbauer (1966–1974), and Germany's Philipp Lahm (2006–2014) are the only players to be named to three World Cup All-Star Teams.