Soon, the nations of the world will put their differences aside and enjoy the most spectacular event in the sports world, the FIFA World Cup 2018.
“I love the World Cup and can’t imagine a world without it.” said senior Adarsh Manosh. “I honestly wish that India would have qualified this time, at least there’s a chance at the next one in 2022.”
The countries that applied to hold the World Cup were: Russia, England, Spain, Portugal, Belgium and the Netherlands. Chosen as the host country was Russia, with the committee adding, that it wanted to expand the regions the event is hosted in, simultaneously making Russia the first Eastern European country to ever hold the World Cup.
Since the confirmation, Russia has been actively investing in the infrastructure required to match the standards of the world class tournament and the conformity many travelers expect to experience when coming to the country.
In the name of the World Cup, 12 stadiums have been constructed or are still in the works today, containing space from 35,000 to 81,000 excited fans to cheer for one of the 32 national teams that qualified for the tournament. With most of the stadiums build or being built in the populated areas of Russia and near the countries borders, travel distance for spectators is reduced to a minimum.
Kickoff is on June 14, with the host team taking on Saudi Arabia, officially bringing the tournament on its way. Group favorites are easy to spot, but one should watch out for some of the underdog teams, which showed the power of will and determination during the qualification.
“I have been a Brazil fan since I was 6-years old and I think they are going to win this time.”, said junior Nathaniel Roethler.” But honestly, I hope that Argentina wins this one because I think Messi truly deserves the win because he is so much better than Maradona.”
If you are placing your bets or speculating with friends on the outcome of certain games, pay special attention to Iceland and Egypt. Iceland had a great performance in the UEFA Euro 2016 and should not be underestimated, while Egypt can hope on star striker Mohamed Salah’s performance to bring the team closer to a knockout round than ever.
With that said, gather your flags, cheer your team on, enjoy the games and may the best team win.
