Photo by Cecilia Schutt
Article by Cecilia Schutt
In the midst of World Cup madness, Willow students could be seen trying to catch the games whenever they could. Eighth graders were polled on their opinions. Results show that students were hyped.
The FIFA World Cup is a worldwide soccer tournament that takes place every four years. The 2022 FIFA world cup occurred from November 20th to December 18th, 2022, with the final game being on December 18. This year it took place in the country of Qatar, making it the first World Cup in the Middle East. How many people watched the last World Cup, which took place in Russia in 2018? 3.572 billion people. The World Cup seems equally as popular among Willow School 8th graders, with 70.6% of polled students saying that they watched it.
In the past, all of the World Cups have taken place in the summer, but the 2022 World Cup is the first to be played in the fall and winter. The reason for this change is because of Qatar’s intense heat. Playing during the summer, when it’s the hottest, imposes health risks. The average temperature in the summer there is approximately 106 degrees Fahrenheit. Students aren’t really bothered by this change. In fact, some even like it.
A big question surrounding the World Cup was typically, “Who’s going to win?” Many 8th graders seemed to have faith in the U.S. team, which has bounced back since 2018 when it didn’t qualify. Another popular answer was Brazil, which has been a soccer powerhouse for a long time. Brazil has won the most world cups of any country, with five titles.
But anything could have happened. “We’ve had a lot of really weird wins during World Cups, such as Japan beating Germany, so I don’t really know. It’s kind of a toss-up this year,” said Cody Brown.
When it comes to favorite soccer players, the polled group of students showed not much of a bias toward a particular player, though Neymar, Jr., who plays for Brazil, came up more than once. “He’s just really good.” said Colin Rickett, who went further to say that Neymar is his favorite soccer player.
