The 22nd Men’s World Cup

The Men’s World Cup was hosted for the first time ever in the Middle East. Also the second-ever cup hosted in Asia.  The men’s cup will be held in the winter of this year, making it the first cup to not be held in May, June, or July. Although happening during the winter, Qatar is known for its distressingly hot temperatures during the day time.  To help, for the first time ever a country is to host the World cup in fully air-conditioned stadiums. This year’s tournament will be one of the costliest world cups ever. The cup will be the last to involve 36 teams, with an increase of 12 teams by the year 2026. Teams this year will be from: The Americas(7), Africa(5), Asia(4), Europe(13), and Oceania(1). There are 32 nations total.  4 games will be played each day which will run over a 13-day period and see winners and runners-up progress to the round of 16. Only eight stadiums have been chosen to host the World Cup which is the lowest number of venues for the World Cup in recent years. Even so, there will be a record number of visitors expected to arrive in the country during the events. This year’s Men’s World Cup will be a unique one and I for one cannot wait to watch it.