Build-up to the World Cup

The World Cup comes around every four years and is always greeted by the same excitement and joy. Grown men and women are transported back to their childhood memories of previous tournaments and wax lyrical about former players.

Everyone has a favourite tournament. Mine is France ’98 as it was the first tournament that I watched in its entirety. Many loved Spain ’82 as it was the first World Cup that England were playing in for twelve years, having missed out in 1974 and 1978. Other favourites are 1966 and the 1970 tournament in Mexico for my Dad’s generation.

The Italian company Panini bring out a new World Cup Sticker Collection before every tournament and many fans go out and buy handfuls of packets, hoping to complete their collection.
I very nearly completed the Panini sticker collection for Brazil 2014. However, I am now left with a few spare coins and a large handful of sticker swaps, including about eight of the same Algerian player!

During the build-up to France ’98, Sainsburys brought out a coin collection with headshots of the England squad who they thought would go on to play at the tournament that summer. I completed the collection and still have the album, but now have a few spare coins. I haven’t the heart to throw them out yet!

As well as the stickers and other collectables, companies are quick to leap onto any marketing opportunities, selling all sorts of naff merchandise. Huge numbers of the flag of St George suddenly make an appearance out of car windows and hang from many houses and pubs.

If you’re looking to save some money in the build-up to Christmas, the cheap car flags might be a preferred way to show your support for the England national team. The new home and away shirts were released recently and cost £70 each!

Many famous moments in the history of football have taken place at World Cups. Whether it be dazzling performances from the Brazil teams of 1970 and 82, the Cruyff turn in 1974 or Maradona’s Hand of God goal against England in 1986, these moments will be remembered for all time. Many feature in the ‘Iconic Moments in Football’ series that I have written. You can find this series here.

This tournament is the first to be played at the end of the calendar year due to the weather in Qatar. The World Cup is normally played during June and July, giving the tournament a strange feeling already. There will be no watching games in the pub gardens and post-match barbeques in England this time around!

This year’s tournament is very different though. It is being played in Qatar and has received a lot of very bad publicity. Many hundreds of underpaid immigrant workers have died whilst making the state-of-the-art stadiums. The beliefs of the Qataris have been openly criticised, with their opinions on ethics being questioned. England captain Harry Kane has already told the press that he will continue to wear his ‘OneLove’ armband, showing anti-discrimination and promoting LGBTQ+ rights.

The last tournament that was being played in a country with such huge political scandal would have been Argentina ’78. It was during this time that the Junta ruled the country, during what was referred to as the Dirty War that ran from 1976 to 1983.
Thousands of Argentine civilians who opposed the Junta regime ‘disappeared’ during these seven years, with many tortured and eventually killed. Despite this having started two years before the World Cup, the South American country were still allowed to host the competition.

Despite all of the negative publicity about the upcoming tournament, there are still 64 football matches that will still be played. There may well be a moment that will be talked about for years to come and I am looking forward to the action on the pitch.

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