From early on in this World Cup, the traditional heavyweights of the game have been up against it.
From early on in this World Cup, the traditional heavyweights of the game have been up against it.
Saudi Arabia stunned Argentina in what has been described as the biggest shock in the tournament’s long history. The 2022 World Cup truly kicked off at that moment.
In the following days, Morocco beat world No. 2 Belgium and Australia edged past Denmark to assure its qualification to the knockout stages in Qatar.
The epitome of the unpredictable group stage though came from Group E, in which Japan beat both Germany and Spain to top the group and Germany was sent packing, having struggled to beat Costa Rica – the Samurai Blue even found time to lose to Costa Rica, which had been defeated by Spain 7-0 in its opening match.
We’ve seen plenty of World Cup shocks over the years, but this year’s edition has seen more than most. In fact, this World Cup is only the fourth edition in the tournament’s 92-year history where no team won all its group games – and the first since 1994.
So why have there been so many upsets at this year’s tournament?
This World Cup is a first for many reasons.
It is the first to be held in the Middle East. It is also the first that’s been held in the middle of the traditional European football calendar.
Because of FIFA’s decision to move the World Cup from its traditional home in July and August due to the temperature in Qatar during those months, most teams have had little over a week’s preparation for what is international football’s premier competition.
As a result, the nations with players featuring in predominately one country thrived early on. Saudi Arabia – with not one player plying their trade outside of the country – and England looked well organized from the outset.
However, host Qatar, who also had every one of its players playing in the country, did not look so organized, becoming the worst ever World Cup host nation in terms of results.
On the other hand, squads with players in leagues from all corners of the globe struggled for cohesion in the early fixtures.
Argentina looked disjointed, Denmark lacked verve and Belgium looked sleepy as some of the bigger nations got off to slow starts as teams missed the usual extra time in early summer after many leagues conclude their seasons to fine tune tactical organization and camaraderie.
Meanwhile, the lack of preparation time meant that players were arriving in Qatar on the back of almost four months of grueling scheduling, with two games played a week for many.
